by Sterling McGarvey

Grab your neck braces; he done did it again. And it was worth the wait.

In his follow up to the stellar Mushroom Jazz 4, Mark Farina releases another quality project that once again proves that he's one of the top DJ talents in America. In contrast to his last effort, which, while top notch for its time, in retrospective felt as though it peaked a little too early.

Mushroom Jazz 5 sounds more like it's in the vein of Farina's mixing style. Slower, jazzier tracks by artists such as J. Boogie slowly melt into tracks by Jurassic 5 and Zion-I. By the time the tracklisting reaches Farina's own superb "Cali Spaces," the effort really begins to soar. The sublime "Funky for You" is one of the true gems of the effort, as is "You Know My Style" by Shorty No Mas, whom yesteryears' hip-hop heads will remember from De La Soul's classic Buhloone Mind State.

Noticeably, the tracks are shorter in length, but higher in quantity than prior MJ compilations as well. It seems as though Farina is attempting to compress the range of a live Mushroom Jazz DJ set into 70 minutes. Fortunately, quality does not suffer. Once again, Mark Farina releases a mix that bumps at cocktail parties, buddha sessions, in the bedroom, in the car, or just simply in the background of wherever you are.

Mark Farina - Mushroom Jazz 5

Track Listing:

1. Afros In Ya - (with J Boogie)
2. Tribute, The - (with Colossus)
3. Autumn Evening Breeze - (with Soundproviders)
4. Chali 2na Comin' Thru - (with DJ Numark)
5. Come Down - (with Red Astaire)
6. Flow - (instrumental, with Zion I)
7. Nostalgia - (with DJ Spinna)
8. Cali Spaces - (with Mark Farina)
9. Funky For You - (with Blu Bizness)
10. Puttin' In Work - (instrumental, with Wee Bee Foolish)
11. Hollywood - (with DJ Dez)
12. Music Makes The World Go Round - (with Jazz Liberatorz)
13. Maintain - (instrumental, with The Strange Fruit Project)
14. Back In '92 - (instrumental, with Presto/Lowd)
15. You Like My Style - (with Shortie No Mass)
16. Here's The Proof - (with The Earl)
17. Modern Women's Short Stories - (with Jonny Alpha)
18. He Kick Clap - (instrumental, with Starving Artists Crew)
19. It's A Love Thing - (instrumental, with Pete Rock)
20. Yacht Club, The - (with Thes One)
21. Nic's Groove - (with The Foreign Exchange)