"Marvin The Album" (Yes, all 3 words are the name of the album) by Frente! (yes, the exclamation mark is part of the name of the band) is one of my favourite CDs. It's one of the first CDs I bought in my life, when I was 14, and I have loved it since.
Angie Hart's beautiful voice and the band's wonderful acoustic playing has always made this an uplifting album. Much more than their next album, the darker "Shape", which I also have but listen to much much less.
Today, I listened to "Marvin The Album" again after a long time of not doing so. I wanted to hear how it would sound on my Meizu M6 and Crossroads MylarOne X3 combination. The M6 is lauded as a portable player with high quality internal components, making its output sound better. The X3 is an in-ear monitor (earphone that goes into the ear canal) that is lauded for its clarity in music reproduction, with good instrument separation (the ability to listen and focus on individual instruments in a musical recording). Both are excellent value for money. If interested, check out Jaben (blog, forums and online shopping) for information on the X3 and MeizuMe for the M6. Of course, if you're my friend, just ask me lah!
Back to Frente!... I had already encoded the CD in lossless FLAC format so that I can play it on a portable player. Deciding that I would do The Listen tonight, I plugged in the X3, and switched on the M6 with anticipation. I knew it would sound good, but I wonder how good?
The result: Very very good! This is my favourite CD for the most part of the last 12 years, and I've honestly never heard it sound so good. I had shivers down my spine by the time of merely the 4th bar of the first track. Angie's voice sounded so.... poignant. The piano was so.... musical. On the next track, one of their best, "Labour Of Love", the folk guitar was introduced to the album, and it sounded great! The choke-strum was solid, and I could hear the impact as flesh met string strings. The harmonics sounded as the closing notes sounded brilliantly bell-like, just as they should. On "Lonely", I heard a percussion instrument I cannot identify that I've never notice for there on the track.
The bass playing on all the tracks was clear and not muddied, with distinct notes. And it is a very excellent arrangement, a very melodious and inventive bassist. I have to admit that I've never been able to listen to the bass on this album properly. I think this is the one biggest improvement the M6/X3 has made to my appreciation of this album.
"Marvin The Album" is still one of my top favourites, and now I get to listen to it with a new-found appreciation.
