Tag: Ellie Goulding

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Music

Ellie Goulding – Mirrors (Justin Timberlake Cover)

I am delighted that we are finally at a time where one does not need to be a ‘closet’ Justin Timberlake fan. There were some years there where it was like admitting you had questionable taste by admitting you liked JT. I can say that my 2nd concert ever, first being Hanson, was indeed N’Sync in Tampa Florida. I am a lifer. I have been out and proud for my deep love for this man since then. I was torn about his new album as talk on his reasoning for making the 20/20 album were depressing to say the least.  But what came out of it was the song of the summer and Mirrors, one of the better songs written in recent years by anyone on the pop scene. I know, these are big claims, but I stand by them.

The lyrics and musical styling of Mirrors has created such a beautiful and tragic affair. I have the conversation far too often talking about how so many songs lack depth or actual emotion that we hear today. You can  sense the calculated sound of pop in most chart toppers but this breaks through that with ethereal intent. It is depressing to think we are at a place in music where much of what is released is catchy and after 4 minutes, said nothing at all. Being able to clearly articulate human emotion is a gift and is rarely celebrated in pop. But that has arguably changed here.  This song exudes the familiar human element of mistakes in love and the appreciation you feel for someone when you want them and need them and realize how much of a hole there is after they are gone or how much was missing until you had met them.

“Cause I don’t wanna lose you now
I’m lookin’ right at the other half of me
The vacancy that sat in my heart
Is a space that now you hold
Show me how to fight for now
And I’ll tell you, baby, it was easy
Comin’ back here to you once I figured it out
You were right here all along”

And of course this cover by Ellie Goulding is going to make you all warm and fuzzy. This cover, done with the accompaniment of a piano, strips the song down even more with the tender voice of Ms. Goulding. You are left with an emotional, soulful, and personal plea that will make you appreciate pop and love once more.

Ellie Goulding – Mirrors (Justin Timberlake Cover)

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Covers Music

Ellie Goulding — Tessellate (Alt-J Cover)

The dog days of summer are here, and New York City is literally a melting pot drenched in sweat, watery air conditioning units, and the chances of having a good hair day are slim to none. It’s not even 9 AM as I sit in my little house 34 stories up sipping the life out of my morning cup of coffee, and the haze has already begun to accumulate around the buildings I share the sky with. “Happy Monday,” I imagine the weather saying, “I’m going to try my best to make you as sluggish as possible — pack an extra shirt before you leave for work.” Cue to me pouring myself another cup of joe, and turning this track up.

When it comes to actually taking the time to evaluate every decision you’ve yet to make in the 24 hours ahead of you, or the ones you have made in the hours that have passed, I tend to lean heavily on the mind-over-matter method of thinking. If you imagine something (albeit worldly plausible), it can come into fruition — or at least seem like it. If a song like Goulding’s richly raw cover of Alt-J’s “Tessellate” awakens some kind of belief in you, then I say go for it — it certainly helps me.

A couple weeks back, while I was home for a weekend escaping the city, I decided to revisit Ellie’s soundcloud page. I hadn’t been in a while (which felt like a sin being such a massive fan of her’s). I, of course, played her newest single “Burn” over and over again, and when I finally decided to move down the selections, I came across this gem. Only Ellie could take a track that’s been stripped down, and strip it down some more. Her delivery is spot on: sexy, sultry, and there’s a veil of knowing innocence in the lightness of her voice. I love what she does with the electronic productions on her albums; she’s one of the few artists who use auto-tune and synths as instruments over enhancers (if you doubt that I urge you to watch any live performance she’s done, you’ll hear why). But it’s tracks like this that add a little brava to her oeuvre. Ellie can do sexy, and this is her calling card. That sax? I mean, please. It’s on point, and it deserves every bit of your sweltering Monday blues. Get lost in it, and return a little more chilled out than you were before you pressed play.

Here’s to a new week.

Ellie Goulding — Tessellate (Alt-J Cover)

 

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Mash-Ups Music Remixes

Oliver vs. Ellie Goulding – Control the Lights (Chris Carter Edit)

There is a sound to summer, and it is sweet. It’s the sound of a jolly homeless man singing “Let It Be” in the streets, the ripple of conversations heard outdoors as you wonder how everyone is able to brunch everyday of the week. It’s outdoor seating for restaurants, and skater dudes with cool tricks. It’s a crew of beautiful decked out men and women walking the streets of your neighborhood with glitter and colors, boom box in hand and reggae in ears.

