Videos of the Week November 10th

Plenty of ComplexCon related videos to dive into for this week's top five. Without a doubt the most interesting video of the past week was the Kobe Bryant and Kendrick Lamar co-interview. It's not everyday you get two superstars from two different types of entertainment in the same room reflecting on how they each rose to greatness. Speaking of greatness, it's refreshing to see N.E.R.D. back onstage pumping out new music. I don't need to sell you on Pharrell's stage presence, but how about that ensemble of dancers on stage? Let's just say whoever decides to see them in concert will be getting the price of admission.

In case you haven't gotten your weekly mix of Dillon Francis, here's your shot at seeing him candidly answer questions submitted from Twitter. There's a reason why he's been given reality shows, even the most simple question can elicit the most interesting responses. This interview did not disappoint and there are plenty of stories to latch onto during the interview hosted by Wired. In case you're itching for an actual music video, ZHU's new Exhale/Stardust video is a characteristically weird watch. Truth be told he's a weird, artistic dude and that shows through in his cinematography too. Rounding out this week's top five is deadmau5's entertaining Aftermovie for his Red Rocks show. In case you weren't in attendance at the show, he debuted a couple tracks and can now preview them via the video. There simply isn't a better venue to take in music and that after movie further cemented that...#RedRocksCO

Kendrick Lamar & Kobe Bryant Talk About Their Evolution to Greatness at ComplexCon 2017

N.E.R.D Perform at ComplexCon

Dillon Francis Answers Twitter Questions From Wired

ZHU - Exhale/Stardust (Video)

deadmau5 Red Rocks After Movie

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week July 14th

For whatever reason, this week was dominated by huge music video releases. It seems more like the exception than the norm for a week's top five to be so heavily skewed toward music videos, but such was the case this week. Led by the action packed visuals from Dillon Francis and G-Eazy's Say Less video, there was plenty of bottle smashing fun littered throughout. Then, Macklemore did a complete 180 on his video for Glorious where he took his grandma around town to celebrate her 100th birthday. In hindsight, the vibe of the track fits perfectly for the celebration of life, so kudos to Macklemore for sharing the moment with all of us.

Then things got a little trippy on Travis Scott's Butterfly Effect video. Don't care what the critics say, that track goes hard and I have a really hard time skipping past it when it plays. In case that first dose of Travis Scott wasn't enough, he made an appearance in the dance heavy video for Know No Better. I'm not exactly sure what story is trying to be told other than kids that are picked on can still get girls too through their dance moves? Last, but most expensive was literally everything about deadmau5's new studio. Such a cool behind the scenes look of all the bells, whistles, nobs, and keys the make up his arsenal of music making equipment. Not sure about y'all, but I was impressed by the amount of analog based sound machines and old keyboards he had. If you had an inkling that he cares about his craft, your perception should remain unchanged...#deadmau5Studio

Dillon Francis feat G-Eazy - Say Less (Video)

Macklemore feat Skylar Grey - Glorious (Video)

Travis Scott - Butterfly Effect (Video)

Major Lazer feat Travis Scott, Camila Cabello, & Quavo - Know No Better (Video)

A Behind the Scenes Look at deadmau5's Studio

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week April 7th

It was a fun week for videos with plenty of variety to keep things interesting. Led by the latest and greatest trailer for the upcoming Tupac movie. I usually cringe when Hollywood tries to tell the story of a music idol, but Straight Outta Compton was a step in the right direction. I'm hopeful All Eyez on Me ends up being of similar quality. Speaking of quality, how bout Steph Curry flexing those karaoke stills? I feel you on that Moana tip, I love everything about How Far I'll Go and will gladly sing it for an audience on demand. Keeping the feel good vibe going was Continuum's International rendition of The Chainsmokers/Coldplay's Something Just Like This. The world needs more coming together and collaboration, so tip of the cap for whoever put that together.

