Last night a DJ (and Madonna) saved my life.

Yesterday night was the grand finale of Smirnoff’s Nightlife Exchange Project, a competition to find the next dancer on Madonna‘s upcoming world tour. After whittling down to 12 finalists, the remaining dancers came to NYC’s Roseland Ballroom last night to duke (and/or dance) it out in front of Madonna and her team, who would then select the ultimate winner. And I got the great pleasure to come and see (err, and live tweet, as many of you might have noticed last night.)

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Snoop Dogg‘s storming the charts again, and this time…he’s doing it on the dance floor.

“Sweat” (perhaps better known in its uncensored form as “Wet”) is the lead single from the hip hop icon’s upcoming album Doggumentary, co-penned along with “Like a G6″ production duo The Cataracs.

While the chilly original version of the track has been floating around for a few months now, Snoop Dizzle’s just unleashed a brand new David Guetta re-swizzle of the lusciously raunchy tune for release in the UK (which just debuted at #16 on the UK Singles Chart) that’s positively major.

Guetta’s re-rub (which starts off an awful like Benny Benassi‘s sublime mix of Madonna‘s “Celebration” from back in 2009) provides enough fist-pumping filthy beats and almighty arena synthesizers to convert Snoop’s track from a drippy bedroom grinder to a full on, sweat-filled stadium stomper.

In fact, it was this very remix that absolutely blew my mind when I first heard it played last weekend while dancing on stage ata drag club with my entire family during a surprise 18th birthday party for my sister! (Look for that story and more in my forthcoming memoir, No, I’m Not Even Kidding You Right Now: Confessions of a Gay Jew Blogger).

To make this song even more impossibly amazing, Snoop told Rolling Stone back in December that the track was penned specifically for Prince William’s bachelor party.

Only the finest for royalty.

“Sweat” is the lead single from Snoop’s forthcoming album Doggumentary, which will be released on April 18. (iTunes UK)

WHY LOOK: IT’S KELIS IN SPACE!

As suggested in the behind-the-scenes video, the video clip for Benny Benassi‘s latest single is a whole lot of CGI-tastic, intergalactic goodness. It’s very Alien meets Star Trek meets every sci-fi production ever.

That is all.

To preview and purchase the single on iTunes, click here.

If you can somehow find a minute in between the ceaseless repeat listening sessions of Kylie Minogue‘s Aphrodite this weekend (HOW COULD YOU?), take note: Other artists are still making music.

Take for instance one of my favorite DJ/House artists, Benny Benassi. His latest single, “Spaceship” features Kelis, the Black Eyed Peas‘ Apl.de.ap, and Jean Baptiste. It is very, very good, mainly as a result of Kelis’ repetitive chorus of “So get high. Get high. Get high.”

Above is the behind-the-scenes clip for the song’s video shoot. As you can tell, it will look quite spacey when all is said and done. Hooray for technology! The video will premiere on June 28 (Monday).

The upcoming “Spaceship” remix package will include mixes by Fedde Le Grand and EDX amongst others, but you can already purchase the single itself on iTunes now.

Thank you for your time. You may now return to “Cupid Boy.”

MuuMuse Approved Tracks for the Week of May 23, 2010

5. Christina Aguilera – Lift Me Up
While the Sia ballads on the album are the most masterful, this Linda Perry-penned torch track is a ballad for the ages (that may well go unappreciated).

4. Uffie – Pop The Glock
It’s not a new song by any means, but hearing it all over again after the album leak has reminded me why the chick Ke$ha jacked her swagga from is so, so much more fun. I’m always ready to Uff!

3. Christina Aguilera – Vanity
This song may feature more cocky boasts than my irony meter can handle (“Let us not forget who owns the throne”), but I’ll be damned if this deluded exercise in self-celebration isn’t deliciously sassy. If the shoe fits…wear it, bitch.

2. Benny Benassi – Spaceship (ft. Kelis, Apl.De.Ap, and Jean-Baptiste)
Benassi never fails, as with this “Rocket In The Sky”-esque stomping delight meant to set the dance floor ablaze. Deeply wish the Black Eyed Peas rap nonsense was out of the picture, though.

1. Alicia Keys – Un-Thinkable (I’m Ready)
Alicia coos across an absolutely luscious, slinky groove about getting it on. I die every time. So happy to hear about the baby in waiting…Congratulations!

Known for providing some of the most innovative, genre-bending dance-turned-R&B-turned-rock ‘n’ roll tracks of the 21st century, Kelis has always been known to be a formative, if not consistently underestimated figure in the music industry.

