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| The first official release by solo artist Kevin Kelley. |
1. No Shine
3. Amy
4. Adam
5. Life Is Everything
6. Big Old House
7. Another Midnight Day
8. Lara
9. Lana
10. Commercial
11. Lily of the Valley
12. Sweet Delectation
13. The Climber
14. Tuesday
15. Retroactive
16. Benefits
17. Sly Fox
18. Sarah
19. Burial Anxiety
20. Wondering (Where It Comes From)
21. Olongapo
22. Her Smile Stirs Excitement
23. Die Today
24. Waltz of the Concubine
25. 29 Seconds (Bonus)
26. Feast of the Solstice (Bonus)
27. Night Walker (Bonus)
This digital album is a collection of songs recorded from 2003 - 2015 and represents the growth of Kevin Kelley the artist and a prelude to his next release and is available from numerous online retailers, such as CD Baby, Amazon or iTunes.
It features 24 complete songs and 3 bonus tracks, all by Kevin Kelley.
1. No Shine
Drums, Siel Orchestra, Guitar, Casio 1000P, Yamaha RX-17, Casio PT-100, Casio VL-1
This song was part of a recording session that yielded numerous tracks, such as "Amy," "Bobby," "She's a Whore," "Shine On," and "Danielle." Recorded using a laptop, inexpensive microphones, no direct connections, and a nearly decade-old multi-tracking software, as well as numerous freeware sound editors, this song followed the recording of "Amy" and was inspired by Brian Eno, the Rockin' Vickers, and the Human League. While "Amy" featured sampled drums cut up with layered synth organ and rudimentary singing, "No Shine" was an attempt to make a more complex song, featuring greater instrumentation and variation and demonstrated some my early formulaic approach to music production pushed to the limits, namely repetitive drums, simple synth lines, and somewhat distorted vocals.
The guitar solo at the end was inspired by comments made by Lemmy Kilmister regarding his early recording playing with distortion, as well as parts of Brian Eno's debut album Here Come The Warm Jets. The synth line that starts in the second verse was made using a Casio PT-100 and was reminiscent of recordings made by the Human League. Recording this song required making numerous takes, meticulously editing them to satisfaction, layering them, and then compiling them into one single track, repeating the process since the limitations of the multi-track software were met early on in the recording.
2. Shine On
Drums, Guitar, Yamaha RX-17, Casio CTK-481
Originally titled "Garden Party," this song was a companion piece to "No Shine," and started off using the same drums, but as the direction of "No Shine" took off the song was stripped of all instrumentation, minus the drum track, and a Casio CTK-481 was brought in instead. The preset keyboard was originally going to be used for just the bass line but more parts were eventually added with varying degrees of distortion. An outtake for from "No Shine" was eventually turned into the guitar part for this song and it was eventually completed with its new name as a reference to the deconstruction of the original song.
3. Amy
Drums, Casio MT-70
This was the first solo song I had recorded that featured vocals. All previous songs were instrumental pieces up until "Amy." This song featured cutup samples of my drum kit and some simple synth organ lines from my Casio MT-70. After I laid down the tracks I proceeded to come up with the lyrics and sang them in a couple takes. Part of the lyrics were inspired by the movie Being John Malkovich, in particular the scene when it is discovered that Malkovich was a portal for immortality and was being tracked since birth, which is where the lyric "having an arrangement that charts her fall and rise" comes from.
4. Adam
Percussion Samples, Clarinet, Bass Guitar, Roland SH-1000
This song started as an exercise at using drum samples and programming and quickly grew to use short recordings of me playing a clarinet, as well as some bass guitar and some synth accents. The brief distorted lyrical content was a reference to my friend's love of the Rocky series and all things Superman.
5. Life Is Everything
Percussion Samples, Bulbul Tarang, Bass Guitar
This song came from the same recording period as "Adam" and was again an exercise. I decided to play around with my bulbul tarang, or "Indian banjo," and add a little bass guitar to it. As in my other early pieces, the lyrics are highly distorted, but in my opinion, enjoyable.
