“Cute Little Echo”
“Afraid of the Ghost”

This is another string based session with just Katie and I.  Neither of the songs are anything new, but here we’ve performed them in completely different arrangements than before.  This is also the first posted session in which Katie’s vocal contributions are heard, minimal as they may be.

We only worked out to songs, obviously.  There was, literally, no other material from this session.  It was not so difficult to reimagine these tracks for a stripped down banjo and ukulele set up.  The reason it’s so short is because we used the bulk of our time to film a video for “Cute Little Echo” (which is actually the inferior of these two tracks, I believe).

You may or may not ever see this video as I may or may not ever edit it into completion.  We actually put in some tired overtime in re-shooting what was to be the final scene.  Unfortunately (and Katie will only learn of this as she reads it here), the re-shot scene did not actually take.  When I dumped it on my computer, it was only a few seconds long, as if the “record” button was tapped twice by accident.  By the time I realized this, Katie was gone and all the costuming, lights and fog had also been removed for the evening.  So we’ll see.

And who knows?  I may be able to work with the remaining footage anyway.  I’m just not going to bank on it, and I have yet to try.  But for now, you have these two concise and bluegrassy reworkings.

Katie Collins – ukulele, vocals
Arrison Kirby – banjo, beats, vocals

“Right Time”
“Santa Daemon”
“Stress Square”
“Afraid of the Ghost”
“Gentle Waves”
“Quantity”

So a while back, Aaron and I collaborated on a few tracks and called it memetics (Aaron’s name idea…and a good one).  I really should mix those down and get them out into cyberspace.  But for now, you have this.

This is all recorded live, which is the opposite approach we took on those tracks you have not heard.  Those we tracked out.  This live session was much easier to deal with.

Aaron sang on most of the tracks.  I presume it to be improvisational, but in any case, some of the song titles were just plain obvious.  My dog, Remy, sang on “Santa Daemon.”

I sang on “Afraid of the Ghost.”  It’s a complete departure from the way it’s been performed in the sessions with Pocket Strength (that’s our band name, right?).  This one is very true to the “memetics sound.”  I’m particularly fond of its minimalism.

I’m not sure what else to say about the rest of the tracks.  They’re pretty droney at times.  It definitely throws back to earlier days of being in Obadiah with Aaron.  I really like the piano / guitar interplay at the end of “Gentle Waves.”  If you don’t care anything else about this artsy fartsy bullshit, then at least lay back into that for a minute.

Aaron Shugart-Brown – guitar, effects, percussion, vocals
Arrison Kirby – guitar, keys, beats, vocals
Remy – vocals

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“Champagne Fishing Hole”
“Wrong Way Down a One Way Channel Backwards”
“New Beginnings”
“Afraid of the Ghost”
“Waiting”
“Bristol”
“Dane’s Domain”
“Monkey Parade”
“Leonard Skeonard”

There is a nice kind of edginess on this session.  A good mix of experimentation, improvisation, and expansion.  We additionally did a little more instrument swapping than we had prior.  Plus we did not use any electronic beats in this session.  Of course, there is a likely tolerable level of “offness” here and there, but few and far between all the juicy rewards.

“Champagne Fishing Hole” – This was how the session opened…with Megan rapping over Dane’s drums and Katie’s omnichord volume flushing.  I was still playing with shit in the control room, so I didn’t get in on it straight away.  This is completely to the track’s credit.

“Wrong Way Down a One Way Channel Backwards” – I had accidentally set off my looper pedal.  Then I just went with it.

“New Beginnings” – This is a pleasant little, beatless version.  Katie opposed my guitar with ukulele and Rachel took over the omnichord.  Dane played bass.

“Afraid of the Ghost” – This was one of the improvised songs from the last session.  I transcribed it over to a chord sheet and changed a few lines from the lyrics.  Two in particular, which really made no sense.  It’s a simple song, but I’ve come to really like it, all in all.

“Waiting” – This is Dane’s song all the way.  He wrote it, is singing it, and playing guitar.  He recorded a really great countryish version of it, which you can listen to on his Myspace page.

“Bristol” – This is totally the best version of this we have done.  We knew we had it more complete the moment we took it at that new pace.

