VG Frequency

Slipped under my radar last month, but I’d be remiss in not highlight Quinn Fox’s newest original album Music From Mars. No idea why the album isn’t properly linked and available on Fox’s homepage, but the VGMix forums have got what you need until then. The artist writes:

Well, here it is. I managed to finish this baby up and work to get started on even better possibilities, but this release is clearly new ground for me.

Music From Mars is easily the best, most accessible, and unique album or collection of songs I’ve ever created. Those familiar with my music and style (I’ve been in this scene for more than five years) should find things as alien and new as they are familiar and welcome. I’m positive if I’d spent another few months with this, it could be better, but I’m trying to become better at leaving well enough alone….

Anyway, I hope those who listen enjoy it and listen often. Reviews are welcome and encouraged.

Definitely go ahead and review this one. If, like me, you’re a fan of other works from Fox like Fitz Warine II, then Music From Mars should be solid as well. Fox definitely hits some unexplored territory with this effort, embracing vocal work a lot moreso than most of his previous releases.

In my critical opinion (clearly the most important one out there, of course), the drumwork frequently felt out of place, and the highs should have been toned down throughout, but compositionally this was a pretty sophisticated album.

I couldn’t help thinking I wanted the opening track of “Patience” to be twice as long, to hear the concepts worked with further, and that’s just the start of things. “Director” was also an example of some killer lyrics, spun from a great creative concept. The vocals in “Deimos” should have been punched up and better separated from the instrumentation, but was yet another extremely strong composition featuring some very emotive delivery from Fox. Aside from the percussion not clicking, the same praise and criticism fit “Obliterate Me” as well.

“Prosper,” I’d have rather heard Justin Timberlake or Robin Thicke give that one a go (not my style, but hey), and the transitions felt too jarring and disjointed, but this was a surprising dose of hip-hop/R&B flavor within his trademark sound (including drumloops).

Overall, I feel the album started off stronger than it finished, but the overall package was definitely worth the price ($0!) and the time (just over 35 minutes). Check it out and decide for yourself, then swing by Fox’s site for even more of his original works.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 26th, 2007 at 10:50 am and is filed under Arrangers, Free Stuff, Original Albums. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.