"I Wanna be Your Lover, I Don't Wanna be Your Friend"

It's like clockwork, another Alan Walker remix, another symphony of chords. This time Alan took a swipe at Noah Cyrus's recent single Again with XXXTENTACION. I'm not a huge supporter of anything XXXTENTACION does, but I'll concede the original version of the track has some pop allure to it.

Take that morsel of pop allure and mix it with some melodic progressions and you've got yourself a chill EDM remix. The more I listen to it, the more I appreciate the raspy, Lana Del Rey quality to her voice. If you're a fan of the original, follow the breadcrumbs to Spotify or iTunes to add it to your collection...#NoahCyrusAgain



Noah Cyrus feat XXXTENTACION - Again (Alan Walker Remix)

"Just Let Me Love You When Your Heart is Tired"

When you think about it, it's kind of amazing that Kygo has found such a huge niche in EDM with his mellow, piano driven style. With the masses in EDM trending toward more tempo and more bass, he chose to slow it down and build off a masterful background as a pianist. I never thought I'd be so enthralled by watching someone perform music on the piano, but that all changed when I first watched a video of him performing a song in studio.

His latest creation is a remix of Alan Walker's Tired. The word beautiful doesn't quite do justice to the amount of emotion he's able to impart on the new version. A steady tempo serves as the heart beat of the track, as Gavin James's vocals are able to shine even brighter on Kygo's version. It's a catchy ballad made even catchier with a mellow post-drop chord progression. This one has the ability to melt the stress off a long Monday, so feel free to use it as such on your ride home today or tomorrow...#TiredRemix



Alan Walker - Tired (Kygo Remix)

Videos of the Week May 19th

Plenty of music and a few interesting cameos in this week's top five. Led by two funny and entertaining videos from Big Boi/Adam Levine and Train. Any time you've got Big Boi coming to retrieve his dry cleaning from a disorganized dry cleaning owner Adam Levine, hilarity will ensue. Similarly, any time you toss in cameos from comedians Ken Jeong, George Lopez, Jim Breuer with a Marshawn Lynch appearance, entertainment is on the way. If fiction is more your type, you'll enjoy the storytelling that accompanies Alan Walker's new futuristic video for Tired.

For a sprinkle of culture, how about some #feminism in the house? Needless to say, I'll be watching Wonder Woman's new movie when it comes out in theaters. And yes, she did get her own damn theme song thank you very much. Rounding out this week's top five is an emotional and well-constructed tribute to Paul Pierce. Having it narrated by Kendrick Lamar is about as perfect as it gets too. Tip of the cap to the Clippers for putting that together to commemorate such a legendary career...#ThankYou34

Big Boi feat Adam Levine - Mic Check (Video)

Train - Drink Up (Video)

Alan Walker feat Gavin James - Tired (Video)

Wonder Woman: Rise of the Warrior (Trailer)

Paul Pierce Tribute (Narrated by Kendrick Lamar)
Photo Credit: YouTube

"Lucky for You That's What I Like, That's What I Like"

This is starting to sound like a broken record, but Alan Walker is on such a roll right now, he seemingly can do no harm. Take for example his latest remix of Bruno Mars' That's What I Like. The remix comes armed with the vocal swagger of the original, but add in a soothing chord progression and an ever-so-gentle drop. It finds a way to be chill and uplifting at all once with a few delightful high notes sprinkled in to accentuate Bruno's growing excitement throughout the track. It's not going to shut down the club or anything, but it succeeds in its ability to take an already likeable track up another notch. Give it some love on iTunes or Spotify if you're as smitten as I am...#ThatsWhatILike

Bruno Mars - That's What I Like (Alan Walker Remix)

Alan Walker Goes After the Afterparty

There's heating up NBA Jam style and then there's whatever Alan Walker is after yet another stellar release. At this point on the verge of being convinced that I genuinely like his style of using high-pitched, whiny synths to capture your attention. I wasn't a huge fan of Charli XCX and Lil Yachty's original version of After the Afterparty, but you overlay an ethereal, calming beat and I'm all about the remix. For comparison, check out the video for the original below...



Side note - does anyone else hear Icona Pop when listening to Charli's vocals? Hard for me to distinguish, but they work just fine for a party starter like the one below.

Remix aside, I hope a full length album becomes a reality for Alan in 2017. He's been so consistent at churning out great music, it's about time he makes the leap to super stardom...#AfterTheAfterparty

Charli XCX Ft. Lil Yachty – After The Afterparty (Alan Walker Remix)

Videos of the Week December 9th

This week's top five skewed toward music videos, but there were a few interesting debuts that deserved some love. This week started off on a high note with Jimmy Fallon debuting the new Nintendo Switch on his Tonight Show. Imagine how nerve wracking that must have been to play the game on live tv in front of the game's creator? After the type of pressure, it was fun to turn a page with Party Favor and Dillon Francis's revenge of the nerds montage with their Shut it Down video. If you take away one lesson, it's to not mess with nerds, they'll always find a way to get back.

