I’ve been a big fan of Alan Wilkis for ages, and I think I start off every post about him saying near enough the same thing. He has a passion for music, and I think this shows strongly in all the work he produces. His productions always seem to have had everything though out, every layer combining to create a brilliant result. His latest remix is of RJD2′s track ‘The Shining Path’ – which features Phonte of Little Brother fame. On the surface, Alan has approached this remix differently. The synths are still there, they’re just not as quick and lively as usual. Instead the production is reminiscent of a classic RnB track – the bassline, the slow tempo – with some 8 bit sounds thrown in to keep it modern. It’s fantastic, and better than the original in my opinion. The track also has a feel of summer to it, which is brilliantly timed for the sunshine we have now.

RJD2 – The Shining Path (Alan Wilkis Remix) | YSI

It’s taken me too long to get these two tracks up, but they’re just so good I had to post them eventually.I’ll skip an introduction and get straight to them. The first track is from the brilliant Alan Wilkis, who seems to be getting even more awesomer (great English) with every remix that he produces. His latest remix is of Yeasayer’s ‘Ambling Amp,’ and as good as the original is, I can honestly say I enjoy Alan’s remix more. The combination the great synths, little sounds effects and great drums just make this a great remix. The vocals blend seamlessly with Alan’s instrumental and the end result is brilliant. Definitely check this out. I may upload to YouTube as well for a preview, but Windows Movie Maker isn’t happy.

Yeasayer – Ambling Amp (Alan Wilkis Remix) | YSI

The other new track comes courtesy of I’m Not A Band and is a 2010 Edit of their single ‘Distrust.’ If you remember back I commented on how much I enjoyed I’m Not A Band’s remix to Plasma’s Crazy, and this is another track from a duo I’m really beginning to like. The thumping beat and fast paced, deep synths make for a good instrumental and the relatively ordinary vocals work with it, although maybe some stronger vocals would be more fitting. I can see this being played next time I’m in Topman. Nice instrumental though, shown especially in the small instrumental section near the end. Check it out below.

I’m not a Band – Distrust (2010 Edit) by I’mnotaBand

I hope everybody had a nice Christmas! I don’t think much musically really happened over Christmas. Actually, the most played songs of the decade were released, and at number one is apparently Snow Patrol’s ‘Chasing Cars’, which is an absolutely fantastic song. Shine by Take That was #2 with Scissor Sisters’s ‘I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’ at #3. You can see the full chart over at the PPL’s website.

Anyway, the two tracks today are from a couple of artists I’ve really enjoyed this year. The first is from Alan Wilkis and is a remix of Chester French’s ‘C’mon’. The track has the same retro sound that Alan has been using so well in all the songs of his we’ve featured throughout the year. The drum machine and energetic synths work really well together, as does the guitar and the other sound effects which have been added. Love the vocals on this as well, which sound great with the instrumental. 2009 has been a good year for Alan, and I hope 2010 promises more of the same for him. He has a lot of talent and his beats have a great sound to them.

Chester French – C’Mon (Alan Wilkis Remix) | ZS

The other track is from Ish, who’s rapping over modern electro tracks I’ve really enjoyed. This track is more of a freestyle over La Roux’s ‘Bulletproof’ and it sounds good. Love the Bulletproof instrumental and perhaps it even sounds better with rapping over it. Ish reminds me quite a lot of Wale, quite a fast flow and some good rhyming. Mixtape should be announced soon now, and hopefully could make 2010 a good year for Ish.

Ish – Bulletproof (Remix) | ZS

I’ve got a fair bit I want to put up so I think I’ll do some of that today, starting with a remix we got sent of Shwayze’s “Get U Home” by Alan Wilkis. Alan has really put his touch on this, with the throbbing drum machine and loud synths which complement the vocals nicely. It really reminds me of something Master Shortie may put out. Get U Home has got some big remixes though, with remixes by Paul Oakenfold, The Bloody Beetroots, LMFAO, and VIKING, as well as Alan’s of course. Viking released a preview a little while ago actually that I forgot to post, so now seems like a good time to put that up. Ak posted The Bloody Beetroots one back here.

Shwayze – Get U Home (Alan Wilkis Remix)

Shwayze – Get U Home (VIKING Remix)

Get U Home Remix EP

Next up is a new Chubby Fingers remix of Nitro Deluxe’s “Let’s Get Brutal.” I really enjoyed this, partly because I have a headache (part in due to listening to DJ Khaled’s new song) and it wasn’t too overbearing. The synths are good and the whole song is quite melodic. It’s less busy that the original, which has some parts which would sound great sampled on a “Dirtee Cash” like song, but a large part of me prefers the remix. Especially the synth bits towards the middle and the end, well really throughout the song. Check it our below.