Maybe it was after all of those awesome things today that I came across this and felt, yes. This is what summer is about. I’m thrilled to bring it to you from EMPT and I’m really excited for you guys to embark on summer sound journeys. The thing about listening to music in the warm weather is that no matter how much you like or dislike the weather, the sun is out. So outside, your face is really happy about the fact that it’s light out, and your ears are reacting to a sound (whether you like it or not) that kind of equates to what’s going on with the sun. Everything is connected.

So my kitten is now playing with the space fan in my bedroom because it’s that kind of weather and he’s that kind of cat, and everything is adorable. Chris Carter has done some beautiful work in terms of remixes and edits, so you won’t be surprised that this is just as fun and just as happy. I’m going to sleep and I’m leaving you guys with this work of fun.

Oliver vs. Ellie Goulding – Control the Lights (Chris Carter Edit)

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Music Remixes

Ellie Goulding – Without Your Love (Amtrac Remix)

There’s a shift happening in my life and for once I’m completely cognizant of it all. I can feel the change in my gut, sense it in how I’m forming my thoughts, and my mornings are becoming easier, lighter even. It’s not love, but it’s something close to it I think. It’s a sense of purpose — a drive to actually go out and be the person I know I’m meant to grow into. Like Ellie says in this song, “I’m getting somewhere.” Yeah, this track is about how free she is without her love weighing her down, but I’m latching on to the liberation theme.

I hesitate to peg an artist as a favorite, but I can confidently say that Ellie Goulding is one of my top three favorite music artists. Aside from being one of my biggest style inspirations, her sounds are infectious. I listen to Halcyon maybe three times a week in full. I get lost in her music. I think it’s her balance of atmospheric soundscapes with hard pop beats — not to mention, her lyrical abilities are incredible that keep me coming back. Her music is joy; it’s youth; it’s glitter (three things I’ve kept written on a chalkboard in my room to keep me grounded). She knows her voice is an instrument and exploits that. I don’t know her personally, but there’s this sense that she just gets it. I want to pick her brain, be her best friend, and have her write songs about our life together. But before I digress into some wayward afternoon daydream, let me talk about this track.

“Without Your Love” is a bonus track from her UK release. Last week, she released a 40 minute Halcyon remix for her partnership with Nike and this track is featured. For being such a fangirl, I was a little disappointed in myself for not knowing this track. I loved it nonetheless. Hearing the full song is a trip. Amtrac picked up on the original’s tribal influence and spun it into a driving dance beat that’s perfect for running or giving you that extra boost of energy your afternoon coffee won’t to pound through the 9-5.

This song is a chant. She repeats “without your love I’m getting somewhere” in vain. She’s shaking off whatever’s holding her down and living the way she wants to. This song will get deep beneath your skin and get you moving.

Turn this one up and go.

Ellie Goulding – Without Your Love (Amtrac Remix)

Categories
Music Remixes

Ellie Goulding – Don’t Say A Word (Star Slinger Remix)

I’m sitting in my kitchen and my roommate is making crepes. She’s playing blues music off her computer and I’ve got headphones in listening to this. Am I the epitome of a technology addicted music blogger? I don’t know. I hope not. I’m really into the song though. The scene that’s happening in my kitchen is mildly hilarious because of how relaxed the outside world is and how my ears are living in a raging night club from the ’90s. Am I wrong to say that perhaps this song does take something from the ’90s? I think it’s mainly the beat, quick and skippy.

I intended to finish this post earlier in the day, but alas, my internet was down. Instead of sitting around the apartment waiting for it to come back again, I went on a bike ride to the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens and chilled with the cherry blossoms. We get really caught up in technology, myself included, and it’s nice to remember that there are much realer things going on in the world. That’s not to say that the Internet is not wonderful, because if it didn’t exist, how would you get your music from us? I’m saying that taking what you can get from the Internet is a beautiful thing, and then using it to fuel your outside world that interacts with everything else, is even better! Maybe I’m saying that you should take this song with you on your next adventure, let it inspire spontaneity.

Ellie Goulding – Don’t Say A Word (Star Slinger Remix)

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Music

Skrillex – Summit (feat. Ellie Goulding)

It’s interesting what we do to pick ourselves up when we’re down. As quickly as everything happens in this world, specifically in New York City, sometimes the most unexpected thing can slow you down in all the right ways. I found solace in this track, because of expectations that I had before listening to it, and the entirely different reaction I had afterwards. And I think there’s something really true to that feeling. Like, if all of the expectations you had in life just turned out totally different but not in a bad way, how would life be? Maybe a little bit more beautiful?

