Check out One Direction‘s surprise spin of their mega-hit “What Makes You Beautiful” at a classic LA diner for some very unsuspecting fans. The British cutie’s hair may be a little rough around the edges, but their voices are spot on!

Oh, to be a teenage girl again.

Kelly Clarkson is no stranger to the tough lessons of life and on “Dark Side” she uses her killer voice to sing about some of the stressful moments we all share. The powerful message and ear-worm chorus featured on “Dark Side” makes for one of the strongest offerings from Kelly‘s most recent studio release, Stronger.

On a side note: I’m loving Kelly‘s darker-do.

Kanye West is always pushing the limits of his art, and “Lost In The World” has a deep sense of design that not only stresses, but compliments the drama of the song. It’s all kind of hectic, but leave it to Kanye to employ the services of hot-ticket-item Bon Iver for an extra moody edge.

Now let the sweet sound of auto-tune rain down upon you!

Big dance beats and feel good pop-music is what living legend Kylie Minogue has always been about and her spontaneous new single, “Timebomb,” finds the sexy Aussie singer at the top of her game. With infectious “woop”-ing accents peppered throughout and an effortless display of raw sexuality, Madonna should take notice: THIS is how it’s done!

Do the overwhelming complexities of everyday life got you down? Well strap on those dancing shoes, put your hands up, and do it like Dragonette–let it go!

After teasing fans with the exceptional cover art for their newest offering nearly three weeks ago, the Canadian synth-pop ensemble has finally premiered “Let It Go,” the lead single from their forthcoming studio album.

The glitzy track is an overwhelmingly cheery affair, featuring hooks-o-plenty and blaring melodies drenched in tinny synthesizers. Overall the production sounds a lot like their collaboration with Kaskade (“Fire In Your New Shoes”) or their worldwide smash “Hello,” featuring the production talents of one Mr. Martin Solveig. Even more so, “Let It Go” resembles Kylie Minogue‘s brilliant Calvin Harris-produced X single, “In My Arms.”

I for one am loving “Let it Go,” but as a long time fan this new contemporary motif may leave dedicated Dragonette stans in a tizzy due to the “sell out” nature of their updated radio-friendly sound.

Thoughts?

The other night I spent some time with one of my quirkiest cronies. During our brief chill session he introduced me to some awesome new indie-music before I tortured him and his feline, Norman, with some classic Britney performances via YouTube. Anyway, after my departure, I thought to myself, “Self, that was a super collective of awesomeness that my readers should know about.” That being said, I bring to you two of my favorite tracks that I heard that evening.

The first song, titled “City Grrl” by CSS ft. Ssion, is a hipster’s wet-dream with its grinding backbeat and twinkling instrumentation. The fierce ode to bad girls and city livin’ also boasts one hell of a chorus: “I wish I would dye my hair pink/Put on black lipstick/No one would give a shit/Short shorts, short skirts flower tops, tinny shirts/ In the big city nothing hurts, nothing hurts.” The video is also quite entertaining, but be forewarned that the unibrown-having, lipstick-wearindg androgyny of guest artist, Ssion, is a little unsettling at first. Now get to listening! I promise that you’ll love love love!

The second song is like the Ting Ting‘s meets Kylie Minogue meets a bottle of your favorite prescription pills. It’s titled, “Heart Attack,” by The Asteroid Galaxy Tour and features a seriously psychedelic semblance. The whiny chirping of lead singer Mette Lindberg helps to further resonate the new-age sunniness of the track which will surely have you digging through your closet for your best flower girl costume. Bottom line: It totally RAWKS!

By Mikala Hughes

And just when I thought Swedish indie pop couldn’t get any better–there was Miike Snow.

Consisting of childhood friends Pontus Winnberg, Christian Karlsson, and American songwriter Andrew Wyatt, Miike Snow was formed in 2007 in Stockholm, Sweden and were popularized by their hits “Animal” and “Black & Blue.”

Winnberg and Karlsson first gained success through their production aliases Bloodshy & Avant, working with such artists as Kylie Minogue and Madonna. It wasn’t until 2004 when the duo produced a little known track by the name of “Toxic” for Britney Spears (which won a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording) that the pair met their third band member, Andrew Wyatt.

