el deth

Archive for the ‘MP3’ Category

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“Devoured by Lions and Fish”

photo by Nathan Tipton

Sometimes stress builds beyond our borders and so comes a time to release it with a good ol’ fashioned beat session.  This one was recorded live one night when myself and Modifi were both in a fantastic, “fuck a buncha bullshit” mode.  We set up, played out, then broke down.  This is a continuous set.  No extra special post edits or attention to detail beyond bpm and maybe tonality.

However, I did think I had an issue with the mastering on it.  It sounded great in my car and in the studio, but in my office, some of the beats were lost in the mix.  I couldn’t figure out why.  I adjusted volume levels and remastered and reburned the disc at least six times.  It was the same problem every time and it was killing me.  Then I finally realized that I had my receiver set on a mono speaker output., hence causing some of the beats to phase each other out.  So all I had to do was hit a single button all along.  Totally lame.

In any case, the mystery has been solved and now you can listen for yourself.  I also have a bunch of unnecessary test burns of this session now, as well.  Some mastered better than others, but if you want one, email me or something.  I don’t know why you would want a CD, though, if you can just download it here.   The offer still stands.

DJ Modifi – beats, samples
Arrison Kirby –  beats, samples

Click to download the track.

“The B” – Obadiah

To prepare for this show with How I Became the Bomb, Obadiah recorded four sessions over a course of three nights. This song was one that arose from between the cracks of our set in progress. It was born of improvisation, as a response to the song that proceeded it.

This is pretty silly stuff for to be the first “official” Obadiah song released in years.  If you come check us out at the Pilot Light, you’ll see it’s barely even a scratch on the surface for the current barrage of Obadiah soundscapes.

Kenny Gilbert – guitar, bass
Josh Russell –  drums
Nathan Brown – keys, electronics
Aaron Shugart-Brown – guitar, vocals
Arrison Kirby – keys, electronics, beats

Click to download the tracks:

“Afraid of the Ghost”
“Michael in the War”
“Dead”
“Teamworking”
“Until I Die (Rum Blues)”

Instead of tuning up the piano, Samuel tuned his banjo to match the piano.  The result is this macabre and winding session of standards.  It’s another really minimal session, as well.

Lulu Skidoo (aka Michelle Sanders) joins us again for “Until I Die.”  This is the first version we had tried on any keys at all, let alone an actual piano.

“Teamworking” is the only new song here and is most likely incomplete, but still worth sharing, I guess.  It’s about a person getting involved in someone else’s new relationship.

Arrison Kirby –piano, vocals
Samuel Williams – banjo, vocals
Michelle Sanders – vocals

Click to download the tracks:

Trimper Rides, Ocean City, Maryland

“President Elect”
“Trimpers (Beach)”
“Dead”
“House of Satan”
“Until I Die (Rum Blues)”
“Laundry”
“Fuck City”
“Michael in the War”
“Trimpers (Ocean)”

This was the first session we had with this many people since Le Carnival des Autres.  In other words, this was our first slide back into our beloved full on electro rockin’ sound.  Samuel didn’t make it to this one, but Michelle Sanders joined us for an amped up version of “Until I Die (Rum Blues)”.

There are a couple of jams, “President Elect” and “Fuck City.”  The latter being the looser and more amusing.  There are also a couple different versions of “Trimpers” here.  Both incorporating synth bass, but two very different styles.  Also, note the new song, “Laundry.”  I began writing that one about [some chick] but wasn’t able to finish it until it became applicable to [a different chick].  I think it has a Talking Heads feel to it.

Katie Collins – omnichord, ukulele
Megan Driscoll –  flute, tambourine, vocals
Dane Hill – drums, bass, vocals
Rachel Jae – auxillary percussion, vocals
Arrison Kirby – guitar, keys, beats, vocals
Michelle Sanders – vocals

Click to download the tracks:

“Trimpers”
“Afraid of the Ghost”
“House of Satan”
“Dead”
“Cute Little Echo”
“Dicks and Tits”

This was our first acoustic session in preparation for Le Carnival des Autres.  Though Samuel Williams had joined us on stage at the Pilot Light not a few weeks later, he was unable to attend this one.  I’m not going to lay out each song and what’s up with it because, obviously, there isn’t anything that has been posted before (except “Dicks and Tits” but we’ll get to that).  Suffice it to say that these are all very stripped down versions of some old standards.  Gypsy versions.

And then there’s “Dicks and Tits.”  It’s all over the place and possibly unbearable at time, but that’s why I put it last.  This was actually the first of three improvisational group spiels in a row.  The other two were titled “Rachel N” and “Negro Gingé.”  It’s doubtful those two will ever be shared on this site.  There are several reasons for that but isn’t “Dicks and Tits” enough anyway?

