//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

//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)

//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:


MIGHTY MOS DEF - Feb 09


HAPPY 30th B-DAY AALIYAH! - Jan 09


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


DEEP IN THE 90s - Mar 08


IT'S A LOVE THANG - June 08

//Good Life Reunited..

//This Saturday marks the one-night-only return of GOOD LIFE!! At Bliss Bar in Noe Valley after the Pacquiao fight..

//GOOD LIFE was a weekly Wednesday night event at Luka's in Oakland that DJ VNA and I started in 2004. We moved our night SOUL TRIP (Wednesdays '02-'04) over from the Lucky Lounge after Luka's opened. We held down that night, carry heavy crates of vinyl up the stairs to the booth every week for two years. During that time we had all our dj fam come through and rock with us, keeping it as Oakland as possible: Mpenzi, Proof, PantyROBber, Toure, Fuze, D-Sharp, Willie Maze, Tim D, Sake1, DJ Eleven, Pam the Funkstress, G-Smoove, Backside, Icewater, Crimson, G-Smoove, Oliver Orzal, Kaution, Lovelee, Treat-U-Nice, Phatrick, Lenior... and it has the distinction of being the night through which I met my wife! I had booked Zita to spin before actually meeting her in person.

//For the one-year anniversary of GOOD LIFE (which Zita spun at) we gave away these cds, which we recorded live with vinyl at VNA's crib. Listen to the needle dropping and the pops & crackles on the first record..
Good Life Vol.1 (2005) / DJ VNA & Dmadness//We decided to end the night while sitting down to dinner before spinning one indian summer night in 2006. VNA was starting law school and I was just getting burnt from 4 years of Wednesdays. Now VNA's done with his JD and passed the NY bar, so it's time to celebrate.

//By the way, GOOD LIFE was christened long before Kanye graduated. The night got its name from records by Anthony B, Cocoa Tea and Nancy Wilson. Also wanna send a big shout to our folks Tommy Wong, who created the original visual for GOOD LIFE, which has definitely stood the test of time in its simple elegance.

**As a bonus, here's another live mix VNA & I recorded and pressed up back in 2003 when we were doing the night at Lucky Lounge:
Soul Trippin' - Live at the Lucky Lounge (2003) / DJ VNA & Dmadness

//Oaktown State of Mind..

//In Oaktown,
East Bay jungle where dreams are made of
There's nothing you can't do
Now you're in Oakland
These streets will make you feel brand new
Lake lights will inspire you
Lets here it for Oakland! Oakland! Oakland!

//Maybe, maybe not..but no matter what WE LOVE THE TOWN! Come show your love tonite, we've got prodigal son DJ Phatrick on deck, gift bags from Made Jewelry for the ladies, free cds from DJ Zita, and good music all night long. Costumes optional. Big dreams mandatory.

//Here's a bonus Town track from Oakland legends 3X Krazy, which I am sad to say that I neglected to include on my Folks get Brown in the sunshine mix:

3X Krazy - "Sunshine in the 'O'" (Str8 Game, 1995)

//Marvin in Jamaica..

//Mini-Mix #4: Marvin in Jamaica

Last winter I came down with some pretty bad cold viruses so I ended up staying home from work and..making mixes! What came out of that were the following:
Mini-Mix #1: Home Sick
Mini-Mix #2: Epilogue
Mini-Mix #3: Dmadness' Breathing Apparatus
Now I'm back with another sick day today and the latest my series, which I view as kind of a sketchbook of ideas that could be developed further or just be what they be.
Without further ado.. Marvin Gaye takes a trip to Jamaica and this is the soundtrack:

1. Morgan Heritage intro
2. Sexual Healing (Fiesta Riddim) - Marvin Gaye
3. Vitamin S (Sexual Healing Rmx) - Baby Cham
4. Sexual Healing - Maxamillion
5. Sexual Healing (Dusty Smith Reggae Mix) - Marvin Gaye
6. Inner City Blues - Sly & Robbie
7. What's Going On (Truth & Rights Remix) - Marvin Gaye
8. Let's Get It On (Waiting In Vain Remix) - Marvin Gaye
9. I Heard It Through the Grapevine (J-Star Reggae Refix) - Marvin Gaye
10. I Heard It Through the Grapevine (Henry Tipper Reggae Remix) - Marvin Gaye

//By the way, the drawing above is taken from the dope deck that Western Edition put out back in April to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Marvin's passing--I just added a little rasta flavor to the image. 1neLuv.

//New Mixes from the Family..

//Wow, my crew has been busy lately! It's nice to be around people who work hard and refuse to rest on their laurels. The result is a slew of diverse new mixes for you, FREE!

//DJ Zita - MadeMix Vol.3: LoveHate Collection

A hot mix of 80s heavy hitters for the sisters at Made Jewelry. CD release parties at WE LOVE THE TOWN tomorrow and ALLURE next week. More DJ Zita here.

//DJ Mpenzi - UNWIND Vol.2: The AfroSoul Journey...Gets Funky

Cutting edge Afrobeat/House/Latin/Soul to unwind to from my bro Mpenzi hosted by Oakland's FEMI. Design by me! UNWIND Vol.1 still available here.

//Willie Maze - G-G-Golden "Taste"

I messaged him to send me a mix for his guest spot at GOLDEN next month, then went to sleep for a couple hours. Woke up, the homie had already gone into the lab, recorded and sent this!

Enjoy! 1neLuv..