Commentary to follow…just watch for now!

Fact: The Swedish government puts trace quantities of MDMA in the drinking water in Sweden. Because of this, Swedes feel their emotions with earth-shattering profundity, and have no choice but to make devastatingly beautiful pop music about it.

Fact: What I just wrote was not entirely true. (They use GHB.)

Seriously though, the music coming out of Sweden right now is at least twice as amazing as the next-most amazing thing you’re listening to right now (sorry, “Bruno Mars“). In my new series, Amazing Things I’m Listening to From Sweden, I discuss the best shimmery gloom-pop that our Scandineighbors have to offer, and explain why it’s better than your faves.

The Sound of Arrows – Nova

The Sound of Arrows are attractive Swedish boys who make delirious musical confections and have a track record of re-swizzling excellent tracks like like Gaga‘s “Alejandro” and Alphabeat‘s “Hole In My Heart” into sparkly pop masterpieces. This should be a no-brainer, right? And yet, as likable as “M.A.G.I.C” and “Into the Clouds” were, it never fully resonated with me. Their new single, “Nova,” finally hits all the right notes; it’s a lurching, swirling, wistful slice of synthpop that I can’t stop playing — and given the recent UK success of acts like Hurts, this next stab at success feels like perfect timing.

September – Party In My Head

As a platinum-haired Swedish songbird making happy-sad electro-pop, it’s something of an inevitability that September frequently comes in second to Robyn, her better-known counterpart. But even if September’s music has never been as masterfully evocative as Robyn is at her best, September’s output is refreshingly — consistent. The euphoric thrill of “Resuscitate Me” was a surefire crowd-pleaser, but September’s next Swedish single from her latest LP, Love CPR, is tipped to be “Party In My Head.” It’s an old-fashioned club stormer peppered with Usher-style “Ay!”s and an irresistible sing-song chorus (“I don’t care if the whole club is dead/ ‘Cause the party’s in my head, the party’s in my head”).

Asha Ali – The Beat

An Ethiopian-Swedish singer and writer, Asha Ali‘s breathy, emotive delivery and distinctive lyrics should have made her a big star — but alas, she remains virtually unknown outside of Sweden. Soulful single “Fire, Fire” and summery “Hurricane” set a solid precedent, but she’s hit her stride with “The Beat,” a haunting lo-fi number with hypnotic percussion and wistful vocals.

The Pusher – Blinded By the Dark

From looking at the single artwork, you’d think that The Pusher are a band comprised of those guys your college boyfriend used to have jam sessions with in the student lounge. And the opening moments of “Blinded By the Dark,” to be fair, deliver on the melodramatic title by sounding no different from the derivative post-grunge pablum that stateside acts like Nickelback and Daughtry are currently generating. But give it a minute. By the time that piercing, anthemic pop chorus comes around — a chorus that Erik Hassle would just kill for — it’s easy to see why “Blinded By the Dark” has been topping the Swedish charts.

Firefox AK – Boom Boom Boom

I’ve been having a love affair with Firefox AK for several years now — her debut, Madame, Madame, was decadent with electropop gems like eerie “What’s That Sound” and the jittery “Habibi,” and her sophomore LP, If I Were a Melody, remains as glitchily gorgeous as anything else I heard in 2008. Her most recent single, “Boom Boom Boom,” is perhaps mellower, but no less catchy than her earlier efforts, given its sickly sweet chorus and cool, shiny instrumentation.

(Note that an honorable mention is in order to Erik Hassle’s spectacular new single “Are You Leaving,” which would have topped this list had it not already been featured as a MuuMuse Approved track.)

Last night marked Lady Gaga‘s final sold-out performance at Madison Square Garden on The Monster Ball Tour 2011.

The show, the second of two nights taped for Gaga’s upcoming HBO special in May, was a nearly two and a half-hour extravaganza, as Lady Gaga and her friends traversed the gritty, ghoulish streets of an imagined New York City in an attempt to get to the greatest party in the world: The Monster Ball–all while battling car breakdowns in Brooklyn, bad reception and giant tentacle monster attacks (totes hate when that happens) along the way.

Follow the Glitter Way…

Jenny is officially back on the block!

Last night, Jennifer Lopez released “On The Floor (feat. Pitbull),” the lead single from her upcoming studio album, LOVE?, to iTunes. Since then, the song has climbed to the #1 spot in France, Sweden and Finland, as well as hitting Top 10 in several countries around the world.

Coupled with her digital sales success, Billboard has just confirmed that the song will debut at #40 on the Pop Songs chart, marking her first appearance on the chart since 2007′s “Do It Well” (which peaked at #29). Huzzah!

The “On The Floor” video will premiere on March 3 on VEVO, but we’ve already gotten a special behind-the-scenes sneak peek courtesy of Access Hollywood. Hang tight until the :45 mark to see J-Lo busting some serious moves–she’s still got it!

“On The Floor” arrives nearly one month prior to the release of LOVE?, Lopez’s long delayed seventh studio album due for release on March 29. The record is being produced by Lady Gaga hit-maker RedOne and the legendary chairman and CEO of Island Def Jam, LA Reid.

