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lien0011@umn.edu
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march 2012
a gift for you
for those of whom I've continually broken my promise to get a new mix up: I offer this gift. It's a big one. 1.5 gigs of raw mp3s of every damn thing I've ripped in 2011 and thus far in 2012. unsorted, uncategorized, and loose. mostly killer, with occasional odd tracks that were ripped for another reason. dig in! some of these will appear on upcoming mixes. for now, I'm off to California for another session of heavy digs and serpent handling - be ready for the flood!!!
fast-elvis-2011-archive.zip
spring 2011
episode five: no-cal nonstop rocketship
where the heck has fast elvis been? well, I've come to the land of the always ripe tomato, the never rotten potato, the land of endless pistachio nuts that rain down like green money under a sky full of blinking ATM machines on a dark sunday. the perfect pear, the best beet, the world's #1 source of fermented grape goober. it's where you can find like dozens of original sun ra records in some guy's old camper (more on that later).
in the midst of these endless groves are dusty stacks of 45 rpm goods. in fact, nowhere else is there so much of the pure honey that yours truly stacks in hexagonal structures and meticulously refines to the maximum waveform-beat-matched brilliance.
this episode deals with many of the familiar important themes: space travel, booze, tigers, women, mountains, moons, memory, loss, and memory loss. I'm wide-eyed, sinister, and recklessly driving the convertible through the neatly spaced rows of fruit at sundown, folks.
stream or download episode #5
charlie calhoun gets things cookin' with a tasty r&b jumper, followed by the frenetic hand clappin' "hotter than a pistol" by the mike pedicin quintet. soon after, we're taking a "rocket to the moon" with bob roubian and flying into interstellar sax space with dizzy dixon and the deacons. a martianlike chorus (we do the quang?!) brings us to an otherworldly night out with the billy williams quartet. don snyder growls out a primitive proto-proto-punk footstomper, "tiger a-go-go", leading to an orbison-esque teen garage nugget by augie moreno.
things move in a soul-ier direction with the killer "find me somebody" by mr. bobby womack (misspelled as wommack on the record) and george jackson's charming soul breezer "blinkety blink". ronnie love lays on the popcorn with "chills and fever" before we drift out to a guitar-sax-instrumental nebula with the thundertones and spencer and spencer.
the final bit of our voyage begins with len and judy romping their way through "I'm leaving town baby". dave warkentin follows with a golden tremolo-drenched honky tonker, leading into the moody and psychedelic "ricordi" by the italian guitarist carlo pes. this space trip ends (as all good ones must) with heartache, regret, and loneliness, with the vibrations delivering powerful vocal harmonies on "story of a starry night", leaving us at last with the garage-barbershop stylings of the four lads, as they sing the classic "you'll never know" and the meaning of existence is finally known (then forgotten).
November 24, 2010
adeus america
leaving to brazil in a week - my apologies on the lack of jams brought this fall. tons more to come, but not till next year. lots more latin stuff, popcorn, soul, r&b, jump blues and you name it. first thing in march will be the south america treasure trove mix. I'll be beachcombing for heavy discs the whole time, with plans to travel to a lot of more out-of-the-way places in addition to the big cities. meanwhile, here's a nice lil' zip of "lost gold": great records that I had to sell to pay for the trip.belles combo of dominica "instant groove" morris wilson / beau bailey quintet "paul's ark / ya-kum-ba" bobby rush "gotta have money" david coleman "drown my heart" jonny rome "let me pour all my love into your heart" karl hammel jr "sittin' alphabetic'ly" monti rock iii "trouble" the embracers "stop and let yourself go" the giant red jellybean "i need her" the soul sisters "think about the good times" valentine and the sweethearts "lipstick and high-heel shoes" white lightnin' "leaves"
download
August 22, 2010
good old CANDY
late summer grooves (for your health)
for many, late summer brings a certain melancholy. the plants wither in the stagnant blaze of a relentless orange sun, flies buzz loudly after gorging themselves on an abundance of rotting trash. sweat pours down. it's true for me - I can't wait to romp about whilst sporting my favorite longjohns and insulated flannel outer shirts in the cool autumn breeze. which is why I'm delivering this mix right now, when you need it most. one jam packed hour of souled out funk and funked out soul, direct from the land of scorch, ripped digitally for you just before the records warped, liquified, and dribbled to the floor.
