Kim Fox
Country of origin:
U.S.
Type of music generally:
Alternative pop
Status:
Most recent release, Return to Planet Earth (2003)
See also:
Wikipedia's entry on Kim Fox
Comparisons:
In spirit this is most like Cindy Lee Berryhill, in sound like suddenly, tammy!, and a little like Juliana Hatfield and/or Frente. (Neile)She reminded me of a cross between Sam Phillips and Cindy Lee Berryhill. (paul2k@aol.com)
Covers/own material:
Own, co-writers, and occasional covers
General comments:
At first her pop sound seemed indistinguishable from others in the genre to me. I thought she was another Juliana Hatfield or Frente, but gradually the individual and quirky nature of the sound and lyrics became apparent the more I listened. I realized her sound is more along the Cindy Lee Berryhill and suddenly, tammy! lines: humour and depth are both readily apparent after the first couple of listens. I probably had more pure fun playing Kim Fox's music than I did with any other artist this year. And I sang along most of the time—I don't usually do that. Delightful fun, but also with haunting emotional moments. (Neile)
Comments about live performance:
She was pretty entertaining, though her songs were kind of silly. Some of the lyrics really had me cracking up. The highlight of the evening was when she sang her single, "I Wanna Be a Witch", a cappella (sort of) to the sound of her chopping a log (yes, actually chopping a small log with a small hatchet, right there on stage). Apparently her boyfriend had given her a record of prison songs, where the only musical accompaniment is guys rustling their chains or chopping wood. Anyway, she apparently found it inspirational. Overall, she had a great personality, but I wasn't that impressed with her voice or her songwriting. Her piano playing was pretty good—much better than her guitar playing. (jjhanson@att.net)I caught only a couple songs of hers, one was about vampires. She was on the Village Acoustic Stage [at Lilith Fair], and she was okay, nothing better. I didn't much like the sound of her keyboard, but she had a fairly pleasant voice and okay lyrics. Nothing special, though. (miazgama@pilot.msu.edu)
kim did a laura nyro cover which was earned her bonus points for me. her singing songwriting seemed a bit weak compared to everyone else around her, but i think there was an honesty freshness to her music that appealed to me. sort of reminded me a bit of jill sobule. (iflin@speakeasy.net)
Recommended first album:
Moon Hut
Recordings:
- Moon Hut (1997)
- Return to Planet Earth (2003)
Moon Hut
Release info:
1997—DreamWorks Records—DRMD-50020
Availability:
Widely available in the U.S.
Ecto priority:
Recommended for fans of quirky pop
Group members:
Kim Fox—piano, vocals, string arrangement, moog, orchestral arrangement, acoustic guitar, organ, rhodes, glockenspiel, mellotron, concertina, consolette, bass, vibes
Guest artists:
Vess Rubtenberg—guitar, bass, percussion, spoons, lead guitar
Paul Mahern—percussion, toys, whistle, e-bow guitar, concertina, drums, guitars, vocals
Mitch Harris—drums, percussion
Carolyn Halfe—string arrangement, violin
Kristin Isaacson—string arrangement, cello
Kenny Aronoff—drums, percussion
John Poole Strohm—guitar, electric guitar
Mark Bingham—guitar, orchestral arrangement, string arrangement, organ
Marvin Williams—orchestral arrangement, string arrangement, bass
Dane Clark—drums, percussion
Paul Beczkiewicz—cello
Kathy Kolata McDorman—violin, viola
Jake Smith—bass
John Hicks—guitar
Ituri Forest pygmies—voices
Josh Silbert—trombone
Charles Krone—clarinet
Melissa Latimer, Sophie Reen, Andrea Yun—cello
Annegret Klana, Ben McClelland, Janette Bernal, Jane Fanning, Michael Lim, Derek Reeves, Tereza Stanislav, Amistra Woodward-Page—violins
James A. Pospisil—French horn
Tom Meyer—clarinet, bass clarinet
Monte Bedford—oboe
Produced by:
Paul Mahern
Comments:
Tori lite? No way! Amos hasn't been this lucid since Little Earthquakes. Beautiful, funny, unsettling, magical. (beckwith@ime.net)i had heard a couple of her songs by accident one evening last year when i caught the world cafe. thought they were okay. then chris beckwith's review above intrigued me. eventually found a used copy. not sure i agree with chris, since i don't think that tori and kim are similar enough to warrant such a comparison but the suddenly, tammy! inspiration makes perfect sense. nonetheless, it's a very fine album, especially for a debut. (woj@smoe.org)
This has been in heavy rotation in my cd changer. (jeffw@smoe.org)
This album has a distinctly unique voice, and Kim Fox is a wonderful songwriter. I recommend this album highly. (mundopax@ingress.com)
This album won me over big time. I listened to it a couple of times at a listening station and wasn't impressed, but when I found it available very cheaply used I figured I could afford not to be impressed. Well, the disc has grown on me—a surprising amount now. I've played it often enough that my partner is good and sick of it, but I'm not. It's fun and is a mixture of charming humour and some wonderfully haunting emotive moments. I don't think I've had as much fun singing along with an album in years. I agree with woj that it's a fine debut, and I'll definitely be looking for more by Kim Fox. (Neile)
Return to Planet Earth
Release info:
2003—Oglio Records—OGL82018-2
Availability:
Unknown
Ecto priority:
Recommendedfor Kim Fox fans
Group members:
"Kim and Linus sang and played everything except..."
Guest artists:
Jon Brion—guitar on 1 tack, celeste, ukulele and slide guitar on 1 track
Roger Joseph Manning, Jr.—keys on 8 tracks
Ben Eshbach—guitar on 3 tracks
Problyn Gregory—horns on 7 tracks
Stew—wrote parts of track 5
Ana Lenchantin—cello on 2 tracks
Margo Guryan—cello arrangement on 1 track
Rob Klonel—drums on 2 tracks
Mike Russo—drums on 4 tracks
Heather Dotson—backing vocals in 1 track
Wendy Sue Rosloff—spoons on 1 track, backing vocals on 1 track
Andrew Williams—acoustic guitar on 1 track
Danny Frankel—drums—on 2 tracks
Hal Craigin—bass on 2 tracks
Stefan Broadley—drum programming on 1 track
Produced by:
Linus of Hollywood
Comments:
Alas, the quirkiness that I loved on the previous album is hidden here, and I really missed the haunting sense of loss and the stories of the previous album. The songs here are mostly pretty predictable pop love songs, and as such are of lesser interest to me than the work on her previous album which I grew to love so well. There are hints of all this here but it just doesn't stick with me. (Neile)
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