mixtape maestro (2.0)

What happens when Tegan & Sara‘s Sainthood highlight “Alligator”, a dainty ’80′s-disco-tinged number about clingy girlfriends, gets a chance to spend some time on remixing wizard Doctor Rosen Rosen‘s operating table? Just like everything else Rosen puts a scalpel to, it emerges from surgery a far more dramatic electro-pop beast!!

Grab the “Rx” below, followed by MP3′s of the Canadian twin sibs taking on David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel” and Prince’s “When You Were Mine”.

DL: “Alligator (Doctor Rosen Rosen Rx)” (alt)

BONUS DL: “Rebel Rebel (David Bowie Cover)” (alt)

BONUS DL: “When You Were Mine (Prince Cover)” (alt)

On paper, having one of our top guilty pleasure jams of 2009, the Vistoso Bosses‘ unfortunate non-hit “Delirious”, be completely sapped it of it’s appealingly Crayola-hued, “Legend of Zelda”-meets-four-square wispiness for darker electro textures doesn’t seem like it would fly.

Yet, consistently impressive remixer/ producer Doctor Rosen Rosen ultimately makes this revision work, his heavy slabs of spooky synth gloom and typewriter drum machine ticks bringing a sinister heft to lines like “When you look in my eyes/ You make me delirious”, instantly transforming what was once this cutesy (and fairly harmless), teenybop crush ode into the beginnings of an exciting “Fatal Attraction”-for-the-high-school-set big screen thriller.

DL: “Delirious (Doctor Rosen Rosen Remix)” (alt)

“Telephone”, the better of the two Lady Gaga/ Beyonce collaborations to premiere late last year (as well as the official second single pick from LG’s The Fame Monster set), is the latest track for acclaimed remixer Doctor Rosen Rosen to plant his surgical gloves on, and as with everything else the good Doc touches, it’s given a satisfying upgrade.

Under Rosen’s helm, the bright and shiny crackle and pop that made “Telephone”‘s original incarnation veer a little too Britney-esque and chaotic at times, is slightly downplayed for a darker electro-pop pulse, excitingly heightened by quirky, voice-affected breakdowns, fuzzed-out basslines, and a far-too-brief soul clap section around the three-minute mark (plus, it also doesn’t hurt that Beyonce’s portions are more successfully woven in here).

If only we had the power to sway label-heads (which, sigh, we don’t), we’d encourage them to use this version to accompany the forthcoming “Telephone” music video rather than the original.

Grab the MP3 below, followed by a bonus offering of Rosen Rosen’s deliciously moody remix to Weezer’s “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To”.

DL: “Telephone (Doctor Rosen Rosen Rx)” (alt)

Bonus DL: Weezer “(If You’re Wondering If I Want You To) I Want You To (Doctor Rosen Rosen Rx)” (alt)

Serving a sobering re-reminder of not only a Noel Gallagher-featured Oasis now being a solely past-tense entity, but also of Lily Allen’s long-hinted-at threats of an early retirement finally making the crossover into reality, you can’t help but be stricken with a double dose heaping of lump-in-throat sadness when hearing Lily’s solid Live Lounge take on the former band’s gorgeous 2008 ballad “I’m Outta Time”.

Throw in the song’s already hauntingly touching, Lennon-inspired songcraft and the nostalgia element found in Liam’s lyrics (“Here’s a song/ It reminds me of when we were young…”), and it’s almost too much “ending of eras” gloom to have to digest in one sitting.

Catch Allen’s live performances of “Time” and her own latest single, the precious friendship-to-romance document “Who’d Have Known”, below.

“I’m Outta Time”:

“Who’d Have Known”:

DL: “I’m Outta Time (Oasis Cover)” (alt)

Bonus DL: “Who’s Have Known (Doctor Rosen Rosen Remix)” (alt)

Loyal site-watchers have probably gotten the hint that we’re big fans of basically whatever Doctor Rosen Rosen does…and who could blame us, seeing that his darkly shaded, synth-based re-imaginings are always ace.

On his latest project, the good Doc ambitiously opted on remixing the entirety of Lily Allen‘s half-year-old sophomore LP It’s Not Me, It’s You, and damn if he hasn’t gotten us to fall in love with the English pop pixie’s set all over again thanks to his efforts, which basically entail replacing the original’s cutesy, upbeat soundscapes with gorgeously brooding electro-pop arrangements that help plant a clearer focus on her always entertaining penmanship game.

Maestro’s favorites include Rosen’s take on It’s Not Me‘s current single “22″, which makes Allen’s washed-up-at-thirty musings feel even more depressing and hopeless when thrust under a moonlit blanket of gloomy synth-strings, and album-closer/ forgiving-Father ode “He Wasn’t There”, which marries an icy drum march with forlorn lullaby melodics.