And just in case you thought I'd let a week go by without some comedy, step right on off. Leading that effort was deadmau5 who casually rick rolled his NYC audience as an April Fools joke. Was it me or were his fans singing along? Kudos for the true fans who went down with the ship on that practical joke. And finally, The Ringer decided to put Hannibal Burress and Vince Staples together in a room and have them judge whether certain NBA players were real enforcers or fake enforcers. Needless to say, there were some hot takes and plenty of jokes that may or may not throw Metta World Peace under the table...#NBAToughGuys

All Eyez on Me Tupac Biopic (Trailer)

James Corden Hosts Steph Curry in Carpool Karaoke

International Cover of Chainsmokers Something Just Like This by Continuum

That Time deadmau5 Rickrolled Everyone on April Fools Day

Hannibal Burress & Vince Staples Talk Real vs Fake NBA Tough Guys

We asked @vincestaples and @hannibalburess to help us tell the difference between real NBA tough guys and fake NBA tough guys: pic.twitter.com/6fQ29bwhLY

— The Ringer (@ringer) April 3, 2017

Photo Credit: YouTube

Another deadmau5 Hip Hop Heat Rock

Stop me if you've heard this, but deadmau5 and Shotty Horroh just collaborated on another yet-to-be-released Hip Hop track. I phrase it that way because just over a month ago their collabo titled Okay leaked onto the interwebs. Where Okay was slow and methodical, Legendary takes a much more energetic, vibrant personality. The beat is perfect for a cypher, which explains why it fits Shotty Horroh's rapping style so well. It's another head scratching anecdote that makes me wonder just how much shop deadmau5 could wreck if he got together with some of Hip Hop's finest to put together an album. I doubt it will ever happen, but these teaser beats offer more than enough potential to make my mind do laps around the possibilities...#Celebrate

Videos of the Week December 16th

The underlying theme of this week's top five was performance. Whether it was an awe-inspiring solo acoustic performance in a cathedral from Lido, a shirtless rendition of Redbone from Childish Gambino on Fallon or seeing the behind the scenes details of deadmau5's new cube set design, there was plenty of raw talent on full display this week.

If you want a bit of à la carte, then seeing the new The Fate of the Furious trailer might be more your style. It's insane that the series got all the way to an eighth movie, but it's a credit to continually telling entertaining stories. Rounding out the top five is a dose of Hip Hop dance brought to you by Chris Brown. Clearly he, Usher and Gucci know how to party, but Usher and CB cutting a rug in the same video is not something you want to miss...#Party
Lido - Angel (Acoustic)

Childish Gambino Performs Redbone on Fallon

Behind the Scenes on the Setup of deadmau5's Cube 2.1

Fast and the Furious 8 Trailer

Chris Brown feat Usher & Gucci Mane - Party (Video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week December 2nd

There wasn't really any rhyme or reason to this week's top five, so without further organization, here goes. Leading the way are visuals from everyone's favorite radio hit from DJ Snake and Bieber. Sure, Let Me Love You is catch af, but something tells me you might see an even better version of the track posted on here tomorrow (#foreshadowing). Moving along, someone finally managed to corner The Weeknd in a studio long enough for an interview. Hearing Zane Lowe interview Abel made me realize how my perception of him as some cracked out Starboy isn't entirely accurate. Sure, there has to be loads of talent in deck to get him to where he is now, but hearing about his process of making music and how his new album came together was an interesting watch. Mad respect Weeknd.

For a bit of concert porn, mau lovers got themselves something to get all excited about when Joel unveiled a new cube design for his live set. Knowing how much he nerds out over technology, I'm sure no expense will be spared in making it nothing short of awesome. For a bit of novelty, we got to see Flume re-imagine Ghost Town DJs My Boo live in studio with Vince Staples. Dude is a wizard on the MPC, so you could imagine how interesting his choppy, instrument driven remake sounded. And last, but never the least, MGK came through with Camila Cabello with some love/hate visuals that bring to life the story told on Bad Things. All I can say is, find me a more sexy and catchy hook out right now...#BadThings
DJ Snake feat Justin Bieber - Let Me Love You (Video)