Then came one of the most exciting trailers I've watched in a long time. The original Guardians of the Galaxy far exceeded my expectations, so seeing Baby Groot teeter on the atomic bomb launch button while being yelled at by Rocket did nothing but pour even more excitement for Vol 2. Then came the weird music videos, led by Childish Gambino's trippy VR video for Me and Your Mama. I'm still trying to wrap my head around whether or not attending the Pharos concert at Joshua Tree would have been a good move. Either way, I'm stoked that he's back to releasing new music. And finally, ending the week on an animation high note, Borgore and Juicy J released some equally trippy visuals for Magic Trick. It's hard to visually match the craziness of the beat for the song, but somehow they pulled it off in a kaleidoscope of color and craziness...#MagicTrick
Jimmy Fallon Debuts the Nintendo Switch

Party Favor and Dillon Francis - Shut it Down (Video)

Guardians of the Galaxy Teaser Trailer

Childish Gambino - Me and Your Mama (Pharos VR Video)

Borgore feat Juicy J - Magic Trick (Video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

Alan Walker Knows You're Not Alone

There's something about Alan Walker's mix of wobbly synths that makes his music bleed emotion. Taking it a step further, he always finds vocalists who can match the level of intensity that he brings to the table with his chord progressions. I haven't been able to find any credit to vocals on his new one Alone, but it's every bit what you expected and then some from Alan Walker. Check the newly minted, inspirational visuals below...

I'll put it this way, in a world that's seemingly as divisive as ever, it's nice to see someone preaching acceptance. That's exactly what the underlying message is in Alan's new one that may not have the crazy high ceiling of his previous singles, but that's more of a reflection of how successful his previous singles have been. At this point, I'm getting hoping more than anything that he launches a tour soon because he's made countless contributions to GWDJ Favorites and deserves to be rewarded for that...#Alone

Alan Walker - Alone

Cash Cash's Millionaire Gets an Alan Walker Upgrade

Another week, another reason to mention Alan Walker's name. This time, he put together a feel good mix of Cash Cash, Digital Farms, and Nelly's Millionaire. I feel like the remix is below is where I'm starting to see more of his personality as an artist as he ventures from his tried and true formula of EDM power ballads. Rather than the long, vibrant chords, his remix of Millionaire takes on more of a sing-along vibe that is marked by a fun, horn led post-drop breakdown. It's as pop as pop comes, but it fits the EDM fusion trend that artists like Big Gigantic and GRiZ are leading. It's already a fun party track, but Alan took it a much more chill direction. If you like what you hear head on over to iTunes or add it to the that fresh new Alan Walker Spotify playlist you've been curating...#Millionaire

Alan Walker Reimagines Your Favorite Weekend Anthem

At this point, it'd be an understatement to say that Alan Walker is a breakout candidate. His releases of Faded and Sing Me To Sleep have jolted him onto the scene and generated a ton of buzz. That buzz was amplified a bit more this week when he released a remix of Coldplay and Beyonce's Hymnn For the Weekend. Check the video below for a refresher if you're not exactly sure which Coldplay hit I'm talking about...

Pretty jubilant track right? Well, Alan layered in some of his wobbly, celebratory synths to turn it into a head nod worthy remix. Add to that Beyonce's sparkling vocals that seem like they were made for the remix. Get used to hearing the name Alan Walker because it doesn't seem like this streak of great music is stopping any time soon...#HymnForTheWeekend

Alan Walker vs Coldplay - Hymn For the Weekend (Remix)

Videos of the Week June 3rd

While music mostly dominates the top five this week, there are a few clear standouts. First and foremost, seeing Pharrell's reaction to Maggie Rogers' demo track at NYU's Clive Davis Institute in late March was genuinely awesome. I say that because his facial expressions show how moved he was when listening to her song. Really awesome to hear him interpret how well she conveyed her journey through music.

In the music video world, Alan Walker continued his come up with a video for his latest single Sing Me To Sleep. It sounds a lot like Faded, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. In other news, Timeflies managed to bring back college in their fratastic video for Once in a While and Martin Solveig threw a coastal/desert dance party in his video with Tkay Maidza for Do it Right. Rounding out the top five is a special dose of awesome from the amalgamation known as Big Grizmatik. The three headed monster managed to recruit George Clinton to join them on stage and, needless to say, craziness ensued...#BigGrizMatik
Pharrell Reacts to NYU Student Maggie Rogers Singing

Alan Walker - Sing Me To Sleep (Video)

Timeflies - Once in a While (Video)

Martin Solvieg feat Tkay Maidza - Do It Right (Video)

Big GrizMatik (Griz, Big Gigantic & Gramatik) Bring George Clinton on Stage

Photo Credit:YouTube

Alan Walker's Faded Gets the Royal Remix Treatment

Visiting Europe these past two weeks gave me a dose of reality when it comes to music. For one, Lukas Graham's 7 Years is without a doubt the most widely played track on radio. Let's just say it grew on me too. The only other track that compares popularity wise is Alan Walker's Faded. Right before leaving for Europe, I was smitten by track and it was super awesome learning how unoriginal my likeness for the track actually was abroad...smh

Pride aside, the remixes to Faded should only serve as validation for how big the track has become. Seeing not one, but two unique remixes from Tiesto takes validation to a new level. Out of his two remixes, I'm a bigger fan of the deep house mix. Not that the Northern Lights remix is bad or anything, I just feel like the deep house version better carries on the mellow vibe of the original. To each their own, you make the call on your favorite between the six different takes below...#FadedRemixes

Alan Walker's Faded is a Modern Day Classic

First off, I have no clue how I slept on Alan Walker's Fade when it was released a year ago. Mesmerizing doesn't begin to explain the impact of the instrumental. It sits comfortably in that sweet spot between calm and energetic. I'm still in awe that the original beat is available on Soundcloud for free. Check it out if you haven't fallen victim to awe inspiring original...



Now fast forward to a month ago when Alan debuted a new ballad version of Fade at X Games Oslo. The track is appropriately titled Faded and features vocals from Iselin Solheim. I'm still torn on whether or not the vocals are a major boost to the original, but you're not going to hear me complaining. If anything the two versions provides different experiences that cater toward different moods. Fade for zoning out and Faded if you're in the mood for singing along. That being said, go ahead and sing along to the live version debuted in Norway last month...#Faded