Completely Conspicuous

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March 2017
S M T W T F S
     
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26 27 28 29 30 31

Syndication

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite albums of 2017.

Show notes:

- Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ

- JB's #10

- Tommy Stinson can still bring it

- JK's #10

- A welcome return after 17 years

- JB's #9

- A turnkey post-shoegaze solution

- JK's #9

- Double LP return for the great Ted Leo

- JB's #8

- A different sound for She Sir

- JK's #8

- Strong effort marred by bizarre on-stage incident

- When artists you like do bad things

- JB's #7

- Breitling digs on the ambient music

- JK's #7

- Mixing hooks in with blistering rockers

- JB's #6

- Juana Molina continues to explore

- JK's #6

- Strong career progression from consistently interesting artist

- JB's #5

- Former schoolteacher turned electronic artist

- JK's #5

- Double album recorded while the artist was dying

- Each song was about a person in his life

- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_483_122617.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 11:21am EDT

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about the year in indie rock.

Show notes:

- Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ

- Eighth annual year in review

- Rock isn't part of the top 40 conversation anymore

- Apple is going to stop selling downloads and iPods

- Music as a service

- Does higher quality audio really matter?

- People who died

- Pat DiNizio recently passed; the Smithereens had a fine career

- Other notable deaths: Petty, Downie, Cornell, Berry, Domino, Allman, Hart

- The Year of Punishing Bad Behavior

- Albums that didn't make our top 10 lists

- Breitling: The War on Drugs recalls mid-80s classic rock

- Also dug St. Vincent, Lali Puna, Wet Trident, Lubec, Charly Bliss

- Kumar: War on Drugs, LCD Soundsystem, Wolf Parade, Protomartyr, Ron Gallo

- Lots of music to like this year

- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_482_121817.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 9:16pm EDT

This week, it's part 1 of my discussion with Brian Salvatore about musical blindspots with Brian listening to Living Colour while I dig into early solo Beatles records.

Show notes:

- Brian listened to Vivid, Jay listened to John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band

- Adventures in Skype

- Jay: Wasn't familiar with much of this album

- Very raw, exposed album for Lennon

- Lennon didn't release many albums before he died

- Yoko plays "the wind"

- Embarrassment of riches after Beatles broke up

- The Living Colour/In Living Color conundrum

- Brian: Not a misplaced note on this album

- Impressed with the political content

- Jay: Saw videos on MTV and taped a concert off the radio back in '88

- Vivid was out for over a year before "Cult of Personality" hit big

- Living Colour confounded expectations

- Mick Jagger helped get them a record deal

- Next: Jay listens to McCartney's Ram and Brian checks out LC's Time's Up

 

 

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_481_121117.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 8:52pm EDT

This week, it's part 2 of my discussion with Phil Stacey about how we deal with losing musicians we love.

Show notes:

- Replacing a beloved band member is tough

- Tom Petty's legacy

- Steely Dan's interesting catalog

- The problem with hearing the same songs over and over

- The lighter side of Prince

- Prince's prolific later years

- A master of any style

- Jay: Downie's loss hits harder now because I'm around the same age

- Making the most of your last years on Earth

- The real shockers are the younger ones

 

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_480_111617.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 9:38am EDT

This week, it's part 1 of my discussion with Phil Stacey about how we deal with losing musicians we love.

Show notes:

- Gord Downie died a few weeks ago

- Many high-profile music deaths in last few years

- Musicians are getting older, but also some tragic deaths

- Phil: Elvis Presley's death was memorable

- Lennon's death was shocking

- Phil: Cobain and Jerry Garcia's deaths hit hard

- Jay: The plane crash that killed Randy Rhoads stands out

- Lemmy, Bowie and Prince all died within a few months of each other

- Chris Cornell's death earlier this year came as a surprise

- Many big-name musicians died this year: Gregg Allman, Tom Petty, Chuck Berry, Grant Hart, Walter Becker

- You tend to dig into the back catalog

- Bowie's death kicked off a rough 2016 for music fans

- Losing Prince was a gut punch

- Jay: Saw the Tragically Hip many times over the years

- Downie released a posthumous double album

- Very captivating live performer

- Watched a lot of concert videos and documentaries on YouTube after he died

- Downie focused on indigenous people's rights in his last few years

- To be continued

 

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_479_110917.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 6:42pm EDT

This week, it's part 2 of my discussion with Phil Stacey about albums that changed our lives. 

