“Body Work,” Morgan Page‘s sensational new club anthem recorded alongside Canadian alt-pop crooners Tegan & Sara, has been a steady favorite on my iPod ever since the Club Mix of the song first premiered back in December. Seriously…obsessed.

And judging by the newest versions that just cropped up this week, it’s unlikely that the song will be leaving my playlists anytime soon.

Yesterday, the acclaimed DJ released the Album Mix of “Body Work,” which replaces the scorching electronica of the Club Mix with lush, trance-like beats, as well as gorgeous new vocals in the bridge.

It’s a much less frantic take on the track, yet it proves just as brilliant–in fact, it’s even better!

Page also provided his blessing on two other excellent mixes: The Lazy Rich remix, a dark, scrambling electro-attack with one hell of an explosive breakdown, and the Richard Dinsdale mix, a deeper House production.

All in all, an impressive package. (Get your head out of the gutter, I’m talking about the single release.) So drop what you’re doing and listen to all the mixes now!

Morgan Page feat Tegan & Sara – Body Work (w/Remixes) by morganpage

“Body Work (Album Version)” was released on February 7. (iTunes)

And now for something COMPLETELY AMAZING.

American House/Electro producer Morgan Page has been igniting dance floors across the country for the past few months thanks to “In The Air,” the monolithic anthem (and easily one of year’s best dance songs) featuring production by BT, Sultan & Ned Shepard and a hypnotizing vocal assist by Télépopmusik‘s Angela McCluskey.

Enter Canadian indie folk-pop duo Tegan & Sara, who’ve seen their own fair share of success in the EDM world after their stunning collaboration with Dutch DJ Tiesto in 2009, “Feel It In My Bones.”

Clearly the talented sisters have developed a bit of a thirst for a thumpin’ BPM, because they’ve headed right back into the studio with Morgan Page to craft “Body Work,” a brand new cut from Page’s forthcoming 2012 studio record. The result of the collaboration? Transcendence.

“You do your body work/I feel my pulse working overtime,” the girls sing as the track dives into Page’s almighty hands-in-the-air beats. As with “Feel It In My Bones,” the girls’ jagged vocals provide the perfect contrast against the throbbing House pulsations. It’s an absolute smash, destined to dominate across dance floors, stadiums and arenas worldwide in 2012.

Really though: If this doesn’t provide the motivation for some serious body work, nothing will.

GET READY TO SWEAT!

Morgan Page feat. Tegan and Sara – Body Work (Club Mix) by morganpage

“Body Work (feat. Tegan & Sara)” was released to Beatport on November 30. (iTunes)

Oh…when you call my name!

Tove Styrke is a Swedish pop star. After rising to fame with a third place finish on 2009′s Swedish Idol, the gorgeous 18-year-old chanteuse released her self-titled LP in 2010, featuring production by fellow Swedes Janne Kask, Peter Ågren and Patrik Berger (known best for penning last year’s heaven-sent slice of sad disco, Robyn‘s “Dancing On My Own.”)

Now, the singer has just unleashed a brand new beat: “Call My Name,” an incredibly infectious electro-pop ditty again produced by collaborators Kask & Ågren.

“I was a rebel even as a little girl, I’ve been a loner ever since I can remember,” the lil’ punk-ette preaches off the top of her sizzling new single. With its twinkling synth-pop, slightly rock-tinged production and Styrke’s indie-pop friendly vocals, “Call My Name” almost plays like Swede-pop take on Tegan & Sara‘s punchy collabo with dance titan Tiësto…which is a very good thing!

Styrke’s latest is a luscious end-of-summer synth-pop jam…I’m LOVING it! With any luck, “Call My Name” should be leading up to a follow-up record in the same musical vein.

Oh–and if you like the song, don’t forget to tweet with the hashtag “#CallMyName.” She’ll make a music video if you get it trending!

Thanks to Muuser Myles K. for the heads up on this track!

Tove Styrke’s debut LP was released in the US on July 22. (iTunes)

As always, one of MuuMuse’s favorite remixers Dr. Rosen Rosen has returned to the mixing board with a healthy dose of delicious, downtempo electronica essential for immediate relief.