this latest episode has its roots in a peculiar record digging quest of mine during the dead heat sweltering hell month of july in las vegas, nevada. I found myself in town for a weekend with but one goal; to amass as many 45s as possible in two days. I made a contact with a fellow looking to part with his 45 collection, so I paid him a visit. the time was around 1 pm, it was sunny and blisteringly beyond hot as I rolled up in my bucket, AC broken and only one power window functional, entirely soaked in sweat, throwing back alternate gulps of hot coffee and ice cold orange juice.
milton answered the door wearing short shorts, socks rolled up high on the leg, and abundant body hair. he had a bit of a ben franklin thing going on. he seemed a nice fellow, if a bit rough hygienically, and looked to be perhaps in his 50s. as I followed him into his apartment, I couldn't help notice that it was the most disgusting dilapidated shithole I've ever set foot in. in one corner, a middle aged man sat near a computer in a halo of trash suggesting that he hadn't moved in years. he groaned slightly as I said hello, and I continued following milton further into the gloomy den.
we entered milton's bedroom, where piles of hair and wadded up tissues littered the blackened carpet. the smell was off the charts. milton directed us to the closet, where several large rubbermaid containers were stacked. each container was jammed full of 45s in no sense of order. my patience was rewarded.
I made myself a spot to sit on a small corner of his bed and began sifting through the madness. I found a lot of great things and began to amass a sizable pile of potential joints. the second container had even more goods, but with it came a notable increase in the amount of cockroaches falling all over me as I sorted through the wax. it was then that I caught a peculiar shape in the periphery of my vision.
no less than a dozen multicolored, multishaped, multisized dildos lay on the floor to my left, directly below a stack of pornographic dvds, of which I can remember only the phrase "shaved young boys". I had sorted through a thousand or more 45s at this point, and milton had sat there with me the whole time, making small talk about our musical tastes, favorite songs, and generally keeping things light and breezy. he actually knew a lot about music and was fairly interesting - but I was at a crossroads. covered in cockroaches on a filthy bed in an even filthier room deep within an unspeakably filthy apartment, mere feet from a pile of terrifying implements, my thoughts began to race. run?
i pressed on; there were at least 3 more large containers of possible gold, and I figured that I could hold my own if milton decided to try and well... shave me. I acknowledged nothing and kept on as if I hadn't seen anything. obviously he knew what was there and felt no shame. things moved smoothly, I piled up more and more gold of all kinds, garage to soul, modern soul, doo wop, blues, and early rock. milton and I continued to shoot the shit. he actually had great taste in music.
and that's pretty much the story. I bought the records and left. when I listened to them, I was rewarded with perhaps my best record score to date, in terms of quantity and quality. what's the point of this story? it's really hard to find good 45s out there. sometimes you really have to dig deep. deeper than you'd like, perhaps. it ain't like it used to be.
this mix is your late summer tonic. look up, ye weary souls, and party on through! disco synth funk, "modern" soul, regular soul, regular funk, funky soul, jazzy funk, motown. good old candy! good grooves and feel goods abound. feel alright tonight! <
stream or download smokey joe grough and his '46 hudson the breakdown wand ronnie walker magic's in the air event sampson and delilah you bring the tears polydor major lance ain't no sweat volt ronnie mcneir saggitarian affair prodigal latimore ain't nobody gonna make me... glades first cosins jazz ensemble i don't know capitol johnny and joe lovely lady tomi martha and the vandellas never leave your baby's side gordy lucky peterson blues band good only candy can't remember al green hot wire bell the radiants voice your choice checker big dee irwin soul waltzin' dimension the baronet jungle piano columbia the olympics shimmy like kate arvee marvin gaye one more heartache tamla smokey robinson and the miracles if you can want tamla kim weston feel alright tonight tamla mary wells the one who really loves you motown kool and the gang raw hamburgers de-lite the parliaments (i wanna) testify revilot sugar billy super duper love pt. 1 can't rem mary wells dig the way i feel jubilee willie tee walk tall capitol
June 27, 2010
special feature II
I'm a pilgrimArtist: Golden Gate Quartet Album: Sings Favorite Spirituals Label: RCA Camden Year : Compilations of 78 recordings from 30's, early 40's
After I made a wild claim (in the entry below) that I'd never heard such perfect music by humans, I thought a bit about what that really means. Obviously you've got a lot of different fruit to compare, so at some point it's not useful to make any comparisons. Well, I say, you tell me how to explain this item. If this isn't the holy grail absolute ultimate definitive statement of musical perfection, then I may decline to listen to anything further and crawl back into the insect chorus. You've got four people, four voices, no instruments. Subject matter is entirely gospel, biblical, what have you, but it doesn't matter at all, because it's all power. Complicated polyrhythmic harmony like you've never heard. Primitive and rock solid. Tears will come streaming down if you're high enough.
