Arrison Kirby

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lowdowndownlow

“Gotta Get Down With the Passing of Time” – Damon Albarn
“Box Elder (live) ” – Pavement
“In Asking Land” – Talking Heads
“Inside Out” – Beck
“The Old Plantation” – The Minus 5
“There There (live acoustic)” – Radiohead
“My Death (live)” – David Bowie
“Runners Dial Zero” – Beck
“Blasting Fonda” – Wilco
“Lifeline” – Harry Nilsson
“Did You See Me” – Ween
“Riding to Vanity Fair” – Paul McCartney
“Sunset Coming On” – Damon Albarn, Toumani Diabate, Afel Bocoum, Ko Kan Ko Sata Doumbia
“I Love My Car” – Belle and Sebastian

This past week had a lot of emotion in it.  I blame the movement out of the ever emotional Cancer into Leo.  It seemed to result in misunderstanding and mini crises…and not just for myself.  It’s something like the air of a funeral where such intense emotions may act in kind.  A funeral for Cancer, if you will.

Now, though, it seems these weekend wounds have healed or are healing.  Today, in Knoxville, in particular, we had this wonderfully cloud covered, sunny day.  The evening capped by a stellar performance downtown by Wu Tang’s Killah Priest.  A small reward for working through the darkness of Cancer.

I made this mix a few years back.  I did not feel any kind of darkness in my life at the time, but wanted to make a saddish, emotionally driven mix.  This was the result.  It does not carry a negative message (except maybe the Paul McCartney song), but certainly expresses loss and learning while sounding “summery.”  I think it’s perfectly fitting for this time of year.

Click to download the track.

“Untitled as Yet”

So recently I have been working on a new project that’s mostly still under wraps.  The scope of the thing is yet to be seen, but so far the music is being sculpted by myself, Megan Driscoll and Katie Collins.  We began with some stuff I had written, got it downish and reconstructed here and there.  Last Wednesday, however, we ended up with this track, which was a completely collaborative process.

We’re not entirely certain what to do with it yet and it’s definitely rough around the edges, but it’s really come together well to this point.   You do have to forgive the levels on the thing.  It was recorded very simply, which did not leave me a lot of room to work with when it came to mixing and mastering.

Recorded on July 21st, 2010.

Katie Collins – omnichord
Megan Driscoll – flute
Arrison Kirby – beats & guitar

Original sketch by Saitarou

“Yoko Intro”
“Tuesday, September 9th”
“Deadway”
“Mimi and Chippu”
“Chippu and Mimi (Alternate Version)”
“Heaven”
“Only Ghosts”
“Yoko’s Song”

Here are some outtakes and experiments from my sessions recording Part 3. Notice the art that accompanies this entry also.  These are the original conceptual sketches for the album art.  These sketches, as well as the end result are the handiwork of Japanese artiste, Saitarou.  Click her name and check out her stuff.  She’s incredibly unique and gifted in what she does.

As to the music, here is a guide:

“Yoko Intro” A lot of stars aligned to get me to Japan.  My friend, Sean Deitrick, had just moved to Nagoya and had an extra room for me to stay in.  Also in Nagoya, they were kicking off the opening of a new airport built on a landfill island.  Because of this, I was able to get a round trip ticket for four hundred and forty-four dollars.  Lastly, through the magic of social networking, I had befriended Homako.  (She is a design wiz, by the way, so you should check out her stuff.)  I knew her better as Yoko back then, when she lived in Nagano.  Part 1 was a mix CD that I sent her in the mail when we first met.  (She sent me candy and a CD by The Books.)  Part 2 was another mix CD, which I hand delivered to her when I arrived at the Zenkouji Exit in Nagano.  Part 3, of course, was the all original recording I did of all the songs I wrote when I was over  there.  Long story short, “Yoko Intro” was the first (and only original) track on Part 1.

“Tuesday, September 9th” I was in Japan in April.  In May I went to Pennsylvania because my aunt was dying.  I brought my MC-909, a hand held tape recorder, and a bag of cassettes with me and began programming work for “Jim on the Plane.” I also worked on three other tracks on that trip.  One of them was this one.  The news broadcast samples were recorded from the radio on the morning of September 11th.  I call it “Tuesday, September 9th” because that first reporter states that Tuesday, September 9th, will go down in infamy.  Either he messed up, or the conspiracies run deeper than we thought.

“Deadway” This beat formed out of the “Train to Nagano” beat quite accidentally.  I was experimenting with different echo effects on the beat and then suddenly there was this thumping, crazy mess.  When Dirtnap Dave and I were putting together the earliest beginnings of our hip hop ensemble, Flashmob, I presented this track (with others) for possible use in the project.  Understandably, he poo-pooed it.  His roomate at the time, Kactus, says it sounds like sweaty gay club music.  I kind of hear it.

“Mimi and Chippu” This was another one that  I presented for Flashmob, but we did not use.  It’s the skeleton from “Chippu and Mimi” but with an assortment of additional sounds, obviously.  I completely did away with the old arrangement and melodies, in fact.

