"Your Dad's Black Honda Was a Maybach"

After a weekend off the grid, the GWDJ crew is back just in time for 4th of July festivities. And what better way to slide back into the daily music routine than a Gryffin remix of a Kygo track. Admittedly, I was lukewarm on the original version back in late April, but Gryffin's version is a different story. While it still has that chopped up, remix feel to it, the added tempo and dissection of Ellie's vocals as a sample worked really well. Similar to the original, the remix gets off to a quiet start as it gradually builds energy toward the subdued, Chill House drop. The gentle ebb and flow of the chords post-drop was a nice touch too. It's a rare example of an EDM heavyweight doing justice to the original, rather than trying to really hard to out perform the original. Give it added listens on Spotify or iTunes if you feel so inclined...#FirstTime



Kygo feat Ellie Goulding - First Time (Gryffin Remix)

VIdeos of the Week May 27th

Like many weeks, this one was ruled by a slew of new high profile EDM released. My personal favorite of the bunch was Odesza's Late Night video put together by some of their most adventure seeking fans. Whether it's jumping out of planes, dangling feet off of cliffs or scaling mountains, the experience they put together was pretty awesome. Nipping at the heels of #1 was Kygo and Ellie's video for their recent collabo First Time. Plenty of sorrow and memories mixed with fire and ashes, which makes for an emotional video. Rounding out the EDM videos is Martin Garrix and Troye Sivan's new one for There For You. Shot in beautiful San Francisco, they couldn't have picked a better setting for their new track. #ImBiased

Outside of EDM, it was cool to see an updated trailer for Marvel's next money pot, Spiderman: Homecoming. It's going to be hard to continue the roll the franchise, but they've got an optimized formula for making movies that has everyone eating out of the palms of their hand. And round out the top five was a hell of duet from John Legend and Gallant. If you weren't already considering seeing John in concert, you should reconsider that decision because Gallant will be joining him as the opener. Their rendition of In the Room was well worth the price of admission...#DarknessAndLight

Odesza Fan Created Video for Late Night

Kygo feat Ellie Goulding - First Time (Video)

Martin Garrix & Troye Sivan - There For you (Video)

Spiderman: Homecoming (Trailer)

John Legend & Gallant Perform Overload In the Room

Photo Credit: YouTube

"Lovers for the First Time, Running All the Red Lights"

Last week there were rumors of a Kygo and Ellie Goulding collabo. This week those rumors and for a lot of fans, wishes, came to fruition in the form of First Time. It may not have the ceiling that It Ain't Me had, but you really can't go wrong with Ellie's raspy vocals over a smooth Kygo beat. I will admit that I was sucked in more by the repeat-ability of the lyrics than the beat, which isn't normal for a Kygo track. It didn't have quite the tropical flair of past beats, but it probably didn't need to with Ellie steering the ship the right direction. Don't get me wrong, it's a solid track that's sure to make waves due to the sheer star power and novelty of the collaboration, but it's not my favorite. Maybe you'll like it me than me, but I'm on to the next one, staying optimistic that he'll find a way to navigate around anything resembling a sophomore slump...#FirstTime



Kygo feat Ellie Goulding - First Time

Videos of the Week July 31

This week's top 5 trends toward music videos, but it features a solid dose of comedy for variety. Led by the talented wedding singers from Phoenix, AZ, Key & Peele opened up our imagination with the help of 2 Chainz. By open up our imagination I mean provided new lyrics and incredibly sub-par vocals, which was more train wreck entertainment than anything. On a similarly silly note, Fallon and Tom Cruise continued a trend of really entertaining Lip Sync Battles. It's tough to top Jimmy's showmanship, but Tom Cruise has been around the block a few times and knows very well how to play to a crowd.

Tough to pick a top video of the week, but seeing that Thomas Jack's new single is my current infatuation, I'll go with Rivers. Bonus points for the tropical scenery as I'm currently blogging from the Baja peninsula and soaking up similar cliff diving experiences in crystal clear water. Following close behind is The Weeknd's addictive new single that I can't seem to turn off anytime it comes on. Despite being decades behind on hits and number one singles, you can't deny he has a similar MJ-esque skill set. And in case you were curious how powerful love can be, check out the super powers that Ellie Goulding and Tarrus Riley put on display in Major Lazer's new video...#Powerful
Major Lazer feat Ellie Goulding - Powerful (Video)

Key & Peele feat 2 Chainz - Absorption

Thomas Jack - Rivers (Video)

Tom Cruise & Jimmy Fallon Lip Sync Battle

The Weeknd - Can't Feel My Face (Video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

"When You Touch Me, It's so Powerful"

In case you didn't already have enough incentive to go out and cop Major Lazer's new album Peace is the Mission, here comes yet another single to add to the mountain of recent ones. It's way more pop than you're used to with the characteristically bubbly tribal rhythms of Diplo's crew, but it speaks to their versatility. They don't make a type of music other than good music, which is something many other niche artists who know one path to success can't claim.