I feel really happy about this track. I generally feel iffy towards anything Skrillex because the music can be a little intense at times, requiring a certain mood, but this track is perfect for Sunday chilling. It’s also really reminiscent of some of his older (not too old though, in reality) tracks, like, With Your Friends (Long Drive) which I love. Specifically, at the end with the voice sampling and the less intense dubstep brain wobble.

What’s amazing is that immediately after I listened to Summit I followed my gut and preceded it With Your Friends (Long Drive). And as I’m writing this line, I’m thinking about all of the people in my life that I love and always want near me, everyone who has touched my heart in some way. And as I have that thought, the beat drops but in the calmest and most epic way ever. And there’s piano. And even an echoing voice.

This has been probably one of the hardest weeks of my life and yet I have never felt so thankful. There are things that we all want to do differently with our lives. We chill on those ideas before we go to sleep, in the lingering moments before our eyes settle into place and stop darting in every direction.

But what are those concerns? Sometimes they’re out of our control, but at least for myself, they’re totally graspable and within reach. They have to do with me. This song inspires that kind of really beautifully calm soundtrack to the change that is willing to happen in your life. Whether it means waking up earlier and seeing the world before it wakes up, or shutting yourself off from negativity that you are in control of shutting yourself off from, just do it. These are easy changes. They’re in your control. And they’re ultimately happy changes, even if they feel hard at first. These are also some of the only ways we can control our own happiness, because when we know we are active in necessary life changes, we are busy. And even the laziest person likes to be busy.

There’s definitely something to be said about the fact that this song inspires such emotions, and there’s definitely something to be said about how it is brought to us by two really special and unique new musicians. I hope this track helps you through your Sunday and gets you through whatever agenda it is that you may have for today and for the rest of this week.

Skrillex – Summit (feat. Ellie Goulding)

Categories
Music Remixes

Ellie Goulding – Anything Could Happen (Blood Diamonds Remix)

Listen up guys, Ellie Goulding is coming back on October 4th with her new album Halcyon and she’s not singing about lights anymore. Granted, that track and extensive remixes that followed were fantastic, I’ve been itching for new work from this British darling. Ellie’s been popping up here and there these past few months with covers of The Weeknd’s “High For This” and  Active Child’s, “Hanging On,” but it wasn’t until this past August that we got to hear more of the artist’s original writing and production. I remember getting that little butterfly excitement in my stomach when I saw that she released “Anything Could Happen.” It took no time before it became my go-to pick-me-up track. The original is as light and ethereal as Ellie’s vocals. I walk a little lighter on my feet when this comes on. This track solidified Ellie’s return and it came in bursts of lights, glitter, and wisps of sound.

Today, however, I came across 21 year-old Canadian producer Mike Tucker of Blood Diamonds take on the track and immedielty hit the repeat button on my iTunes. I thought the original track was infectious, but Tucker’s vision for Ellie’s return is pure joy. Rather than beginning the song with Ellie’s bird-like sounds, he brings us in with a shining melody of an electronic harpsichord that drops into the vocals and keeps us floating with subtle synths rising in the background. In reality, though, Tucker’s remix work here is minimal. He keeps the strongest part of the track – Ellie’s vocals –  at the forefront of the sound and lets everything else spin beneath her. While Ellie balances on the threshold between techno and pop, Tucker pushes the track fully into the techno spectrum and I’m not complaining. Ellie’s lyrics are simple and honest. They work in harmony with the production. Ellie’s use of technology to make her voice into an instrument rather than using some other machine is endearing and it’s showcased both in the original and the Blood Diamond’s remix. It’s lighter, yes, but that doesn’t mean it’s less of a track. It still gets me lifted and happy.

I feel a little silly that I’m so happy listening to this track, but I can’t contain myself.  The story of coming to terms with yourself and knowing that one person isn’t meant to be playing their current role in your life  and – most importantly – not getting down about it is perfect for this Sunday. I woke up today with a clearer direction of where I need to push my priorities and where I need to leave some things behind. Sunday is about yourself; a day of rest (and work for some of us), but not a day to spend floating in and out of sleep. For me, I feel back to my old Sunday self and I have this song to thank.

Rest up. Happy Sunday.

