Customer Reviews

Mark's Keyboard Repair

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One of my favorite CD's in my collection!!! The vibe of this album has a very analog, organic, old-skool (for want of a better term), and sometimes mellow feel, it's just the disc to listen to with your mahogany console stereo (if you've got the rare UK vinyl pressing of this album) in your den with the red shag carpet & knotty pine paneling, with the naugahyde chairs, lava lamp, and sunburst clock!! :)

My favorite track on the album has to be "Pinto's New Car", with a lot of flavaful groove that leaves plenty left over for the rest of songs on the album.

I also read somewhere that Money Mark recorded these songs long before he met the Beasties when they were recording Paul's Boutique in '89 (and became the 4th beastie boy soon after) to fix a entry gate to their driveway at the mansion that the B-Boys were recording at in Silverlake in LA (Mark is a carpenter by trade as well), so I'm assuming some of these songs on this album are probably around 15-20 years old! All the better... :-)

All of these songs were independently released by Mark on a series of EPs on his own Pinto Records label a while before this album came out, which is a re-issue of these EPs all combined together.

Once again, this is a disc I *highly* recommend...

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. 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.

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 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." A heady mix of electronica, jazz, funk and experimental twiddles, this is a minor masterpiece.

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.

How do you describe "Keyboard Repair?" Umm...

...uhh...

...hmm...

Okay, I got it. Hard to pin down, but lots of fun to listen to. A lo-fi sonic adventure. Definitely one of those CDs friends will ask you about.

Money Mark's Keyboard Repair reminds me of early 1970's experiments like Sly Stone's There's a Riot Goin on or Timmy Thomas' Why Can't We Live Together. These two artists used the organ's rhythm box as a backing track in their pre-digital work.

This album won't be mistaken for a 1970's keyboard slice; you'll here a digital sheen identifying the music as modern. But these are delicious miniatures, simple little organ confections with melodic lines. Understated yet full. Like sketches from a master painter's notebook.

Anyone who enjoyed "The In Sound From Way Out" by Beastie Boys should enjoy this. Only problem is a lot of the tracks are too short and could have been longer, especially with some of the grooves he gets on...

money marks first solo record is filled with quick little 70's inspired nuggets... you can definately hear what the beastie boys did when they hired him to produce their cd... this raw record comes at you quick, and when your done you left thinkin... "was that ingenious or was that toooo easy?" moey mark makes very simple music in a way thats so infectious it can only be labeled as a guilty pleasure... those who bought his first record on brushfire and are lookin for the same will be dissapointed, untill you realize that this is just as good, but in a completely different way...

Why do they do it? Why do they include remixes on records where the original appears? It compromises the integrity of an album as a work of art. Shame on anyone who does it. Clean and simple. Works every time.

Pure pleasure cd with everything in it (harmony and melody). You'll want some more.

The songs are too short, the organ a little overpowering, but overall, a timeless disc that stays in my CD changer