“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:

“What is This?  (David Dalton Returns to the Sea)”
“Life is Terrible”
“Party USA or Something”
“Stand By Me” (Ben E. King cover)
“Forecast: Marked”

This session began as a semi-regular Never Sorry set without Dane.  The girls and I were having some trouble breaking out of the mediocre, though we did get some newer versions of things in line for a good future nail down.  Basically, though, it was a short night that was more building than interesting.

Katie and Rachel cut out relatively early, each for their own reasons.  Not content to leave a record of practically nothing, Megan and I pressed forward with beat, bass and vocal improv.  DJ Modifi, again, was not present in person, but we used his beats for the final track.

The recording, itself, could have been better had I ran Megan’s microphone directly into the board, rather than into a board into a board as we usually do.  Here, it’s just too minimal for that and the result is this terrible hiss that persists throughout.  Eventually, you may forget that it’s there as you listen…but it drives me crazy.

“What is This? (David Dalton Returns to the Sea)” – Megan didn’t have much to say at first, what with me all but shoving a microphone in her mouth and demanding she say something.  I covered it myself by the second half, though.  David Dalton is one of my personal heroes.  I used to play in a hip hop band with him.  It was called Flashmob.  We used this beat relatively close to the end of Flashmob’s brief but powerful tenure.  So it’s natural that my own vocal musings would begin mentioning that.  Eventually it builds into exactly what it says in parenthesis up there in the song title:  David Dalton returning to the sea.  He is, after all, David Dolphin:  The Porpoise with a Purpose.

“Life is Terrible” – I may have to make an executive band decision that Megan doesn’t talk about her job anymore at sessions.  When such dialog bleeds into the music, you get this.  It’s nicely sung…but very depressing.

“Party USA or Something” – I let someone secret hear this one and they remarked that it sounded like a Miley Cyrus song.  I have to concur.  That sample is from the song “Dime” by Cake.  Also note my only vocals on this one:  an interpolation of “Sweet Jane” by the Velvet Underground.

“Stand By Me” – A cover of the Ben King classic.  She’s singing a lot better than I’m playing the bass.  For whatever reason, I thought it would make some dumbass artistic statement if I played the whole song on mostly open strings, focusing not on variety, but cadence of simplicity.  In the end it works…but I might should have actually stopped and thought about it somewhere in the five or so takes we did.  That’s the same beat from “Free Day.”

“Forecast: Marked” – This beat was created by DJ Modifi and I love it.  This is a mostly instrumental track and probably the best of this bunch.

Megan Driscoll –  vocals
Arrison Kirby – beats, bass, vocals
DJ Modifi – beat composition

“Creep” (Radiohead cover)
“Move Her Aside”
“House of Satan”
“Translucent Corpses”

The instrumental tracks border on uplifting, as we continue down the experimental path we carved out in the last session.  The two with lyrics run kind of dark.  I almost thought about calling this session Apocalypse Light but I didn’t want the word “light” to diminish the gravity of “House of Satan.”

Katie is not on this session, as she was still visiting Peru at the time.  However, we were able to rope in contributions from Augustin Brally and DJ Modifi.  We also tackled a new cover song, but you can read all about that stuff below…

“Creep” – Ah.  Radiohead’s classic breakout jam.  It worked pretty well when I recorded it with David Davis.  So we got to talking about it and decided to give it a try in this arrangement.  Dane played bass.  Megan played the omni.  I trashed out my guitar.  Rachel sang, of course.  The beats come to us courtesy of DJ Modifi.  He wasn’t at the session, but he was the composer of those beats.

“Move Her Aside” – This one is well paced.  Punk rock stoner rock or something.

“House of Satan” – A song about the devil having a heavy heart, spilling it to you in the wee hours of the morning, after a night of partying with him.  The lyrics were complete improvisation, yet I think it came out perfect, but for one line.  I won’t say which, but it will be changed on subsequent recordings, most likely.  For the most part, this song sits very heavy.  The creepy theremin is being played by Georgia inhabitant, Augustin Bralley.  He also does a wee bit of knob turning around some of the synth effects.  This sounds like the song you play as the city you are in is burning.

“Translucent Corpses” – This was the pretty much immediate follow up to “House of Satan.”  It really let’s the air back in, thankfully.  I like the idea of translucent corpses following the devil’s moments of…uh…darkness.  This song is like a spaceship out of all that mess.

Megan Driscoll –  flute, omnichord
Dane Hill – drums, bass
Rachel Jae – vocals, auxillary percussion, omnichord
Arrison Kirby – guitar, beats, vocals
Augustin Bralley – theramin, effects
DJ Modifi – beat composition

Skippy and the Bellbottoms

“Big Head Syndrome”
“Life Looks Better in the Fall”
“Marshmallow Shoes”
“Stay Home, Brother”
“Dry Spell”
“Skyscraper”
“Dansu Shitai Desu Ka?”
“A Bomb and a Bull”
“At the End of Day Two”
“Speeds McGhee”
“Better Ways”

Written and performed by Jeff Maynard
Produced by Arrison Kirby

Bug – vocals on “Dry Spell” & “Better Ways”
Natalie Kimbro – violin on “A Bomb and a Bull”
Nathan Tipton – vocals on “Better Ways”

Recorded at El Studio, Knoxville, TN.

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Arrison Kirby and The Bubble Orchestra

“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.