The album certainly explains why Mark Farina has become so in demand as a DJ. His set combines the dreamy, completely spaced-out ride-the-waves-of-a-vocal-sample “Gettin’ Ready” by John Larner & Slater Hogan, Alexander East’s relaxed yet rough “Believe en me” and the hard-pounding bassdrums and jazzy contrabass lines of “Pick up what I’m putting down” courtesy of James Curd, while closing with the steely groove-pointilism of King Kooba’s “Hoose Musik”.

While some of Mark Farina’s colleagues have used the stint at the Fabric to build conceptual archs or to revisit their past with epic collages compiled from the rosters of former friends and current collaborators, the globetrotter from San Francisco has focussed on nothing but some fine tunes and a good mix, concentrating on the here and now. Quality rather than novelty is the main ingredient for his releases, which bridge the gap between “Fabric 40” and other DJ Mark Farine cuts like his “Sessions” or “Mushroom Jazz” series, as different as their musical perspective may be.

Homepage: DJ Mark Farina
Homepage: Fabric Records