01. Every Time I Feel the Spirit 02. God Said He Would Calm the Ocean 03. Hide Me in Thy Bosom 04. What a Time 05. Our Father 06. I'm a Pilgrim 07. Looked Down the Road and Wondered 08. You'd Better Mind 09. When They Ring the Golden Bells 10. Job 11. Gabriel Blows His Horn 12. Jonah in the Whale HERE
Also, an extra bonus track from my very own 78 collection. "Run On" Condition of the record is poor. Sound is excellent. here
June 9, 2010
special feature
DILO!Artist: Perez Prado Album: Dilo! (ugh!) Label: RCA Year : 1958
I may have listened to this album more times than any other. It's probably the best music ever produced by humans. I have heard insects play better, but not people. Every time Perez shouts "Dilo!", incredible musical ideas come forth, and he does it all the time on this record, so much that they titled it that. It sounds like "ugh!", and it means "say it!". His band doesn't disappoint, they're the tightest band ever recorded. The grooves are as heavy if not heavier than the hardest funk I've heard. They absolutely tear it up. It was recorded in the peak of the early LP hi-fi era, in 1958, when big studios like RCA were armed with gear beyond our comprehension. Perez had what seemed like dozens of albums on RCA, but none I've heard compare to this particular release. There is no filler here, this is a start-to-finish gem.
01. Patricia 02. Why Wait 03. A Lo Loco 04. Cuban Rock 05. Lonely 06. Leyenda Mexicana 07. Pampa 08. Bandido 09. Cose Cose Cose 10. Monitor Mambo 11. Pretty Doll 12. Back Bay Shuffle HEREJune 1, 2010
volume four: SURF summer 2010
SURF MUSIC
generally characterized by guitars that sound the best ever, with reverb, echo and the best ever tones all around. One need not really think of surfing as the main concept of the music, though it has been labeled as such. Sometimes music other than 'surf' reminds me of surfing, or the beach. Surf music sounds great in the mountains, deserts, cities, and other unsurfable places. Summer is a great time to enjoy it. Hot weather makes me want to hear it. The weather sure is getting hot now. Enjoy these fifty two minutes of pipeline pleasure, brought to you from one of the most unpopular surfing destinations in the USA, Hurricane, Utah.
stream or download
GROUP SONG LABEL the sci-fi's science friction pt. 1 era dave and the shadows here after checkmate aki aleong and the nobles torture vee jay dan and dale hawaiian fly diplomat sol k. bright's hollywaiians la rosita folkways perez prado lonely rca the bermudas donnie era the fortune tellers camel train music makers antonio carlos jobim surfboard pickwick int'l unknown cumbia rebajadas van a brooklin mix* santo and johnny slave girl canadian american the ventures the ninth wave dolton the wailers road runner golden crest dave baby cortez hurricane clock the tornadoes beyond the surf aertaun les paul lady of spain capitol les witchdoctors uh huh barclay the marketts vanishing point warner bros the nomads desert tramp rust dan and dale shark bite diplomat don costa catwalk warner bros the mar-kets surfer's stomp union the sci-fi's science friction pt. 2 era the ventures changing tides dolton*I borrowed a track from a DJ mix entitled "rebajadas van a brooklin" that I've been really feeling lately. The mix is of cumbias from s. america and mexico, pitched down. The mix was created by Sonido Martines. You can easily find the entire mix by searching the title. I recommend it highly.