Katie Collins – omnichord, ukulele, vocals
Megan Driscoll –  flute, harmonica, tambourine, vocals
Dane Hill – guitar, vocals
Rachel Jae – auxillary percussion, vocals
Arrison Kirby – guitar, vocals

Senryu
Half Wild
2011

“A Change of Heart”
“Great. Expectations.”
“The Last to Let Go”
“Thunder Shook the House”
“(finally found my)”
“Halfwild Boys”
“Take Yourself Apart”
“Hyperventilator”
“Memory Zero”
“Before it Happens”

Senryu is Zac Fallon, Andres & Dan McCormack, Steven Rodgers, Jeff McClain & William Wright

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Eric Nowinski

Artwork by Jenna Hancock.

Executive producer: Arrison Kirby

Click here to purchase on iTunes

Click here to purchase on CD Baby

Click to download the track.

“All of Me All of Us” – Arrison Kirby

Yes, friends. I began to use my soundcloud account (see below). Here is the first offering…something I already offered before. That pesky “All of Me All of Us” song I know not what to do with.

Initially, it was a commissioned piece.  I had the music fleshed out, but the lyrics were more shit out.   The person paying for it agreed, so I rewrote it from a more inspirational place.  A bit too inspirational perhaps, because I think the end result was over that second party’s head.  Who knows?  Maybe it just sucks.

In any case, this shit’s just been sitting around with no home…pissing me off.  I passed it along to Steve Wildsmith for one of his articles, but I never shared it directly on here.  Here it is now, though.  Why?  Because I wanted to use SoundCloud.  That’s what this post is ultimately about.

Written, recorded, arranged, produced and performed by Arrison Kirby.

All of Me All of Us by Arrison Kirby

Click to download the tracks:

“Anemone” (Brian Jonestown Massacre)
“Afraid of the Ghost”
“Cute Little Echo”
“Blue”
“House of Satan”
“Single Politician”
“Reading Rainbow” (Horelick, Kleinman & Weir)
“The Whole Planet What?”

This was a rehearsal for the March Pilot Light show.  Only Megan, Nathan and myself were able to make it, which forced us to embrace minimalism.  We did so electronically.  David showed up for the last two tracks and filled things out for new levels.

I’ve posted most of these songs a million times a million ways, so instead of a song by song run down, I just want to point out a few things.  First, as already implied, this is kind of a dark, electro session.  Something of a Hypencrunk / Never Sorry hybrid.  This version of “Blue” is rare in that Megan sings the vocals, as Rachel was not present.  Also, that’s David on the vocals for Reading Rainbow and bass for the epic, “The Whole Planet What?”

Arrison Kirby – beats, keys, guitar, vocals
Megan Driscoll –  flute, harmonica, tambourine, vocals
Nathan Brown – keys, electronics
David Dalton – vocals, bass

Click to download the tracks:

“Untitled as Yet”
“Undershots”
“Kiss Me On My Dick (For New Years)”
“8.16”
“Blue”
“Moo Year” (Wesley Wyrick solo set)

So we decided to have a very last minute, quietish but open New Years session. I was really really sick and also got drunk. I stayed awake and played music as long as I could stand to. Wes Wyrick [American Panda, Soulbot, Star Mountain] joined us with his sound as well. Eventually the night culminated into a viewing of Harmony Korine’s Trash Humpers.

“Untitled as Yet” – I know I’m playing drums on this one and it’s totally way different than any way we’ve played it before. I think Dane and Wes are both on guitar maybe? I don’t know. I can’t pick this apart. It’s really bad ass though.

“Undershots” – This is a pretty full on Never Sorry / Wes Wyrick collaborative track. Possibly my favorite among these all. There’s something foreign and playful to it. Wes is definitely on his electronics for this one.

“Kiss Me on My Dick (For New Years)” – I had no idea about this song until we were playing it. Apparently, though, it had some preliminary attention focused on it by Rachel and Dane. So I presume they wrote it, and I can say with certainty that they introduced it to me. In any case, this was what we were all doing when we crossed into 2011. Notice it’s only got false countdowns. This was intentional.

“8.16″ – This is apparently me solo. We weren’t running through our normal set up. We were all plugged into a single board, which was plugged into the recording board, plugged into a receiver, which was carrying the music to speakers upstairs. So when I played this shit through that set up, it came out like this. All jitter water or something.  Normally this is the song called “Sarabeth.”

“Blue” – I guess we couldn’t resist the old standard. Good job on it, really.

“Moo Year” – This is Wes Wyrick’s 23 minute continuous set from that night. He called it something else initially, but I forget what it was. Then I saw him somewhere recently and he said he wanted to call it “Moo Year.” So cool. It is.

Katie Collins – omnichord
Megan Driscoll –  flute, tambourine
Dane Hill – guitar, bass, vocals
Rachel Jae – auxillary percussion, vocals
Arrison Kirby – guitar, words, beats, keys, drums
Wesley Wyrick – electronics, beats, guitar perhaps