This time the medicine comes in the form of Tegan & Sara‘s new single, “Alligator.” If you like this, there’s much more where that came from: The duo recently announced a 17-track collection of “Alligator” remixes on iTunes out now.

There are truly a dozen or more brilliant moments within this mix, so please–don’t forget to take a dose!

DL: Tegan & Sara – Alligator (Dr. Rosen Rosen Rx)

Oh, 2009. What music to my ears! It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…and one of the greatest years in Pop music since–well, since 2007.

Sorting out this list was truly difficult. All I want to do is reach out my arms and squeeze all of these little albums together for one, snugly show of musical appreciation. Honestly, fabulous year in music. It’s totally not fair to list you all in descending order based on quality, but hey…people love that shit. Just remember: You’re all winners in my book!

Well, except for you in the back there. You’re ugly.

Without further ado…

—-

40. Leona Lewis – Echo
39. Electrik Red – How To Be A Lady Vol. 1
38. Rupaul – Champion
37. Esser – Braveface
36. David Guetta – One Love

35. The XX – XX
34. Kelly Clarkson – All I Ever Wanted
33. Amerie – In Love & War
32. Mariah Carey – Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel
31. Blake Lewis – Heartbreak on Vinyl

30. Ciara – Fantasy Ride
29. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz!
28. Imogen Heap – Ellipse
27. The Gossip – Music For Men
26. Junior Boys – Begone Dull Care

25 .Cheryl Cole – 3 Words
24. Y.A.S. – Arabology
23. Amanda Blank – I Love You
22. Frankmusik – Complete Me
21. Annie – Don’t Stop

20. The Saturdays – Wordshaker
19. Little Boots – Hands
18. Pet Shop Boys – Yes
17. Shakira – She Wolf
16. La Roux – S/T

15. Nadia Ali – Embers
14. Utada – This Is The One
13. Lily Allen – It’s Not Me, It’s You
12. Sally Shapiro – My Guilty Pleasure
11. Fever Ray – S/T

10. Polly Scattergood – S/T

Painfully under-reported here at MuuMuse, Polly Scattergood’s debut is a weird, warbling pop triumph, complete with broken vocals and quivering falsetto. The album, which brings to mind a cross between Fiona Apple, Regina Spektor, and Kate Bush, takes a neurotic, autobiographical dive into the perils of pills and psychosis.

Just please…don’t touch her.

9. Miike Snow:  Miike Snow

MuuMuse Review

Looking back, the surprise wasn’t that the Swedish hit-making duo Bloodshy & Avant would come up with some brilliant tunes on their own venture into the music scene, but that the sound they would produce would be like nothing we’d ever heard before. Rock, folk, glittering electronica…throw it all in a blender, and there you have it: The debut album from Miike Snow.

8. Noisettes – Wild Young Hearts

MuuMuse Review

Trading in the screaming, carnal stomps of their debut LP, What’s the Time, Mr. Wolf?, the Noisettes have returned–and this time, they’re feeling nostalgic.

Keeping the best hooks from the doo-wop era in mind, Shingai Shoniwa and the rest of her UK troupe have produced some of the best feeling, best sounding tunes of the new century with their second LP. Combining classic melodies (“Wild Young Hearts”) with contemporary production (“Don’t Upset the Rhythm”), the band has once again proven themselves as one of the most innovative, musically intriguing acts of the new century.

7. Bat For Lashes – Two Suns

Bat For Lashes’ second LP Two Suns, is a mysterious, ethereal creature.

Inspired by landscapes and created in isolation, the album is as mysterious as it is compelling, providing enough distant howls (“Glass”) and spooky echoes (“The Last Sound”) to make the casual listener want to flick the lights on while listening at night. At the same time, warm, enveloping numbers, including one of the year’s best songs, “Daniel,” keep the album burning bright long after the final embers flicker down.

6. Peaches – I Feel Cream

MuuMuse Review

What else is in the teaches of Peaches? Apparently, a whole lot more than you’d ever expect.