volume three: mid-american and tex-mex gold
Buenos dias, amigos! I'll admit, my spanish remains poor, but I sure did learn a lot this winter. I finally managed to get out of this damn heckhole of a country for a bit and experience some vibrations from a more ancient and varied time and place. And though I didn't manage to find a single 45 in Mexico, I've got some hot prospects for next time. The good news is that the borderlands are chock full of overflowing backrooms, shady two-timin' junkers, and consumer goods dump-zones, all struggling to hold on in this goldurn 'conomy. And they need guys like me to help 'em out. Instead of flying, though, I decided I'd carve a big line through the ol' U.S.A. and see what sort of funk I could shake up along the way.
My route brought me from home sweet Minneapolis down the thoroughfare to Kansas City, where plenty of that hot old rhythm and blues is still flowing down the pipe, to the quasi-country-in-and-of-itself Texas, and beyond to the heart of Mexico. Between the back room of a strip mall one-chair barber shop, a floor-to-ceiling crammed carnival warehouse, and a heart-attack survivor's crumbling veranda, I made out like a bandit on a turquoise stallion. I got a feeling for a new music, this exciting blend that I hadn't ever thought about much because I didn't know the roots of it. But I was in the place, and the music was just right for it. Tex and mex, tex-mex, lonesome sounding horns and accordions, reverby fenders, soul-ish songcraft, notes of western swing, early rock, surf, mexico. I only scratched the surface, really, and I recall looking over a box of perhaps several thousand tex-mex 45s and skipping it just days before it hit me that this music was really what I ought to be looking for here. I managed to get a few things, though, and also found some good cumbia records, another latin style that when proper has really great hypnotic rhythms and strange grooves.
Here, it's all mœsica de los estados unidos, todos, folks - both of the entirely latin joints this mix are actually Texas groups from the borderlands. It's all more of the good feelings, the sadness, the unknown, the absurd, the fun and the glory all rolled in one, good ol' gold USA chuck. Vocal harmonies, background vocals, sounds of old studios, old instruments, old words, back from the times of unlimited potential, of the birth of freedom and love and uncertainty, lots of things were still unknown, you know? The bomb, the moon, the highway, the future... which, in retrospect, turned out to be a lot more boring, in comparison. Pour yourself a stiff drink and enjoy another tale from...
MY WASTED PAST.
stream or download
All tracks sourced from 45s that were unearthed on this trip, some are known, others less so. Many, if not all, retain the original grit layer as discovered.
Frankie Ford What's Going On Ace Al Jones Mad, Mad World Poplar Wanda Jackson Funnel of Love Capitol Ace Cannon Summer Time Fernwood Richie Robin Branded Gone Bob & Carol I'll Still Be Loving You Warner Bros Bobby Lord Everybody's Rockin' But Me Columbia Bobby Mitchell I'm Gonna Be a Wheel Someday Imperial The Medallions Buick 59 Dootone Kid King's Combo The Sneak Excello Norma Rivers Whispering can't remember Carol Jarvis Whirlpool of Love can't remember Gene & Eunice Poco-loco Case Los Unicos Mi Barquito Uniko Rudy and the Reno Bops Un Ratito Tear Drop Joe Turner Chains of Love Atlantic The Moods Only the Young Kool Pete Drake Midnight in Amarilla Smash Tony Salazar Haunted Heart Goldenstrand T.K. Hulin Teardrops, More Teardrops can't remember Dean and Marc Change of Heart can't remember Ted Forbes Cry, Cry Darling Fraternity Gene Austin Lonesome Road Fraternity Don Gordon When the Sun Comes Out can't remembervolume one: southern rocky jaunt
While recently at large in the american west, I dug up a lot of fun 45s in little mining towns, dusty desert hamlets, and dubious backrooms in houses of ill repute. I described the sound as best I could below, but failed to actually deliver the goods until now. Fantastic listening at any elevation, though best enjoyed while speeding through a variety of mountains, deserts, or as you figure out what to take with you as you abandon your broken down car. Play loud, as it was transferred from a tape master and is a bit quiet. Included here is perhaps the best haunted lounge track ever, "Anastasia" by Bill Smith.