Zane Lowe Interviews The Weeknd in Studio

deadmau5 Reveals His New Cube For Live Performances

Flume Covers Ghost Town DJs - My Boo With Vince Staples Live

Machine Gun Kelly feat Camila Cabello - Bad Things (Video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

deadmau5 Dabbles in Hip Hop With Shotty Horroh

It's rare, but occasionally deadmau5 mixes in some Hip Hop to keep everyone on their toes. Similar to a few years back when he teamed up with Shotty Horroh on Are You Not Afraid?, the duo are back with a new one titled Okay. Never mind silly things like hooks or choruses, their new one is more of a stream of consciousness, bar after bar, lyrical gymnastic exercise. To Joel
's credit, he delivered a bangin' beat and got the hell out of the way. It's a rare track that succeeds in its simplicity by getting you to nod your head along with the beat and focus on the spit-fire verses. Despite it not making the cut for deadmau5's upcoming W:/2016ALBUM/ album, it's every bit the novelty I had hoped it would be...#Okay

"That's All We Need, Beneath With Me"

Remember that oft-teased collaboration between Kaskade, deadmau5, Skylar Grey? Dating back a full year, Beneath With Me has been hyped as a massive collaboration and this week it finally dropped in its finality. It's not quite on the Scud Books level of anticipation for me, but there's no doubting how well this trio fits together.

For starters, when you combine Skylar Grey's dark, haunting vocals over a symphonic chord progression weaved together by two of EDM's best, good things are going to happen. Even though it's been trimmed from the original six minute version that was originally leaked, the slow and steady build up and eventual calm, but energetic release has deadmau5's paws all over it. It's dramatic and steady, while finding a way to be exciting. That's not an easy thing to accomplish, which is why it immediately was added to my list of favorites...#BeneathWithMe

Kaskade & deadmau5 feat Skylar Grey - Beneath With Me

Chalk Up Another Opus to Deadmau5 on Saved

After a long lull of new music, it appears that he's coming out of hibernation. Sure, point to all the experimental Soundcloud releases and call that new music if you'd like, but when a perfectionist like Joel deems something as worthy of being a single, I take note. His new track, Saved will be released as the lead track on the upcoming We Are Friends, Vol. 5 compilation. It deserves to stand alongside long form classics of his like Strobe because of how it gradually unfolds and builds piece by piece over the course of almost ten minutes. It first sounds like a lullaby, but then the slightly haunting synths come in as if they were announcing a new chapter in the track. People who don't appreciate his music will call it monotonous, but those who dig in appreciate the subtleties that make his music so complex and unique. Down with the formulaic hooks and drops, this isn't your garden variety EDM track. Instead, listen to it like you were casually reading a novel because there are few who can tell a story through synths like deadmau5...#Saved

Videos of the Week July 22nd

It was a slow week for videos, word is bond. There was a whole lot of nothing when it came to new music videos, so here's this week's top five dollar store video bargains. Leading the way by a large margin was seeing rappers genuinely react to Rich Chigga's Dat $tick video. If you haven't seen it yet, go here to watch it because it's not something I could do justice describing. Lord knows we need more tough talking, buttoned up, fanny pack wearing, gun toting, mean mugging, sixteen year old Asian kids. Hate on it all you want, but you can't look away from a car crash, even if you know it's manufactured. Despite all that, gotta admit, his flow was lit.

Also dropping this week was a series of videos from Deadmau5 detailing some of the work he does with NVIDIA in crafting these incredibly advanced computers. It's a fun watch if you're a hardware nerd who doesn't mind when engineering crosses over with music. In the land of late night, Idris Alba and Fallon did their best to karaoke their way into our hears, while Missy and the First Lady did in-car rapping with James Corden. And last, but not least, I would have felt weird not finding a way to timestamp this week in history as Pokemon Go found a way to create a new category of gaming with the use of augmented reality. Evidently all your favorite DJs love Pokemon too and rappers are even riding the wave. I've only played it a bit, but hell, I'm more amazed with how impactful it is in getting people to move and explore their surroundings...#PokemonGo
Rappers Reacting to Rich Chigger's Dat $tick Video

Episode 2 of Deadmau5's "The Deadmau5 Project" with NVIDIA

Idris Alba and Jimmy Fallon Play Box of Microphones

Michelle Obama and Missy Elliot Rap During Car Karaoke With James Corden

Hardwell Trolls Ultra Europe With the Pokemon Theme Song

Photo Credi: YouTube

deadmau5 Drops a Cold Beat on Snowcone

Lately deadmau5 has been starting to sneak his way back into our playlists with a few new heat rocks he's posted up on Soundcloud. Evidently tracks like Sellout and Cat Thruster were leading up to something more meaningful, like a new "official" single. Side note - normally I'd direct link song names to a Soundcloud link where you could stream the two tracks mentioned above, but then Soundcloud froze Joel's tracks, which prompted quite the response.

i dont think @soundcloud should be taking ANYONES personal information ESPECIALLY credit cards. if you were smart, you'd remove yours.