“Chippu and Mimi (Alternate Version)” This essentially is “Chippu and Mimi” but with different beat arrangements.  It almost made the final cut, but I decided on a last minute reworking after deciding that it sounded too disco-simple.  The final version is much less half-assed.  This one simply is what it is.

original sketch by Saitarou

“Heaven” I used to be really proud of this piano piece.  Unfortunately, I could never really find a home for it, outside of my own heart.  We played it live with Obadiah a few times, but no one in the band really gave a shit about it except me.  I held on to it as long as I could, but never wrote it down.  Now it is completely gone from my memory banks and will probably never be played anywhere ever again.  Sad.  This is the only non-Obadiah recorded version of it.  Though they are not present on this version, it did have lyrics.  They were:  “Heaven is in surround sound and the atmosphere is comprised of nitrous oxide.”

“Only Ghosts” I created this on my 909 during the sessions in Pennsylvania.  (See above.)  If you listen carefully, you can hear a sample from “Mr. Krinkle” by Primus in there.  I had no real intention for it in the beginning, but this beat has since been used for a small handful of stuff.  In regards to Part 3, I had first used it in “Bamse.” Since then, it has also been applied to my remix of “Disconap” by Senryu.  The beat was also used by hip hop trio, Per Capita.

“Yoko’s Song” Before there was a Part 3 (or a Part 1 or 2 for that matter), there was “Yoko’s Song.”  Homako and I had begun chatting in February.  After hearing some of my music, she suggested that I make a song with a heartbeat in it.  Then, on St. Valentines Day, I did just that.  The result is this.  I completed the whole thing in a day.  Written, mixed, mastered and delivered on February 14th.  It’s probably the schmaltziest thing I have ever written.

I just came across this video a few hours ago. Good to see it out there.

I believe American Panda and Star Mountain also played that gig. Caleb Wilson provided the visuals. This video can be found on mysweetjenna79’s YouTube Channel. The birthday girl was…

…having a birthday. I’m glad she spent it there.

“The Goal”
“Kill Party”
“First Time on the Moon”
“Major Miner”
“Shhhhh”
“Brine Shrimp Defecating on Your Trousers”
“There”
“Supersonic Tony”
“Cover Your Face”
“Boy vs. Wife”
“Seventeen Michaels”

I want to make two things perfectly clear to you before you listen to this.

1) The piano is not in tune. If you know how to tune a piano and are willing to do so for free, then please contact me.

2) I am out of tune. But this is why…

This session was created on a whim. I felt a free flowing creative energy around me, so I set up microphones around the piano. Then I randomly made everything up. All that you here, both musically and lyrically, is completely from the moment. Noting that came out of my mouth or hands had been composed prior to the session itself. This is total improv.

So the singing sucks at times. The piano is mostly always tolerable though…and the singing did improve as the session barreled on. I must say, though, that if these “songs” were to become worked into a polished album, I think it could be decent. I don’t really have much complaint about the lyrics or chord progressions, themselves.

It is for this reason that I contemplated this session a lot before posting it here. First I intended to mix, master and post. Then I didn’t want to share it at all. Then I wanted to run it though an autotuner. Then I wanted to just recreate the whole thing, altogether (and still wouldn’t rule this out). Then I went back to just wanting to mix, master and post. Then I just decided to post it as is…grit in tact.

It did have some light mastering done to it…but that’s about it.

As for the content, there are a good handful of swears in this session. Nothing sexually over the top. Just good ol’ American cursing. It’s also rather personal since it’s all completely improvisational. You sing what you think you know…you know? Though listening back, I’m not entirely sure where all this shit comes from.

This also kicks off a new section here: Sessions.

More to come, I hope indeed. Email me if you’d like to be a part of one.

Click to download as a continuous mp3:

illumination

“Ohio” – Chin Chin
“Jet Engine” – Forest for the Trees & Beck
“Crooked Dub / Obscured by Clouds”  -  Gorillaz vs. Spacemonkeyz vs. Pink Floyd vs. Arrison Kirby
“Somewhere Between Waking and Sleeping” – Air
“Roche” – Sebastian Tellier
“Noir Blues to Tinnitus” – of Montreal
“Video Tapez” – Radiohead vs. Del The Funky Homosapien vs.  Amplive
“Great Gig in the Sky” – The Flaming Lips & Peaches
“Speak, See, Remember” – Pavement
“One Fine Day” – Cracker
“The Great Western Road” – David Byrne
“Cloud of Unknowing” – Gorillaz, Bobby Womack & Sinfonia ViVa
“Sleepyhead” – Senryu

illumination was submitted for the Tapeworms March theme:  “Wake Up.”  I am posting it today because it’s Easter Sunday and I find this to make for a pretty good Easter mix.  My only regret is that I didn’t have it posted this morning so that someone might wake up to it.

Click to download the track.

photograph by Caleb W.

“Inklings (Two Missing B’s and a Microphone)” – Senryu vs. Arrison Kirby vs. Beck

“Inklings” was the first song from the new Senryu album to REALLY hit me.  It did the first time I heard it and the effects lasted a good deal beyond that time.

Its BPM is just a little bit faster than that of some bonus beats from Beck’s “Where It’s At” session.  So I slowed down Beck and stuck the two together.  After a little bit of tweaking, editing and remastering,  the result is a “clubbier” version of “Inklings.”

I think there is something psychic intertwining these two pieces of music intrinsically.  The imposition of one over the other is nearly dead on as the course of each song changes.  Perhaps it’s merely a fanciful, random intermingling of sounds in time with each other, but I think there is something more veiled and godlike at play.