Hey There Webisphere!

My Phantogram remix made its way onto the “John in the Morning” show last week on world-famous KEXP radio! Pretty honored about it – John is a legend… (but he is NOT John Legend)

Check the playlist HERE.

And in other news, I went to Brooklyn Bowl last night where I saw 4 bands in a row, each one with friends of mine in them. Must be a world record of some sort. First came Yr Youth, then Mr. Dream, then Murder Mystery, and then Project Jenny, Project Jan to close it out.

And I might add, it was PJPJ’s first show with their new live band. They played through a lot of the new material we’ve been working on together all year, and it was AWESOME! Oh, and David Best of Fujiya & Miyagi came out with them for a nice little encore.

All in all, quite a night. Anyhoo, holla at your boy

Much love,
A

Check out the Midnight Socialite mix, courtesy of URB Magazine – they put me on there twice! “Pink and Purple” and my Shwayze remix.

It’s guaranteed to get your party started: DOWNLOAD

1. B.o.B feat. Bei Maejor & Bruno Mars- Nothin’ On You (Villains Remix)
2. Marina & The Diamonds- I Am Not A Robot (Penguin Prison Remix)
3. Fever Ray- Triangle Walks (Tiga’s 1-2-3-4 Remix)
4. Róisín Murphy- Dear Miami (Original)
5. Gossip- Yr Mangled Heart (Original)
6. Groove Armada- Drop The Tough (The Twelves Remix)
7. LCD Sound System- Get Innocuous (Soulwax Remix)
8. Crookers- Hold Up Your Hand Ft. Roisin Murphy (Original)
9. Uffie- MCs Can Kiss (Original)
10. Justice- DVNO (Original)
11. Gorillaz- Stylo (Alex Metric Remix)
12. Little Jinder- Youth Blood (Silk Wolf Special Sauce Edit)
13. Kenna- Say Goodbye To Love (Remix ft. Lupe Fiasco)
14. Death From Above 1979- Black History Month (Alan Braxe & Fred Falke Remix)
15. Shwayze- Get U Home (Alan Wilkis Remix)
16. Passion Pit- The Reeling (Yasutaka Nakata Capsule Remix)
17. Bloc Party- One More Chance (Alex Metric Remix)
18. Lykke Li – Little Bit (Villains Remix)
19. Datarock- The Pretender (Holy Ghost Remix Radio Edit)
20. Relation- Your Tiny Mind (Lifelike Remix)
21. Alan Wilkis- Pink and Purple (Original)
22. Mystery Jets- The Boy Who Ran Away (Riton Re-rub)
23. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah- Over And Over Again (Original)
24. Metric- Monster Hospital (MSTRKRFT Remix)

And speaking of my Shwayze remix, here’s a little fan video I came across on Youtube – this dude’s got some serious pop-and-lock chops!

Much love,
Big A

Heyooooo!

It was a White Hinterlandy weekend for yours truly. Had the great pleasure of seeing Sean and Casey play on Friday night at Glasslands with shred-goddess Marnie Stern. And on Saturday, had Casey over to the studio for a day of writing and recording for my new project! Lemme tell you, homegirl has some serious pipes.

On a related note, got a nice Stereogum mention for the WH remix I did a while back.

Holla holla holla,
A

* Chiddy Bang – Under The Sheets
* YACHT – Psychic City (Classixx Remix)
* The Virgins – Rich Girls (The Twelves Remix)
* PNAU – Baby (Breakbot Remix)
* Passion Pit – Sleepyhead (Emil and Friends Remix)
* Neon Indian – Deadbeat Summer (Database Remix)
* Air & Ryhmefest – Alpha Beta Gaga (Mark Ronson Remix)
* Matt & Kim – It’s a fact (Mano Remix feat. Hollywood Holt)
* The Cure vs Lil Wayne – Close To Me (Remix)
* Pharcyde & Sublime – Summertime in the LBC (Remix)
* The Very Best feat. Ezra Koenig – Warm Heart of Africa (Alan Wilkis Remix)
* Chromeo – Call Me Up (Bag Raiders Remix)
* Imogen Heap – Say Goodnight and Go (Remix by Back Ted N-Ted)
* Edward Sharpe – Edward Sharpe (RAC Remix)

And you can stream the episode below:

Pop tarts!