Show notes:

- Jay: Was a nerdy kid who listened to music all the time

- Phil liked college rock, but never got the Violent Femmes

- Jay: Loved Red Hot Chili Peppers back in the day, but can't stand them now

- Back and forth on the Eagles and Doors

- Of Linda Ronstadt and Barney Gumbel

- Grunge makes an impact

- Alt-rock: Peter Gabriel, R.E.M., U2

- Phil: Big Smiths fan

- The first Pretenders album is a classic

- Neil Young's '80s odyssey

- Phil loves the Dead

- Jay: Got into funk and jazz in late '90s (P-Funk, James Brown, Miles Davis, Coltrane)

- Phil: Listened to Beck's Sea Change a lot after getting divorced

 

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_478_103117.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 9:26pm EDT

This week, it's part 1 of my discussion with Phil Stacey about albums that changed our lives. 

Show notes:

- Phil: At age 6-7, hearing older kids listening to Aerosmith

- Heard a lot of easy listening music

- Had a music-loving uncle who introduced him to the Who, Hendrix, Talking Heads

- Jay: Listened to AM rock station in Toronto

- Bought 45s of Queen, Cheap Trick, Joe Jackson

- Phil: U2's Boy was a huge album for me

- Jay: Got Glen Campbell's Rhinestone Cowboy

- Zeppelin got me into rock

- B-52s were revolutionary

- You can't make your kids love your music

- Jay: First rock album I bought was Supertramp's Breakfast in America

- Phil: Revolver was a pivotal Beatles album

- Jay: Got into early '80s hard rock

- Rush's Moving Pictures was a big one

- To be continued

 

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_477_102417.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 9:11pm EDT

This week, it's part 3 of my discussion with Brian Salvatore about musical blindspots. Brian will learn about Iron Maiden while I dig into Frank Zappa.

Show notes:

- Brian listened to Somewhere in Time, Jay listened to Sheik Yerbouti

- Deja vu all over again

- Brian: Somewhere in Time is the most dated, least raw of the three albums I listened to

- Band didn't play to its strengths

- Victim of mid-'80s production

- Dickinson vs. Di'anno

- The disappearance of metal in the '90s

- Bon Jovi has thrived over the decades

- Not their best, but some Maiden classics

- Jay: Saw Maiden live a few months ago

- Zappa's Sheik Yerbouti finds him exploring the wackier subject matter in depth

- Released three albums in '79 alone

- Musicianship is incredible, feat. Adrian Belew on rhythm guitar

- Zappa released a ridiculous number of albums

- Xenochrony technique took parts from different songs and spliced them together

- Brian: Not in his top 10 albums, but close

- Went even more off the rails on Joe's Garage

- Next, Brian will listen to Living Colour while Jay will explore solo Beatle albums

 

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_476_101717.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 6:58pm EDT

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss our uncertain world.

Show notes:

- Check out Matt's book Echo and the Sea

- Escapism is tempting

- Shopping by alcohol content

- Is ignorance bliss?

- Dumb and happy

- Cynical about politics at all levels

- Corruption is rampant

- Appearances count

- Politics have never been this divisive...or have they?

- Internet comments are the worst

- Social media enables morons to spout off

- Journalism burnout

- Shooting a guy in the face is quaint now

- Does uncertainty = depression?

- We haven't given up yet

- We solved nothing

 

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_475_101017.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 7:22pm EDT

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss our uncertain world.

Show notes:

- Check out Matt's book Echo and the Sea

- Recorded before the Las Vegas incident and Trump's visit to PR

- Everything's uncertain

- Don't know what to expect from the news

- Trump: Savvy or master of chaos?

- Twitter as distraction

- Social media amps up the anxiety

- FB as the center of vitriol over every conceivable public issue

- The weather is slamming us with unpredictable events

- Selling the BS

- Clickbait's gonna get ya

- Much ado about kneeling

- Scandal recovery

- Controversy du jour

- Punisher fans can be scary

- Twitter roulette

- Ah, the threat of impending nuclear war

- The relentless news cycle

- The difficulty of just enjoying life

- To be continued

 

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_474_100317.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 9:22pm EDT

This week, Brian Salvatore and I discuss more musical blindspots. Brian will learn about Iron Maiden while I dig into Frank Zappa.

