RANDALL J. FOX: Mantra of Love

Randall J. Fox

Mantra of Love

© 2008 Randall J. Fox (775020093621)

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Very eclectic Canadian MP3 star/producer with over 250,000 plays blends an equally eclectic mix of sounds: world, rock, funk, pop to ambient. "The music is so varied and different it's like using a remote on steriods" says one admiring fan.

tracks

1 Take A Little Trip
2 Cookie 95
3 Killing Time
4 Mantra of Love
5 Forever in our Hearts (tribute to Mr. Jimi)
6 Arise
7 Fire Island
8 Namaste
9 Cookie (Heather's version)
10 Mantra re-Mix
11 Stinky Cheeseman

notes

Mantra of Love is the latest step in a creative life journey for Randall J. Fox. Raised in the Yorkville music and art scene in Toronto in the early 1960s, Fox traces his family roots to Black, Shoshone First Nation and Jewish cultures.

Being a warm person and a cool guy, Randall has a gift for connecting instantly with people from across the spectrum. He is a socially conscious nature-lover who recently co-led a group on a canoe trip through Temagami, including meeting with Native spiritual leaders.

Fox has been experimenting with music since the age of 14, and was already producing recordings of his own and other people's music by the time he finished high school. This led naturally to work as a sound & lighting technician with Sound Factory, working with acts like Teenage Head, Nina Hagen, Yellowman and Michaele Jordana & The Poles.

From there Randall became interested in music videos, when they first burst on the market in the early 80's. He created and managed the Rock Video Road Show, which toured to local dances across Canada. That led to the role of Technical Director for the Sony New Media Festival. It was there Randall met his first Macintosh computer and sensed the creative opportunities it would provide. He went on to spend the next 12 years as a computer graphics, video and Mac systems consultant, but would write and practice his music and refine his singing voice before and after work every day.

Stepping back from corporate I.T. work in 1997 to have more time for music, he worked as a multi media specialist for the Toronto District School Board, introducing disadvantaged youth to technology. Fox composes for, and plays, lead and bass guitar, synthesizer, dulcimer and drums. His sound reflects a deep love for rhythm and melody. He names as musical influences the Neville Brothers, writer/producer Daniel Lanois and British band Talk Talk, as well as the guitar players' guitar player, Jimi Hendrix.

Two years of intensive writing, arranging and recording later, Fox has released Mantra of Love, "a bouquet of sound and emotion", a spirited collection of ideas and rhythms that people of wide musical tastes will connect with as they review the past and anticipate the 21st century future. Cuts on the CD range from trance and dub to rock, pop and groove. One song has already gone to number eight on the Internet Alt. Country chart, MP3.com.

Fox, who recently produced soul diva Coco Brown's demo CD, and a debut album for singer-songwriter Greg Ruhl, is joined by an array of Toronto musical talent on Mantra of Love. Randall has one son, Ashley, a serious music student who at the age of 15 has already been the featured artist on several classical piano and vocal recordings.

reviews

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  • Really fabulous CD
    author: Ashley Foot

    This is a really wonderful album from a very talented producer/performer. I can't wait for his next CD. I think you should purchase this record...it really will open your mind. Full of great concepts. Brimming with life. Marvellous.

  • Just a quick note to express my appreciation for your music.
    author: David Redfern, Producer

    Just a quick note to express my appreciation for your music. It's ability to sense, feel and adjust to shifting dynamics of the crowd elevated the experience for all those in attendance, myself included. Love what you do. I look forward to working with you in the near future. Cheers David Redfern Producer

  • 'Mantra of Love' is really beautiful man.
    author: Bill B.

    "Randall, 'Mantra of Love' is really beautiful man. I'm just floating away and I never want to come back. Keep this stuff coming ... please!" Regards, Bill B.