Sure, it helps the Ellie Goulding and Tarrus Riley bring the heat vocally on Powerful. While the beat is usually the reason you tune in to hear Major Lazer, it does a good job of providing enough glue to hold together the vocals in this case. Peace is the Mission hits iTunes tomorrow and my only beef with the album is that it's nine songs. For you visual folks, check out the lyric video below for Powerful or hit the Soundcloud link if you're using headphones on mobile...#PeaceIsTheMission


Major Lazer feat Ellie Goulding & Tarrus Riley - Powerful

Ellie Goulding Just Owned Hozier's Take Me to Church

Wow...plain and simply WOW! It's hard to imagine anyone on earth singing Take Me to Church as well as Hozier did on the original. Then Ellie Goulding took to the mic and blessed the track with her raspy vocals, providing a new take on a modern day classic. It's most interesting to how two different vocal deliveries and pronunciations on words throughout the track create a completely different listening experience. My only question is, where's the duet? I mean Sam Smith and John Legend made it happen, why can't Hozier and Ellie Goulding get together?...#TakeMeToChurch

Ellie Goulding - Take Me to Church (Hozier Cover)

Videos of the Week November 14th

Interesting mix of Hip Hop and EDM for this week's top 5. Shady Records made a big splash with their lengthy cypher that is being used to create momentum toward the new Shady XV Compilation. Along the same lines of stand out performances, anybody who had any doubt in Logic making it big time needs to watch his performance on Fallon. The kid can rock a mic, that much I know.

On the EDM front, Ellie & Calvin delivered an emotional video for their latest single Outside. On the other end of the wild spectrum we have Steve Aoki's new one. The video is so incredibly Will i am it's not even funny. The futuristic tech with plenty of crazy futuristic CGI mixed in. And to top it all off, how about a slice of silly thanks to Jimmy Fallon and Channing Tatum. I might as well carve out a permanent spot on the weekly top 5 for something related to the Tonight Show as it continues to set the bar higher and higher for late night television...#LateNightFallon
Calvin Harris feat Ellie Goulding - Outside (Video)

Shady CXVPHER

Steve Aoki feat Will i Am - Born to Get Wild (Video)

Jimmy Fallon & Channing Tatum Play Box of Lies

Logic Performs I'm Gone on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week March 28th

Really the only thing you need to take away from this week's round of videos is that their is going to be a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie....and it's produced by Michael Bay. I'll let that sink for in a minute for all the 1980s kids in the audience who rocked every action figure and memorabilia known to mankind. I'm not sold on the fact that Michael Bay will have an appreciable effect on the overall movie since he's had hit and misses in the past, but his recent string of Transformer movies has the arrow pointed in the right direction.

In other news, you need to watch Jimmy Fallon and Russell Crowe cut it up last night singing Johnny Cash's Folsom Prison Blues. As mentioned earlier in the week, Sam Smith needs to be a name in your musical vocabulary. Ellie Goulding is still adorably infectious and Krewella remains the artist I'd call first if I wanted to throw a killer rager...#PartyMonster
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Directed by Michael Bay) (Trailer)

Russell Crowe and Jimmy Fallon Sing Folsom Prison Blues

Ellie Goulding - Beating Heart (Video)

Sam Smith - Stay With Me (Video)

Krewella - Party Monster (Video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

Goodness Gracious That's a Dope Remix

Well, you can check Ellie Goulding off the list of talented vocalists that The Chainsmokers have blessed with a remix. If you missed the original version, Ellie recently put together some visuals to highlight her sixth single off Halcyon, which has sold about 700k copies in the UK...

The remix on the other hand is clean in the way that it compliments the original vocals. It doesn't attempt to steal the show, it does what a good remix should do by accentuating the best parts of the original. Yet, it gives the track a second lease on life and provides a vehicle to reach a different demographic. *SLOW HAND CLAP* The track has gotten just over 100K plays on Soundcloud in about 24 hours. Well done Alex and Drew, keep up the good work...#GoodnessGracious

Ellie Goulding - Goodness Gracious (Chainsmokers Remix)

Videos of the Week January 10th

Bit of a random grab bag of videos this week led by the exciting news of Sam Smith's upcoming album. If he can put together anything close to the quality of music that he has so far, he should be in the discussion for album of the year. Most exciting video without a doubt was the lil 12 yr old Justin who went onstage at Jay Z's Greensboro, NC tour stop. What an awesome feeling to go up and spit his verse acapella. In other news, I continue to be a huge buyer of all that Timeflies does and I'm still a big fan of EDM and Ellie Goulding. In case you missed it, Timeflies released all of their Timeflies Tuesday tracks for the cost of one Facebook like, which is a hell of a deal...#StartedOnATuesday
Sam Smith - The Lonely Hour (Album Trailer)