Hitting harder than ever, Peaches’ went for the jugular on her raucous fifth LP, I Feel Cream. While songs like the Donna Summer-esque “I Feel Cream” and “Lose You” hinted toward a next-level variety of disco inspired music-making, the remainder of the album’s punchier numbers, including “Serpentine” and “Trick or Treat,” have since become instant Peaches classics, reminding us that the real Miss Nisker still knows how to hit it hard.

5. Tiësto: Kaleidoscope

In five words…Indie Takes to the Dancefloor.
MuuMuse Review

It’s one of the few albums that ended up sounding as good on the speakers as it does on paper: The King of Trance meets the voices of the independent music scene, from Tegan & Sara, to Metric‘s Emily Haines, to Tilly and the Wall‘s Kianna Alarid, as well as a few familiar faces (Calvin Harris, Sneaky Sound System).

A stunning, slamming body of work (and a whole fuck-load of fun), Kaleidoscope may not have appealed to Tiësto’s trance purist fans, but it sure made music sound better in 2009.

4. Röyksopp: Junior

In four words…Swedish and Nordic Delight.
MuuMuse Review

Röyksopp is probably one of my favorite electronic acts of all time, and with the release of their March effort Junior, it’s becoming easier and easier to explain why.

Perhaps the greatest definition of “smart pop” of the year, the Nordic duo have combined just the right amount of trickling, fluid electronica, heavenly strings, and pounding bass to create some of most savory pop confections of the year. Couple the beats with vocal contributions from some of pop music’s most accomplished Swedish songstresses, including Robyn, Lykke Li, and The Knife‘s Karin Dreijer, and you’ve got a nearly unstoppable collection of intelligent, dancefloor-ready musique.

3. Florence + The Machine: Lungs

In three words…The Beast Within.
MuuMuse Review

Certainly the most impressive artist debut in recent history, Florence + The Machine’s Lungs is an immense collection of macabre, magical music that transcends the limited confines of genre. Not pop, not rock….just a body of music surging with carnal energy and an insatiable rhythm, all thanks to fiery lead singer Florence Welch.

From the stampeding chaos of “Dog Days are Over” to the roar of “Howl,” all the way into the last, glittering notes of “You’ve Got the Love,” Lungs is as close to flawless as a debut could ever sound. Though the word is often overused in modern society (which is a shame), there’s nothing else that can quite describe what comes out from this album aside from “Epic.”

As time goes on, the music grows even sweeter. Just remember to play it louder, louder each time…

2. Rihanna – Rated R

In two words…Radio Killer.
MuuMuse Review

It’s tanking on the charts, it’s only bubbling under on the radio, and it’s her least hit-heavy album ever. But I’ll be damned if, two months after it’s initial leak, it’s not my most played album of the year.

This is 2009′s greatest “album” album; a cohesive product of media frenzy and pent-up emotion. The odds that this album would even be created are shocking as it is. I mean, here’s one of pop’s most commercially viable, radio-friendly artists, who’s decided to turn full circle and send a big middle finger to the label that created her by making a daring, haunted album full of anger and anguish without a trace of that Good Girl Gone Bad formula. Want to hear another “Umbrella”? Well, fuck off. You’re not finding it here.

Killer, damning cuts such as “Hard,” “Wait Your Turn,” and “G4L,” all take Riri to a darker, confident place than ever before, leading to one of the greatest surprises of the year.

It’s Rihanna’s first artistic statement, and for that, she’s earned my full attention.

One more time for the year: VIVA LA RIHANNOIR!

1. Lady Gaga: The Fame Monster

In one word…Monster.
MuuMuse Review

With the release of a certain single back in October, Gaga managed to turn my hatred on its head, cause me to issue a public apology, and quickly morph me into a full-fledged, unapologetic fan.

While I’ve already gone through it in my review of the album, it bears repeating: The Fame Monster is indeed a monster. Eight perfect slices of hook-laden pop, all wrapped in a delicious ’50′s-horror inspired visual campaign. Murderous live performances, a stellar accompanying national Monster Ball tour…it’s a beast with such bite that Alejandro’s still weeping himself to sleep at night. The Fame Monster is a stunning addition to the growing back catalog of the 21st century’s most important and influential entertainer.

