|
|
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Needs no repair, 22 Jul 2005
When he's not the fourth Beastie Boy, Mark Ramos Nishita creates some wicked solo music as Money Mark -- lo-fi, funky, fuzzy, and entrancingly spacey, full of musical kinks and corners. How to describe it? A colorful, twisted rollercoaster ride through a Hammond organ and Moog, as Money Mark explores every experimental nook and cranny.
It opens with the slow-grinding, chunky "Pretty Pain," before lifting off to mixtures of soul-jazz and funk, done against a blippy backdrop of thick, dense organ and blippy keyboard. Most of the songs are two-ish minutes or under, but somehow that seems just right -- if they were any longer, they would seem stretched out. There's also a bonus EP, filled with remixes, which is entertaining but not on the level of his original material.
And Money Mark also augments the music with jam sessions, bells, thick distortion over droned vocals, lessons on entomology, and sputtering electric organ. It's impossible to describe every facet of Money Mark's sound; it's far too complex, but that complexity never bogs it down. It trips merrily in its colorful trappings, rarely slowing down.
Few albums really mesmerize, never boring listeners with a single song. Thankfully, Money Mark achieved that in "Mark's Keyboard Repair" -- not one song, be it pretty or gritty, gets dull. There's a feeling of delighted anticipation throughout the album -- what will he pull out of his hat next? Acid jazz, or funky electronica? Distortion or organ? Sparkles or sputters?
Since all these songs were originally released as a series of EPs, there really isn't any internal flow. But oddly enough, it feels like there is. There's nothing to link the songs directly, but Money Mark's distinct musical style and unique electro-jazz sound seems to band them together.
Nishita's vocals feature in quite a few songs, but aren't the centerpiece of those songs. Instead, he uses his flat intonations like another instrument, blending them perfectly with his expert use of electric organ and moog, mixed in with basic acoustic jazz. Best of all, he both layers the two sounds over one another, then alternates them -- it never gets dull or simplistic.
Money Mark created a truly unique collection with "Mark's Keyboard Repair," which is still the best he's created, whether in a band or as a solo artist. A heady mix of electronica, jazz, funk and experimental twiddles, this is a minor masterpiece.
|
~ Money Mark
~ Money Mark
~ Money Mark
~ Neil Young
~ 13th Floor Elevators
With an Amazon.co.uk Gift Certificate, you can get them what they want (even if you don't know what that is). 
Amazon Home