Show notes:

- Brian listened to Number of the Beast, Jay listened to Apostrophe

- Brian: No surprises on Number of the Beast

- Familiar with half the album

- Liked the fast and heavy stuff, not the slower songs

- Jay: This was my introduction to Maiden

- The transition to more epic material

- Ozzy transcended the metal downturn of the '90s

- The power of album covers, good and bad

- The beginning of Maiden's prime

- Jay: Apostrophe was Zappa's 18th album

- "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" was a hit

- More straightahead rock than jazz fusion

- Memorable songs: Cosmik Debris, Uncle Remus, St. Alfonzo's Pancake  Breakfast

- Zappa live albums are different experiences

- High-level playing countered by sometimes dumb lyrics

- Zappa pioneered sampling and recording techniques

- Next up: Sheik Yerbouti for Jay, Somewhere in Time for Brian

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_473_082117.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 9:00pm EDT

This week, Brian Salvatore and I discuss more musical blindspots. Brian will learn about Iron Maiden while I dig into Frank Zappa.

Show notes:

- Jay: Somewhat familiar with Zappa's hits and guitar work

- Intimidating catalog; more than 100 albums released

- Brian: Knew a few Maiden songs but never a fan

- Listened to 1980 self-titled debut

- Liked the faster songs and Paul Di'Anno's vocals

- Enjoyed punk-inspired energy and Steve Harris' bass

- Production sounds good

- Maiden's sound has evolved over the years

- Jay listened to Zappa's 1969 album Hot Rats

- Only one song with vocals, and those are by Captain Beefheart

- Ian Underwood is major contributor, playing all keyboards and horns

- Very different sound than Zappa had in mid- to late- '70s

- Next up: Apostrophe for Jay, The Number of the Beast for Brian

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_472_080417.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 7:58am EDT

Another installment of Driving With Kumar as I discuss my recent European vacation.

Show notes:

- Spent over two weeks in London, Paris, Belfast and Dublin

- Went to London in '96

- Less drinking on a family vacation

- Elderly passenger in distress

- Hotel room in London was tiny

- Walked nearly 100 miles the entire trip

- Ran along rivers in the four cities we visited

- Ate a lot of pub food

- London has a lot of great history and architecture

- Paris was beautiful

- Hit the Eiffel Tower on the first night

- Major military/police presence at tourist attractions

- Several terrorist incidents before we went, but nothing happened while we were there

- Only three days of sun the whole vacation

- More daylight

- Out of the U.S. news cycle

- Being aware of your surroundings

- Wary while running in Paris and Dublin

- Missed American beer

- Visited my brother in Belfast

- Explored Northern Ireland scenic sites

- Saw several Game of Thrones filming locations

- Went to the Guinness brewery

- Wifi was at a premium

- Good to be back home

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_471_071817.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 7:26pm EDT

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the year so far.

Show notes:

- Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ

- JB: The Orb released a remix EP

- JK: The prolific Ty Segall does it again

- JB: Vagabon brings fresh take to indie rock

- JK: Boss Hog's first album in 17 years

- JB: The evolving sound of Spoon

- JK: The consistently excellent New Pornographers back with another winner

- JB: Juana Molina returns with a strong, out there release

- JK: Mark Lanegan incorporates electronic music into his sound

- JB: Snowball II with a release that recalls The Lilys

- JK: Afghan Whigs release their best record since reuniting

- JB: Tommy Stinson brings back Bash & Pop with hooks galore

- JB: Slowdive's reunion album gives the people what they want

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_470_062317.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 6:51am EDT

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the year so far.