-A

Hey hey hey!

The response to my Phantogram remix has been ginormicous! So much love out there – really makes a guy feel special. For the fifth time this year, I hit #1 on Hypemachine, premiered on Entertainment Weekly, achieved “most blogged” status on The Independent, NME’s top ten of the week, and shout-outs on Prefix and Filter Magazines. Not too shabby!

Before I break it all down below, a few pieces of exciting news. Just put the finishing touches on a new remix, and been approached to do another for a pretty substantial artist. And most importantly, been chipping away at my next solo album! It’s a slow process, unfortunately, but making progress every day.

Anyhoo, here goes the review roundup:

Entertainment Weekly
The Independent
NME “A brilliant remix”
Prefix Magazine “The generally effervescent quality of this remix makes her sound like there’s some fun to be had with these Phantogram folks”
Filter Magazine
Better Propaganda
MBV Music “Another nice remix from Alan Wilkis”
Minneapolis Fucking Rocks “Great remix”
Boom Boom Chik “Another stellar remix… What amazes me about this Brooklyn producer is how his style is not limited to one genre or category”
The Burning Ear “Alan nails it on this one, grabbing the original and running with it straight to funky town… This the jam that I want to play while setting up for a party.”
Schallgrezen
Audio Muffin “Alan’s that dude that takes all the hot indie pop/rock songs, flips them on their ass, hits them with a synth bass whip, and then commands the world to dance.”
Cause=Time
Daily Beatz “I really dig the pop spin that Wilkis has given this song”
The New Montreal
Snob’s Music
Some Kind of Awesome “Yet another incredible remix for our listening pleasure… This guy is a genius!”
There Goes The Fear “Why not get into that weekend spirit a bit sooner with this brilliant remix… Part school disco cheese-tastic and part Ladytron-esque so-cool-it-hurts, this is one song you’ll have on repeat all weekend”
Pasta Primavera “Mr. Wilkis has outdone himself this time”
Kick Kick Snare
Indie Music Filter
Voltiando
Danger Danger “It’s fun and playful, and it makes you dance. Pure brilliance”
Durrty Rice
Music Like Dirt “The Hype Machine’s most prolific remixer”
Disco Demons “It would be insulting to call this masterpiece a ‘remix,’ as he only kept the catchy vocals… This rework has been my glimmer of light today after going through an endless flood of emails and music”
Surviving the Golden Age
Hello My Name is Kevin John Gomez
Nerdy Frames
Music for Perfect People “The remix makes Sarah Barthel’s vocals shine brighter than ever before with the addition of the uptempo pop beat!”
Parasites and Sycophants
Synthetic Rocks
SuperXOffical
Street Giant “One of his best remixes yet”
Untzological Society
JayeLAudio
The World in a Paper Cup “Take one of my favorite songs, give it to one of my favorite remix artists and what do you get? Brilliance!”
Les Enfants Terribles
Bloggertronix
Skipster
Subservient Experiment
Gumshoe Grove
The Sound of Indie “If you replaced Sarah’s voice with Madonna, I could easily see this along-side some of the greats from “True Blue.” Alan Wilkis pretty much nailed it”
Fit for a King
Me and All My Friends
The Blaaahg
Dumb Bass
This Music Wins
The Worst Beatle “Watch out for Alan Wilkis, he is a top-rate producer who doesn’t deserve to be lumped together with the majority of Web 2.0 bedroom remixers and mash up ‘artists’ clogging up Hype Machine. I would love to hear a full album produced by Wilkis”
Radio Deconstruction
Chi-Town Notes
Pop That Rocks
Etnobofin
Jumble Pusher
DJ Craig
Bizzy’s Hi-Fi Zone
Pasaje Alternativo
Music That Isn’t Bad
Gonzo’s Music-o-rama
Only Pieces
Music is My Porn
Fear the Weekend
Many Marvelous Moments
Dance Sauce
Justin Rhyme

DASSSSS IT!

-A

I had the distinct pleasure of seeing Phantogram the other night at Bowery Ballroom, and got to chat with Josh and Sarah for a brief but enjoyable hot minute. Man, they brought it HARD and tore the house down. They had so much energy, great stage presence, both their voices were on point, and they had great backround visuals. Though my mobile-phone-photography is less than award-winning, here’s a shot from the sold out show.

