Madonna - MDNA (Deluxe)

The highly anticipated 12th studio album is finally here! After the lukewarm reception to her 2008 Hard Candy, she returns to her Dance roots as she did with 2005's Confessions On A Dance Floor. The producers she has worked with this time around are Alle & Benny Benassi, Demolition Crew,  Free School, Indiigo, Martin Solveig, Michael Malih, and William Orbit.

Here is a track by track writeup.

Madonna - Give Me All Your Luvin' (LMFAO Remix)

Hot on the heels of her much hyped Superbowl performance comes the LMFAO remix of the new song that she performed during her set. Sandwiched between "Vogue", "Music", and "Like A Prayer", the LMFAO guys joined her on stage briefly during the performance.

This remix significantly improves upon the original updating the production and increasing the volume on the vocals. LMFAO add a small bit of rap swapping out M.I.A.'s bit of theirs, plus a little towards the end. Nicki's section is still there. This version does lose most of the vocals from the original, however, it just seems to work better this way. This version may have a greater chance of getting radio airplay in the U.S. Additional remixes for the club release are forthcoming.

-Listen to the remix here (YouTube)
-View Madonna's entire Superbowl performance in HD here (YouTube)

Grade: B+

Madonna - Give Me All Your Luvin' (feat. M.I.A. & Nicki Minaj)

This is the lead single off of the Queen of Pop's upcoming 12th studio album MDNA. Produced by Martin Solveig, the song is a return to the Dance/Pop Madonna is usually known for. The song has a distinct retro feel, especially with the "Mickey"-esque chants. Rappers M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj join in on the fun with their respective portions. The song immediately recalls Avril Lavigne's "Girlfriend" from a few years ago that had a remix featuring Lil Mama. This song almost feels like the kid sister of that one. The 'dubstep' break in the middle with the bridge is probably the highlight.

For a lead single, this feels rather anticlimactic. Hopefully this is not a preview of things to come with the new album.

Purchase the song here (iTunes)
Watch the music video here (YouTube)

Grade: B

M.I.A. - Paper Planes

Although this was a single a few months back, this one has just begun to catch on after it was included in the television spots for the movie Pineapple Express. It has begun to garner a considerable amount of radio airplay and digital sales. It entered the top ten of the iTunes chart a couple days ago. In “Paper Planes”, she sings about her own troubles with obtaining a visa. With its The Clash sample and gun shot sounds, this one is very memorable. Some radio stations and video channels have opted to play a version that replaces the gun shots with other sounds. In recent months, M.I.A. had been rather vocal about the fact that this song and video had been censored, taking away from her artistic vision. The sounds were completely eliminated during an appearance on the David Letterman show. M.I.A. was noticeably shocked and bewildered when these quiet popping sounds came in where her gun shots used to be. However, she continued her performance.

This song is finally getting the attention it deserves. Watch and listen to the song here.

Grade: A+

M.I.A. - Jimmy

This is the second single off of her forthcoming album Kala. She draws upon yesteryear's Bollywood for the instrumental portion of her song. Recreating the hypnotic instrumental from the 80's Hindi song "Jimmy Jimmy Aaja Aaja" from the movie Disco Dancer, M.I.A. is ready to go to the clubs, not that she needs much help in the at area. Alternating between talk-singing and actually singing, she also takes time to sing with the original melody of the song. She even uses a little bit of the Hindi refrain from the original. It's very fresh and fun. And her colorful Bollywood-esque music video goes perfectly with the song and pays homage to the classic original.

Grade: A+