Words by Jacob I had an epiphany when I realized that my Soundtracking eye had yet to cast its gaze on Halloween. How did I miss this? Not only is this a pseudo-holiday (if work doesn't close, it's not a real holiday) fraught with a number of recognizable moods and sounds and images, it also provides me with enough cover to get away with mentioning a few of the millions of metal bands that I not-so-secretly love and want to share with you. So, without further ado, below is a list [...]
another one stolen from my failed experiment, but felt it bares repeating. one night i was stumbling, drunkingly, around the chicago neighborhood wicker park/bucktown and as per usual i made my way into the quaker goes deaf - which in my opinion was the best record store chicago ever offered. dont even say reckless or anything else was/is better. ill fight ya til the death over this. the second best, hardboiled in roscoe village, which sadly closed up shop last august. anyway, that night, i inquired about what i should pick up, at this point they knew what i was [...]
One Thought Revealed is another great record from a voice that remains unheard by far too many. Bill Fox was the front man for Cleveland indie stalwarts the Mice back in the '80s, and then he disappeared into private life, half-emerging for two aching, excellent solo albums in the '90s. One Thought Revealed is his first album since 1998's Transit Byzantium, and it proves worth the wait for the few who were (quite eagerly) anticipating new music from Fox. It's a spare acoustic record, as fans might expect, though it belies the...
one night i was stumbling, drunkingly, around the chicago neighborhood wicker park/bucktown and as per usual i made my way into the quaker goes deaf - which in my opinion was the best record store chicago ever offered. dont even say reckless or anything else was/is better. ill fight ya til the death over this. the second best, hardboiled in roscoe village, which sadly closed up shop last august. anyway, that night, i inquired about what i should pick up, at this point they knew what i was into. they recommended bill fox's transit byzantium - which is [...]
In addition to Defend Music Night , the event taking place across ten venues on Friday, organized to raise awareness about The Cleveland Music Club Coalition's ongoing negotiations with the city to alter their 8% admissions tax, there are two big release shows also happening this weekend. On Friday night, Cleveland singer-songwriter, and legend to many in the scene, Bill Fox will be playing selections from his latest CD, One Thought Revealed at The Happy Dog . Herzog will headline. And on Saturday, Cleveland's finest indie pop collective, Bears , will be doing [...]
Feat. Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments, Sundown, P. Blackk, Bill Fox, DJ Detox Ace of Cups February 3, 2012 TJSA Sundown Detox Bill Fox Sundown [...]
MP3: Bill Fox - I Only Did it Cuz I Felt So Lonely MP3: The Mice - Little Rage I think we've spent plenty of time talking about Bill Fox's two solo albums and most recent record , One Thought Revealed , so let's take a second to revisit Fox's beginnings with Cleveland power-pop band The Mice . Fox started the band with his drummer brother, Tommy Fox, eventually bringing bassist Ken Hall on board. The For Almost [...]
Cleveland singer-songwriter Bill Fox is a bit of a legend around these parts. Initially known as the frontman for the power-pop band The Mice in the mid '80s, Fox would later make a name for himself on the strength of his two stripped down, acoustic albums for SpinArt Records (Shelter from the Smoke in '97 and Transit Byzantium in '98). His reputation would only grow when he was the subject of a feature article by Joe Hagen in the June/July 2007 issue of Believer magazine, where Hagen sought to find Fox and find out why he had given [...]
Bill Fox was ripping up the Cleveland garage scene with his band The Mice when most of us were still dropping doodoos in diapers and the extent of our music knowledge was Sesame Street jingles; some of our parents were probably drunk off their asses at his shows. In the late 90s Fox released two solo records Shelter From The Smoke and Transit Byzantium, only to quit music and exile himself from all contact. He never slipped from conversation though. Out of print records got reissued in the late...
MP3: Bill Fox - Whithering Soul That right there is the album art and single for the first widely released Bill Fox record in more than a decade. One Thought Revealed comes out Jan. 17 through Jar Note Records , but you can preorder the CD now. In one sense, the album is exactly what you'd expect: superb songwriting from someone CMJ once called "one of the most important artists of our day." It follows the folk-inspired trajectory of Fox's previous solo records (Shelter from [...]