With “Acapella,” the singer’s colossal first single from Flesh Tone, it was clear that the singer was by all intents and purposes ‘back’ after a four year hiatus from the industry. The song, which would eventually hit #1 on the Billboard Dance/Club Play charts, doubled as a successful re-introduction into the scene and provided a perfect showcase of the album’s major themes: carnal beats, soaring vocals, and an emphasis on forward-thinking electronica.

But while all signs pointed to promising results, it’s hard to say if anyone could have expected this album; one that could easily be declared the best albums of the year thus far. Yet that’s exactly what we’ve been given.

Flesh Tone is only a nine-track album, but it sure doesn’t feel that way. Each track seamlessly feeds into the next thanks to a series of transitions, resulting in a non-stop primal party mix that holds true to Kelis’ initial hopes for the album. “It’s an album you can get sweaty to,” Kelis explained to Rap-Up early into the promotional campaign for Flesh Tone. She wasn’t kidding.

With opening tracks “22nd Century” and “4th of July (Fireworks),” Kelis immediately builds a case for her complex new sound. Both songs are structured more like ten different tracks being played at once, transitioning into new bridges and alternating melodies and dance breaks.

Soon after comes the lonesome sounding “Home,” which sounds like one thing and expresses quite another: “The lights are shining, I’m already home,” Kelis croons above scorching synthesizers and a blaring beat. The pulsations are bold and vibrant, even if her voice remains mournful.

There’s also “Emancipate,” which may well be the “Vogue” or “Express Yourself” of 2010. “Let me tell you what love is,” Kelis announces like a proper disco diva at the start of the song. “It’s about meeting each other half way…I’m in route.” What follows can be described only as a modern re-imagining of Erotica-era Madonna, as the mantra “Emancipate yourself” repeats again and again on top of strut-and-pose synthesizers. It’s an instant, undeniable gay anthem for the next generation.

The David Guetta-produced “Scream” is another major moment for the singer, as Kelis finds herself getting even more comfy in her new role as commander of the dance floor. “You’ll never know if you don’t let it out/ You have enough, they’ll call your bluff” Kelis announces as the song dives into the chorus. Here, the synthesizers flare like smoke pouring from the speakers while the frantic electronic noises begin to dissipate, making each repeat of the chorus sound not unlike a rocket launching from Earth.

The true triumph, however, would be the final moments of the record with the Benny Benassi-produced “Brave.” The song is the most personal of the bunch (aside from the final ode to her newborn son, Knight, entitled “Song for The Baby”), which finds Kelis taking on her divorce, pregnancy, and various other inner demons in a rave-happy, carnal explosion of noisy synthesizers and grinding electronica. “It was crazy. Had a baby, he’s amazing,” she croons across the song’s first verse, “He saved me. And this time, it’s just us.”

An immediate favorite from the get-go, “Brave” is truly what brings Flesh Tone from greatness to the upper echelons of incredible.

The brilliance with Flesh Tone is that Kelis has taken very Top 40 production value (Jean Baptiste, for instance, often works with the Black Eyed Peas) and transformed it into complex, next level electronica with multiple layers and dimension. These aren’t simply three minute dance tracks with catchy, radio-ready choruses, they’re part of a complete album experience providing the soundtrack to a host of stories and emotions.

In short, the best way I can describe this album is to declare it a kind of Confessions on a Dance Floor of the new decade. And that, my friends, speaks volumes.

A late night treat for all my Muusers: Whether it’s the weed, the E, or perhaps a shallow glass of Merlot helping you to settle into a long night’s slumber, I’ve got just the thing to make sure you’ve traveled far, far into dreamworld.

Enter Benny Benassi, notable DJ behind many of today’s hottest club mixes and mashes. Back in 2005, the Italian producer teamed up with his cousin Alle under the monniker Benassi Bros. to release …Phobia, a sublime collection of trance hits that will one day be given a proper review here at MuuMuse as a result of its complete and utter brilliance.

From that album came several singles including “Rocket in the Sky,” released on May 16, 2006. For whatever reason, the song was re-recorded with dance artist Dhany for the single’s release, upping the pitch of the original and somewhat ruining the timeless feel of the track. Accordingly, we will not bother ourselves with that rendition.

Instead we will appreciate the original version, written and recorded by Danish singer Sannie Carlson (also known as Whigfield and on this record as Naan).

For many years now (okay, roughly three), “Rocket in the Sky” has provided the perfect infinite white noise for me during the night hours–often I’ll even wind up falling asleep to the pulsating throb of …Phobia (is that weird?) There’s something altogether entrancing and lulling about the space-age production coupled with the vocoded-to-death vocals–enough to make me crave the song long after I first stumbled onto the album.

I hope you all enjoy this one as much as I do.

DL: Benassi Bros – Rocket In The Sky (featuring Naan)