X-Tina Fabulera!

Back in February, Helen Of Troy was astounded to hear that dirrrty girl Christina Aguilera had secured the services of 'lectro-poppers Ladytron and the gorgeous Goldfrapp. Imagine our surprise, then, when we discovered that the former Mouseketeer has also enlisted the help of the legendary Le Tigre to work on her forthcoming, as yet untitled, album.

While Helen Of Troy... is all about cultural cross-overs, we can't quite decide whether Ms Aguilera is working with these fantastic less-than-mainstream artists because she's a fan, or whether she's just buying cool by association. Either way, it's going to make for interesting listening. We've posted Le Tigre's finest moment Deceptacon below to remind y'all just how awesome they were. Let's see if they can top this with XTina.

What Helen Of Troy... Has Learnt This Week

1. We've really missed the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

While the last few years have been filled with myriad musical treats, few artists have come along who combine style and substance as effortlessly as Karen O and co. It was with great pleasure and excitement, then, that we learnt the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs album, It's Blitz!, is scheduled for release on April 13th, with the album's first single, Zero, available for download/purchase on April 6th. It's been three years since the trio released the magnificent Show Your Bones, so we're chomping at the bit to hear their latest long player. Woot.

2. A woman performing at The Grammys on her due date should be treated as more than just a glorified backing singer.

When Helen Of Troy... heard that M.I.A. was still going to perform at the Grammys, despite being ready to drop-sprog that very day, we fell even more in love with our favourite innovative agitator. Unfortunately, while we were hoping to see Ms Arulpragasam perform Paper Planes in all it's world-beating glory, what we actually got was M.I.A. performing for seconds before she was joined onstage by Kanye West, Jay-Z, T.I. and Lil Wayne. While Maya was her usual awesome self, and more than held her own amongst these hip-hop heavyweights, we couldn't help but feel a little short-changed. Have a little look at the video below and let us know what y'all think.

M.I.A. Grammy Performance

3. Some collaborations are just too weird.

Christina Aguilera's 2008 come-back Keeps Gettin' Better was vastly overshadowed by Britney's Womanizer, while her new look was criticized for being a bit too similar to Lady GaGa. It seems XTina is taking no chances with her next project, as she's enlisted the help of Goldfrapp, Sia Furler and Ladytron. Yep that's right, Ladytron! An inspired choice or a desperate grab at underground cool? Only time will tell.

4. That which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet. Santogold has changed her name to Santigold. Fact.

Music Round-up 20th November to 4th December

Monday 24th November - Ladytron
Liverpool-formed electro-pop lovelies Ladytron have been plying their stark, stylish, synth-led sound for ten years now. Their fourth studio album Velocifero, released earlier this year, is a gorgeous exercise in industrial indie-dance. Live, the quartet creates a mesmerizing, multilayered sound that more than makes up for their at-times impenetrable detached cool.
www.myspace.com/ladytron
Details: Academy 2, UMSU, Oxford Road, Central Manchester
7.30pm, £12.50 (excluding fees)

Wednesday 26th November - Little Boots
When we saw Little Boots supporting Ladyhawke back at the beginning of October, we were well impressed by the delightful disco-pop this little lady created with her sugary-sweet vocals and weird and wonderful instruments (The Helen Of Troy… Needs A Tenori-On Fund is still on the go btw!). Since then, Ms Boots played a storming set on Jools Holland and looks set for world domination in 2009. Catch her now before she gets too big for her Little Boots (sorry, we couldn't resist).
www.myspace.com/littlebootsmusic
Details: The Deaf Institute, Grosvenor Street, Central Manchester
10pm, £5 (excluding fees)

Thursday 27th November - Lykke Li
While Little Boots looks set to be one of the big success stories of 2009, Lykke Li was undoubtedly one of the best finds of 2008. Her début album, Youth Novels, is a superb collection of electro classics that gets better with every listen. When we saw the Swedish singer at the beginning of the year, we were blown away by the difference between her polished studio sound and her raw-like-sushi live performance. Though we were impressed by the former, the fierceness of the latter made us fall in love all over again. We can't wait to find out where she's at now.
www.myspace.com/lykkeli
Details: Academy 3, UMSU, Oxford Road, Central Manchester
7.30pm, £11 (excluding fees)

Friday 28th November - Róisín Murphy
Since Róisín Murphy left Moloko back in 2003, she's been producing some of the most consistently excellent, genre-pushing electro-pop around. By rights, she should be playing arenas by now instead of Manchester Academy (again). While her inability to break through to the mainstream proper might seem unfair, at least it means fans of the Irish songstress get to see her in relatively close quarters and get to stand up and dance when she plays stone-cold classics like Ramalama, Ruby Blue, Overpowered and You Know Me Better. Ooh, and she's supported by the fucking fantastic Bishi, who creates 21st-Century torch songs that ooze drama and combine traditional Asian instruments with electro-pop beats.
www.myspace.com/roisinmurphy
www.myspace.com/bishimusic
Details: Academy 1, Oxford Road, Central Manchester
7.30pm, £16.50 (excluding fees)