el deth

Archive for the ‘Sessions’ Category

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“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

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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

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“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

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“Power’s Out”
“Michael in the War”
“Springtime of the Dregs”
“Really Horrible Shit is Popular”
“Watery Grave”
“Local Flavor”
“Those Guys”
“Reggae Sunsplash”
“Lesbian But For Penis”

This was recorded to my exgirlfriend’s Olympus digital recorder on a stormy evening.  I wanted to work on something more involved and deliberate, but the weather ended up putting out the electricity (hence the session title).  And so it was settled.  As with the Pianospout sessions, I would record an improvisational set with just my voice and a single, acoustic instrument.  In this case, I used a guitar.

One song, “Really Horrible Shit is Popular,” was already written prior to the recording.  Everything else was made up on the spot.  This includes “Michael in the War,” which was later transcribed and performed on numerous occasions with Never Sorry.  To date, it’s the only song I have ever written in the moment that, when later fleshed out, kept every single lyric and chord change in tact.

Also unchanged is the order the songs were created / performed.  This is is the same path I took that evening as I strung all this shit together.  The session ended when the power was restored.

These are possibly the best versions of “Laundry” and “Michael in the War” recorded so far.  We used beats on both of them, allowing Dane to jump on the bass.  I’m particularly fond of the break down in “Michael.”

“Moon Rest Over Trees” was our opening jam, but I felt it better positioned where it is in the line up.  The other improvisational piece is “Succumb When it Counts” and it features me on drums, Dane on guitar and Katie on the drums.  These are also the same play positions used for the session closure, a slowed down cover of Culture Club’s “Karma Chameleon.”  This cover was Dane’s idea.  He lead us through it and also sang.  I like it a million billion times better than the original.

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

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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 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