nyc- yellow 7/24 and mark farina 7/31

Sandmannw@aol.com
Sat, 2 Aug 1997 03:30:49 -0400 (EDT)


i hit both shows the past few weeks and as far as the yellow crew at
sob's, i was quite surprised. it was billed in the village voice as a night
of trip hop, hip hop and experimental jazz. the real deal went like this:
6% hip hop, 14% jungle and 80% house. i have nothing against house,
especially the jazzy stuff they spun, i was just surprised. regardless, it
was still a bumping night, people were moving and the highlight was meeting
fellow listees jeremy, bijan and mike aregood.
mark farina, at the new music cafe wasn' t surprising at all, he ripped
it. he lived up to the hype. he played chill acid jazz and dope house
tracks, most of which i haven't heard, and the ones that i knew were those
tracks that get you looking at your partner and hollering, " aw man, that's
my joint!". he changed the mood and tempo smoothly and basically kept
everyone moving. i missed nickodemus' first set but after farina he rocked
it with the organic groove singers and a percussionist, who was whaling on a
wooden box like it was a conga. the big bonus was that for the first time,
in a long time, jungle didn't rear it's ugly head, that's right i said it. i
expect flames, but it's how i feel. i like jungle, but it's so annoying when
you have to hear it every time you go out, it's like an infomercial. plus, i
have been hearing so much weak jungle. it just seems like everyone is
jumping on the bandwagon, artist, dj's, labels etc.
ed