Ellie Goulding – Anything Could Happen (Blood Diamonds Remix)

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Music Remixes Video

Foxes – White Coats (Xaphoon Jones In The Zone Remix)

To tag along with the idea of exploring music as a natural high, listen to this song. I don’t care where you are, you need to sit down (or lay) close your eyes and put on your headphones; be still and purely listen. This song is a trip. It’s a vessel for space exploration, a portal into another sonic dimension. It takes my personal favorite element of the excellent original track, the reversed speech, and uses that as a platform for take off. The beginning is mellow with lead singer, Kayla Bell’s outstanding voice build over a progressive synth bass line. A minute in and we’re still building up to take off: more synths fade in, Bell’s chopped vocals speed up, a kick-drum enters to bring us down but not fast enough because the synths come back with full force and drop us into an abyss of low-frequency synthesizers. The drop here is cathartic. The first time I heard it, my heart sped up as I took a deep breath in and I suddenly felt like I was floating. It’s a sensation that has to be experienced alone.

Sound is a crazy thing and an artist’s ability to control it, is a talent I envy. Foxes and their remixer’s have given us a track that slows down time without any other means but sound.

You will take me home and then believe me
Take my hand and lead me out from here.”

Xaphoon Jones gets this track’s lyrics. It’s a story of escaping the status quo and becoming the person you feel you are called to be. Noah B (the alias behind this remix artist) takes the essence of Foxes’ brilliantly written story and tells it sonically using only the verses that matter. No other song has taken me to a new level like Noah’s remix has except for The Weeknd’s masterpiece, “High For This”. I’ve included Noah’s remix of Ellie Goulding’s cover (which we posted back in June) to that track to simply showcase Noah’s incredible ear for delivering a song in a package that’s easy to carry and handle.

Sit back y’all and enjoy the ride; it’s a helluvah trip with a comedown that doesn’t come with all those side-effects.

Foxes – White Coats (Xaphoon Jones In The Zone Remix)

Bonus:

Ellie Goulding – High For This (The Weeknd Cover) [Xaphoon Jones Remix]

 

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Music

Ellie Goulding – High For This (The Weeknd Cover)

I don’t know if you guys knew that this happened, but it happened. Ellie Goulding did a cover of the Weeknd. I’m a pretty committed and loving Weeknd fan, so for me to admit that any covers are good is a huge step. But this track is playing right now and from beginning to end, I am in full on shivers mode. My skin won’t even calm down for a second, seriously. I’ve also never had a problem with any of Ellie Goulding’s music, she seems to do no wrong. Her angelic voice works in a different way from the Weeknd. It’s interesting because within each of their genres (Ellie Goulding primarily within the electronic-singer-songwriter realm, The Weeknd within R&B), they have managed to create a unique by melting genres together. The reason I love the Weeknd so much is because of his lyrical no bull-shit attitude. It’s all laid out on the table for us, but in the background, we hear an electronic R&B musical experience. I think that’s the first thing a friend said when I was introduced to the Weeknd It was something like:

You’re going to like him because he taps into that electronic shit you love so much, but with a heart and soul.”

Similarly, Ellie Goulding uses her vocals in a way that most electronic artists use beats. For her, the vocals are the instrument. Yes, the vocals are electronically mixed, but it’s the creativity that counts. It’s coincidental that both musicians are doing such unique things within their own genres, and that one would cover the other.

Music that gives us shivers. That’s why I write about music, I’m trying to translate that feeling into words on a page. Enjoy, lovelies!

Ellie Goulding – High For This (The Weeknd Cover)

Categories
Music Remixes

Ellie Goulding – Lights (Adrien Mezsi Reboot)

This past week, I’ve found myself being highly addicted to the new social networking phenomenon, turntable.fm. If you haven’t come across it yet, the website has allowed anyone to jump on virtual DJ tables and share their music taste to the rest of the world. A track I’ve been bumping on there and is getting good response is the Ellie Goulding – Lights Reboot from Adrien Mezsi. Recently, Ellie Goulding, the sexy young Brit, gets remixed just as much as Adele does in the EDM world, as they seem to have the perfect complementary vocals for any track they produce. This Lights Reboot is a toned down EDM track which seems suited for a Monday. So let the Lights shine and let this feel-good track get you off to a great start for the week. Enjoy.

I had a way then losing it all on my own
I had a heart then but the queen has been overthrown
And I’m not sleeping now the dark is too hard to beat
And I’m not keeping now the strength I need to push me

You show the lights that stop me turn to stone
You shine It when I’m alone
And so I tell myself that I’ll be strong
And dreaming when they’re gone

Cause they’re calling, calling, calling me home
Calling, calling, calling home
You show the lights that stop me turn to stone
You shine It when I’m alone.”

Ellie Goulding – Lights (Adrien Mezsi Reboot)

– Joel

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