Phox

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Phox by Pip for Partisan Records

In just over two years, PHOX rose to become one of the Midwest’s premiere indie rock acts, touring around the world almost nonstop. But the Baraboo-bred indie poppers are calling it quits (for now, at least), though not before one last stop at the Capitol Theater. Come out and give your hometown heroes a proper sendoff. With Cuddle Magic, an ambient, poppy sextet from Brooklyn.

press release: Presented by True Endeavors. Doors 7:00pm | Show 8:00pm

Tickets on-sale FRIDAY, October 21st, 2016 at 11:00am: Tickets may be purchased online, by phone at 608-258-4141, and at the Overture Center Box Office.

$25.00 – General Admission

From much hyped performances at SXSW and summer music festivals in 2014 Phox released their debut album with more attention than they ever imagined they would receive. Extensive touring on that first album spanned the globe and lasted well over a year, the band ended 2015 with a much needed break. In the months that followed it started to become clear to the band members that the time on the road has distracted from other creative pursuits and as they settled back into normal life, a conversation within the band started to slowly gain momentum; each band member had so many creative goals outside of the band that they were excited about pursuing, and the difficult decision was made to take a step back from Phox while band members got a chance to work outside of the band. In October 2016, the band announced an indefinite hiatus that will be preceded by a short run of dates.

Cuddle Magic is Benjamin Lazar Davis, Christopher McDonald, Dave Flaherty, Alec Spiegelman, Kristin Slipp and Cole Kamen-Green–a six-piece avant-pop band located between Brooklyn and Philadelphia. All six musicians are in-demand collaborators in New York’s musical community and work with a wide array of artists, from pop superstars like Beyoncé to critically lauded independent musicians like Will Sheff (Okkervil River) and Amanda Palmer (Dresden Dolls), as well as with respected figures of the avant-garde like Fred Frith and Ran Blake.

It's been a few years since the New Yorker labeled Cuddle Magic’s music "high concept chamber-pop.” At the time, that was a fair statement about a band known to utilize 12-tone rows, odd meters, and extended techniques; a band which had collaborated with new music pianist Phyllis Chen and Third Stream master Ran Blake. But with Ashes/Axis, the band’s forthcoming new full-length record, listeners are less likely to hear echoes of the academy. All sorts of heady compositional devices, both musical and literary, are still present, but the members of Cuddle Magic have learned to bury those influences deeper in the substrate of the music.

Their upcoming album Ashes/Axis features songs written by three of Cuddle Magic’s band members–Christopher McDonald, Benjamin Lazar Davis and Alec Spiegelman–all of whom take turns as lead vocalist. In addition, Kristin Slipp, whose voice is prominent from the very start of the album, takes the lead on “Slow Rider,” “The First Hippie on the Moon, Pt. II” and “Voicemail.”