Hardwell feat Matthew Koma - Dare You (Video)

Ellie Goulding - Goodness Gracious (Video)

Timeflies - Ride (Acoustic)

Photo Credit: YouTube

Ellie Goulding Covers the Hell Out of Justin's Mirrors

Man just when you thought Justin Timberlake couldn't be topped at his own ballad, here comes Ellie Goulding outta nowhere. Whoever at BBC One was instrumental in making this happens deserves an extraordinary amount of dap. For added benefit, check the in-studio video below of the performance...oh and mind the three backup singers who helped it out...
The definition of a cover is taking a great song and making it your own. While I wouldn't say Ellie transformed it into something magical, she sure as hell put her stamp on his with her angelic voice. Now we get to wait for Justin to either react in admiration or call her up for a collabo. Selfishly I hope we get the latter...#Mirror

Found at Fistintheair.com

Ellie Goulding - Mirrors (Justin Timberlake cover)

"Light it Up Like We're the Stars of the Human Race"

Leave it to Tiesto to lay down the perfect electronics to bring Ellie Goulding's latest single, Burn, to another level. To give some background on the original, press play below...
It's safe to say that the original was a pretty dope track in it's own right, but Tiesto's remix goes in a much different, equally awesome direction. At first, it sounds like a candlelight version of the track, then the drop hits and the synths kick into full gear. Safe to say, this is probably one of my top 10 favorite Tiesto remixes, which says a lot. And we gonna let it...#Burn

RT @ClubLifeMyLife: @tiesto's remix for @elliegoulding #Burn is so beatiful and emotional! Can't stop listen to it! https://t.co/PVnIoGZzpU

— Tiësto (@tiesto) July 28, 2013

Ellie Goulding - Burn (Tiesto Remix)

Ellie Rocks Out I Need Your Love Acoustic

Rarely does an EDM track translate seamlessly to an acoustic version, but then they're not all sung by the beautiful and talented Ellie Goulding. You'll probably recognize the track as Calvin Harris's I Need Your Love, but in case you don't check the visuals below...
With a little piano and an acoustic guitar, Ellie's serene vocals shine through like there's not a cloud in sight. Her soft, raspy delivery is so distinct that you'd be hard pressed to find another comparable singer. Even though Hip Hop and Dance music is the capitol I push on a daily basis, I wouldn't hesitate to see Ellie live in concert...#INeedYourLove

Ellie Goulding - I Need Your Love (Live Acoustic)

Ellie Presses Alt-J and Tesselates

One thing I really appreciate as a constant consumer of music is when an artist that I follow covers a song from an artist that I've never heard of. For example, I'll always have a special place in my heart for Kid Cudi who randomly sampled LCD Soundsystem's Dance Yrself Clean in his track All That Talk. Little did he or I know that his mash up would lead me to being a devout follower of LCD and a fateful night at Philly Cruise Terminal where I got to witness LCD in what I still regard as the most memorable concert I've ever attended.

I use that example to preface Ellie Goulding's recent cover of Alt-J (∆)'s track Tesselate. Prior to the cover I had no idea Alt-J (∆) existed and now I have an appreciation for the British Rock quartet. Below is the original version of their single that was released last summer...

The original is more of a mellow Indie track that Ellie managed to turn into an even mellower jazz cover. Between Ellie's angelic vocals and the saxophone interlude around the 1:30 mark, it's an extremely well done version. Feel free to cool out to this one or at the very least burn it on a cd for your parents because they'll appreciate that their kid doesn't just listen to noisy music with bad language...#Tesselate

Ellie Goulding - Tesselate (Alt-J (∆) Cover)

Videos of the Week April 19th

Going off the reservation a bit with more of a pop vibe on this week's video post. On first glance, it's great to see Macklemore and Ryan Lewis continuing their independent assault on the music industry with Can't Hold Us. The sheer fact that they went to six continents to film the seven minute video lets me know they've got their might right and understand that success isn't guaranteed forever.

Add to that a full Drake set at the Jordan Brand Classic and a couple pop videos that are getting plenty of love on the blogosphere, and you've got a wide range sounds this week. On a quick side note, it's a little ridiculous that Psy's new Gentleman video has over 167 million views in less than a week. Is the video really that interesting??...#Gentleman
Macklemore & Ryan Lewis feat Ray Dalton - Can't Hold Us (Video)

Drake Live at the Jordan Brand Classic

Calvin Harris feat Ellie Goulding - I Need Your Love (Video)

Lana Del Rey - Summer Wine (Video)

Psy - Gentleman (Video)

Videos of the Weeks February 1st

It's that time folks, the one week of the year where the world opens up their mind to television commericals. Knowing that, it's no surprise a lot of companies are trying to beat people to the punch by doing teasers or trailers to their Super Bowl ads. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to the @SamsungMobileUS El Plato Supreme commercial. Long story short, they're "doing a commercial for the Big Plate featuring the San Francisco 50-1ers and the Baltimore Black Birds."

