el deth

Posts Tagged ‘Hamilton Ellis’

Born of warehouses built on stretches of land that are not quite Memphis, Dire Con is quintessentially modern, underground, southern rock.  Front man, Hamilton Ellis, brings forth songwriting chops in the vein of Neil Young, dented and bruised by Arrison Kirby’s gruff production, harkening back to Check Your Head era Beastie Boys.  

 This self-titled collection of songs reflects on the darker, grittier aspects of southern living.  It touches not on topics of American pride and confederate nostalgia, but a small town underbelly of drug abuse, secret lives and death. 

 This disc is the sixteenth release from the El Deth recording label.  It will be digitally available on Spotify, iTunes  and all other major online distributors on May 29^th, 2011.

Check out the first single, “Pills,” on Soundcloud…

We have not yet officially announced the release of Dire Con’s self titled EP, but the single, “Pills,” seems to be getting some attention.  This week (which is maybe last week by the time I discovered this), the track got listed on the weekly Top 13 list at Advanced Demonology.  Flattering words, uniquely stated, accompanied.

Click here to check out the list

May as well announce it now that the long-in-production, self titled EP from Dire Con will be released in the last week of May this year.  Our new friends at A New Band a Day were the first to give it some press love, featuring the single, “Pills,” today on their site.  They accompanied it with some very kind words and a lovely real world parable about being polite.

Click here to read their write up at A New Band a Day.

While you are there, bookmark their site and refer daily for new music, duh.

In our ongoing effort to reissue as much as the El Deth catalog as we can to the major digital retail outlets, this one was next.

Originally released in 2004, this was one of the earliest projects to come out of El Studio.  I had met Hamilton at an open mic type of night at the now defunct Blue Cats in Knoxville’s Old City.  We kept in touch and he gave me a DIY cassette release of something called The Common Cold EP.  I absolutely loved it and we’ve passed through several musical doors together since.

This album features a track with Dire Con backing him up in full.  (Of course I’ll take this moment to plug the upcoming, self titled, Dire Con release that El Deth will be throwing into the universe in a few months.)  Also, note the additional lyrical stylings of The Illiest on that same track.

The chick on the cover, playing the part of Sara Lewis (who is named similar to that chick from Jag Star), is actually Melissa Fagan of The Melissa Fagan Band.

Check it out on Spotify here.

Get it from iTunes here.

I dunno.  Amazon music?  Anyone buy shit from them?

How bout this place?  I don’t even know what this is.

Arrison Kirby and The Bubble Orchestra
The Greatest Story Ever Told
2005

“The Approaching Era”
“Take and Give”
“A Joyous Occasion”
“Washing My Hands”
“Dealers”
“Balance Upset”
“Na X 5″
“It’s You”
“The End”

Arranged and produced by Arrison Kirby

“The Approaching Era”
Colin Sanders – vocals
Rhiannon Coulombe – bass
Hamilton Ellis – bass
Rob Green – organ solo

“Take and Give”
Nathan Tipton – guitar
Ty Newton – guitar

“A Joyous Occasion”
The Illiest – vocals
Chris Nehrzak – bass

“Washing My Hands”
Rachel Matvy – violin
Aaron Shugart-Brown – guitar
Josh Russell – guitar
Nathan Brown – bass
Josh Lunsford – drums

“Dealers”
Brandon Biondo – guitar
Aaron Shugart-Brown – noise, words

“Balance Upset”
April Cooper – vocals
Nick Huinker – guitar
Derek Ashe – bass
Brandt Womack – bass
Josh Lunsford – drums

“Na X 5″
Emily Robinson – drums

“It’s You”
Jeff Maynard – guitar
Ty Newton – bass
words: Dustin Basalla, David Dalton, Steve Sutton, Melissa Fagan, Jeremy Law, Jeff Maynard, Lindsey Law, Robbie Koons, Ty Newton, Liz Stender

“The End”
Jeff Maynard – guitar

Recorded and constructed at El Studio, Knoxville, TN. and Manor Way Apartments, 144J, Louisville, TN.

Hamilton Ellis
The Stalking Sara Lewis EP
2004

“Dreams”
“Something Great”
“Oh Sara”
“Coal”
“The Train”

Written and performed by Hamilton Ellis
Produced by Arrison Kirby

Dire Con – back up band on “Oh Sara”
The Illiest – vocals on “Oh Sara”

Recorded at El Studio, Knoxville, TN.

El Deth Presents
Sunspheric Sounds Vol. 1
2004

“The Weekend Sound” by The Weekends
“Sirens” by Chelsea Horror
“Heftiges Ereignis” by Comfort Among Strangers
“Tandem” by The Bloodiest Night of My Life
“Rainy Day in Nashville” by Henry Gibson
“Here Comes Winter” by The Fraid
“The Girl I Love Just Died Today” by Twinkiebots
“In Advance of a Broken Arm” by Matgo Primo
“Revolt” by Beware: The Gentlemen
“Green Lights” Lemon Drop Kid
“Devil in the Everyday” by Mr. Self Reliant
“Wish You Well” by The Sense
“moo-moo, the chocolate covered peanut” by Town Meeting
“Sour Days” by Hamilton Ellis
“Old Country Gaffer” by Obadiah
“An Election Year” by Biaowulf
“East Bound Road Warriors” by Skippy and the Bellbottoms

Produced by Arrison Kirby and Aaron Shugart-Brown

Front photograph by Matt Zingg

Recorded at El Studio, Knoxville, TN.

Click here to purchase!