Farina's Sessions is groove-licious
By Sarah Warner
The electronic music scene of San Francisco is internationally famous as a home to a number of talented DJs such as Jeno, Tony, Josh, Dj Dan and Mark Farina.
With his fourth album under the Om Records label, San Francisco Sessions, Volume 1, Mark Farina has once again demonstrated his amazing turntable wizardry with a sumptuous compilation of jazzy house grooves. Farina's work has proven likeable by many different audiences.
Although he mixes primarily house and down-tempo music, he adds a jazzy edge that gives his album a versatile feel. Sessions has a mellow quality with a medium BPM and layers of liquid melodies that Farina fades in and out, making Sessions an auditory experience.
Sessions has a great lounge-quality to it, but turn up the volume, boost the bass a little, and you have some core, bumpin' jazzy house music. You will have to try hard to keep your body from swaying to the electronic blend of keyboards, horns and even chirping birds.
"Got the Bug" (Sfere) opens Sessions with a syncopated Samba house beat backed up by horns and Brazilian cuica drums. Once again, Farina has included his signature sample found on Seasons, Mushroom Jazz I and Mushroom Jazz II. The sample features a woman saying a variety of things, but particularly "I love to dance all the time, you know it like raises the spirit." This is unique to Farina's compilations. So in Ricky Bradshaws "Black Keys" (Mixcon Music) one hears the signature sample, followed by a virtual jazz concert of horns and keyboards.
The most pleasant surprise of this album is Farina's selection of the song "Spring Fling" (Viva World Music) by the well-known South Bay DJ Rick Preston. "Spring Fling" was pretty much the summer of '99 house anthem for the South Bay house music scene. "Spring Fling" could be heard spun by Preston himself almost regularly at the former Club Ecco at "Melting Pot" on Fridays. Farina's switch from "Black Keys" to "Spring Fling," is smooth, and he again includes his signature voice sample. Unfortunatly, Farina mixed in "Jammin" (Riviera Records), which drowns out some of the elements of "Spring Fling," and the magic of the song is somewhat lost in the second half due to excess snares and vocals. However, Farina makes up for it with "Spellbound" (Grand Central Records), which has a lovely mesh of bongoes and progressive drum sequences. Farina really starts tearing things up with more of a disco feel with "SunnyCove" (Zebra), and "Seriousfunkilla" (Funky Tone).
All in all this is an excellent album, if you are already a Farina fan, definitely add this to your collection. If you are not familiar with Farina, or quality house music, it is time to expand your horizons and experience this jazz/house fusion treat.