Wednesday, December 30, 2009

//2009REWIND..

//As we bid adieu to 2009 and the first decade of the millenium, take a minute (or 78) to reflect with me on the year in music. It's always easier to focus on what sucked out there, but as I began compiling tracks it became apparent that it was still an excellent year for new works. The returns of Maxwell, Sade, Goapele & Souls of Mischief, dope Bay productions from Trackademicks, lots of extracurricular woodshedding from ?uestlove and Mighty Mos, next gen cats like Kid Sister, Wale and Jay Electronica (that's Jay ElectRamadaan Muhammad Asalaamica Rasoul Allah Supana Watallah through your monitor to you!), African voices via Nneka & K'naan.. and don't even get me started on the riddims! This year I went to Jamaica for the first time and tunes like "Call on Me," "One More Night" and "Life" were ruling alongside riddims like Go-Go Club, Style & Swagga and many more reggae and dancehall joints I couldn't fit.


//So there you have it, my humble take on music I was feeling in '09. I recorded it live, one-take with no editing or mastering so excuse any roughness around the edges. Interestingly, after spinning vinyl since '94, it's been exactly one year since converting to Serato and for better or for worse this mix would not have been possible without it..

//Come thru tomorrow night for the GOOD LIFE New Year's Eve with myself, ZITA and DJ VNA and I'll have a few free cd copies available to take with you into the next decade. Happy New Year and 1ne Luv..

2009REWIND - DJ Dmadness - 12.30.09

1 Roses - Georgia Ann Muldrow & Mos Def
2 I Wanna Be Where You Are - The Roots with Erykah Badu
3 Love You - Maxwell
4 How I Got Over - The Roots
5 My Sweetie - Wale
6 Neva Believe U - Mavado
7 Come From Yard f/ Juakali - Kush Arora
8 Making Money f/ Warrior Queen - Kush Arora
9 Bill - Gaza Kim & Lisa Hype
10 A Nuh Whore - Demarco
11 Stronger - Einstein
12 Good Inna - Beenie Man
13 Wanna Be Ballaz - Assassin
14 Alive (Nightmare) (feat. RATATAT) - KiD CuDi
15 Cheeba (Nottz Remix) f/ Bilal - Shafiq Husayn
16 Chasing Pirates (Santigold and Snotty Remix) - Norah Jones
17 Purple Flip - ?uestlove, Foreign Exchange, Zo! & Carlitta Durand
18 Ay Yo (Soulquarians Mix) - Melanie Fiona
19 History - Mos Def f/ Talib Kweli
20 Down Azz Jawn - Kid Sister
21 Off the Pacific f/ Casual & San Quinn - TD Camp
22 New Wu f/ Ghostface Method Man - Raekwon
23 Walking (J.Period Remix) f/ Jay Electronica - Nneka
24 Soldier Of Love (Platurn Edit) - Sade
25 The Lovecats - 1-O.A.K.
26 Exhibit C (Sake1 DJ Edit) - Jay Electronica
27 Poets - Souls of Mischief
28 Just Begun f/ Jay Electronica, J. Cole & Mos Def - Reflection Eternal
29 Brooklyn (Go Hard) - Mos Def
30 2009 BET Hip-Hop Awards Cypher - Mos Def, Black Thought, Eminem & DJ Premier
31 Empire State Of Mind (feat. Alicia Keys) - Jay-Z
32 Empire State Of Mind (Part II) Broken Down - Alicia Keys
33 Milk & Honey - Goapele
34 Milk & Honey (Sake1 Refix) - Goapele
35 Heaven In Your Eyes - Gappy Ranks
36 Soul Rebel - Gappy Ranks & Nerious Joseph
37 Call On Me - Jah Cure
38 All About You - Wayne Wonder
39 Can't Stop Now f/ Mr. Vegas & Jovi Rockwell - Major Lazer
40 One More Night - Busy Signal
41 Life - G Whizz
42 T.I.A. - K'naan
43 Fly Away - Wale
44 Flight School f/ T-Pain & Kanye West - GLC
45 For Your Sorrows f/ Too $hort - Big Boi
46 Bedroom Lights - Idle Warship
47 iFEEL f/ Blu - J*Davey
48 This Time Around f/ Phonte & Carlitta Durand - Roddy Rod

Thursday, December 24, 2009

//We've Only Just Begun..

//I rarely post the newest-new tracks because usually it's just some overblown innernut hype. But when I woke up to this track off Reflection Eternal's forthcoming comeback record I was incredulous. The star is really Hi-Tek's beat, from the sick intro to the horns..with everyone still jocking Jay Dee (respect) can't another brother who's been doing it just as great for just as long get some shine? And of course you've got the Funky Four Horsemen: Jay Electramadan coming off "Exhibit C", J.Cole who I was never trippin on but who holds his own well, and the brothers BlackStar dropping references to Othello, the Dalai Lama, Coming to America, New Orleans' fleur-de-lis, and hip hop quotables like "the devil at the dancehall, thirsty for a partner" and "Pure power don't power trip." Could the paradigm finally be shifting in hip hop? I mean it's been horrible for so long, maybe we just need to get out of this decade. Tracks like these are taking us there.. 1ne Luv.

Reflection Eternal f/ Jay Electronica, J.Cole & Mos Def - "Just Begun" (Warner Bros, 2010)

..and for the heck of it, here's the dope B-Side off Kweli & Hi-Tek's first 12" single pictured above, the title and intro passage of which are quoted from Ghanaian author's Ayi Kwei Armah's 1973 novel (which incidentally James Cameron should have read before making Avatar).
Reflection Eternal - "2000 Seasons" (Rawkus, 1997)

Friday, December 18, 2009

//GOLDEN Winter Breakdown..

//Ah yeah, it's GOLDEN Time! We were on hiatus last month thanks to support from the homies Willie Maze and DJ VNA... and we're back to close out the year the OG way, just me & the Mrs.

//Look for newness from Golden Soundscapes in 2010, including the 4-year Anniversary of GOLDEN, a January WE LOVE THE TOWN, a rebirth of one of our other beloved musical ideas on a 2nd Saturdays night, new mixes ...and the whole nine.

In the meantime here's a little retrospective of the GOLDEN Midnight Mixes, which we retired earlier in 2009. All are mixed live by yours truly Dmadness & DJ Zita at GOLDEN 3rd Saturdays at Laszlo SF:

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MIGHTY MOS DEF - Feb 09


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HAPPY 30th B-DAY AALIYAH! - Jan 09


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THE HARD WAY (the RZA/DJ Premier/Dr.Dre) Apr 09
- GOLDEN 3 Year Anniversary


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DEEP IN THE 90s - Mar 08


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IT'S A LOVE THANG - June 08