Money Mark

Change is Coming (Emperor Norton)
by Lex Marburger

Not to be confused with Markie Mark, but certainly a more funky bunch than most. Money Mark is, for those who just tuned in, Beastie Boys’ keyboardist for Check Your Head (and beyond), and was responsible for the heavy grooves therein (not that the Boys would ever cop to that, of course). So when his first album, Mark’s Keyboard Repair, came out on Mo Wax a few years ago, it wasn’t surprising that everyone kept stealing it from me. Bastards. So now he’s back with Change is Coming, and he’s refined his flea-market funk, brought in some friends like Sean Lennon to round out the sound, and stepped up with the soul, a pre-disco, post-blues funk, with heavy Latin feels. Like War, minus the agenda. And he does hit some serious sambas and such on what would’ve been known as “side two” in those long-ago faded days that Mark’s reaching back to. It grooves just as hard. These are sexy, wordless, stinky-ass songs that make you feel dirty just listening to them. Oh yeah…
(102 Robinson St. Los Angeles, CA 90026)