— dead mow cinco (@deadmau5) May 25, 2016

If I've learned one thing from working at tech companies, it's that a creative business model is necessary if you want to keep customers while continuing to scale and monetize your product. Unfortunately, Soundcloud more or less sold their soul to the devil by becoming beholden to specific record companies and they've done nothing but slowly whittle away at the user experience of their product, which used to be great. It's a sad thing, but I'm probably going to start posting more YouTube and Spotify links, rather than relying on Soundcloud.

Music streaming services aside, deadmau5's new single Snowcone is an interesting one. It's more of a chill, Hip Hop beat than the usual symphony of electronics that he frequently puts together. Don't expect vocals, but do expect to hear some ethereal, twilight zone sounding synth samples. There's plenty of thump on the back side of the beat, which continues to plow forward for the entire five plus minutes of the track. It's not something you can expect to hear on radio, but it is pretty awesome that Toronto rapper JSTONE has already dropped a verse on it and gotten some dap from it. No idea whether more music is on the horizon, but for the time being, I'm excited about the new vibe...#Snowcone

deadmau5 Thrusts His Way Back Into Our Lives

There's a crispness to deadmau5's music that makes it hard for me to be impressed by his music anymore. It's a gift and a curse that he's made so many great songs that I often find myself tuning his new music out since it doesn't measure up to many of my favorites of his. That being said, his new batch of songs below prove that he's still very capable of putting out the level of music that we've all grown fond of over the past decade.

To recap this week, he released Whelk Then and Sellout yesterday. Out of those two, I found myself vibing out to Sellout more than the more experimental Whelk Then. Even though it may be "typical", I like typical so it was easily my favorite of the two.

Fast forward to today where Joel has let loose four more new tracks. Cat Thruster System, Diesel Powered Cat Thruster and Cat Thruster all found their way onto Soundcloud earlier today. Those three tracks were followed up by a dreamy melody he calls Analogical. Out of the four, Cat Thruster gets after it the most and is one of my favorite deadmau5 tracks he's released in a while. No idea what has caused this outpour of new music, but I'm doing my best to soak it all up in an attempt to re-kindle my fandom for one of the more talented EDM artists of my generation...#CatThruster

deadmau5 - Cat Thruster

Yet Another Symphony of Electronics From deadmau5

I can't claim to say that I love everything deadmau5 puts out. He lives on the edge musically, which makes it hard for me to consistently vibe with music he puts out. All that being said, his ceiling for being a genius creator of music is as high as anyone making music right now. His ability to strip down, build up, rinse, repeat for minutes on end is something that he does better than everyone in EDM. It's the reason why I'll always get goosebumps when listening to Strobe.

Speaking of intricate classics, his newly minted track will remind you a lot Strobe. It's a full nine minutes of mellow, layered synths. There are build ups, but they're gentle enough to allow you to appreciate how something so simple sounding can be complex. It's the type of track that you immediately know is done by deadmau5 because of the crispness and attention to detail. I haven't heard a track that I like this much from Joel in a long time, so cheers to that good news on a Monday...#deadmau5

deadmau5 - 4ware 01

Who Needs Real Friends When Imaginary Sound This Good?

After months of relative silence, deadmau5 seems to be announcing his return with a triumphant roar this week. Yesterday he let loose a Three Pound snack and today we now have a new full length meal in the form of Imaginary Friends. Both have a quiet build up, but go in totally opposite directions. Where Three Pound Chicken Wing takes a turn for Future Bass, Imaginary Friends is much more hard hitting melodic House. It's one of his multi-faceted tracks that is half driving, in your face bass, half beautiful synth progression. Up until this week, a new album in 2016 seemed like a pipe dream. Now that you've tasted the Kool Aid, join me in getting excited for what's coming next...#ImaginaryFriends

deadmau5 - Imaginary Friends

Big Grams Debuts at Treasure Island Music Festival

You'd be hard pressed to convince me that there was a better one day ticket than last weekend's Saturday lineup for Treasure Island Music Festival. The likes of Gorgon City, Cashmere Cat, Run the Jewels, Hudson Mohawke, Big Grams and Deadmau5 all spaced out nicely without overlap seemed like a gift from God in hindsight. Rather than a full concert review, here are a few quick tidbits about each...