Show notes:

- Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ

- Plenty of great rock music, but not on the charts

- It's all about playing live; rock radio exposure is nonexistent

- Billy Squier still gets the airplay

- Nobody's figured out how to make money from streaming music

- Get pumped for Husker Du bootleg box set

- More rock deaths: Berry, Cornell, Allman, Geils

- Rise in musical activism

- Albums we want to hear

- Breitling: Ride, Palehound, Wet Trident

- Kumar: Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett, Ted Leo, Buffalo Tom, Queens of the Stone Age, Deer Tick, LCD Soundsystem

- Bubbling under albums

- Breitling: Tara Jane O'Neil, Opin, The xx

- Lubec's coming to Boston in August

- Kumar: Chastity Belt, Bash and Pop, Cloud Nothings, White Reaper, At the Drive-In, Black Lips

- Our favorite albums so far

- JB: Spirit of the Beehive combines psych and shoegaze

- JK: Run the Jewels keeps on rolling

- Zach de la Rocha's hardcore past

- JB: Yr Poetry is a Johnny Foreigner side project

- JK: Japandroids bring the rock anthems

- JB: Different sound for Pile

- JK: More anthems from Los Campesinos!

- Cello vs. violin

- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_469_062017.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 7:48pm EDT

Part 3 of my conversation with Brian Salvatore about musical blindspots. Brian listens to another Sloan album while I check out a third record from Ween.

Show notes:

-Win-win situation

- Brian had Sloan's "The Double Cross" and Jay had Ween's "Quebec"

- Brian: My favorite of the three I listened to

- Beatles comparisons

- Brian will go back and check out rest of Sloan catalog

- No solo albums, but Murphy had TUNS project

- Jay: Really enjoyed Quebec

- Most cohesive of the three Ween albums Jay heard

- Dean and Gene were dealing with some issues

- "If You Could Save Yourself (You'd Save Us All)" is an epic album closer

- Next up: Jay will listen to Frank Zappa and Brian will check out Iron Maiden

 

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_468_061617.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 5:08pm EDT

Part 2 of my conversation with Brian Salvatore about musical blindspots. Brian listens to another Sloan album while I check out a second record from Ween.

Show notes:

- Brian: Impressed with the progression of Sloan's sound

- Jay: Hadn't heard anything from The Mollusk previously

- Plenty of genre jumping

- Nautical theme

- Elements of prog, psych

- Brian: My favorite Ween record

- Ween varies playlists from show to show

- Brian: Between the Bridges is steeped in the '70s: Big Star, Sweet, T. Rex, Fleetwood Mac

- Interesting sequencing and flow

- Confusing the title with Between the Buttons

- Last Sloan album gave each band member a side's worth of songs

- Brian: Almost exclusively listen to albums in full

- Jay: Will listen to albums, but also use shuffle mode on iPod

- Brian: Also listen to a lot of music on Spotify

- Next up: Quebec for Jay, The Double Cross for Brian

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_467_060717.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 8:38pm EDT

This week, Brian Salvatore and I talk about delving into the catalog of bands we don't know much about. Brian will learn about Sloan while I dig into Ween.

Show notes:

- Each of us picks a favorite artist of the other that we don't know much about

- Jay listened to Ween's Chocolate and Cheese, Brian listened to Sloan's Twice Removed

- Both 1994 releases

- Both of us had heard a few songs before

- Jay: First heard Ween on Beavis and Butt-head, wrote them off as novelty act

- Brian: Twice Removed starts off strong, flows well

- Big power pop vibe

- The album that got Sloan dropped by Geffen

- Each band member writes and sings

- Were signed as part of the alternative explosion of the early '90s

- Self-release most of their albums now

- No indie rock radio stations anymore

- Jay: Chocolate and Cheese is great fun

- Wide range of styles, from funk to psychedelic to just weird

- Great guitar work from Dean Ween

- First Ween album done in a studio

- Walking the fine line between funny and stupid

- Phish has covered "Roses are Free"

- Ween plays jam band festivals sometimes

- Next up: The Mollusk for Jay, Between the Bridges for Brian

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_466_053117.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 6:45pm EDT

This week, I talk to guest Brian Salvatore about the legacy of the late Chris Cornell.

Show notes:

- Brian: Was never a huge fan of Cornell's early singing style

- Rediscovered his love for Soundgarden in recent years

- Jay: First heard him when Temple of the Dog came out in '91, then got  Badmotorfinger

- The greatness of Mother Love Bone

- Soundgarden was perfect bridge between '80s hard rock and the new sounds of the '90s

- Jay: Saw Soundgarden in small club in early '92 and then again a few months later at Lollapalooza

- Kim Thayil's guitar playing complemented Cornell's voice well

- Jason Everman, the Zelig of grunge

- The diverse nature of the Seattle acts of the '90s

- The pressure of being the "responsible one"

- Cornell's final tweets were upbeat

- Hard to read into his lyrics

- Most of Cornell's songs were dark

- His death hit hard because he was ours

- Feels like more '70s touring acts have more living members than '90s bands

- The drugs were more prevalent in the '70s and '80s, but the '90s acts paid the price

- Cornell's first solo album Euphoria Morning is really good

- Less impressed with Audioslave

- Soundgarden leaves a terrific body of work

 

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_465_052417.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 10:13pm EDT

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about the evolution of the music blog.