Nitro Deluxe – Let’s Get Brutal (Chubby Fingers Refix)

Last song today is a remix of an olden by Eric Prydz and Steve Angello. I’ve been loving Eric Prydz’s remix of “Flashback” and probably  like it a lot more than the original now. This song is remix of their 2006 track “Woz Not Woz” by Norman Doray & Arno Cost. I hadn’t heard of the pair before but their stuff sounds really good, I’ll leave a link to their latest CD below so you can check it out. The remix of Woz Not Woz though has a lot of different elements to it which the duo have managed to combine together well. Nice synths left over from the original, it’s a good track.

Eric Prydz & Steve Angello – Woz Not Woz (Norman Doray & Arno Cost Remix)

Check out Norman Doray & Arno Cost’s album “Live & Direct” here.

We’ve got sent through quite a bit so I’ll get that out in a minute. Firstly congratulations to Speech Debelle for winning the Mercury Music Prize. I heard “The Key” quite a while ago and really liked the track. Infact I think I posted it on here. I’m sure sales of her album will soar now and hopefully she has a successful career ahead of her. More news, Biffy Clyro premièred new song “The Captain” on Zane Lowe last night. I really enjoyed it to be honest, it sounded really good and if the whole album is like it I can’t complain too much. You can preview the song below on Youtube.

Biffy Clyro – The Captain

Only Revolutions is out November 9th. Pre-Order it Here.

First up today is a remix of The Very Best’s “Warm Heart of Africa” by Alan Wilkis. He actually had his whole first EP remixed but sadly I was on holiday so never got the chance to hear/plug it. Anyway you may remember we posted the original of the song quite a while back, but Alan has certainly added his own style to the song. The 80′s-eque synths he uses come to prominence but they still manage to fit the song well. The bassline is also good throughout with the 808 sound working well. Check it out below.

The Very Best – Warm Heart of Africa (Alan Wilkis Remix)

The next songs were sent to us a while back by EGADZ! and for we forgot to post them up. EGADZ! is the stage name of Erik Nava who’s music spans a variety of genres, most prominently electro and acoustic. The first one is called “Going Home” and is a nice upbeat electro song, kinda reminiscent of something La Roux would use – It’s clean, has a good drum beat and some good synths. I personally prefer “Glock Out” though, which has more of a rock stance and a little rawer. The guitar works well in this and the whole song just sounds more exciting. The two songs do show the diversity of EGADZ! though, with both being completely different. Get some vocals on the tracks and they could be very good mainstream releases. The tracks are well crafted and suggest the future looks bright for EGADZ!.

EGADZ! – Going Home

EGADZ! – Glock Out

Egadz Is Dead is out now. Buy Music from EGADZ! here.

The last song is a remix of The Catarac’s “Club Love” by Chubby Fingers. The Catarac’s recently got signed to Universal so things could be big for them. The song reminds me of LMFAO a little bit, a club song with a little bit of “rapping” in it but a good bassline and a good beat. It’s catchy as well which is one of the main requirements of a club song. Also features less autotune than the original so gets bonus points for that (check the original out here)

The Cataracs – Club Love (Chubby Fingers Remix)

First song up today is Doorly’s Dubstep Remix of Mr. Hudson’s “Supernova.” It’ s a very good remix as you’d expect from Doorly, I really enjoyed his remixes of Hooligans & Bonkers and so predictably I enjoyed this remix. The thumping baseline and instrumental areas sound really good and this may even edge out Calvin Harris’ remix. Check it out below.

Mr. Hudson – Supernova (Feat. Kanye West) (Doorly’s Dubstep Remix)

We also got sent an EP by Alan Wilkis which has been good. The EP is described as being full of 808s and synth beats, and they are there in abundance. They work well though and really create a sound reminiscent of the 80s. Of course the 80s sound is one which is becoming more popular in mainstream music these days with both Ladyhawke and La Roux having recent success by looking to the 80s for inspiration. Anyway back to Alan Wilkis, his EP “Pink and Purple” is composed of 6 songs which all offer something different vocally and all leave a distinct impression. There are some major artists who had been brought on to add to the songs, but I feel it is Alan’s simple formula which makes the EP what it is and makes it sound appealing. All the tracks are good but I’ll post up my 2 favourites, “Pink and Purple” and “Dance With You” – between which you can hopefully tell the variation in delivery. If you like fun, synth driven pop you should like this.

Alan Wilkis – Pink and Purple

Alan Wilkis – Dance With You

I was gonna post about Common’s track with The Jonas Brothers here but I won’t as it’s old news now. I’ll post up a couple of Chillin’ remixes instead. First one is the DJ Benzi & Willy Joy Remix of Chillin’ which is REALLY good. An MP3 should be available on DJ Benzi’s website some time in the future but until then you can preview the video on Vimeo. It’s a really good remix. The other remix is the Skratch Bastid Remix of the song. It’s really good as well with its heavy bassline however I think they would have been better off removing GaGa’s vocals completely. The M.I.A. sample that comes in half way through for a few seconds works really well actually – maybe Wale should have ran with that?

Wale feat. Lady GaGa – Chillin’ (Benzi & Willy Joy Remix)

Wale feat. Lady GaGa – Chillin’ (Skratch Bastid Remix)