That’s right, everyone. Obadiah’s last two, Obadiah EP and Rebirthday are now available on iTunes, Spotify and all your finer international digital retailers.

Why not download it through Japan?

These are the first two of several reissues coming down the line for El Deth.  Expect in the near future, reissues from Hamilton Ellis, the red cloud, and a specially remastered version of Obadiah’s FIRST album, Voda.  Stay tuned and tell all your friends!

“The B” – Obadiah

To prepare for this show with How I Became the Bomb, Obadiah recorded four sessions over a course of three nights. This song was one that arose from between the cracks of our set in progress. It was born of improvisation, as a response to the song that proceeded it.

This is pretty silly stuff for to be the first “official” Obadiah song released in years.  If you come check us out at the Pilot Light, you’ll see it’s barely even a scratch on the surface for the current barrage of Obadiah soundscapes.

Kenny Gilbert – guitar, bass
Josh Russell –  drums
Nathan Brown – keys, electronics
Aaron Shugart-Brown – guitar, vocals
Arrison Kirby – keys, electronics, beats

This is the first show Obadiah will have played together in about five years.  When the offer came through (not a week before the show), we all figured, “why not?”  I don’t think any of us were certain as to what exactly was going to happen at our first scheduled session / rehearsal.  That being the past now, I would say that it feels as if we never stopped in the first place.  I won’t say that, though, because I feel we are all actually much better musicians now with a more mature sound then what it was when we left off.

This is likely going to be a rare one off as drummer, Josh Russell, will be shipping out to Oregon in just a few weeks.  So come on down and see what Obadiah has become.  You will not be disappointed.

Click here to check out How I Became the Bomb.

Click here to check out the last Obadiah album.

“Welcome to the Show”
“Anemone” (Brian Jonestown Massacre cover)
“House of Satan”
“Single Politician”
“Dead”
“Untitled as Yet”
“Action Medley:  a) Hard Times b) Pronounced Veins c) Haunted House d) Company Tab”
“Golden Trust of the San Juan Valley, Diarrhea, California”

My guitar had been shorting out more and more.  It was causing too many issues, so I decided to finally have it repaired.  With the guitar in “the shop,” I was limited on musical resources.  The result was a much heavier use of keys on this session.  It all culminates into something somewhere between driving electro and plunky jazz.  David Davis joins us again on a couple songs.

“Welcome to the Show” – This is a happy little instrumental based around three simple chords.  I think that’s Megan stating those chords at the beginning.  I’m particularly fond of Rachel Jae’s sparse, but consistent use of an old pot for a percussive detail toward the end.

“Anemone” – I think this is the third version of this Brian Jonestown Massacre cover that I’ve put up here.  It’s certainly the most unique.  We actually worked this version up at the prior session.  I initially wasn’t going to post it because I wanted to break it out at our upcoming show at the Pilot Light on March 25th.  (Yes.  We have an upcoming show at the Pilot Light on March 25th.)  However, there is ultimately no way I can prevent myself from withholding it.  It sounds great and it’s only going to get better.

“House of Satan” – This song again.  It’s so easy, but effective.  I can’t resist it.  David Davis is playing the acoustic guitar on this one.  Katie’s hitting the bongos.  Megan’s hitting the flute.  Dane and Rachel were not present for this one.  Obviously, as on the song before it, we’re keeping in some electro territory.

“Single Politician” – I absolutely love this version.  It’s loose and gruff.  It reminds me of a car falling apart as it drives hard down a shitty road.  That’s Katie on the drums, sounding like they’re about to fall over as the rest of us lose control of our knees and elbows.

“Dead” - I wrote this song back in the days of Obadiah and actually have a few recordings of Obadiah playing it.  Rachel worked the vocals into  something new and it works far better than my original cadences ever did.  Two things here are unfortunate, though.  The first is that Katie’s ukulele is barely audible and the second is that, at the end of the song, we get feedback from the new mic we were using to try to make it audible. We did other takes where she played bass, but as far as the musicianship of the rest of us on the other takes, none beat this one.

“Untitled as Yet” - We hadn’t pulled this one out in a while.  This is another track with David Davis on acoustic guitar and without Dane and Rachel.  I feel it lacks something without electric guitar, but it’s not bad.  David does some badass flamenco guitar work in the faster part of the song.  It’s mixed kind of quiet though.  I might should fix that one day.

“Action Medley:  a) Hard Times b) Pronounced Veins c) Haunted House d) Company Tab” - This is some more of that, uh…musical comedy (?) that just pops up sometimes.  There’s little to explain about this ever-changing odyssey.

“Golden Trust of the San Juan Valley, Diarrhea, California” - I’m playing drums on this one.  Katie is on the bongos and Megan the flute, of course.  A nice meditative, percussive end.

Katie Collins – omnichord, ukulele, bongo drums, drum kit
Megan Driscoll –  flute, vocals
Dane Hill – bass, drums
Rachel Jae – auxillary percussion, vocals
Arrison Kirby – keys, beats, vocals, drums
David Davis – acoustic guitar

“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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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.

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.

Obadiah

“Old Country Gaffer”
“13 Simons”
“Return”
“Future”

Written and produced by Obadiah

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

Artwork by Josh Lunsford

Recorded at El Studio, Knoxville, TN.

El Deth Presents

“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!

Obadiah

“Draglock”
“A23″
“Chainsaw Man”
“Fire Shadow”
“Diatomic Princess”
“Grabpop”
“Savannah Passage”
“Call a Flower”
[secret song]

Written, produced and performed by Obadiah

Josh Lunsford – electronics
Arrison Kirby – electronics
Aaron Shugart-Brown – guitar
Chris Hoose – electronics

Artwork by Aaron Shugart-Brown

Recorded at a house on a dead end street, Maryville, TN.