Along the same lines I appreciated @JerryRice's hint of comedy with the @VanHeusen Style in Training commercial with @funnyordie. I decided to go pop on the music videos this week, but @CalvinHarris's live set at the X-games was definitely worth skimming through. On a more serious note, my thoughts and prayers go out to Caleb Moore's family for his tragic death following the snowmobile accident during an X-Games event...#RIP

Paul Rudd & Seth Rogen Samsung Super Bowl Commercial (Teaser)

Steve Young, Jerry Rice & Matthew Stafford Funny or Die Commercial

One Republic - If I Lose Myself (Video)

Ellie Goulding - Explosions (Video)

Calvin Harris Live Set at the X-Games

"Baby Don't Forget My Name When the Morning Breaks Us"

You know what, it's a shame @elliegoulding and @skrillex broke up because they make great music together. Even though their split was amicable and due to distance, it makes you wonder if future collaborations will possible.

Ironically their new track Bittersweet is centered around breaking up. The somber, emotional tone is perfectly fitting for the newest episode in the teen angst driven Twilight series. With Twilight Breaking Dawn 2 hitting theaters this weekend, I would imagine a lot more tweens are going to be going to iTunes in search of the soundtrack.

If you're a Dubstep fan, you're probably going to listen to the track below and think to yourself, how in the hell was Skrillex involved in this track? The only hint of electronics on the track is the reversed sample, which is similar to what he did with Ellie's vocals on Summit. If anything I gained a new appreciation for Skrillex's genius on Bittersweet because the track was well put together and a complete 180 from his usual music. Anybody who can manage to make rave quality dance music and turn around and help craft a beautiful ballad deserves some dap...#Versatility

Ellie Goulding - Bittersweet (prod by Skrillex) (iTunes)

"I Need to Be Free With You Tonight, I Need Your Love"

With less than a month until @CalvinHarris's new album 18 Months drops on October 29th, his steady stream of hits is showing no sign of letting up. His newest single I Need Your Love features everyone's (including me) favorite up and coming vocalist @elliegoulding. The playful synths, emotional lyrics and soothing pop rhythms hit the spot and serve to create a very likable track.

The coolest thing about the single is that all parties involved were able to share the love on the track. What I mean is it'll also be on Ellie's upcoming album Halcyon that was released earlier this week on October 5th. Maybe it's a combination of two albums coming out within a month, but I can't remember the last time there was agreement by two camps to have a track on multiple albums. Call it proof that we can exist in a world driven by the mighty $$$...#ExceptionToTheRule

Calvin Harris feat Ellie Goulding - I Need Your Love
|iTunes 1|iTunes 2

"I Just Can't Keep Hanging on to You and Me"

In case you've been living under a rock and haven't witnesses the ascension of @elliegoulding to worldwide pop star, here's another chance to hop on the band wagon before her second album drops. This week she took to Soundcloud and extended both her arms out to deliver us a tranquil gem featuring @TinieTempah. There's something innately soothing about her harmonization, but on the flip side she has a raspy alter ego that frequently emerges, which gives her sound a unique twist.

No word yet on when or if Hanging On will surface on her sophomore album, but if it does, she was awfully generous to provide it to us for free. Between the track below and her recent cover of the Weeknd's track High For This (which now has over 595,000 plays), I'm 100% sure I'm a big fan of Ellie. Put it this way, I'd give an arm and a leg to see her and her boyfriend @skrillex perform Summit live together as part of the Full Flex Express tour this summer. We'll see if that comes to fruition, but if not, I'm cool with a new album...#BeggersCantBeChoosers

Ellie Goulding feat Tinie Tempah - Hanging On

|Soundcloud

Ellie Goulding Gets High on The Weeknd

Rarely do cover versions of great tracks come anywhere near the quality of the original. That's why @elliegoulding's version of @theweekndxo's High For You came through the speakers like a breath of fresh mountain air. If you're wondering where the comparison comes from, below is the original version of the track that was featured on The Weeknd's House of Balloons mixtape...

While The Weeknd's version is undeniably soulful and dramatic, Ellie's uniquely melodic harmony is addicting. Equally important to the success of the cover is the influence @xaphoonjones provided behind the boards. The keyboard work he put in on the instrumental is mellow and funky at the same time, which perfectly compliments the vocals.

Right now I'm at a point now where I'm wishing I had more of Ellie's music because her voice has a distinctly beautiful tone. Don't fall behind like me, it's never cool to catch on after the sophomore album...#ByThenItsPop

Ellie Goulding - High For You (prod by Xaphoon Jones)(Weeknd Cover)