“Dane’s Domain” – Dane started this badass bassline up and, though I noodle sloppy at times, I could not resist joining in. The girls handled light percussion in the back.  I think we should build on this.

“Monkey Parade” – This is the variation of “Katie’s Waltz” that we have currently arrived at.  This one is a lot more passionate and unrestrained.

“Leonard Skeonard” – I’m guiding the drums on this one.  Though I fumble them at the end, I still think this is a nice closing track.  Dane is playing a soaring mess of guitar solos over Katie’s always otherworldly omnichord.

Katie Collins – ukulele, omnichord, bass
Megan Driscoll – vocals, flute
Dane Hill – drums, bass, guitar
Rachel Jae – axillary percussion, omnichord
Arrison Kirby – guitar, drums, vocals

“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.

Matgo Primo

“Ducktales”
“The Matgo Primo Theme Song”
“Hydrophobia”
“Holes in the Walls”
“80′s Pop”
“Big Stepper”
“Telepathic Love”
“Get to the Show”
“Chop Off my Head”
“intermission”
“In Advance of a Broken Arm”
“Blood on Your Dress”
“Swamp Thing”
“Babe You’re Alright”

Written and performed by Matgo Primo.
Produced by Arrison Kirby, Dustin Basalla &
Matgo Primo
Mixed and mastered by Arrison Kirby

Tim Eisinger – guitar & vocals
Dorian DeLuca – keys, guitar & vocals
Ryan Rickles – bass & vocals
Greg Eisinger – drums

Recorded live at Nick Galloway’s tree farm,
Philadelphia, TN.
Mixed and mastered at El Studio.

Obadiah

“Fade in From Black”
“Plotting a Course Through the Underworld”
“Japanese Vortex”
“Möbius Dream (Part 1)”
“Möbius Dream (Part 2)”
“Sad Song”
“The Vision of 13 Simons”
“Electronic Birdland”

Produced by Obadiah
Mastered by Arrison Kirby
Edited by Josh Lunsford

Josh Lunsford – organ
Aaron Shugart-Brown – guitar
Arrison Kirby – keys, electronics
Nathan Brown – bass
Josh Russell – drums
Dustin Basalla – auxillary percussion

Artwork by Arrison Kirby

Recorded in 2005 at El Studio, Knoxville, TN.

Arrison Kirby

“Going Away”
“Jim On the Plane”
“Train to Nagano”
“Zenkouji Exit”
“New Feeling”
“Bamse”
“Sad Bus”
“Tokyo”
“Nagano Return”
“Chippu and Mimi”
“Sad Divide”
“Goodbye Again”
“Anastasia at the Bar”
“I Will Wait”

Written, produced and performed by Arrison Kirby

Samuel Williams – banjo on “New Feeling”
Rhiannon Coulombe – bass on “Bamse”

Artwork by Saitarou

Recorded at El Studio, Knoxville, TN.

Click here to purchase on Amazon.

Click here to purchase on CD Baby.

photograph by Caleb W.

“Inklings (Two Missing B’s and a Microphone)” – Senryu vs. Arrison Kirby vs. Beck

“Inklings” was the first song from the new Senryu album to REALLY hit me.  It did the first time I heard it and the effects lasted a good deal beyond that time.

Its BPM is just a little bit faster than that of some bonus beats from Beck’s “Where It’s At” session.  So I slowed down Beck and stuck the two together.  After a little bit of tweaking, editing and remastering,  the result is a “clubbier” version of “Inklings.”

I think there is something psychic intertwining these two pieces of music intrinsically.  The imposition of one over the other is nearly dead on as the course of each song changes.  Perhaps it’s merely a fanciful, random intermingling of sounds in time with each other, but I think there is something more veiled and godlike at play.

Heartpower

“The Cavendish” – Nellie McKay
“Dream Again” – Franz Ferdinand
“Mannequin Hand Trapdoor | Reminder  -  Boom Bip & Doseone
“Smokey Fire” – team9 vs. Stereogum
“Valentine and Garuda” – Frank Black and the Catholics
“Move on Up” – Curtis Mayfield
“Litigation” – Mariachi El Bronx
“Lover’s Day” – TV on the Radio

This mix was assembled especially for St. Valentine’s Day.