6. Big Old House
Percussion Samples, Guitar
This song started with a simple drum track that I had used as a metronome while I played acoustic guitar but the sound kind of grew on me. I layered several acoustic guitar pluckings and liked the direction. I added the vocals later. The lyrics were originally about a mouse in a house but I came up with writers' block. Improvisations during singing yielded some positive results and the song was eventually done in a couple more takes.
7. Another Midnight Day
Drums, Mandolin
Recorded in only a couple takes, this featured some more of that repetitive drumming and some fun layered, edited mandolin. I kind of liked where this was headed and enjoyed the rough and sloppy feel. This is kind of an homage to my early analog multi-tracked performances that can be heard on the bonus tracks of this album.
8. Lara
Drums, Korg MS2000R, Guitar
As my output started to grow I attempted to make variety of conceptual albums, one being various tracks titled after people I knew. While the task was daunting and seemed to exceed my recording capabilities, some tracks did find completion (as well as on this album). "Lara" featured drum playing using newer and higher quality microphones. Pleased with the new equipment, I had also utilized new recording software and synthesizers. As with many other of my early songs, I could not quite make any progress on the lyrical front and so the only remnants of the vocal track are the sound of the title. The synth solo in this song was somewhat inspired by the flute solo found in Canned Heat's "Going Up the Country."
9. Lana
Drums, Korg MS2000R, Guitar
A companion piece to "Lara," this song was inspired by the thought of a sleeping baby, hence the soft heartbeat-like quality of the bass drum.
10. Commercial
Drums, Korg MS2000R
Originally titled "Commercial Chic," this was inspired by the catchy and chic commercials being put out by the Target corporation at the time, hence the punchy drums and catchy synth lines, and of course the title.
11. Lily of the Valley
Casio DG-20, Yamaha PSS-270, Casio MT-70
This song was recorded by playing several parts on the Casio DG-20 and then altering the speed of those parts to play at different speeds and then layering the final results. The synth guitar was also used for the backing pulse code modulation rhythm. The Casio MT-70 was utilized for some background texture and the Yamaha PSS-270 can be heard with the portamento synth permeating the middle. This song was recorded for and dedicated to my mother, who was sick and in the hospital at the time this was made and is viewed as a testament to her optimism and strength, especially during such a trying time.
12. Sweet Delectation
Casio DG-20, Akai CS-MO1A
A companion piece to "Lily of the Valley," this was recorded using similar methods but features the distortion of an Akai CS-MO1A tape deck rigged to use the volume knob to produce the sound heard in this track.
13. The Climber
Percussion Samples, Drums, Akai CS-MO1A, Roland SH-1000This is a fun little piece where I layered drum samples over my own playing and had some analog synths chirping and chugging along, as well as some nice cut up synth hits digitally altered.
14. Tuesday
Drums, Guitar, Korg MS2000R, Siel Orchestra
Perhaps one of the last songs recorded on this album, this was kind of a mix between "The Climber" and the following track, "Retroactive" and was an attempt to kind of recreate the magic of those two songs. "Tuesday" was originally part of a suite of songs, all titled "Tuesday" and featured varying degrees of arrangement, with this particular version winning out for the coveted spot on the album.
15. Retroactive
Drums, Percussion Samples, Guitar, Korg MS2000R, Siel Orchestra
Formerly known as "Radioactive," this song was an attempt to make a nice blended recording of drums, analog and digital synthesizers, and guitars. It keeps with my use of repetitive drumming but makes an attempt at switching things up a bit while maintaining a good flow. This is kind of new take on some of my earlier attempts at making such a song, like "Love is Wary," "As It Is," or "Chimera" but actually completed and of higher quality.
