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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.

dj omni – quickMix™: Progression
Download MP3

tracklist:
“Legions (Reverie)” by Zoe Keating
“Wait Up” by Q-Tip
“1000 Deaths” by D’Angelo

quickMix™: 3-7 songs. download in seconds.

I am a firm believer that music blends make songs sound better.
And sometimes I just want to get to the blend in a mix.

This quickMix™ contains a song and a blend that I have had in my head for a while now. Starting from the unreleased D’Angelo. I heard a connection to something that had come before in this song. After listening to the stories of how the Voodoo album came to be, it is nice to see Questlove and company reaching back to a recent album for inspiration. The underrated Amplified album is filled with gems from the production duo Q-tip and a soon-to-be J Dilla. Working backwards from there, the electronica-accompanied Zoe Keating builds a mood with her layers of cello melodies that seemed a perfect place to start.

o:{I originally planned to start with the sample source for “Wait Up”, seeing as it also inspired “1000 Deaths”. I couldn’t find any information about the original online. If anyone has the Amplified liner notes and can share the sample source, I would greatly appreciate it.}

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dj omni “Late Love”
o:{there is explicit content in this mix. apologies in advance.}

I’m a little late for the lovey-dovey vibe, but I can see that the love bug has had a hand in this mix. Some of that love is directed at my city. I spent a night in the Akwaaba Mansion, a black-owned Bed & Breakfast in the heart of Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. It’s around the corner from the Lewis Avenue that Big Daddy Kane rapped about on his albums. It is also the setting for the video of “History” by Mos Def featuring Talib Kweli.

Tracklist:
1 Ammoncontact f. Prince Po, Yusef Lateef, & Dwight Tribble – Beautiful Flowers
2 Courtney Pine f. Cassandra Wilson – “Don’t ‘Xplain”
3 D’Angelo w/ Pino & ?uesto – “Ex To The Next”
4 Donovan – “Get Thy Bearings”
5 Fink – “Q & A”
6 Jazzanova f. Phonte – “So Far From Home”
7 Ty & Kory – “Flyin Away”
8 Tony Toni Toné – “That’s All I Ask Of You”
9 The Roots f. JazzyFatNastees – “You Got Me (Me Tienes Remix)
10 Tin Hat Trio – “The Longest Night”
11 Vampire Weekend – “Diplomat’s Son”
12 Ta’Raach – “Baaaby”
13 Skillz f. Freeway – “Don’t Act Like You Don’t Know”
14 RJD2 – “Work It Out”
15 Prefuse 73 f. Aesop Rock – “Sabbatical With Options”
16 Pete Rock f. CL Smooth – “Back On the Block”
17 Miguel Atwood-Ferguson and his 40-piece orchestra – “Hoc ‘n Pucky”
18 Jay Electronica – “Retro Electro”

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Mos Def Mix by DJ Omni

dj omni – “mos def mix”

1. Mos Def – “Jay Electronica Tribute (Live @ Carnegie Hall)”
2. Mos Def – “Universal Magnetic”
3. Mos Def – “QuietDog (Letterman_060809)”
4. Black Star – “Hard Margin”
5. Mary J Blige – “Beautiful (Black Star Remix)”
6. Mos Def – “Auditorium (f. Slick Rick the Ruler)”
7. Mos Def – “Ms. Fat Booty”
8. Mos Def – “U R The One”
9. Mos Def – “Umi Says (Zero 7 Mix)”
10. Mos Def – “Brooklyn Go Hard (Live @ Highline Ballroom)
11. Mos Def – “Black Jack”
12. De La Soul – “Big Brother Beat”
13. Mos Def – “No Hay Nada Mas”
14. Black Star – “Respiration (Pete Rock Remix f. Black Thought)”
15. Mos Def – “May-December”
16. Mos Def x HYPNOTIC – “Make it Funky (Live)”
17. De La Soul – “Stakes Is High (Remix)”
18. BlakRoc – “Ain’t Nothing Like You (Hoochie Coo)(f. Jim Jones)
19. Black Star – “Bright as The Stars”
20. Mos Def – “Priority”
21. Reflection Eternal – “Just Begun (f. Jay Electronica and J. Cole)
22. Mos Def – “Champion Requiem”

Continuing the congratulatory theme, a long overdue Mos Def mix that barely scratches the surface of this man’s oeuvre. Mos has been nominated for Best Rap Solo Performance “Casa Bey” and for Best Rap Album “The Ecstatic”. The solo performance category has strong competition from Drake, Eminem, Jay-Z, and Kid Cudi. Big-up Q-Tip for getting a Grammy nod for his excellent album “The Renaissance” (he deserves a mix of his own).

Mos Def is the definition of multi-talented. Almost as well known for his acting as he is for his music he has been nominated for a variety of awards but has at this point only won a Black Reel Awards in 2005 as Best Actor Independent for “The Woodsman”. (He really should have won Best Actor in a Television Movie or Mini-Series in 2004 for “Something the Lord Made”)

Needless say we will be seeing more from Mos.

dj omni – “rainyDaySpin”

I’m not one for the so-called black friday sale madness. But when my family and I made it out on Saturday to the Apple store in the mall I immediately gravitated to a box on the bottom of the shelf advertising the Vestax Spin. It was fun to watch people stop what they were doing and watch and want to play as we convinced the staff to pull the spin controller out of the back room (where some of the employees admitted to playing with it on their breaks) and hooked it up in the store. With only a walk around the mall, I was sold.

The Spin’s decks are highly sensitive and easily customizable. It is chocked full of nice features and is really fun to play with. The best bit is the included Mac software called DJAY, which connects to your iTunes library (including your music videos!) and allows you to record your mixes and save playlists.

This is my first attempt at a recorded mix using spin (mistakes and all). I’m sure it won’t be the last. I’ll try to post one a month atleast.

o:{if enough people ask for it, i’ll chop this mix up into tracks and make it available for download. If you want the tracklisting to the mix right-click and save the above image.}

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:

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}