And while I’m on the subject, we had a HUGE week for my remix. After debuting on Entertainment Weekly, we got written up in NME as among the 10 best free MP3 downloads of the week – they called it “a brilliant remix!”

Also got another great shout-out in The Independent for being “most blogged about,” as well as coverage in Prefix Magazine and Filter Magazine!

Not too shabby… Full recap coming next week, and have a lovely weekend ’til then!

-A

Boom boom boooooom. Lemme hear you say way-o [way-oooooooo].

Extraordinarily pleased to announce my latest “official” remix, this time of the lovely Phantogram’s “Mouthful of Diamonds.” They released their debut album, “Eyelid Movies,” on Barsuk Records on 2/9/2010, and Barsuk (quite flatteringly) called my remix a “joyous new-wave inflected delight.” The remix also first premiered on Entertainment Weekly, which was AMAZING!

Phantogram is a duo, comprised of Sara Barthel and Josh Carter. They first caught my ear a few months ago when they were making the rounds on the blogosphere. Their production is really minimal and generally pretty dark – reminds me of an updated Massive Attack or Portishead, but a little more guitar and synth-driven. And I just LOVE the singer, Sara’s voice; she has this smoky, whispery beautiful thing going on… And on “Mouthful of Diamonds,” it really shines through and sits perfectly right in the middle of it, creating this dark and dreamy little world.

So, in my usual fashion, I turned the song completely on its head and produced it in the absolute opposite way – the only thing I kept from the original version is Sara’s vocals. I took it from minimal trip-hop to ultra-layered bubblegum pop, from dark to ultraviolet-bright. I loaded it up with synths and a dance beat, and recorded a whole bunch of guitars, percussion, squishes and squelches…

I highly encourage you to give the original a listen on the band’s myspace before checking out my version, as they’re SUPER different but somehow magically work great together… musical yin and yang!

You can listen to it and download below, and by all accounts please share it with any and everyone you know! Tweet the link, throw it on your facebook, send it to your grandma – everything’s fair game!

Many many thanks for listening, and happy Thursday!

Love,
A

Hello homies!

Got a truly wonderful response to my White Hinterland remix – I’m thrilled everyone came along for the ride!

A few things to report before I recap:

1) As many of you know, I’ve been co-producing the latest record for Project Jenny, Project Jan. We are so close to wrapping it up, I can taste it! Final mixes are complete, now in the middle of the mastering process. I seriously can’t wait!

2) Pleased to announce I’m working on MY next record – going to be a collaborative effort, working with a host of awesome special guests. Been sketching out ideas pretty regularly, very pumped to be working on my own stuff again. Lord knows where it’ll all end up, but it’s going to be awesome, I can tell you that…

3) Also been working a lot these days with my new friends, The Kickdrums. Doing some Postal-Service style email exchanges, trading ideas back and forth. Really fun stuff.

4) And lastly, my song “The Hustle” randomly wound up in yet ANOTHER extreme sports video. This time for some sort of Mountain Dew snowboarding event… Check it:

Moving right along, the White Hinterland remix picked up all sorts of steam over the past few weeks! Made it into Elbo.ws Hot Tracks after a nice thumbs up from WH’s record label, Dead Oceans.

Here’s the blog breakdown – thanks a bazillion to everyone that was kind enough to listen and write:

