“Moments”
“Archway”
“Valley Call”

Such is the tendency for us to put out these particularly brief, but pointed, sessions every time we skip up to the next evolution of the Never Sorry project.  It’s always a loose view of something vaguely resembling the next evolution of our sound.

“Moments” has popped up a few time in sessions past.  This is easily the best version we had done at this point.  “Archway” is a beat oriented song that we’re still developing.  The beat is recycled from Flashmob, which was recycled from my album, Part 3.  “Valley Call” was a true improvisation, and a beautiful little end to the session.

Dane Hill – bass
R.J. Hill – omnichord, auxiliary percussion
Arrison Kirby – guitar, keys, vocals

Right click and “Save As” to download the tracks:

“Afraid of the Ghost”
“House of Satan”
“Blue”
“Contemplating the Harvest”
“Starve It Out and Never Go Hungry”
“She” (Green Day cover)
“Satan Reprise”
“Dislodged Mystery Trinket”

A new year had just begun, so it was time to get back on the Never Sorry train.  We wanted to return to live drums for our next phase.  On this day, the lovely Taurus, Carissa Stolting (Jackboots) stopped by to fill that role.

We’ve been eager to move forward with new material,  but decided to stick with mostly older songs since there was someone new in our midst and we had been rusty, ourselves.  (The holidays do that to you.)  In these cases, we sometimes let Carissa start with the beat and the other three of us would play the song around her.

There’s an impromptu Green Day cover, of all things, as well as some extensive but interesting improvisational jams.  One of these, “Satan Reprise,” is an instrumental re-imagining of “House of Satan.”  Much more upbeat, with traces of joy.

Arrison Kirby – vocals, guitar, keys
RJ. Hill –  vocals, omnichord, auxiliary percussion
Dane Hill – bass, vocals
Carissa Stolting – drums

“Arctic Low” – American Panda vs. Flo Rida vs. Arrison Kirby

I’m not entirely sure why I put these things together.  I LOVE the original American Panda track, “Panda Travels to the Center of the Arctic Circle.”  As for Flo Rida’s dance classic, “Low,” well I just can’t believe that song is over four minutes long.  Ridiculous.

But hey!  The Panda song is actually longer, albeit less grating for sure.  I sped it up as a result, matching it to the vocal speed, rather than the vocal speed to it.  That kinda wrecks the magical feel that “Arctic Circle” essentially has, replacing it with whatever this is.

Click to download the tracks:

“Show You a Way”
“Back When You Had Your Thing”
“Cobra Slomo Backflip”
“Night Boat”
“Earth Angel”
“Broadcast”

This is the second half of our holiday session.  Matt Zingg and Jeremy Law join us here.  Chip Pennington was also present, but he stayed quiet.  The music is a little more unhinged now, as the libations were flowing through us good and steady by this point of the evening.

I stepped away from the drums to run beats and electronics instead.  Matt ended up taking over the drums later.

Nathan Brown – keys, electronics
Aaron Shugart-Brown – guitar
Arrison Kirby – beats, keys
Matt Zingg – bass, drums
Jeremy Law – words

Click to download the tracks:

“Commercial for a Sports Drink”
“Not a Good Place to Sleep”
“Lullaboo”
“Hustler”
“Magic Universe”
“Night Flight”

It was past Christmas, but not quite new years when we recorded this.  The darkest days amid the lazy ones provided a good ethereal vibe to this session.

As noted in the title, this is only the first part of a two session night.  We were joined by other friends later.

Nathan Brown – keys, electronics
Aaron Shugart-Brown – guitar
Arrison Kirby – drums

COP

“You’ve Gotta Go”
“Botched Operation”
“Formal Misgivings”
“Money Games”
“Filthy South”

Produced, mixed and mastered by Arrison Kirby
Composed by COP

Arrison Kirby – electronics, guitar, beats
Wesley Wyrick – electronics
SK – drums

Stream it on Spotify

Purchase it on Amazon

As the onesheet reads…

COP is a session project by Arrison Kirby (Never Sorry, Obadiah), Wesley Wyrick (DolphynRydyr, Star Mountain) and SK (The Glaring Sound).   

 Urgency was recorded at El Studio, Knoxville, TN in 2010 and subsequently edited, mixed and mastered by Arrison Kirby.  The name is a true reflection of the form; as this session was recorded in a single, very, very loud take.  By the second track, “Botched Operation,” the force of the sound was shaking beer bottles off the back of the studio’s piano.  Undeterred, the trio pressed on through these five movements of sound, their order on the disc being no different from the order recorded.

 This disc marks the fifteenth release from the El Deth recording label.  It will be digitally available on Spotify, iTunes  and all other major online distributors on December 27^th, 2011.  The track, “Money Games” is currently available for free MP3 download at www.eldeth.com. 

And here is that track…

“Money Games” – COP

Click to download the tracks:

photo by Maurita Roman

“Starve it Out and Never Go Hungry”
“Blue”
“Laundry”
“Cute Little Echo”
“The Finger Wag”
“Michael in the War”
“House of Satan”
“Dayman” (Charlie Day)

Dane Hill – bass, vocals
Rachel Jae – omnichord, vocals
Arrison Kirby – keys, beats, vocals

unidentified art, New York City, NY

“Edge of Memory”
“Mouse”
“Be My Baby” (The Ronettes)
“Sell it on the Weekends”

In our second Never Sorry session without Katie and Megan, we decided to forget all our songs and start from scratch, at least for this one.  We also abandoned the full instrumentation to go acoustic once again.  The aim was something of a brainstorm.  The result is off the cuff improvisation that sometimes veers into straight dialogue.  There is also a Ronettes cover.

I almost didn’t post this one because I thought it might be just a bit too loose.  The subject matter also ranges from questionable to offensive.  Enough to make me chop out a good chunk of “Sell it on the Weekends.”  I realized it was going to have to be done before we even finished playing the song.

This is us at our most carnal and immature.  It is also riddled with confusion and a little frustration.  Sometimes, though, it just works.

Dane Hill – acoustic guitar, kick drum, vocals
R.J. Hill – auxillary percussion, vocals
Arrison Kirby – acoustic guitar, vocals

“The Suffer Dance”
“Don’t”
“Blue”
“Moments”

I think Consolation Prize is a fitting name for this session in so many ways.  To be a consolation prize, one must serve as a remnant of something that never was.  Consolation prizes, by name, are there to soften the blow when you ruin your chances of winning.  So here is a tender, melancholy set to help cope with losing.

This is Never Sorry with no Katie or Megan.  The funerary softness celebrates that (surely temporary) loss for sure.  The set also came on the heels of a dumb break up I had and there is plenty of therapy, musical and otherwise, being passed down from the Hills to me.  “Don’t” would be the most evident of this, with Dane making up the lyrics as we went.

The beat oriented songs act as bookstands around the soft inside of the session.  “Moments” was written precisely about that aforementioned break up.  The vocals are iffy at times as I try to sort through them, but whatever.  Some cathartic life force runs through this session all the same, as we dive deeper into this fresh minimalism.

Dane Hill – bass, glockenspiel, vocals
Rachel Jae – auxillary percussion, vocals
Arrison Kirby – guitar, beats, programming, keys, vocals