In a sea of gangsters, liars and thieves, of false prophets and seedy politicians, Lady Gaga is the only public figure I can truly hold accountable for having followed through on her campaign promise: She is saving the world, one sequin at a time.

As if there were any question, 2009 shall heretofore be known as the Year of the Gaga.

Photo by Pamela Littky.

Evenin’, lovelies.

So I just got back home today, and while I was flipping through the latest issue of Time Out: New York (which is, for reasons beyond me, still coming to my home on a weekly basis despite not having ordered a subscription), I happened upon an interview with Tegan Quin of Tegan & Sara. It’s very short and cute, so I suggest you follow the link to read it all at the source. My personal favorite moment? The ending:

Do you have a few more minutes to talk? I have so many questions about morality and romance that need answering.
Well, Rick [the publicist] is coming around the corner, so you’d better pick your favorite question.

Oh, man. I’m panicking.
I believe in you.

What’s your favorite Bryan Adams song to karaoke to? Shit.
[Laughs] Oh God. We do a lot of karaoke to Bon Jovi. If I had to sing to a Bryan Adams song… “Summer of ’69” is kind of great. We toured with Bryan Adams, like, eight years ago in Germany. I know it sounds totally weird and random. We were doing other dates, and it just came up, and were like, “Yeah, totally.” And he was playing to, like, 15,000 people! And let me tell you, it would silence anyone to hear 15,000 people, including Bryan, singing “(Everything I Do) I Do It for You.” I heard that song in grade five for the first time, and it changed my life.

Tegan and Sara’s Sainthood will be released this coming week. Have you read the MuuMuse review yet?

Feel like doing some karaoke? Try Online Karaoke.

Photo by Pamela Littky, courtesy of the label.

I am, by no means, a rock music aficionado.

And by “rock,” I mean anything primarily driven by the sound of a guitar. As a friend of mine joked, let’s face it: If it doesn’t have an electronic hand-clap, I’m sort of at a loss.

That isn’t to say that I dislike anything that isn’t easily characterized by how squeaky the synthesizers sound. Take for instance, Tegan and Sara, a band that has always served as a strong exception in my music catalog. Be it their cutting, urgent lyricism or unbelievably catchy choruses, I’ve always had a soft spot for their indie-pop, alt-folk, whatever-you-want-to-call-it sort of sound.

On October 27, the Canadian duo will debut their sixth studio album, Sainthood. Produced by Death Cab For Cutie‘s Chris Walla, the man behind their 2007 release The Con, and Howard Redekopp, the man behind 2004′s So Jealous, the sisters sought to create a sound somewhere in between the two, as suggested by Tegan in an interview with MyMag: “I think the fan favorites in terms of records have been our last two. So we brought in the production teams from both and made a hybrid of sound.”

Photo by Pamela Littky, courtesy of the label.

According to the duo’s press release, the album was “inspired by emotional longing and the quiet actions we hope may be noticed by the objects of our affection. Sainthood is about obsession with romantic ideals.” As a result, the album feels more serious than past efforts. It’s heavier emotionally and musically, utilizing jagged stitches of electronica (as with lead track “Arrow”) and jolting guitar riffs (“Hell”) to characterize the darker themes of the album (at times perhaps even a bit too mired in production).

Still characterized by sharp, repetitive choruses and driving bass lines, Sainthood is purely the stuff of Tegan and Sara, if not a bit more open to experimentation and electronic indulgence: The punk-esque rawk of “Northshore” crashes in unexpectedly seven songs into the album, only to then be contrasted by the chilly, paced rhythm of “Night Watch!”, one of the two songs reportedly written about their parents.

Favorites include “The Ocean,” which tacks together a hastened drum beat with some of the album’s most poignant, breathless lyrics: “Stop crying to the ocean, stop crying over me, stop worrying over nothing, stop worrying over me…So, it’s been so long since you said, ‘Well, I know what I want, and what I want is right here with you.’” It’s affecting, in the same way Tegan and Sara songs always seem to be.