Show notes:

- Breitling recently shut down his fine music blog Clicky Clicky

- Some band reunions shouldn't happen

- A whole new target audience for newer live acts

- The kids wanna snap

- Some bands can make a living selling merch and playing small live gigs

- No time for comics anymore

- The inflated price of vinyl

- Zines were the music blogs of the '80s and '90s

- Kumar: A buddy in Washington state got into punk, started a zine

- The convenience of blog software

- The blog as reference tool

- Our work at Webnoize is mostly gone now

- Clicky Clicky lives on via Facebook page

- The blog had a hardcore audience

- Not in it for the numbers

- Cutting through the crap on Twitter

- Quality, not quantity of posts

 

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_464_051617.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 10:46pm EDT

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about the evolution of the music blog.

Show notes:

- Breitling recently shut down his fine music blog Clicky Clicky

- MP3 blogs soon evolved into something less legally risky

- Wrote about music for other online pubs: Splendid EZine, Junkmedia

- Had a personal page and then launched Clicky Clicky in 2006

- Contributors had other commitments, life got busy

- Breitling now writes for Vanyaland

- In their heyday, music blogs presented artists who weren't pushed by major labels or corporate radio

- The "Celestial Jukebox" is here

- Breitling: Listening habits have changed

- Used to frantically search for new music; now digging into albums

- Peak music blog year was 2007

- Blog bands: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bloc Party, Arcade Fire, Franz Ferdinand

- Many people started music blogs to get free stuff

- Some bloggers have moved on to mainstream gigs

- Podcasting has become commonplace

- YouTube stars are now gaining popularity

- Make way for Jacob Sartorius

- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_463_050917.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 8:22pm EDT

This week, it's my conversation with guest Christian Douglass as we discuss what life would be like without the Internet.

Show notes:

-  Recorded on the road in a snowstorm

- What if the Internet went away?

- Back to mid-'90s technology

- We'd have to talk to each other

- Generational dip

- The Lou Grant Revolt

- We'd lost a lot of conveniences

- The kids and the promposals

- People are constantly glued to their phones

- #oldmanrant

- We need the Internet

- Social media has replaced a lot of actual human interaction

- Phantom thumb

- TV and radio would be more important

- Making conclusions based on just the headline

- Library book etiquette

- The drive home

- Things could get bad

- Economy would tank

- Overcoming the dependency

- Not necessarily life or death

- Instant info gratification

- Are we ready to get primal?

- Taking a timeout

- Addictive by design

- Kids would have a tough time

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_462_040417.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 8:14pm EDT

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1991.

Show notes:

- Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output

- Brian's #3

- The final Pixies album with original lineup

- Jay's #2

- Do we need to hear Nevermind again?

- Symbolically historic

- Raw vs. polished

- Brian's #2

- Tribe Called Quest brought a serious jazz feel to their sound

- Focused on the groove, not samples

- Jay's #1

- Matthew Sweet swings for the fences

- Sick guitar work from Lloyd and Quine

- Susanna Hoffs doesn't age

- Brian's #1

- Mike Mills gets his due

- Peter Buck's mandolin phase

- Still plenty of great records we didn't discuss

- The Costello-McCartney experiment

- School of Fish had the song of the summer of '91

- What's next?

- The early '90s were chock full of good stuff

 

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_461_032817.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 7:14pm EDT

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1991.

