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DJ Omni – QuickMix: Cinematic

tracklisting:

Janelle Monáe – Say You’ll Go

Wale Feat. Marsha Ambrosius – Diary

Jay Electronica – Act 1: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge)

There is a trend, of late, where musicians have turned to movie scores for inspiration and sample sources. Most recently Janelle Monáe‘s fantastic album features the song above that gracefully segues into what at first sounds like something from Alexandre Desplat’s score for Benjamin Buttons but on second thought more closely matches Claude Debussy’s Claire De Lune. A song that has appeared in many a film score, but in recent memory in Ocean’s 11. Next Up, Wale, no stranger to film and television inspiration for his music, improvises on the other side of the romanticism portrayed in the film Amelie with his song Diary. And finally, perhaps the starter of the trend. This artist is only now reaping the commercial rewards for the momentum that this download-only, concept track started a a handful of years ago. As Just Blaze notes in the intro, no one was doing this kind of music at the time (and most still aren’t). Jay Electronica‘s brilliant movie score mixtape, Act 1: Eternal Sunshine (The Pledge). Not only does he work the moving Jon Brion Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind score into a strong backdrop for his concept-heavy rhymes, but he also weaves in snippets from Babel, The Prestige, and even the vintage Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

As source music, you can’t do better than the music scores of today’s Hollywood blockbusters. These movies have become the homes of our contemporary classical composers.

After watching lectures from RBMA for years, I finally got to be a part of a lecture series. This evening included sound system designer Gary Stewart, music producer 88-Keys, DJ Harvey, and VERY SPECIAL SECRET GUEST Flying Lotus!

FlyLo is a rock star!
And Red Bull puts together truly amazing experiences.

Quantic and his Combo Barbaro
from the Official US Release Party of ‘Tradition In Transition’.
July 15th, 2009
@ The Frying Pan on Pier 66

Big up to Will Quantic and Nickodemus. There needs to be more events like this in the city.

All photos and videos taken with my iPhone 3Gs.

first a (very) brief promo for the attached mix:

download MP4
and then the mix itself:
download mix

“…Surrounded by hate
yet I love home.

…asked my dude how travelin’ the world sound,
found it hard to believe
he hadn’t been past downtown.”
{quotes from Common, on Black Star’s “Respiration”}

I’ve been really wanting to go home recently, and the time will soon come.

This is a mix I made soon after arriving in London a year ago and it’s finally seeing the light of day! Hope you enjoy and if you like, drop a comment. To my people in the States, I hope to you see you all soon!
o:

Shout out to Steady B, Blastmaster KRS-ONE, TaT Money on the cut, and Doc, breaking it down like this! The combination of black & white cartoons and 1920′s-sounding samples makes this song really memorable for me. I’ve never heard the original to this song, but I’ve never needed to, this song is a classic.

I just wanted to update the Hamlet Safety project. I have taken the suggestions and questions I received from people to update and hopefully improve the project. Please let me know if you have any other comments or suggestions. Much appreciated.

I am also including another test project i did. I added a visual component to the excellent musical language lessons provided by earwormsMBT. This is a demo of a German lesson for the video iPod. I was planning to make a trip over to the father-land (why is it called this?) when I was waylaid by a bit of bacteria in the system. Long story short, I never got to test my supposed German language learning.

On another note, big up Kerry Washington for directing an amazing video for Common’s “I Want You”. There is not alot of talk of female directors out there, let alone black female directors. This is not one of the top five songs on the excellent “Finding Forever” album, but this video goes a long way in making the song work for me. The video is really well thought out with a story line that adds to the song rather than just represents it. I haven’t enjoyed a video from Common this much since the MK12 designed “Go”.

o:{Big up OnSmash for the link. Apologies for the logos in the way. (like I did that!)}

It’s coming up on a year from the time when some reckless driver plowed into my parked car on rain-soaked Brooklyn streets in the middle of the night. And I miss my car.

The day I drove it off the lot in Minneapolis I had a homemade mixtape in my pocket ready to try out the speakers. Side One, Track One? Sob (Saab?) Story by the Leaders of the New School. From that day forward there was always music playing in my Toyota Rav4. I made mixtapes for the car first and then for my friends. Better yet, if I had my friends in the car, then it was a win/win! The dashboard stayed packed with cassettes and then later CDs.

Nothing got more run in the car than J.Rocc’s promo mix for the Jaylib album. Stones Throw Records really should have included it on the re-release. The Champion Sound promo CD is a seamless blend of the combined history of two of the best musicians that hip-hop has produced as well as a sample of their collaborative work. The best bit is that it included the unreleased Stereolab-sampling track that started the conversation between these two artists. Apparently, Madlib would record rhymes over Jay Dee’s beat tapes. He took a shine to one particular song, but the beat was already sold. I believe that above mentioned song is what became Busta Rhymes’ “Show Me What You Got For Me”.

The above picture is the last time I saw my car, hobbled at the impound lot, totaled and heading for scrap and spare parts. The link will show you some of the people who spent a lot of time in my car listening to music or just enjoying the ride. Whattup, AnR, SHZA, Gee, Me, Toriano, and Marlon (in order of appearance). Whattup, Kemba for trips to Boston and Jones Beach. Thanks Sean for the Autobot sticker that I stuck on the back window imagining the heat sensitive holograms of the first generation Transformer toys. Whattup, Kemp for trying to buy the “blue lady” for a dollar to keep her all in the family! And whattup Roxane, who told me that my car (the Rava she called it, misunderstanding the logo) was like riding around in a movie, with our own personal soundtrack. I’m missing you all.

After months of staring at this computer screen, I am ready to share the second version of my thesis project:

http://viralvinyl.com/hs/hscomS1.htm

The Hamlet Safety Project is an experiment in
comprehension through music.

It seeks to emphasize understanding through connecting contemporary musical language with that of classical literature. And considering how popular music, and hip-hop specifically, has helped spread English and slang around the world, I’m curious to see if these connections can make it easier for people who are learning English as a second language as well as those trying to understand the messages of Shakespeare.

Please feel free to respond with any questions or problems you have with this presentation.
o:{thanks!}

(and keep an eye out for a little remix business coming soon)

or goto http://viralvinyl.com/IGv11qd.mov

This short film (a minute and a half total) is part of my student thesis project. I’m curious to see how people respond to it. Take a look and then give a brief answer to the questions that follow.

1. Is this entertaining?

2. Did you feel at all overwhelmed? Is it too much information all at once?

3. Did the music enhance the experience or did it get in the way?

4. Do you think that the visuals change or influence your experience of the text? If so, how?

5. Where would you see yourself using this?

6. Would you buy something like this? If so, how much would you pay for it?

7. Is there anything that you would change about this presentation?

thanks for taking the time to view and give your opinion.
o:{curious}

this is a mix i made in 2005. please excuse the sound quality. i had not yet worked out the kinks in my recordings at this point. there are still moments in this “99.4% Pure – Urban Hermit” compilation that make me proud.

o:{sound}