As songwriters the trio excel at what they do, and it’s no surprise that as producers they shine in the same light. With an ear for the beat hidden within the melody, Miike Snow has masterfully remixed tracks for Passion Pit, Vampire Weekend, Depeche Mode, and I Blame Coco just to name a few. More impressively the trio’s original tracks have been remixed by an even greater slew of bands such as Dubstep artists Netsky and Emalkay, as well as Caspa, Tiga, Fake Blood, George Mathews, Dj Mehdi and Benny Blanco. And the best part? All of this publicity was garnered from their only full-length release to date– 2009’s self-titled Miike Snow.

In 2010 the trio released a number of singles including “Billie Holiday”, “The Rabbit”, and “Remedy” which was collaboration with dance music mavens, the Crookers. In addition, their newest track, “Devil’s Work”, was released just this month to rave reviews and will be featured on their Sophomore effort, Happy To You, scheduled for release in March of 2012.

So get on it kiddies! You know you want to play in the snow!

Greatest Stocking Stuffer. Ever.

Merry Britmas Y’all!

On Christmas morning the Holy Spearit answered our prayers and graced us with a brand new leaked track from her vault. The offering titled “Strangest Love” is pure perfection with it’s ambient pop instrumental, un-processed vocals, and touching lyrics. The smooth and sensual production plays something like Britney‘s luscious 2005 release “And Then We Kiss” with it’s hollow moaning and chilly break beats. The song is said to be a leftover production by Guy Chambers (Robbie Williams, Kylie Minogue) from Britney‘s 2003 In The Zone sessions. However, while the original recording date remains a mystery, we can confirm that producer Guy Chambers published a song called “Strangest Love” on BMI. Furthermore it has been reported that Brit actually worked with Chambers while recording 2003′s masterpiece In The Zone.

I’m no detective, but the evidence seems apparent–plus the track is very In The Zone-y–but I’ll let you decide.

‘Til something changes, it’s a different language / Words say too much, and get in the way / We talk in the strangest love,” Britney emotes in her beautiful upper register. It’s refreshing to hear our girl actually sing without the heavy computer accompaniment that saturates her most recent hits. She truly sounds like a constipated angel from the heavens and I’m loving every second of it!

What do you think?

Update: Holy Shit! It really is Britmas!

Behold the  acoustic, stripped-down version of Femme Fatale bonus track, “Don’t Keep Me Waiting,” also an offering from the Holy Spearit‘s holiday leak. Britney‘s baby voice is in full affect, but again I’m totally loving it! Especially the english accent she dons for the lyrics: “What the hell/I’m standing outside/Colder than the freezer /Come out and melt my ice/Im running out of time/You’re changing my demeanor, so get me to your ride before I change my mind/Don’t apologize,” So fucking inspired!

Enjoy, below!

Check out the ultra sleek & extremely ambient What You Doing This For? from the 6 track Experiments EP by Florrie. If you like Kylie Minogue, Roisin Murphy, and or Goldfrapp then you will LOVE the overall feel of this track.

Queens of the world, REJOICE…or VOGUE…or do whatever the fuck you do!

According to her manager, Guy Oseary, Madonna has officially begun work on her 12th studio album!!!

Oseary took to his Twitter yesterday July 4th to report:

“It’s official.. Madonna’s 1st day in the recording studio for the new album… Very exciting.. Happy 4th of july…”

The announcement follows a June 14 Tweet where Oseary informed fans that the singer “goes into the recording studio next month to begin work on new album.”

Shortly after the announcement another legendary pop star, Kylie Minogue, retweeted the post with her own “Yaayyyy!!!” Madonna then responded to Minogue on Twitter through Oseary‘s account, writing, “Thanks for the love.”

SO exciting!

Now, I’m just awaiting news of an accompanying world tour and I will officially need panty liners!

All hail the QUEEN!

Update: Sources close to Madonna have just revealed that she’s enlisted the expertise of French DJ and record producer Martin Solveig to help her with some of the upcoming tracks for her new album.

If Solveig‘s recent work with Dragonette is any indication of what to expect from Madge‘s new record then we’re all in for a real treat!

This is going to be EPIC!

In other foreign babe news, Kylie Minogue has just wrapped up her North American Aphrodite Live tour and although she recently revealed that she will not be releasing anymore singles from her album Aphrodite, she has anounced that she will be releasing a set of remix EPs for her mayjah Starsmith produced “Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love). The mentioned EPs will contain a variety of remixes including offerings from Pete Hammond, Bimbo Jones and Nervo, as well as a brand new B-side entitled Silence from the Aphrodite recording sessions which you can listen to below!