• Gorgon City - seeing a live performance rather than a DJ set was cool because there were live vocals in the mix. It allowed their set that was riddled with Deep House favorites to sound unique amongst the other DJ sets.
• Cashmere Cat - was surprisingly awesome. Maybe I just wasn't familiar enough with the type of music he creates, but it reminded me a lot of Odesza's melodic trap style. His set was the most pleasant surprise.
• Run the Jewels - you wanna talk about the South's version of the Beastie Boys. EL-P and Killer Mike go in and don't hold back one ounce of energy the entire set. There's no pause, it's just non-stop, in your face Hip Hop and rocking the mic old school style. There's a much deeper message behind a lot of their lyrics, but when it comes to going hard bar after bar, nobody can touch RTJ.
• Hudson Mohawke - man what can I say, HudMo brought his A game. His set has evolved a lot since I saw him at the Rickshaw Stop a year ago, but adding a drummer and keyboardist made a difference. It was the set I was most looking forward to and it did not disappoint one bit
• Big Grams - how many times can you say that you saw a group perform for the first time together? Such a cool vibe and their set was incredibly well executed for a first performance. They don't have a ton of music yet, but the crowd got pretty rowdy when they brought Killer Mike on stage. Their set was something I won't soon forget.
• Deadmau5 - last but certainly not least Joel came through with a show stopping headline set. The production value of his set was insane, as he slowly emerged from an egg looking pod that gradually shape shifted as the set continued. The most interesting part of the set was when he came out from behind the mask and rocked the crowd without his trademark mouse mask. I admire how his sets are always crisp, well-thought out and fluid. I'll admit to loosing it when he broke out the original version of Strobe...might be one of my favorite tracks played live by anyone.

Now on to the highlights from the Big Grams set. I included my two favorite snippets from the concert, which was tough because they set it off with Goldmine Junkie, Drum Machine and the Run the Jewels assisted Born to Shine. The lead verse from Fell in the Sun is such a classic Big Boi verse that I hope it doesn't take us years to appreciate how incredibly dope his swagger filled bars sound.
Big Grams - Fell in the Sun

The biggest surprise of the set was when they mashed up Outkast favorite Ms. Jackson with Phantogram favorite Mouthful of Diamonds. I can't say I was that familiar with the Phantogram favorite, but the audience energy from hearing the Ms. Jackson beat was palpable.
Big Grams - Ms. Jackson/Mouthful of Diamonds Mash Up
Other than the Okeechobee Music and Arts Festival in March, Big Grams doesn't have any official tour dates announced. I'm guessing that's going to change and when it does, I'd suggest scooping up some tickets because they put on a great show...#BigGrams

Videos of the Week January 16th

Eclectic week for videos with Fallon and Gwyneth leading the way on Broadway versions of Hip Hop hits. I really don't know how Jimmy keeps doing it, but he has an uncanny ability to get celebrities to play unfamiliar roles in really entertaining ways. Right behind the clear top video is deadmau5's Spirit of Gumball documentary. It's interesting bioptic on featuring the always entertaining deadmau5. Yea, it's a safe bet that you're going to hear some great music mixed throughout the exotic card racing on the sixteen minute documentary.

In other news, Childish Gambino and Run the Jewels were the talk of the town when it came to late night. For those of you keeping score at home, Donald Glover took over Kimmel, while RTJ took over Conan. So many late night options these days it's becoming hard to track. Rounding out the top 5 is the Mikey Posner assisted video for Sugar by Maroon 5. Ever wondered what wedding crashing is really like? Well press play and watch Adam Levine go to work...#Sugar

Jimmy Fallon & Gwyneth Paltrow Sing Broadway Versions of Hip Hip Verses

deadmau5 Spirit of Gumball Documentary

Childish Gambino Performs Sober on Kimmel

Maroon 5 - Sugar (Video)

Run the Jewels Perform Lie, Cheat, Steal on Conan

Photo Credit: YouTube

A 100 Proof Shot of Energy on Thanksgiving

One of the best things about electronic music is it's pliability. When broken down to it's most elemental form, EDM is mostly digital and digital things generally have a lot of controls. As a result, we as fans get spoiled regularly because we get to hear a lot of great music reimagined and taken different, equally awesome directions.

