House music was meant to be heard live. When Mark Farina and Derrick Carter were young boys, they would pray to God and ask to grow up to be DJ legends. God, with his three-way pray technology, summoned the two and, speaking in a four/four beat tongue said, "Doest thou have feeling? Then hearken unto the glorious deep groove thang, and let thy people be moved as it as moved my pious soul. Tho remember, my earthly DJ sons, to play it live, lest thou be played out."
Om, never a record label to defy the words of God, went forth with His eternal plan, and straight outta house music heaven soon arrived a double live LP, featuring the ever-angelic Mark Farina, and the boomptyboomp warrior Derrick Carter.
Recorded live last Valentine's Day in San Francisco at the Mezzanine, this is a club with a system so powerful that if you step outside into its seedy Sixth Street neighborhood, you can actually see the crack heads trying to hold their cardboard boxes steady against the wrecking ball bass lines thundering from within.
Two discs, a sweaty night of love and forty tracks later, an album was born, including some fine classic styles from the To-Ka Project, Daft Punk, and JT Donaldson, amidst others.
Farina starts this party on the flare, and later on the flange, but it's about halfway in that his mix really starts to build up. Known best for his Mushroom Jazz series, he takes instrumental hip-hop beats and bites of soulful jazz to create a refined yet hip, down-tempo ambience. His live set combines this sound with his stricter, more formulated Air-Farina house texture. Seamlessly he brings it all together, layering in silly samples and quirky voices, which add that upbeat Farina feel.
To contrast, Carter starts it off raw and dirty, deep Chicago house, played as it should be. They call him the "King of Jack," for his stylized, booty shaking sets. Just to look at Carter (or imagine looking at him), comfortably at home behind his turntables, brings forth a kinetic energy, and makes even the most disjointed want to shake it. He throws a couple funky surprises toward the end (funkiness is requisite at five in the morning), bringing in acts like the electronic, hip-hopping Jungle Brothers, ending it with a Rob, not so Mello remix.
Check out the night's video footage at www.om-records.com/events.php?event=7
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