Mr. Tile - Mosaic's of The HeartMr Tile - Corte Madera, CA
Mosaic's of the Heart - DAM CD Review
by Hotbands Editor - Pat Ferris

Bill Furner, better known by a growing audience as "Mr. Tile" is a 3rd generation tile contractor from Corte Madera, California that has turned his passion for music into a profitable hobby.

Bill contacted Hotbands because of an advertisement we had on MP3.com. I found his idea of combining a business website and music website an interesting way to describe oneself to the world and up to recently had not taken the time to listen to his MP3's or even take his music too seriously (although his music had been already featured on the radio program from Chicago called Home Improvement), but I did note the concept of what he was doing as unique. 

About a week ago, I was speaking with a tile contractor getting some ideas for a project, and mentioned to him that we had a tile contractor turned musician named Mr. Tile on my website and showed the contractor his link and website.  I followed that up with an email to Bill to let him know I was interested in a promo pack, which he sent me that day. 

Since it was a DAM CD (Downloadable Automatic Music) from MP3.com, I was not only able to write a review on Mr. Tile, but on the quality of the MP3 CD's that are fast becoming the rage.  Here is my quick assesment of Mr. TIle's CD:

  • CD Packaging - It is pretty spartan.  A plain CD case printed on a pre-formed piece of paper with the MP3 logo on the front and the list of songs and length of song on the inside.  Nothing on the back (obviously to save cost and time)
  • Sound Quality - It was fair.  MUCH better than Real Audio but still missing the clarity of a real CD.  I can't determine if this is the quality of the MP3 or the original recording.  There were several places on the CD that seemed to have problems.  Song 7 (Tina) was cut off abruptly 1:15 seconds into the song, going into song 8 (Train) which was also a VERY short :37 seconds.  Song 12 (John J. Good) was 9:58 seconds of silence.  I believe that this is a screw up from MP3.com and not the way the real CD is supposed to be even though the time listed on the CD case corresponded to the songs.
  • Musicianship - This is something that really took me off guard!  Expecting the plinkity plink of a construction worker turned musician, I was pleasantly suprised at the beautiful flamenco and classical guitar work of Bill.  His lyrics are funny and boppy and his voice has a folky familiarity to it that will remind you of an old story teller telling a tale.

All things considered, there were some problems with the DAM CD, but thoroughly enjoyed listening to the CD.  I think the CD could be split into two separate CD's...one with vocals that could be sold to a country or folk market, and one with strictly instrumentals that could make a great mood CD or even a Christmas/Holiday CD for easy listening background music.

Bill is an inspiration for struggling artists to show that you don't have sell out to be heard, and you don't have to sell your soul to a day-gig to make it.  Enjoying what you do, whether you are creating art masterpieces from tile or creating music, will lead you to a happy medium.  You can find out more about Bill Furner at his website http://www.pyramidtile.com

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