  • Download This!
    author: eye Magazine

    MP3 technology is revolutionizing music distribution BY INGRID HEIN "Yes, musicians deserve to make money for their music, but for many indie artists, the format has brought them precious exposure. Randall J. Fox, who plays in a Toronto trip-hop trio called Chapter 3, says his music has been featured on a Netherlands broadcast on experimental music (see; http://stations.mp3s.com/stations/10/a_new_stage_i_the_suppleme.html or http://www.omroep.nl/nps/radio/supplement/). He likes the format, because he says his music is now evolving with feedback from his audience."Take my song 'Forever in Our Hearts,' a tribute to Jimi Hendrix," he explains. "We dropped it at my home studio and finished it at SilverBirch studios in Toronto. I spent one hour adding bass and more vocals and SFXs, burned it to CD and uploaded it to http://www.mp3.com/randall in less than 10 minutes. Later that day I told a bunch of Hendrix fiends on the net about it, and wham-bang, I had hundreds of downloads and people were freaking.

  • PURGE OF IDEAS SPAWNS MANTRA OF LOVE
    author: The Bloor-Annex Town Crier

    Inaugural recording is as varied as the artist By Andrew Matte Town Crier Mantra of Love, this slicky-produced 11-song inaugural CD from Toronto cool guy Randall J. Fox, served him as both an aid that helped him clear his mind, as well as provided him with the satisfaction an artist obtains through a near-regal desire to communicate through music. On the shelves at local CD shops for barely three weeks, Mantra provides rookie musicians with proof that independent releases not cost a mountain of cash to produce. There's rock solid evidence here, too, that recording an album on the cheap doesn't mean a band needs to race through their tunes in a weekend. Fox, however a self-professed extrovert who's in the middle of a break from his career in the introverted world of high-tech, has what so many other Eddie Vedder wannabes don't. At 39, he's dabbled in music for the bulk of his adult life, both as a writer and a techie. In the two years it took to write and record the album, Fox spent nearly $10,000 for everything from recording the songs in two local studios, cover artwork and pressing the CDs, mere peanuts in the grand world of music. "This was the best money I ever spent on myself. It was almost therapeutic in a way. "This is evidenced in not just the quality of the recording, but with the variety of songs. Not likely to have Shania-like sales since this variety means it's a little uneven, Mantra meanders between funk, pop and reggae.The mix in styles was done on purpose, enthusiastically so, since Mantra is the product of a lifetime of pseudo-preproduction. He also embraces the freedom that would otherwise be stolen had a record company got involved. "I don't have a label so I can do whatever I want," says Fox, who lives on Grenville Street and has a number of commercial scores to his credit. "I am here to satisfy myself. If other people like it, then that's cool. If they don't, then that's okay too. "His audience, Fox says are folks like him--older than 20 and men and women whose tastes, like Fox's CD, change from time to time. "This CD isn't for teenagers or even people in their '20s," he says. "Humans are diverse people and we all like diverse sounds--I guess it comes with maturity. I like pop, funk, rock. I like all kinds of music. Fox says the CD was uniquely cathartic because he'd for years had so many simmering ideas. He received an immense psychological release from making the CD, he says. "Making this CD was like a purging of all these ideas that I had," he says. " I am for sure going to do another CD. "Mantra's strong suit is the quality of sound, the arrangements and depth of sounds. "I am a sound junkie--I love layers, so I love to layer different sounds. "The most "commercial" tunes are found in the pop-driven Cookie and Killing Time, as well as the mystic Mantra of Love. The most song is the CD's first song, an almost rap-like cover of the already funky War tune Low Rider which was born out of an impromptu jam during rehearsal. Other nuggets include the sitar-laden piece Namaste and Stinky Cheeseman, a slow-paced reggae anti-Mike Harris rant contrasted with newsbites from scrummed politicians, the song takes an easy but fun poke at the Ontario premier. "Why don't you make a stand and do the right thing for a change," the song chants. The song's highlight is the inclusion of the unfortunate statement from then social services minister David Tsubouchi who suggested the province's poor could stretch their welfare cheque by haggling with supermarket managers for their groceries. "There are plenty of places where you can get a can of tuna for ¢69. And even if it is not priced at ¢69, you can get it for ¢69."

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