That out of the way, thanks a lot to everyone who turned out for the show.  Everyone did great!  I also want to thank Dane Hill, Rachel Jae, Megan Driscoll and Katie Collins for making the show with me.  Also Zoe Erwin for running the sound, the Pilot Light for hosting the thing and, of course, Katie and the Bass Drums for hosing us down.

There is so much more to come.

So yeah…pictures?  Video?  If you got it, I want it!

Click to download the tracks:

“Anemone” (Brian Jonestown Massacre)
“New Beginnings”
“Clap Hands Jam” (improv on Beck)
“Untitled as Yet (Down)”
“Really Horrible Shit is Popular”
“Single Politician”
“Family Affairs”
“Untitled as Yet (Up)”
“Hymn”

This session was primarily practice for the Pilot Light show with Katie and the Bass Drums coming up on August 25th, as some – if not all – of the players in this session will be joining me that day.  This is also the first session recorded in which Rachel Jae and Dane Hill were present.   It was interwoven with a lot of surprise sounds coming to the forefront. Ideas too.   Some of those surprise sounds and ideas are as follows:

“Anemone” – As noted above, this is a cover of the Brian Jonestown Massacre song. The first or second time we got together under musical pretense, Katie gave me a mix CD with the original version as the starting track. I immediately loved it. It’s not too complicated of a song. So Katie, Megan and I picked it up really quick and then laid it down after Dane and Rachel had left for the night. The first take wasn’t too bad. This was the second and it’s slightly better.

“Clap Hands Jam” – This is just one of those goofy little segues that sometimes rise up when live recording. Dane and the girls had a good little percussion section going. I tried to enter with Beck’s “Clap Hands” but could not remember the order of the notes right off. So I bounced around between them, hence being but a “jam.” I did actually find the correct order, but only momentarily before we decided to send itg to its grave.

“Untitled as Yet” – Two versions here. The “down” version was actually recorded immediately following the “up” version. I reordered them and spaced them out in the track listing for the sake of flow. The down version incorporates no electronic beats, only minimalist percussion from Dane and Rachel – plus a little off kilter theremin from me. Also, notice that both versions contain “lyrics” now. We needed some way to signal when we wanted to do the key drop. Looking at each other and nodding is fine, but not always so interesting or reliable. Rachel suggested we all say “Make a wish” right before the drop. We all were in agreement, but then we did not know how to signal the wish, itself. We worked that one out too.

“Single Politician” – Dane is playing a full kit on this one and it sounds grand. We went through a few different alterations to get to this version. Mostly based around the drums, as Dane had two different modes for this song, both of which worked well. With two drum modes and two sections of the song so far, we decided to try a different mode for each section, but run them together. I think this is the best version of this song yet.

“Hymn” – If you are offended by this song, then you might want to consider downgrading your church. Perhaps to a model without an ATM machine.

Katie Collins – omnichord, ukulele, words
Megan Driscoll – flute, omnichord, vocals
Rachel Jae - shakers, wood blocks, words
Dane Hill – drum kit, hand percussion, wood blocks, words
Arrison Kirby – guitar, beats, vocals

WDVX exists on the FM dial.  102.9 if you are in Knoxville, Tennessee.  89.9 if you are in Clinton, Tennessee.  If you don’t live in either of those places, then congratulations!  You’ve made it into 2011 where you can totally stream that shit.

“Family Affairs”
“Single Politician (one take)”
“Single Politician (another take)”
“Untitled as Yet”

I’ve been working on this project, playing music with Katie Collins and Megan Driscoll.  I’m glad to announce that Rachel Jae and Dane Hill are also involved and likely someone else soon, as well.  However, our weekly assembly  from August 3rd knocked us momentarily back to just we three for the night, as Dane and Rachel were out of town, filming a movie.  We worked on only a handful of things, including the performance of a new song, completed only the night before.  Keep in mind that these recordings are rough. Levels are not perfect. You can read descriptions of the surviving takes below.

“Family Affairs” – This is one I have been playing live for a while now. I’ve never been that great at nailing the chorus, vocally, and I did a piss poor job here. Plus my mic volume was too high and I was trying something different on the guitar than what I usually did at that part in the song. Each distracting. If you can suffer that, it’s all worth it for the gritty breakdown at the end.

“Single Politician” – This is a song I started several months ago and finished the night before this session. The girls picked it up really fast and the beat was just a straight and constant punch stolen from something else. Nothing fancy. Just a fun song. I posted these two different versions (of about eight) because they each have opposite strengths and weaknesses. On the first one, the vocals are better, but the lyrics have some mistakes and the omnichord and flute are not as present as they should be. On the second one, the vocals are a tad too loud and not always so tonal, but lyrically correct. The omnichord and flute are crisper. Take your pick.

“Untitled as Yet” – Another take of our new collaborative classic. This version is a bit grittier and clunky at times.

Recorded on August 4th, 2010

Katie Collins – omnichord, ukulele
Megan Driscoll – flute, omnichord, vocals
Arrison Kirby – guitar, beats, vocals

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.

“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.