16. Benefits
Drums, Drumfire, Stylophone, Casio MT-70, Casio VL-1, Roland SH-1000
"Benefits" came from a recording session that featured my Roland SH-1000 prominently and was a progression into that blended sound that I was seeking. It featured drum playing with analog drum synthesizer triggers, a Stylophone on lead, and some nice Casio organ backing. This also featured a short computerized text-to-speech vocal line. The digitization of the drums towards the middle and at the end of the song was actually made by mistake but was kept and kind of felt reminiscent of the robotic voice in Beck's "Where It's At."
17. Sly Fox
Drums, Korg MS-2000R, Roland SH-1000
"Sly Fox" was recorded along side songs like "Benefits," "Hinges", "Sarah," and "1241 Groove" and features some nice Roland synth lines. The intro for this song was originally at the end and was really going to be part of a medley that would transition from analog synths to digital but that experiment never panned out. Eventually that line was moved to the front and the ending was restructured.
18. Sarah
Percussion Samples, Drums, Korg MS2000R, Bass Guitar
This song was an attempt to add onto songs like "Sly Fox" and "Benefits" and featured some bass guitar and some editing on the drum parts. It was originally going to go in a more hip-hop direction but eventually transformed into the song it is now.
19. Burial Anxiety
Percussion Samples, Korg MS2000R
This song was recorded after the passing of my grandfather and was made in one take. I had felt that it flowed nicely, with the swells of the main synth line expressing the feeling of anxiety nicely.
20. Wondering (Where It Comes From)
Percussion Samples, Korg MS2000R
This song was recorded immediately after I was attacked by a dog while on a bike ride. This song was made at a time when the direction of my music started to utilize more percussion samples and synthesizers. Originally there were going to be more lyrics but, as usual, writers' block struck and I was left with the title of the song repeated throughout. I loved the ethereal sound and felt it captured the strangeness of the animal attack and the surreal and bloody trip back home.
21. Olongapo
Percussion Samples, Yamaha SHS-10, Korg MS2000R
Recorded on Thanksgiving back in 2006, this song started out as a fun drum beat that was in search of some music. Having just acquired a keytar, I proceeded to play around with some bass lines and came up with what can be heard throughout the song. The solo at the end was somewhat inspired by the surrounding naval documents from my father and grandfather that adorned my recording studio at the time and their time spent in Southeast Asia.
22. Her Smile Stirs Excitement
Casio HT-700, Casio VL-1, Yamaha PSS-270, Siel Orchestra
What started out as a nice little rhythm from my Casio HT-700 grew to an over six minute blissful song. The synth bells toward the middle of this song almost made me try to turn this into a Christmas song but I did not like that overall direction and kept the song as is.
23. Die Today
Percussion Samples, Korg MS2000R
This song was one of the many from this period that utilized the vocoder feature of the Korg MS2000R. I was very fond of the brass sounds of the synth and decided to add a vocoder part. The lyrics were improvised and simple. The song didn't need much after that and so it was wrapped up relatively quickly.
24. Waltz of the Concubine
Percussion Sample, Casio HT-700
This song started out with a timing glitch that forms the basis of the beat. I liked the sound and noticed its time signature so I had decided to make a waltz. Though not a waltz in the traditional sense, I layered numerous parts using the Casio HT-700 - a fun little synthesizer with a distinct sound. This song was inspired in part by the music of Mark Mothersbaugh, in particular the theme to the Nickelodeon television show Rugrats.
Bonus Tracks:
The early recordings I had made were more acoustic in nature. As a member of The Midnight Plumbers, our early recordings were primarily garage jam sessions that usually featured just guitar and drums. The synthesizer acquisitions did not come until later. Also, while digital multi-tracking was available (in limited form), because of the lack of quality microphones or editors, there was a painstaking effort to establish an analog recording set up using a variety of cassette and 8-track recorders, equalizers, and speakers.
While these do not demonstrate a mastery of instruments or process, they show a starting point for the evolution of my sound and their addition on this album are more for context and curiosity.
25. 29 Seconds
Cassette Manipulation, Various Synthesizers, Guitars
26. Feast of the Solstice
Drums, Mandolin, Guitar
27. Night Walker
Drums, Guitar
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