Case in point Dillon Francis's remix of deadmau5's classic Some Chords. The key when listening to a reimagined track is to keep your expectations in check. You can't assume a new beat or chord progression is going to change something that is already good for the better. Having said that, Dillon absolutely did some work on his own version of the track. It doesn't sound very much like the original version, but it's every bit as rowdy. You'll be able to find the track below and a handful of other newly reimagined deadmau5 songs on his recently released 5 Years of mau5 album. If you need a pick me up after eating all day, it would be advisable to check out the album because it's a 100 proof shot of energy...#5yearsofmau5

deadmau5 - Some Chords (Dillon Francis Remix)

Videos of the Week September 12

If you were to ask me what word describes this week's top 5, I'd use the word silly. Aside from Chris Brown reflecting on what it took to finally grow up, there a lot of tom foolery. The biggest and (to me) most entertaining video was the baby black bear playing with the pin on the green. I don't know why but those types of genuinely authentic moments I find really entertaining. Channing Tatum just invented an interesting way to "shake hands" and deadmau5 felt the need to take his new McLaren 650S out for a spin to promote his web series and Uber. Pretty sure I would have lost it if he showed up to pick me up. Finally, I got super nostalgic watching Jimmy Fallon and everyone's favorite Sesame Street characters. Sure, it was doubly funny hearing them read funny tweets, but I grew up on that and it will never get old...#LoveSesameStreet
deadmau5 Drives For uberX

The D*ck Graze by Channing Tatum

Baby Bear Circus Act on Golf Course

Jimmy Fallon - Sesame Street Hashtags #WhenIWasAKid

Chris Brown on How Him and Drake Are Cool With Each Other

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week August 1st

Bit of a slow week for music videos and with Guardians of the Galaxy coming out today, it's only fitting that Vin Diesel take over this week. The funny part is, he plays Groot who is only capable of saying three words in the movie, yet he's the one promoting the film. Rotten Tomatoes is telling me the movie is well worth seeing, though, so as I hit post I'm out the door to nerd out by consuming Marvel's latest action flick.

Aside from Vin Diesel's variety show, we also got a new video from BANKS in the form of Beggin' For Thread. The track is really growing on me, to a point where I'm not shy with calling it my favorite track of hers to date. In other news, Rob Ford went on a coffee run with deadmau5 (random?) and if you had a tough week, all you need is a to set aside a few minutes to watch Janelle Monet's feel good dance heavy video...#ElectricLady
BANKS - Beggin' For Thread (Video)

deadmau5 and Rob Ford Go On a Coffee Run

Vin Diesel Break Dances on Jimmy Fallon

Vin Diesel Covers Sam Smith's Stay With Me

Janelle Monet - Electric Lady (Video)

Photo Credit: YouTube

Videos of the Week June 6th

Lots of really solid music videos this week led by Miguel's Simplethings. I really dig the black and white aesthetic, it fits the beautiful simplicity of the track. Adding to that is One Republic's visuals for Love Runs Out and the all-too-mysterious BANKS new one for Drowning. They both tell stories of love taking it toll, but in two very different tones.

If you're in the mood for some fun and excitement, you'll enjoy the fun little coffee run competition that deadmau5, Skrillex and Dillon Francis undertook. Lots of shenanigans were had by all. Finishing off the week's top 5 is yet another trailer for an upcoming festival in the form of Chicago's Spring Awakening Festival. I feel like EDM festivals are growing on trees these days, but they have still found a way to be personally elusive. Someday I will attend one of them and the highlights will be shared, bet dat!...#SpringAwakening
Miguel - Simplethings (Video)

Spring Awakening Music Festival 2014 Trailer

Deadmau5 vs Skrillex and Dillon Francis Face Off in a Coffee Run

One Republic - Love Runs Out (Video)

BANKS - Drowning (Video)


Photo Credit: YouTube