Mark Farina

Farina is back with loads more down-tempo and jazzy hip-hop to follow-up his previous Mushroom Jazz releases. The formula is still there for number three: play tons of records with similar bpms for 70 minutes. Indeed, Mushroom Jazz 3 does sound quite repetitive after awhile, but the fact is that it never goes weak. There's really not a single moment where the record fails to produce fine, smoothed-out beats or exceptional verbal skills, courtesy of J-Live and Grap Luva. As always, Farina's mixing skills are top-notch creating an ongoing flow of relaxing, blissful beats, including Dynamic Syncopation, People Under The Stairs and Bahamadia. Although he has a tendency to repeat samples over and over again throughout the record, at times you could have swore he spun a certain track earlier, this technique works for subtle melding purposes, but the "70 minute-long song" effect doesn't sit as well. Compared to mishmashed masterpieces like DJ Krush's Code 4109 or the majority of the DJ Kicks catalogue, Farina doesn't fare as well. Still, it's well worth a spin and another great chapter for the Mushroom Jazz series.