Ladytron in a bottle

There we were, mid-scoff at the idea that Christina Aguilera was looking forward on her new record when we spotted this:

[T]he singer is planning a new album she describes as “futuristic,” with collaborations with the forward-looking Sia, Goldfrapp and Ladytron.

Ladytron? Working with Aguilera? One or other of them is going to walk away from that with a totally re-graded reputation.

Meanwhile, though, Aguilera is pulling together a Greatest Hits collection. And struggling to explain why calling herself a bitch is, you know, somehow a feminist statement:

“I’m running a business,” she says, “and sometimes being the boss of your own empire and creation, you have to be assertive. Being a female, that comes with being labeled a ‘bitch’ and given titles that men wouldn’t receive. But if that’s what I’m going to be called by being assertive and knowing who I am and what I want out of life, so be it. I wear that label proudly.”

And so it's some sort of positive thing to call yourself and not merely pandering to a male market who sees the very idea of a woman being successful as somehow unnatural. Or, indeed, making people think that it's okay to call someone a bitch.

Still, it's nice to see Aguilera admit that she's effectively running a small business rather than pretending she's an artist in any way.