The Independent
Prefix Magazine “warm, lounge-ish electro-pop”
The Portland Mercury
Consequence of Sound
YK2 Daily
Better Propaganda
Killah Beez
The Music Slut
Killah Beez
Day ‘n Night Blog “I don’t have to tell anyone how good Alan Wilkis and Memory Tapes are.”
MBV Music
Arjan Writes “Alan Wilkis knows how to turn obscure indie gems into wildly unique pieces of atmospheric pop and electronica”
Boom Boom Chik “It sounds fantastic… Light one up to this”
Hypetrak “Restructured into a thumping, electro-pop tune. Very clean execution of the remix”
Cause Equals Time
The Fast Life “Wilkis drops his latest airy goody inside your speaker to conjure colorful flowering meadows into your livingroom… A pure and relaxed hymn for spring… Chilled, soulful music”
Plug In Music
Hot Biscuits
Mahogany Blog “There’s no doubt White Hinterland are chuffed”
Daily Beatz “A funky quasi-psychedelic remix… I would say he hit it out of the park”
Atari Cool Kids
Ickmusic “Wilkis is no slouch in the remix chair… Spinning it on its end with a musical drumbeat and his signature sense of funk”
Music Like Dirt “He’s become something of a hype machine fuelled phenomenon… A beautifully subtle reworking of White Hinterland”
Too Much Happiness “I like the original. It’s whip cream. But this Alan Wilkis’ remix is what I like to call a sure thing”
Short and Sweet NYC
Head Underwater
Too Many Sebastians “A rather lovely remix”
What to Wear During an Orange Alert
Super Official “Another solid remix from Alan Wilkis… transforms it into something head nodding and atmospheric.”
Music for Perfect People
Parasites and Sycophants
This Music Wins
No Modest Bear
Durrty Rice “Man, AW, this dude continues to impress with his ability to put his touch on a song… I honestly haven’t heard a horrible remix by Wilkis”
Indie Here
Subservient Experiment
Blastercase “a nice, ethereal remix… the perfect track to help you shake off that winter dust, and get ready for the nice warm weather to come”
The World in a Paper Cup “Wilkis is one of the most consistent artists out there. Perhaps it’s his ear for a beat or his ability to tweak and twist just right; whatever it is I always get a grin on my face when he drops me a tune”
Ears of the Beholder “a great remix from the talented re-thinker of songs”
The Weekly Feed
Their Bated Breath
Dumb Bass
Music is My Sunshine
Cater ATL
Above Second
Together in Digital Dreams
Sonic Dissonance
Gis Gis Gis
JP’s Blog
Radio Deconstruction
Tea n Muffin
Stay True
Pop That Rocks
Street Index
Everyday King
Cities of the Plain
Yvynyl
Joey Plays

Well, that about does it… Phewf :)

See you soon!

-A

Moving right along, my White Hinterland remix is pickin up all kinds of steam out there, wanted to share some juicy tidbits.

First off, got a lovely feature in Prefix Magazine: “[AW] pushes it out of its surroundings into a piece of warm, lounge-ish electro-pop, in which the song still finds it’s footing.”

Nice little shout-out in The Independent, as well, in which they state that I am a “Brooklyn DJ.” Sure, why not?

And lastly, got some KCRW radio airplay again. Amen to those DJs over there, always keepin their ears open to all things indie. Gotta love ‘em!

In other news, I’m seeing Mr. Jamie Lidell at the Bowery tonight, and I am supremely excited for it. If anyone’s gonna be there, come say hi! That is all…

Hope everyone’s good!

-A

Friends!

Springtime is in full effect, and what better music to accompany your next stroll through the cabbage patch than a brand new Alan Wilkis Remix?

This one’s for a band by the name of White Hinterland, and the song is called “No Logic.” They first popped up on my radar a few months ago via various music blogs – I gave it a listen and instantly fell in love with the lead singer’s voice (Casey Dienel). It’s pretty enchanting, and almost reminds me of a female Dave Longstreth… She also plays ukelele, which as we all know is radical. Their record label, Dead Oceans, said I “captured their hearts” with my remix, so that was a nice little thumbs up (if you are reading this months from now, it would be from the 4/08/10 press release).

Anyway, I urge you to check out the original first, which you can hear on their myspace, as I REALLY took this one far away from its home base. This song posed a unique challenge in that the original is so sparse, staccato, and experimental – was very difficult at first to hear it any other way… Although I suppose that’s the remixer’s conundrum, in a nutshell.

This remix was essentially my big hommage to Stereolab and Tortoise, two of my favoritest bands. I threw in a lot of fluid sounds, soft guitars and padding, but I also mixed in a lot of angular, organic sounds… I played quite a bit of real percussion and drums, and I played some acoustic guitar on the choruses and processed them to all hell… I think the juxtaposition of those organic sounds with the soft padding gives it a nice tension, overall. Also, similarly to my RJD2 remix, this is another instance in which I took something out of its original time signature (6/8), and fit it into a new one without altering the vocals (4/4).

OK OK, let’s get down to listening! And as always, if you like what you hear, please feel free to download and share it with any and everyone you know!

DOWNLOAD: “No Logic (Alan Wilkis Remix)” – White Hinterland

Much love,
A