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Posts Tagged ‘RAchel Jae’

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photo by Tara Williams

“Monkey Waltz”
“Afraid of the Ghost”
“Blue”
“Anemone” (Brian Jonestown Massacre)
“Dead”
“House of Satan”
“Single Politician”
“Cute Little Echo”
“Tender” (Blur)
“Reading Rainbow” (Horelick, Kleinman & Weir)

Sorry it took a minute, but this is the rehearsal session from two days before our show at the Pilot Light.  This is almost exactly as we played and what we said but for a small edit before “Tender” due to things said and done that I’m best not to repeat, lest I would not have removed them in the first place.  It was actually a really enjoyable moment, but a name was said in a context best left private.

Anyway.  Holly Denman was hanging out at that night’s session.  She’s the Holly referenced in the inbetween talk.  Remy is my dog.  Also, Dane didn’t actually eat any LSD.  I was trying to be funny…or something.

There are a few aural differences between this rehearsal and the live set.  They are as follows:

1. You can hear the flute.

2. Samuel Williams is not playing at the rehearsal, though he did join us on banjo for the “Reading Rainbow” finale.

3. At the rehearsal, we took Reading Rainbow into the weird Ghostbusters tease at the end.  It was considered for the show, but ultimately not used.

4. At the show, I used a much more organic guitar sound on “House of Satan.”

5. The ghost (played by Jonny Andrews) played beam theramin at the show, but not on the recording unfortunately.

Katie Collins – omnichord
Megan Driscoll –  flute, vocals, harmonica, tambourine
Dane Hill – bass, drums
Rachel Jae – auxillary percussion, vocals
Arrison Kirby – guitar, keys
Nathan Brown – keys, electronics

photo by Tara Williams

Jer Cole did a pretty good preview of our show at The Pilot Light tonight.  It’s printed in the Knoxville News Sentinel today, but you can also read it online.

Consider this article the teaser for our feature presentation downtown tonight!

Check it out.

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“Dead (As Disco)”
“Afraid of the Ghost”
“Faux Elephant”
“Stand By Me” (Ben E. King)
“Dead (As a German Military Rock Band)”
“Anemone” (Brian Jonestown Massacre)
“Reading Rainbow” (Horelick, Kleinman & Weir)

This session is called Busted Shit because that’s what it is.  It’s all over the place.  A disheveled mess of sound.   It’s also the first session that Nathan Brown sat in on as part of Never Sorry.  He only played on two of the songs:  “Afraid of the Ghost” and “Reading Rainbow.”  They were the longest documented versions of each so far.

I really wanted to post up just one more session before the show.  This is one of four recorded in the past several weeks, but the other three pretty much are the show (in a few variations, of course).  So this, being the earliest of the four, was all I could spare without much ruining the show we have planned.  Here’s a hint, though:  we’re not playing “Stand By Me.”

“Dead” – Two versions on this one.  A minimalist, dance oriented one (maybe dance the way goths dance, though).  As for the other one, I really think “German Military Rock Band” really kind of speaks for itself.  I’m playing synth bass on the first and fuzzed out bass guitar on the second.  That’s Katie on the keys in the second one.

“Afraid of the Ghost” – The first take of the first song Nathan sat in on with keys and electronics.  It slops around a long and winding road.  The longest version of this old favorite for sure.

“Faux Elephant” – Dane was bugging out on some synthetic sitar.  That’s Katie on the drums.  Everyone else assuming their usuals.

“Stand By Me” – This was just one of those “sure…let’s do it on a whim” kinda songs.  Obviously it had been in our mutual music echospheres for a few weeks.  Yet every time I hear any version except the original, I can’t help but think to myself, “meh.”  Our version is no different in these regards.  Whatever though.  Someone out there might enjoy it.  I don’t think I really care about ever playing this song again unless we rock it out really bad and rough.

“Anemone” – We began with another version initially.  I was playing drums.  Dane on guitar.  Katie on bass.  It was really chill until I stuck in a drum part that kind of threw some of us off.  So when we stepped back from it, I sped up the part that was messing us up and played it over and over and over again.  And that version is this version.  It’s super raw and bouncy.

“Reading Rainbow” – Another version with Nathan.  This one meanders into some insanity at the end.  I considered chopping it into two parts:  “Reading Rainbow” and “Reading Rainbow (Reprise).”  But hey.  I didn’t.  So suffer out the slop of the first part because the slop of the last part is well worth it.

Katie Collins – omnichord, ukulele, drums, bass
Megan Driscoll –  flute, vocals, harmonica, tambourine
Dane Hill – bass, drums, guitar
Rachel Jae – auxillary percussion, vocals
Arrison Kirby – guitar, keys, bass, drums
Nathan Brown – keys, electronics

click here to check out Ellie Herring

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“Blue”
“Cute Little Echo (Front Porch)”
“Here Comes Jombo”
“Reading Rainbow” (Horelick, Kleinman & Weir)
“Cute Little Echo (Back Porch)”
“Planned Parenthood”

I hate to use the word “groove” in almost any context outside of a crevice, as in a record or the road, but I can’t just ignore the hokier context here.  I’m not trying to liken this set to a jam band type of deal.  There is, however, an essence of  ease on this one.  It’s light.  Positive?  Who knows?

