Last night, Frankmusik posted a link to Free Frankmusik, a nearly blank website featuring a sole download link that leads an absolutely stunning new song: “Hurt You Again.”

Remember “Run Away From Trouble,” the gorgeous ballad off of Frankmusik’s debut album Complete Me? Well, “Hurt You Again” might be even better.

“I could never hurt you, I could never hurt you again,” Frank cries on top of sitar strings, distant cries and atmospheric sounds on this Hurts-like hymnal. It’s devastating, it’s beautiful. It’s absolutely necessary.

Along with “The Fear Inside,” 2011 is shaping up to be quite an exciting year for Frankmusik…and something tells me he’s only just begun.

Frankmusik’s second studio album, Do It In The AM, will be released in 2011. (iTunes)

It’s time for a brand new MuuCast!

Fair warning: This isn’t a collection of juicy booty bangers or sizzling electro stompers–instead, it’s the stuff of dreams.

Inspired by my recent longing to travel, plenty of downtime and perhaps a touch of the holiday blues, I now present MuuCast Episode 7: Miles Away, a sampling of songs with one idea in mind: To take you far, far away.

Music’s always been an escape for me, but the following collection inspires an especially strong sense of wanderlust. It’s the music I listen to when I’m looking for inspiration, feeling emotional, or–most often of all–when I’m preparing to drift into slumberville.

The playlist begins with El Perro Del Mar‘s “Change Of Heart,” my definitive come-down anthem for dulling the sound of loud drunks and creepy scumbags while riding the last train home out of Grand Central at 2 A.M., and closes with one of my all time favorites, Duke B‘s “Hey You (feat. Angela McCluskey),” which is one of the most haunting and beautiful songs I’ve ever heard. (It also makes an appearance on MuuCast Episode Three!)

Regardless, it’s yours to keep. I hope you enjoy the escape!

…And the semi-awkward spoken word introduction.

DL: MuuCast Episode 7: Miles Away

Oh, and apologies for no actual Utada on the tracklisting–I just thought her cover for Single Collection Volume 2 made a perfect match for the MuuCast’s mood!

To see the full tracklisting, click “Read More”!

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SILENCE.

Sharon Dastur, program director for New York’s top radio station Z100, just confirmed in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly that Britney’s upcoming single will be called “Hold It Against Me,” and that the song will premiere on radio on January 7.

“The beat that they gave her is really unique compared to other artists,” she notes.

SWEET. GODNEY. JEANSUS.

In this fairly rare opportunity to gloat, this officially confirms both the MuuMuse Excluusive about the premiere date AND the title (Well, one word off.) Nevertheless…

You got it here first.

Now then:

Stop worshiping your false idols and
prepare for the Return of The Holy Spearit.

Thanks to The Prophet Blog/Poor Britney for finding the magazine snippet!

In light of the recent news/gossip published in the UK’s The Sun about Britney‘s alleged sessions with powerhouse pop production team Xenomania (seizing, crying), I’ve decided a Xenomania appreciation post is in order.

While there are simply too many brilliant Xenomania productions to count (well, maybe I’ll do one once a week or something!), I wanted to spotlight one particular number that’s both close to my heart and shares ties with B Girl: Girls Aloud‘s “Graffiti My Soul.”

I first heard of Girls Aloud back in late 2004. (I know, it’s impossible to imagine a time/world when the Aloud didn’t exist in my life.) At the time, both “Love Machine” and “The Show” were making major waves in the UK, causing ripples that led all the way across the pond–and straight into the Britney forums, which is where I first made the discovery.

Taking a chance and/or a break from playing EverQuest (a dark part of my past–WE’RE NOT TALKING ABOUT IT), I downloaded the Aloud’s second studio album, What Would The Neighbours Say? And while it was the album’s lead singles that initially tickled my fancy, it was “Graffiti My Soul” that fully stole my heart away and converted me into a lifelong Aloud lover.

As soon as Nadine’s stiletto-sharp delivery opening line (“Spike heel and skin tight jeans, I got a fist full of love that’s coming your way, baby”) came roaring on top of that dirty guitar riff sampled from Peplab‘s 2001 track “It’s Not The Drug,” my lips a-quivered and the full body tremors began: I knew it was love.

Amidst raw guitar licks, blazing horns, explosive lyrical stutters and mile-a-minute rhymes, there lies a Perfect Pop Song within the chaos of “Graffiti My Soul”; a daring, multidimensional 21st century pop tune that breaks from the verse-chorus, verse-chorus structure of most contemporary pop tracks (which would hardly be the first time the Aloud defied pop conventions, i.e. “Biology”) and truly embodies the next-level genius of both Xenomania and the Girls Aloud machine.

