Welcome to the tenth episode of The Summer Jam 3: Electric Boogaloo – I hope the heat hasn’t beaten you down completely yet! As a little refreshment, why not have a look at this week’s curated list of summer records, courtesy of Megaton Leviathan vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Andrew James Costa? Does that sound like a good plan to you? If so, please enjoy!
Andrew James Costa
Sisters Of Mercy – First and Last and Always
I think I speak for most of my band when I say I dislike summer’s have lived in Portland Oregon since 2004, like its mid June and I’m super disappointed it’s not all rainy and overcast.
So like a good Portlander I wear all black, I got me some sunglasses ‘cus that sun bullshit hurts my eyes, and the first mode of summer operations is to sit in a nice shady spot in my backyard early in the morning (2pm) and crank some Sisters of Mercy. First and Last and Always is the go-to, and my cats are 100% on board with roaching out with me to it while slurping down some black coffee. Sometimes I might be rocking a Sisters of Mercy shirt while I listen to Sisters of Mercy, I give no fuqs ace! And hey, let’s pull a two for here – I might even bump Floodlands a little louder than normal if my Russian neighbors are out urban farming/herding their chickens…alsooooooo I hear Sisters of Mercy is super popular and gaining steam amongst aspiring baby bats, good… as long as you aren’t a corny-ass portlandia ‘vampire’ you have my support, make America Goth again!
Chrome – Box Set
Let’s get weird man…the punks were legit taking acid, and you can hear it…and feel it on this/these records, but its dark and brooding. My dude Helios Creed will tell you himself, SF was no longer a happy hippy play land, and by 1980 he and Damon saw the future and it was dark and dystopian: THIS IS THE NEW AGE! It’s before my time, and it kinda takes me to magical place of legend. I can totally just zone out on some great ideas…a band as old as I am and it’s still ahead of its time and no one has yet been able to touch Chrome‘s out-there abstract genius. If I’m 100% over the sunny bulllshit that happens in mid July (hey you transplant yuppie scum let the lawn die it will come back, also you paid way too much for that shitty house that has no parking), I will bag out to the Oregon coast where I might be able to get the drizzle/overcast vibes while walking the beaches and this is the jam I put on while making that trek…tho the CD/mp3 version diff’s from the LP box I have (Subterranean)…all of it is good. My default summer album/s.
Pink Floyd – Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Kvlt af right here dawg. I got a hep nazzed-out purple late 80’s reissue on vinyl that gets worked on the reg. There’s songs about gnomes on this album, which I wish I had to tend to my yard…but instead I have legions of homeless people to stare at from my front door. Sad, kinda like eating ketchup with a overcooked steak or kidnapping small children. This is kind of where I find my center if I’m totes ‘over it’. When I wake up, I’ll throw this bad boy on first thing, it will get me in a good light-hearted mood by the end of it.
Steve Roach – Dreamtime Return
I found this on LP format, and it’s become my late evening player. It’s really cool and is super spiritual and inspired. I’m usually a digeridont kinda guy, but in this case I’m 100% I’m like no, please didgeridoo. This album is inspired and composed in good taste, riddled with sounds from the Australian outback, and it lends itself well to a ritual atmosphere or yoga.
Skinny Puppy – VIVIsectVI
It’s kinda hard to pick a fave Skinny Puppy record; truth is I bump this stuff quite often, all year round, but this is def a summer jam for me. I drive quite a bit working for adults with developmental disabilities, and I have one client in particular that just loves this stuff. Amphetamine-induced and just plain twisted, I think it lends itself well to those on the Autism spectrum – a lot of weird out-there shit to stimulate the senses or overload them. Sometimes Mort Subite and I like to just hang and watch Skinny Puppy vids when we need a break from studio work. I was like yeah Too Dark Park, and he was like no, VIVIsectVI and I was like well what about Rabies…no man vivisectvi…and you know here we are: I stand with Mort Subite on this one. Let’s go hook up randomly tuned radios to drum triggers !
Spacemen 3 – The Perfect Prescription
I think I heard this album for the first time in the mid 90’s. I was still into punk and metal, but this somehow grabbed my attention. However, my first introduction to the Spacemen 3, I remember shopping at Streetlight Records in San Jose or Cupertino or whatever as I lived there at the time, and I found out of print copy of Recurring on cassette. I would get super baked and have this uber guilty pleasure of listening to it, I was hooked. Then Taking Drugs To Make Music To Take Drugs To – hey man , you don’t have to tell me twice! And thus my obsession with trippy and psychedelic things came to be! The album Perfect Prescription was perfect, it’s the best. I never really understood the gospel tinge of it tho, until recently when in late summer 2011 or so Megaton Leviathan was touring as direct support for WITTR I picked up this CD in Asheville NC while on a break, and put it on while driving and it clicked, I had a really nice pleasant drive and everything changed! I immediately bought a grip of staple singers re-issues when I got home.
Iggy and The Stooges – Raw Power
Ahhhhhh it’s theeee sound track to youth and self-annihilation. I picked up the Iggy remastered version in Seattle some summer in the 90’s when I was just a kid, lost and fucked up inside, having problems with crazy girls, drugs, and alcohol, and this shit spoke to me. Like, this is just a fucked-up and raw blown-out recording and its aggression is heartfelt and touches the soul. It’s real, it’s the blues of the punk generation, and Iggy is Jesus. I’ve ripped up and down i5 past a grip of muddy hippies in the dead heat more than once while rocking this album, making extra effort to crank this mutha when in Humboldt County ‘yeah …you fucking hippy‘.
I have the Bowie mix and the Iggy mix on wax; I think we can all agree there are both different experiences and I kinda like the Bowie mix just to kinda re-imagine what dudes like Cheetah Chrome thought when they first heard it. Other than that I like the blown-out Iggy mix just fine – I think he had the right idea – it’s blown out anyway push it even further, and I love him for it.
Velvet Underground – Loaded
‘Andrew…are you straight faded…‘ (a cute young female’s voice inquires) ‘Naw, I’m LOADED!‘ Ah well, yeah those days are long behind me. But this album is a good ‘un. “Who Loves the Sun”? Not me, I’m about to grab me a black umbrella cus I gotta keep my pale going strong through July.
David Bowie – Spiders From Mars
I picked up a copy of this for 1$ in Anchorage, Alaska at Value Village a long time ago. It’s a fave, and perfect for those long Alaskan summer nights in my Spenard apartment. The grooves are still go’n. Even tho the jacket is a bit busted it still gets regular plays to this day. Vinyl is forever.
Gost – Possessor
When I got wind about the possibility of being a part of Blood Music’s roster, I did a bit of research. I ended up picking up this album to suss out what they got cookin’. Got hep to the whole outrun thing, yeah I like horror flicks. I like kitsch things, occult and satanic panic, I like ultra HD. I also like synthesizers, and this dude knows how to rock ’em. It reminds me of those hot summer central valley California nights in the late 80’s/ early 90’s tripping out on LSD and rocking Mercyful Fate. I can feel the panic and the paranoia…dude I THINK YOUR MOM IS A WITCH!
‘I could go on , but I won’t.‘
You heard the man, this is it for today’s episode! Thanks to Andrew for providing his interesting selection of albums. His band Megaton Leviathan is signed to our friends at Blood Music; you can check out their part material here. They also have a new record coming out later this year, so keep an eye out for that! Be sure to tune in once more next week for another barrage of summer album recommendations.
