So maybe the latest trend in diva-pop is to look to their poor indie stepsisters for some needed inspiration. It might still take a little bit wrap your head around it, but at least we’ve known about the Le Tigre-Christina Aguilera hook-up for the latter’s Bionic album for a while now — the fruits of their collaboration on “I Hate Boys” can be heard now on a snippet released on Xtina’s YouTube channel. Even though the two acts are about very different kinds of desire, there’s really nothing too incongruous about the Aguilera-Kathleen Hanna combo on the track.
On the other hand, you’d think the xx, those masters of expressing understatement and introspection, would be the last band that Shakira would look to cover. But you’d be wrong, since there’s a leak of a one-minute clip where the bombastic, rumpshaking diva offers her take on the dark pop of the xx’s “Islands”. What’s maybe more surprising is that it’s a fairly reverent version of the original, or at least as muted as anyone can expect Shakira to get. Just Google “Shakira xx” at your own peril!
Christina Aguilera with Le Tigre – “I Hate Boys”
Shakira covering the xx – “Islands”
