Mark Farina - Mushroom Jazz 2 (1998)

San Francisco-based Mark Farina cut his DJ teeth in the Chicago house-music scene. In Mushroom Jazz, Vol. 2 his house roots flavor a seamless mix of laidback acid-jazz tracks. Farina doesn't mix the songs by the conventional tricks of the trade, such as slowing the bpm of one song to match the next or scratching the ending of a song to insert another. Instead he uses bits and pieces from each track--a repetitive vocal sample here, a recurring drum pattern there--interspersing them throughout the CD to create a contiguous motif. The result is a DJ record on which the tracks can be identified only by looking at the track number on the CD player, yet simultaneously it has the feel of a complete album. Track 8 is a bit of a diversion: except for the heavily processed vocals, its verse, chorus, verse composition makes for a Mariah Carey-type pop song. In all, a groovy low-ride. -- Beth Bessmer