01. Salida, COLISTEN
02. Owen Bradley Quintet Big Guitar Decca 03. Bobby Charles Time Will Tell Chess 04. Mack Rice Love's a Mother Brother ATCO 05. Ford Eaglin Travelin' Mood Imperial 06. The Busters Astronauts Arlen 07. Bill Haley R-O-C-K Decca 08. Ray Smith Makes Me Feel Good Judd 09. Jackie Wilson Am I The Man Brunswick 10. Al Taylor and the Poodles The Swivel United Artists 11. Jeanette "Baby" Washington Let Love Go By ABC 12. Bill Smith Anastasia Le Bill 13. Jesse James Dreams Never Hurt Nobody Musicor 14. The Couplings Young Dove's Calling Josie 15. Lily Ann Carol Yes Sir, That's My Baby Cub 16. Joe Bennett/Sparkletones Black Slacks ABC 17. Sticks and Bricks It's My Heart Josie 18. Ricky Nelson Lonesome Town Imperial 19. Billy Dawn Look What I Found ABC 20. Nina Simone Day and Night RCA 21. Little Esther Phillips Am I That Easy to Forget Lenox 22. The Frantics Delilah Dolton
diamond honey sparkles, attractive 50's wives, milk delivery, etc. brothers and sisters and families all sing good, the "in" sound of cheese melting sax, hubba hubba dawn of sex dancing, snappy dress sharp slick haircut saturday dates.WITH
open range dust dream wool blanket cow chip lightning fire, child's concept of love, forlorn-ness, space exploration in relation to the above. poppy red jalopies, satellites falling, tunin' the radio in the car.
here's the first in a series of mixes I'll be offering. with the thousands of records I have lying around I feel it's my duty to deliver some gold to you. what kind of gold, you ask? if the description above didn't manage to enlighten you, I'll say that I've been real sweet on that saxophone, that sax that formerly I wasn't all that into, the one that would have been better off as a guitar solo; no sir, I say, times have changed, gimme that juice! I like it real juicy, real raunchy as they put it back then, like literally the sound of 50s sex! most early rock and r&b was heavy on the sax for a mid-song solo/bridge whatchacallit, and it also appears frequently in the spooky surfy loungy mystery tunes that I so admire. out in the west it just sounds good.
sept 14th, 2009
montgomery ward - 'ward's sunheat'
I was in northern minnesota when I came upon a rusty appliance in the woods and peeled off the ID tag SUNHEAT. I think it was an electric stove. MW also produced nice wool shirts under the sub-brand name BRENT. Here you can download in a digital format the SUNHEAT cassette. 28 minutes of transcendental freedom. Montgomery Ward is fast elvis - instruments, loops; and Steve - drums.ward's sunheat
styrofoam duck - 'free boys'
Ben Brockway asked me one time if I wanted to go on a tour, I said sure, yeah, I'll go. Styrofoam Duck had pretty much dissolved after several lineup and aesthetic changes; somehow I ended up playing drums (of which I'm less known for) on a piecemeal kit amplified with contact mics, telephones, and some kind of cowbell-ish indian vase. The Houston Press called our set "explosive". Here is the final statement of Brockway's legendary underground phenomenon - this tape will undoubtedly become a cult classic in the years to come. Furious riffage and severe t-storm drums meander in and out of phase while Ben screams about nightmarish visions of blood, mountains, barbie dolls, H.P. Lovecraft, and Bryce Beverlin II.
download free boys (zip archive)
TRACK LISTING:
Bryce Beverlin II
Tundra Happenings
Can't Promise Nothing
Rail Ridin'
I am Blind You are Deaf
Shiftin' into 4th (I'm Lovin' It)
Barbie Dolls & Hills
Bye
summer 2009
fast elvis appears in the film the search for animal chin-ups (2009)
A chronicle of the paranormal activities associated with rock climbing in unknown corners of the american southwest. In the waning days of the Bush era, fast elvis was involved in a secret government project that required he boost his climbing skills. My good friend Coy Miller filmed, edited, and co-starred in this short documentary inspired by vapor trails, 2012, tax dollars, and endless time in an empty corner of the world.
view
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