But looping back to Queen B for a moment: The song was initially offered to and demoed by Britney while in the process of recording for her fourth studio album, In The Zone. In a 2004 interview with The Guardian, Xenomania member Brian Higgins noted that the label loved it, but that Britney’s camp members were less smitten, asking “Where’s the chorus? Why are there no repetitive parts?” They ultimately opted to call on Cathy Dennis to pen a track for the album–which led to the birth of “Toxic.” Not a bad alternative.

While the gritty rawness of “Graffiti My Soul” would have likely sounded out of place within the cool, Middle Eastern-tinged beats of In The Zone, I’m still dying to hear Britney’s take on the track. One day, perhaps…one day.

In conclusion: “Graffiti My Soul” is perfect. Thank you, Xenomania.

What Will The Neighbours Say? was released in November of 2004. (iTunes)

MAY THE IDLE CHATTER IN THE PEWS PLEASE DULL TO A LOW MURMUR: THE HOLY SPEARIT DESCENDS.

There have been many exciting things said about The New Britney Single–everything from “GAHHHH OMGWTFBBQ GODNEY IS GOD” to “It’s like ‘Slave’ and ‘Toxic’ gave birth to ‘Gimme More’!” (No, I don’t even slightly get what that means either.)

And while we don’t yet know whether or not the single will indeed be “Hold It Against Me” (the song title revealed a few weeks ago), we now know that Myah Marie is singing on it!

For those who don’t know, Marie was also featured as a background vocalist on Brit’s Dr. Luke-produced 2008 single, “Circus.” From her Twatter:

SO excited for the new Britney single to come out! I did background vocals on it, and the song is AMAZING, been stuck in my head on repeat!

So now you know.

Plus, if you haven’t already heard, legendary choreographer Brian Friedman (responsible for the choreography behind B’s “Me Against The Music” and “Toxic” amongst other flawless routines) put together a casting right before Christmas for Britney’s upcoming video. ZOMG. I fucking know.

But like the growing social movement, it gets (even) better: The prospective dancers auditioned to Robyn‘s “Criminal Intent.” There is video evidence, as tweeted by Brian:

This video leads me to conclude several things:

1.) Britney is surrounded by people who ‘get’ fantastic pop music.
2.) Her new single may be similar in style or sound to “Criminal Intent,” which means it will be fantastic.
3.) The dancing will be HOT. FIYA.

That’s about all I got for now. Brian’s off to Fiji for some vacay (get it girl) and Brit Brit’s busy being fabulous, so I imagine this is what we in the Britney world like to call THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM.

Get pumped. Get fired up. Get ready.

PS: Have you entered the MuuMuse “Hold It Against Me” lyric contest yet? You better–I’ve got a feeling we’re going to hear those lyrics soon! (Assuming it’s still the lead single, that is.)

For an album called No Boys Allowed, there sure are a lot of boys that came to play inside Miss Keri Baby‘s clubhouse.

Though she’s tried at length to explain her new album’s title–that No Boys Allowed a “no bitch ass-ness” kind of empowerment collection about ditching the little boys and uplifting women, it’s hard to drive that point home when the album’s guest-list is exclusively filled with men–especially when one of them is Chris Brown.

But putting the album title-content conflict aside, Miss Keri Baby has produced a worthy follow-up to her excellent and underrated 2009 debut, In A Perfect World… with No Boys Allowed, released on December 21.

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And now, I present a random Rihanna stan moment. Why? BECAUSE I SAID SO, HO.

Among the many goodies I received from Santa this year, including Rachel Stevens‘ Come & Get It, a pair of Beats by Dr. Dre Solo headphones and Girls Aloud‘s scintillating tell-all Dreams That Glitter, I was ever-so-graciously gifted with Rihanna–RiRi’s newly released photo book chronicling the artistic evolution of the Rated R campaign as co-concocted with creative director, Simon Henwood (who I interviewed a few months ago about the project). Genius!

While gingerly flipping through the book’s flawless pages tonight, I noticed something that had me OMG-ing all over the place:

LOOK! It’s Rihanna, thumbing through Jean Paul-Goude‘s So Far, So Goude looking for inspiration and clearly staring at Grace Jones‘ iconic cage photograph from their 1982 collaboration, Jungle Fever!

This photo find greatly excited me–so much so that I felt everyone needed to know about it.

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT.

I just wanted to wish everyone the most joyous, jubilant, and FESTIVE of celebrations tomorrow, whether you’re celebrating Christmas or just going to see Black Swan after a hefty Chinese food brunch. (O HAY, MY PEOPLE!)

And now…take it away, Kylie!

I’m kind of hoping this was taped just yesterday in Australia, with Dannii holding the camera and Baby Ethan watching mesmerized from off-camera while gnawing on a sequined Project D gown.

Merry Christmas, Muusers!