An excellent collection that lands as a nice compliment to the original, we can’t help but anticipate what pop album Rosen is eyeing next to give the “Bizarro World” treatment to.

You can snatch up our faves below, but head here to DL the entire set for FREE.

DL: “22 (Doctor Rosen Rosen Remix)” (alt)

DL: “He Wasn’t There (Doctor Rosen Rosen Remix)” (alt)

It’s feels odd that the powers-that-be would decide on pushing Lily Allen’s politically-minded “Fuck You” as <em>It’s Not Me, It’s You‘s next international single seeing as though the track seemed to carry a lot more weight when it premiered online last summer.

Back then (when it was going under the title of “Guess Who Batman”), it’s main target (ol’ President W.) was still in office, giving the song a hefty controversy buzz, and the kiddie-TV candy-pop beat that formed the cut’s musical foundation felt like an exciting sneak peak to how Allen’s then-still mysterious, ska/ reggae-bypassing sophomore album was going to sound. Twelve months later, both “Fuck You”‘s edge and charm feels lost: Bush is long gone, and the production isn’t as fetching (and now, perhaps a bit too cavity-inducing) now that we’ve had to live with it for a year.

What could Allen possibly do to re-invite some attraction back to a long-tired new single pick? How about align it with a clever enough music video.

Which just so happens to be the case with “Fuck You”‘s accompanying clip: a first-person, day-in-the-life-of concept given a neat twist once “Allen” starts “screwing around” with the universe that surrounds her.

Check out the vid below, then grab Doc Fritz’ “Fossa Nova Remix” of “Fuck You” (from the must-have Lily Allen Remixed free-load collection) afterwards.

DL: “Fuck You (Doc Fritz Fossa Nova Remix)” (alt)

**UPDATE: The always noteworthy Doctor Rosen Rosen recently crafted up his own remix to “Fuck You” and, like pretty much all his other creations, it’s a doozy! Grab it below:

DL: “Fuck You (Doctor Rosen Rosen)” (alt)

Speaking of remixes, here’s a new one fresh out of the OR from Doctor Rosen Rosen. The good Doc‘s latest patient is none other than ’09 French alt/pop highlights Phoenix and their contender for Best Single of ’09, “Lisztomania”.

Here, Rosen casts off the original’s boppy sunniness completely, opting to shroud Thomas Mars’ perky emotings instead in a mesmerizingly mood-ish mix that interweaves downbeat dance textures, pinches of classical riffs, chopped vocal snippets and haunting Gregorian chorale.

It might not be the most uplifting remix, but the pensive melodrama of Rosen’s score masters a noir-y elegance that’s definitely got our ears satisfied.

DL: “Lisztomania (Doctor Rosen Rosen)” (alt)

Here, Doctor Rosen Rosen (the man behind last year’s deliciously dramatic remixes of Britney Spears’ “Womanizer” and Mariah Carey’s “I’ll Be Lovin U Long Time”) puts on his remixing surgical gloves and attempts to alleviate the headache-inducing annoyance that is Eminem’s latest by giving it an electro-pop makeover.

The results? Let’s just say that a few doses of the Doctor’s electronic blurts and squiggles boogie was all we needed to muster up the strength to get back on the “excited for Relapse” bandwagon.

Side Note: We admire the fact that Em has once again brought longtime hook girl choice Dina Rae back to our attention, but wasn’t the singer at one point supposed to be launching a solo career? She’s got the chops (and more importantly, some noteworthy industry pals with their own labels and things), so what gives?

DL: “We Made You (Doctor Rosen Rosen Remix)” (alt)

After getting some web attention with summer cut “Eat Pray Fuck”, a George Michael-esque lost soul ode built on twinkly electronic beats, Brooklyn-based singer/ songwriter/ producer Doctor Rosen Rosen (the winking nod to Fletch is appreciated) is now set to drop a follow-up single in “Weekends”, another ’80′s-reminiscent pop number (this time the influence seems to be INXS).

It’s a little hard to follow the song’s story but what is clear is that someone’s been caught cheating and it’s resulted in broken heart-fueled anger and frustration, a little physical tussling (“Get your hands off my arm/ I’ll explain baby you’re wrong”) and some stinging vengeance spewings (“Let me introduce you to the future…She tastes much better than you”). As the soap operatic melodrama is played out, Rosen cooks up a moody musical backdrop to match, combining an edged industrial stomp with mystical atmospheric washes.

It’s a solid offering (hit up his Facebook page to hear another Maestro favorite, “What You Want”) that’s got us smelling a new dark prince of alt-pop to start rooting for.

(Photography by Nikolas Redzaj)

DL (a temporary link): “Weekends” (YFH)

As an added bonus, grab Rosen’s remix of Mariah Carey’s “I’ll Be Lovin’ U Long Time” below:

DL: “I’ll Be Lovin’ U Long Time (Doctor Rosen Rosen Remix)” (YFH)