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FUNKED UP

2117¬Montreal's foremost exponenents of Prince-inspired dirty funk are back with their new album. Critics so far are impressed, Rave Magazine seeing the album as an affirmation of the band's unique style.¬False¬

Middle of the Trail

2101¬Rootsy folkster Ray Lamontagne continues his career as a Radio 2 botherer with his new album. Critics see it as competent but hardly revolutionary, scores coming it at around 6 or 7.¬False¬

Towering achievement?

2098¬There's a very rare 10/10 from The Skinny for the rapper, pianist and producer's album, released to accompany a feature film also written and produced by the maverick Canadian. Such enthusiasm is not shared by the BBC or music OMH, who regard it as interesting but only partially successful.¬True¬
Head First

Goldfrapp

Head First

The electro-pop pioneer back with a fifth album of 80s-inspired songs in tandem with musical partner Will Gregory

Critics average rating

6.3

Label
Mute
Release date
23/03/2010
  1. 9.0 |  Rave Magazine

    Anyone can pay tribute to the low-fi disco sound ... but that signature Goldfrapp style – Alison’s icy yet weirdly expressive vocals, Will’s gorgeous arrangements – lift Head First well above the rest
    Read Review

  2. 8.0 |  Mojo

    Print edition only

  3. 8.0 |  Spin

    The singer's bandmate-producer Will Gregory creates a pitch-perfect neon-lit '80s wonderland
    Read Review

  4. 8.0 |  The Irish Times

    If Jean Michel-Jarre had joined Eurythmics, they might have come up with something akin to this. A synthful pleasure
    Read Review

  5. 8.0 |  Evening Standard

    Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory have never been so on top of their game
    Read Review

  6. 7.0 |  music OMH

    Skilful pop designed for adults
    Read Review

  7. 7.0 |  onethirtybpm

    If the album sounds revelatory at first, give it a few listens and you’ll realize it’s just because you’ve heard most of this stuff already in other places
    Read Review

  8. 6.6 |  Pitchfork

    You might be the best-dressed person at 80s dance night, but if there's nothing particularly noteworthy about you otherwise, nobody's going to recognize you out of costume
    Read Review

  9. 6.0 |  The Times

    On a sunny day with an unbroken stretch of road ahead of you and the desire to remember the gauzy, giggly languor of new love, this is the one you’ll reach for
    Read Review

  10. 6.0 |  The List

    Goldfrapp’s exultant fifth album, sees the virtuosic UK deuce embrace 80s blockbusters and euphoric synth-bombast to buoyant – if not mindblowing – effect
    Read Review

  11. 6.0 |  Uncut

    Print edition only

  12. 6.0 |  Q

    Print edition only

  13. 6.0 |  Daily Telegraph

    Goldfrapp’s ear for detail remains spot-on. And Head First has some clever hooks. But the melodies seem to dissolve away like sherbet as you listen, leaving no lingering taste
    Read Review

  14. 6.0 |  The Observer

    The sounds soar and squelch: as ever... But despite the plushness of the soundbed, much of Head First feels slight. It is a record dogged by a persistent cliche
    Read Review

  15. 6.0 |  NME

    Basically an upbeat electro-pop record with one foot in the ’80s, much like roughly 85 per cent of music made in the last two years
    Read Review

  16. 6.0 |  The Independent

    Gives the impression that Goldfrapp are in the invidious position of playing catch-up to all the Gagas, LaRouxs and Little Boots upon whom they must surely have been a major influence
    Read Review

  17. 6.0 |  The Music Fix

    Alison's voice is still striking, but this short collection is just too light on memorable tunes
    Read Review

  18. 6.0 |  The Scotsman

    Once you are done playing spot the reference, there is not much else to take away from what is ultimately just an exquisitely crafted pastiche
    Read Review

  19. 6.0 |  Scotland on Sunday

    Overall, it's an immaculate assembly of influences, but there's not a truly killer song to be heard
    Read Review

  20. 6.0 |  State

    The record comes across like an airbrushed seventies pin up calender, everything is beautiful, everything is in the right place but nothing is tangible, it’s Goldfrapp with the fangs removed
    Read Review

  21. 6.0 |  The Line Of Best Fit

    It’s a light, airy record that is ushering in the fresh breezes of spring not reinventing the wheel
    Read Review

  22. 6.0 |  Blurt

    Between the singer's crystalline vocals and Gregory's well-orchestrated synths, Goldfrapp - the duo - is an ersatz Eurythmics for the not-so-new millennium
    Read Review

  23. 5.0 |  Under The Radar

    Perhaps they forgot to factor in the fine line between dated and retro, and as a result they've managed to trample all over it
    Read Review

  24. 5.0 |  Rolling Stone

    Against big beats and chilly electronics, Alison Goldfrapp's frosty voice suggests prom night in the Antarctic
    Read Review

  25. 5.0 |  Drowned In Sound

    They've moved on, changed their sound, and it's just okay... again. They’re not broadening their mystique, but stretching it to translucence
    Read Review

  26. 4.0 |  Pop Matters

    One cannot help but wonder if the duo is simply locked in an era in which they do not want to be
    Read Review

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Track preview & download

Goldfrapp: Head First

  • Download full album for just £4.99
  • 1. Rocket £1.29
  • 2. Believer £1.29
  • 3. Alive £1.29
  • 4. Dreaming £1.29
  • 5. Head First £1.29
  • 6. Hunt £1.29
  • 7. Shiny And Warm £1.29
  • 8. I Wanna Life £1.29
  • 9. Voicething £1.29
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Prolific

2120¬These Virginian sludge-rockers find themselves releasing their fifth album in two years, a huge feat by anyone's standards. Critics are unsure whether any degree of quality can be sustained at that rate however, with Tiny Mix Tapes stating that in fleshing out their sound, they have drawn "too much attention to musical aspects [they] never had going for them".¬True¬

Duppy Love

2109¬Critics are falling over themselves to heap praise on this album of dub remixes of classic Roots Manuva tracks. It has managed a very decent showing on our chart, especially given that it is essentially a remix album. It has impressed so much that Culture Deluxe has proclaimed it as "possibly the most perfect reggae album released in the last 30 years". ¬True¬

Back On Top?

2114¬The Manic Street Preachers have had something of a critical rebirth with their last two albums, and that trend looks set to continue with their latest offering. The Line of Best Fit call it a "wonderful album", while The Fly reckon they "are in the form of their life". With only a few reviews in so far, it seems we could have a contender for the higher echelons of our chart.¬True¬

Pain and pleasure

2105¬Can the third of the three Mancunian electro-ish bands which featured in the BBC's Sound of 2010 list emulate the success of their counterparts, Delphic and Everything Everything? The jury's still out so far. NME is a big fan of the duo's 80s-inspired synthpop anthems, but The Guardian is far from convinced, and others find the album stylish but unremarkable. ¬True¬

Compilations & Reissues

They're not in the main chart as they skew things

  1. 8.5

    The Teardrop Explode Kilimanjaro: Deluxe Edition

  2. 8.5

    R.E.M. Fables Of The Reconstruction

  3. See full list