“Blue” – Notice the resistance to the soundscape at the beginning.  No one (except maybe Dane) thought I was serious about using it when I broke it out (as I did just prior to this take).  I had to sell the girls on it.  I mean, it’s a creepy sound.  I think that they think that I was just being an asshole because I’m not usually wanting to play “Blue” as much as I do the other songs.  I knew it would work, though…and it does!  Good version!

“Cute Little Echo” – Yeah.  I know how shitty my singing can get. Definitely good examples of that on these two versions, but instrumentally they are too fresh to omit for bad singing.  The “Front Porch” is quicker and more rockin’ then we have done in the past.  The “Back Porch” is…well…I’m not certain.  It’s happy.  Not so…serious?  No guitar on it.  I’m playing bass instead.  Both versions also have Dane on drums rather than beats as the prior versions have had.  And listen!  Katie’s ukulele is coming through loud and clear finally!  Alright!

“Here Comes Jombo” – Another good ol’ down home, little group jam.  Dane on bass.  Katie on the bongos.  And seriously…doesn’t it sound like someone named Jombo is approaching you?  Isn’t this what you’ll hear when it happens?

“Reading Rainbow” – I absolutely had to carry this over from the Skynet Session.  With Nathan Brown sitting in with us at the Pilot Light show on March 25th, 2011, and also being my counterpart in that session, it only makes sense to apply this one to Never Sorry.  This is the speedy, more “correct” version that they actually play on the show.

“Planned Parenthood” – This session was over.  Done for.  Megan had already left (I think).  Rachel and Katie were chatting it up.  The music had subsided, but the equipment was still on.  I was still starved for one more morsel of sound.  I suppose Dane was as well, because right after he picked up the microphone, I started this beat.  Those girls were powerless to this gangsta ass shit and we got one more aural feeding for the night.  Yes!  That’s Katie playing an old, out of tune piano.  Not keyboard gloss.

Katie Collins – omnichord, ukulele, bongo drums, piano
Megan Driscoll –  flute, harmonica, tambourine, vocals
Dane Hill – bass, drums, vocals
Rachel Jae – auxillary percussion, vocals
Arrison Kirby – keys, beats, bass, guitar, vocals

Click to download the tracks:

“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

Here is some video filmed by Tara Williams back in August at the first and, so far, only set performed live and public by Never Sorry. The song is “Family Affairs.” There is a false start at the beginning and the video is a tad grainy…but you get the point.

New show in March, by the way! Details soon!

Click to download the tracks:

Quinn

“Afraid of the Ghost”
“Tender Anomalies”
“House of Satan”
“Wok it Out / Sarabeth”

First legitimate session of 2011.  We were lucky to have Davis Davis (the red cloud) join in on the bass guitar.

I called it Loose Roots because this session made me feel like we were getting back to some low down, junky roots that we probably never really abandoned in the first place.  Also, the name feels appropriate considering that this one feels like a macabre ol’ time gospel session (except for “Wok it Out / Sarabeth”).  This may have the most to do with the lyrical content.  Heaven, hell, the devil and all that.

The picture is my cat, Quinn, when he was a kitten.  His roots are in New Orleans where I picked him up from a group of kids on the side of the road.  However, now in Knoxville, he’s addicted to the cold weather for some reason.

“Afraid of the Ghost” – We play it soooooo much.  It’s an easy one for people to remember, though, so it works well with session guests (such as the present David Davis).  David’s bass alongside my deep synth makes for some good tonal ground punching.

“Tender Anomalies” – This began as a jam between Dane and David.  I joined in and we became a three piece.  The girls were all in the room doing something else.  I’m not certain what, but their dialog in the background seems to fit right with the jam.

“House of Satan” – I could not resist resurrecting this one.  I changed the lyric I was not fond of the last time we did it.  Unfortunately, we lost the theramin for this version, but we did gain the bass.  I feel like I should have sung “the chous” one more time maybe.  Who cares, though?  I love this ballad ass shit.

“Wok it Out / Sarabeth” – I’m not sure how this came to be, but we all felt really really good about it as it did.  That’s Dane rapping.  The beats come from a song called “Sarabeth” that I’ve performed live, and we’ve tackled as a band, but don’t have a solid recording of for some reason.  Because of the source of the beats, we decided to interpolate elements of “Sarabeth” into this song.  It’s great, because “Sarabeth” includes the primary lyrics, “Eight sixteen,” which I wrote in reference to the title person’s birthday.  However, in weaving it into “Wok it Out,” Dane places the numbers into the  completely different context of hours and minutes.  Ah, sweet expansion!

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

Click to download the tracks:

“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

It was a Sunday and a light dust of snow had fallen.  Eventually it got pretty thick in the night, but this daytime onset was pleasant.  We had already had this song called “Free Day,” recorded on the We Are in Love session.  I thought it all worked together.  Here where snow is rare, such days often do become free days.  This tends to be less true, the older we get.

I can be kind of awkward on camera.  I figured the video needed shots of someone and I was the only one there so…you know.  I just don’t know how I feel about looking directly into a camera.

You can freely download the MP3 of this song, as well as the rest of the session by clicking here.