RedOne recently spoke to Entertainment Weekly last week regarding J-Lo’s upcoming record:

The sound, as you might guess, nods to Lopez’s roots — but it’s more than that. “A little bit of the Latin flavor is infused in it,” RedOne explains, “but I would describe it more as a global sound. It is all about love and covers all emotional sides of Jennifer. She is in a good place.

To top it all off, today happens to be the birthday of her baby twins! Awwww.

Congratulations all around, J-Lo!

“On The Floor (feat. Pitbull)” was released today. (iTunes)

Here at MuuMuse, we like certain things: Stilettos, sexy boys, high fashion, shadow play, things that are Russian, and dramatic shoulder pads. Luckily enough, the boys of Kazaky happen to come pre-packaged with all of these things.

Meet Kazaky, an up-and-coming Ukrainian boy band. Or, as their Facebook proudly decries in mangled English: “Shocking, sexy guys, showing an incredible combination of masculine beauty, plastics and choreography create a show that turns the mind.” Yes, exactly that.

The boys first caught notice back in October with “In The Middle,” a sweat-soaked show of hard-hitting B-boy choreography, Auto-Tuned squeals, and yes, men in high heels.

After conjuring a great deal of attention across the web for the song’s testosterone-fueled clip (over a million views!), the boys released their much anticipated follow-up yesterday: “Love.” (The video was initially meant to be released on Valentine’s Day, but held back due to technical difficulties. Broken heel, perhaps?)

Shot by Yevgeniy Timokhin (and not by Lady Gaga‘s director du jour Nick Knight as one might assume) and styled by Anna Osmekhina (and not Lady Gaga’s stylist Nicola Formichetti, as one might assume), the black-and-white video features even more dancing, more muscles, and more cheek bones. In summary: Think “Single Ladies,” but with more Soviet undertones.

“You want me, you love me, you hate me…I don’t care,” the boys whisper above the stinging, electro beat of “Love.” While the song itself remains staunchly so-so (not a reality show star’s one-off disco track, not yet a full-fledged pop single), the video is as undeniably fresh and fierce as their first.

In time, sociologists and other scholars may go on to credit this burgeoning group for re-conceptualizing the very spheres of masculine and feminine identity in modern society. But for now, I’m just going to opt for the Paris Hilton seal of approval and simply conclude: “That’s hot.”

For more on Kazaky, check out their official website.

Last night, Britney Spears released the highly anticipated video for her latest single, “Hold It Against Me,” directed by Jonas Ã…kerlund. This is an analysis.

Let’s go…

Photo courtesy of SPIN.

Madonna‘s making a serious comeback these days…and she’s not even the one making the music.

After Christina Aguilera‘s (critically panned) homage to “Express Yourself” with the video for “Not Myself Tonight”, and the current brouhaha surrounding Lady Gaga‘s “Born This Way” and its not-so-subtle references to “Express Yourself” and “Vogue,” there’s never been more early ’90′s Madonna permeating the pop scene than in this moment. (Well, except for when she was actually living it.)

Now comes the video premiere for Gossip front-woman Beth Ditto‘s “I Wrote The Book”–one of the four tracks from her upcoming Simian Mobile Disco-produced solo EP.

In an unabashed nod to Madonna’s “Justify My Love,” Ditto finds herself wearily drifting down an empty hotel corridor, luggage in tow, in the opening moments of the brand new clip.

Throw in the ballroom dance of “Vogue” (WORK!), the bed sequences from Truth or Dare, and all the light, mood and shadow of the entire Erotica era (down to the very font!), and BINGO: You’ve got yourself a proper Madonna homage.

This is, hands down, the best celebration of the Queen yet. I love, love, LOVE everything about this!

The Beth Ditto EP will be released on March 8.

Either she’s still reveling in her Grammy Awards victory last night, or we’ve just been experienced a brand new Gaga.

Click above to watch Lady Gaga’s must-see interview on Late Night with Jay Leno last night.

In under twenty minutes, the pop star joked and laughed her way through the incredibly relaxed late night interview, offering an explanation of “Born This Way,” a description of her upcoming album, and–for the first time–an official response to the wave of backlash being hurled against “Born This Way” for sounding too similar to Madonna‘s “Express Yourself” (otherwise known as Madonnagate.)

After proclaiming herself to be the most adoring and loving Madonna fan, Gaga explained that Madge and her team sent over an email upon the song’s release in order to send “their love and support,” leading Gaga to ultimately conclude: “If the Queen says it shall be, then it shall be!” DONE.

As for upcoming promotion, Gaga announced that the Nick Knight (!) directed video for “Born This Way” will be out shortly, as well as an upcoming HBO special for The Monster Ball Tour. (!!!)

Thank God some pop stars are still releasing concerts!

But that’s not even the half of the interview–just wait until Modern Family‘s Sofia Vergara comes out! (WATCH)

She laughs! She jokes! She even makes fun of herself for falling flat on her face in her mega-platform shoes at Heathrow Airport!

Honestly, it’s almost as though “Born This Way” wasn’t just the start of a new chapter in her career, but the signaling of a rebirth for her persona. (Or at the very least, an ever-so-slight return to her cheerier days during The Fame‘s promotion back in 2008.) Maybe three days in an egg was just what the doctor ordered!

Between the Grammy Awards performance, her interview with Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes, and now this?

Blame it on yesterday’s holiday but I’m starting to feel the love, Gaga.