This here weblog has been around for almost a decade, and that's reason to celebrate. We'll do that by bringing three amazing bands, an emcee and a deejay to Ace of Cups on Feb. 3 in Columbus, Ohio. Needless to say, you should come celebrate with us: Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments are not just reuniting for this show. Ron House, Bob Petric and crew are playing their seminal 1995 Onion/American record Bait & Switch front to back . Rick Rubin would be proud. Wes Flexner also [...]
Bill Fox - he of Cleveland's The Mice, subject of Joe Hagan's 2007 legend-establishing piece in The Believer and an Overlooked in Ohio alum - hasn't released any new music since his two decade-old solo albums, Transit Byzantium and Shelter from the Smoke (the latter of which was reissued on vinyl in 2009 by Robert Griffin 's Scat Records .) Nor has Fox granted an interview in years. So I didn't expect much more than a polite decline when I contacted Fox about his upcoming [...]
Click here to view the embedded video. Last year, at a rare in-store performance at Lost Weekend Records , Cleveland's Bill Fox played a tune called "Men Who are Guilty of Crimes." I don't know when he wrote it, but it felt particularly timely last summer, given that the cleanup of the BP oil spill was ongoing and the song implored Congress to "put the blame on BP." Ex-Clevelander Michael Nigro realized the song's 2011 potential as the anthem for the Occupy Wall Street movement and tracked down a recording of [...]
For some, the biggest problem they have with the income equality movement, Occupy Wall Street, is that it doesn't have a clear set of goals. Do they want to raise taxes? Do they want to erase personal debt? What about the environment and wars and social justice? Shouldn't they be concerned about those things, too? For others, those concerned with media and entertainment, their criticism has been that the movement has yet to inspire artists to a greater purpose? Where's the Dylan? Where's the Rage (Against the Machine)? Where's our Public [...]
Click here to view the embedded video. MP3: The Bygones - Losin' Blues MP3: 84 Nash - The Giggle Party MP3: Bigfoot - Hey Nadine MP3: Bill Fox - Appalachian Death Sigh As we've mentioned previously , Bob Miller's PBR-sponsored Megacity festival debuts this Saturday (9/10) at Woodlands Tavern , and it's a reunion-heavy lineup: 84 Nash , The Cusacks , The Bygones [...]
burning down a snow flake off transit byzantium
Between this and Independents Day , September is becoming a big month for large one day events in Columbus. Details from a Facebook invite : Saturday, September 10th is the first ever MEGACITY MUSIC MARATHON!! It will take place at Woodland’s Tavern in Grandview – 36 noteworthy acts across 3 stages (2 indoor, 1 outside) – from Noon to 2AM – 14 hours of continuous music! Along with PBR, tasty taco trucks, indie vendors, comedy, art and more! Confirmed musical acts include: 84 Nash (Reuniting after six years!), [...]
Click here to view the embedded video. Sometimes i think I should have went to weird college. Antioch had that graffiti student union and real cool laws that encouraged dirty talk . And then there is Oberlin which never seems to sleep on the raps, and also the rock n rolls. This weekend Slick Rick the freakin' Ruler will play Oberlin along with the new Ed Mcmahon, Questlove , Bill Fox, Columbus's Andrew Graham & [...]
I worked as the music supervisor for my friend's upcoming film, Natural Selection (it premieres at SXSW/Film should you find yourself in Austin next month). While I couldn't find a spot for Bill Fox's "Over And Away She Goes" the track has long been on my short list of tunes that I've been expecting to [...]
If 2009 was the year of Larry Jon Wilson, 2010 was the year of Bill Fox and the Gibson Bros. I think I listened to Bill Fox's two reissued albums - Shelter from the Smoke and Transit Byzantium - more than anything else. ( Shelter got a deluxe vinyl reissue, and Scat promises a similar treatment for Transit in 2011.) Go get 'em . And working on a story about the Gibson Bros. reunion show back in July occupied my brainspace and held my interest for months. I [...]
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