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I don't think so. I can't believe all the deceptive reviews here. The only cool thing about this CD is the title, so beware all of Farina's self conscious, vacuous, whitebread Starbucks fake jazz narrative; like hey man, I'm headed to yoga class. Sure. Then, it sounded cool.
As if this high-pitched, boring, repetitious "music" is going to send me into another dimension. There's even French foofoo hip-hop on track four. Must need blasting heat, honking traffic, exhaust, and dirt to sound good. I heard Farina's stuff while driving through a hot, dusty Southwestern city. Buyer Beware: this is just pretentious neo-elevator music.
It's like everyone is trying to prove their street-cred by praising this boring stuff, which is like laxative for the brain: "Clear yourself of all mental efforts, relax, let go," states the first track.
Mushroom Jazz 3 is a perfect interlude between the two masterpieces MJ2 and MJ4. Excellent track selection as always, but there's a track which does not flow with others in my opinion : Herb Alpert - Flirtation. Yeah. Mushroom Jazz 3 is very good, but not as good as MJ2 and 4 which are real masterpieces.In contrary to volume 5, the soul of Mushroom Jazz is there, with this particular "classy urban ambiance". It's raw jazz, it's not "filtered" and "minimalist" like the other jazzy tracks used in Mushroom Jazz (just remember Pepe Bradock - Un Pepe Dans La Dentelle, in Mushroom Jazz 2, or Fat Jon - No, in Mushroom Jazz 4)The flow of the album is not perfect but it goes in a right and coherent direction (again, not like MJ 5.really disappointed with this one).And of course, the excellent voice collage through the mix makes it marvellous and unique.Favourite tracks : 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 12 (but difficult to tell you really because the mixing is so good that this mix is like one big track of 72 minutes)Buy it people, you won't be disappointed.
and morever I like The Unspoken Heard's "Trackrunners" and definitely enjoyed the instrumental vibe on Que D's "Rock Box". Great guitar and flow. The Mushroom Jazz series now spans 5 volumes, with each volume having it's own unique identity.I honestly love the tunes on this - what a sensational selection. To be honest, I prefer the vinyl set just because the tracks aren't mixed but you do miss a few songs with the vinyl package. But it's hardly enough to deter anyone from this - check it out and the rest of the series. Mark Farina is a DJ/Producer on the label that I also got into late. I started out listening to some of their Om Lounge cd's in 2000 and instantly fell for the style and sound.
I dig that track. which is honestly FAR better than the vocal. ALl of this intertwined to the Billie Holiday inspired Jaffa vocal edit of "Sneakin'". It wasn't totally flawless, however - on occasion, I think that Jaffa's track was slid in way too much with the other tracks and when other cuts are sampled too much, to me sometimes it takes away from the music. After the vocal to Raw Instinct's second edit, you're guided into an instrumental and beats bliss with DJ Presto and Mateo & Matos. It's a mixed cd and is loaded with soul, urban essences and broken beats. If you dig this, you'll probably also like DJ Cam's "Mad Blunted Jazz" & hi DJ Kicks, Dr.
This is just the beginning.
After hearing vol 3 of that series I instantly wanted to check out some of their other artists and was pulled into the realm of King Kooba and several others, noticing remixes and just some fresh and unique takes and sounds.
It's got an urban feel through and through with loads of beauty in the songs.
When you get up to Gripper's "Jazz Cop", the beat kicks and drops, and you're pulled into People Under the Stair's "Schooled in the Trade".
Scruff's "Solid Steel".
Bob Jones "Trust the DJ" & maybe Mr.
I may have been a bit late when I fell for Om Records artists and releases.
Starting out with King Kooba's "California Sweet", and diving straight into the classy "De La Bass" instrumental by Raw Instinct, you know you're on a journey.
I have to recommend this.
One of my absolute favourites right now.Stay away from the first in this series of four. The rest are superb.
I am amazed this is being mixed - it sounds studio-edited - but it really doesn't matter either way. This one says it best - a triptifying blend of jazz, soul, and R&B elements. Stick in the player and chill, man.
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