The piano-marked, perhaps even disco-inspired “Alligator” is likewise irresistible; a hypnotizing array of twinkling bells, high hats, and piano chords, and a hint of maraca (my bad–upon further review, that’s just the sound of the high hat!), while “The Cure” and “On Directing” offer nods to classic Tegan & Sara song construction and lyricism: “All I said to you, all I did for you seems so silly to me now,” Tegan fires off before breaking into a lush chant of “Oh, oh oh!” from just above the speakers.

Rounding out the effort is the album’s gorgeous rallying closer, “Someday,” which meshes an overwhelming display of self-assurance in the face of a break-up (“Might do something I’d be proud of someday, mark my words I’m going to be something someday”), resulting in a palpable sense of uncertainty about the future; perhaps even denial (“I don’t want to know that you don’t want me, I don’t want to know what you’d do without me, I don’t want to know what I’ll be without you, I don’t want to know, I don’t want to know.”)

The result–as with the album as a whole–is nothing short of an emotional triumph, standing strong with some of the finer releases of the year.

Tegan and Sara will be playing four special dates at the end of this month (click here to see the dates), as well as embarking on a massive Canadian and US tour for 2010. Click here to check out the announced Canadian dates.

Purchase more from Tegan & Sara on iTunes | MySpace | Official Website

Arguably one of the world’s greatest trance DJs, Dutch producer Tiesto has continued to redefine the boundaries of trance music with his signature emotive style and arena-ready sound for over fifteen years.

For his fourth major studio release Kaleidoscope, the premiere producer of trance sought some of the music scene’s most dynamic characters, ranging from global superstars (Calvin Harris, Sneaky Sound System, Nelly Furtado) to an assortment of lesser known, left-of-center acts (Tegan & Sara, Bloc Party‘s Kele Okereke, Sigur Ros‘ Jonsi) The result? A powerhouse collection of single-worthy uptempos bursting with indie cred and trance appeal, appealing to both the body and soul.

One standout involves Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado, who had her first taste of dance with her 2006 album, Loose. Replace the generic Timbaland-produced beats of that album with a flurry of glittering, electro-encrusted pulsations, and you’ve got “Who Wants To Be Alone,” a devastatingly addictive dancefloor haunt guaranteed to delight on repeat time and time again.

Other winners include Emily Haines‘ turn on the storming “Knock You Out,” which plays like Ladytron on E, the warm synth pulsations of the Cary Brothers-assisted “Here On Earth,” and “You Are My Diamond,” a throwback to the days of pure, ‘90’s pulsating bliss. The track is made all the better thanks to a shamelessly celebratory, sugary sweet delivery from Kianna Alarid, known best as the lead singer of Tilly and the Wall.

“Feel It in My Bones,” featuring indie darlings Tegan & Sara is perhaps the album’s greatest track, and undoubtedly the epitome of the album’s intentions. As Tiesto’s cool, calculated trance vibrations shudder underneath, Tegan & Sara’s smart-pop sensibility lift the track and create something new; the result becoming a celebration of the art of collaboration.

Simply speaking, there’s not a bad track in the bunch–at least in terms of the vocal offerings. The album’s only drawback can be found in its five instrumental tracks, included as a kind of overcompensating injection of Tiesto trance, lest we somehow forget who’s in charge behind the scenes of all of these guest spots. Sadly, they do little for the album here, aside from providing long, unnecessary breaks between the meat of the album. Skip them, and you’ve got one hell of a solid set.

Kaleidoscope is unlike anything Tiesto has done before (and surely nothing its guests have recorded). In spite of what could have been a risky undertaking (whether or not devoted fans of each genre will come to embrace this album remains to be seen), Tiesto’s fifth studio album is nothing short of excellence–allowing indie music the pulse it never knew it needed and dance music the lyrical sophistication it has so stubbornly ignored. Hearing the two genres come together? Well, that’s why this is nothing short of a musical dream come true.

Kaleidoscope will be released on October 20.

Purchase more from Tiesto on iTunes | MySpace | Official Website