Show notes:

- Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output

- Albums that didn't make our top 5 of '91

- Brian: Feelies, Slint, Prince

- Skipping a Prince show

- Jay: Mudhoney, Pearl Jam, Screaming Trees, Temple of the Dog

- Brian: Firehose, De La Soul, Cohen tribute, Jonathan Richman

- No more "Hallelujah" covers, please

- Tribute albums were big in the '90s

- Jay: Tragically Hip, Dinosaur Jr., Fishbone, Nation of Ulysses, Swervedriver

- Jay's #5

- Soundgarden's game-changer

- Brian's #5

- Primus makes its mark

- Jay's #4

- The best Smashing Pumpkins album

- Corgan's off the rails now

- Brian's #4

- Ween's weirdest record

- Jay's #3

- Teenage Fanclub went from unknowns in the U.S. to indie darlings

- To be continued

 

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_460_032117.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 8:19pm EDT

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1991.

Show notes:

- Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output

- Wrapping up our look at the music of the years 1980-1999

- 1991 really kicked off the '90s musically

- Brian was 9, Jay was 23

- Alt-rock took off in '91

- Big year for Metallica

- Plenty of pop and one-hit wonders

- Bryan Adams and Color Me Badd had strong years

- Big efforts from A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, NWA and Public Enemy

- Styx had a song land in the top 100 singles

- Rock radio was still rooted in classic rock

- Billboard switched to Soundscan charts

- Freddie Mercury died on same day as Eric Carr of KISS

- Van Halen's slide into irrelevancy

- Since '91, VH has released three albums with three different singers

- Red Hot Chili Peppers hit their peak

- Albums Jay liked in '91: RHCP, Live, Spin Doctors

- Quintessential '90s tunes

- Talking Heads officially split

- To be continued

 

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_459_031517.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 6:10pm EDT

This week, I've got an installment of Driving With Kumar, in which I discuss the endless amount of entertainment content available to consume.

Show notes:

- Driving to work

- The joys of binge-watching TV

- So much to watch, so little time

- Book reading has suffered

- No time for comics

- Tons of music available to listen to whenever you want

- More music released now than ever before

- Listen to podcasts throughout the day

- Again, a ton of podcast content to choose from

- Recently cranked through 22 episodes of U Talkin' U2 to Me

- Rarely watch shows live

- Went to all-streaming setup for TV

- Never go to the movies anymore

- Glut of content calls for better time management

- It's an on-demand world

- Plenty of shows I've never seen

- It's all about portion control

 

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_458_030217.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 6:26pm EDT

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss Hollywood's love of reboots.

Show notes:

- Check out Matt's book Like a Comet: The Indestructibles Book 4

- Docudramas like The People Vs. OJ Simpson are doing well

- Reboot of 24 sans Jack Bauer

- Why would you remake a perfect movie?

- Flip the concept

- Matt's book idea

- Need to reward original stories

- Pixar's doing great work

- The Marvel series on Netflix have been good

- Experimental episodes can be fun

- So much TV to watch now

- Luke Cage broke new ground

- Watching foreign shows and running out of episodes

- Remaking European shows for American TV

- Matt needs to watch Terriers and Justified

- The greatness of Walton Goggins

- Shows that are difficult to watch

 

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_457_022117.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 6:46am EDT

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss Hollywood's love of reboots.

Show notes:

- Check out Matt's book Like a Comet: The Indestructibles Book 4

- Unnecessary reboots

- The Ghostbusters remake was controversial

- Westworld was a hit, but most viewers probably didn't see the original movies

- Michael Crichton's trial by fire as a director

- Channing Tatum is the mermaid in the new version of Splash

- The Rock's in everything

- DC's TV shows are good

- Matt Fraction's comics reimagining of Hawkeye is excellent

- Deadpool is a cavalcade of dick jokes

- Penny Dreadfal mashes up classic horror characters

- Beauty and the Beast live-action remake

- Rebooting in advertising: the Most Interesting Man in the World, Col. Sanders

- Reboot vs. continuation

- The Muppet Babies effect

- The many Punishers

- Taken, the TV show

- Getting manipulated by This Is Us

- To be continued

 

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_456_021417.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 9:30pm EDT

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss Hollywood's love of reboots.

Show notes:

- Check out Matt's book Like a Comet: The Indestructibles Book 4

- All about recycling ideas

- Some reboots are self-referential

- The Brady Bunch Movie kicked off the reboot as parody

- Johnny Depp: Master of the Reboot

- Nic Cage's recent career choices

- Some improve on the original or have a different take

- Westworld, Bates Motel

- New TV shows based on Lethal Weapon and Training Day

- The industry's too risk-averse

- Comic book movie franchises reboot constantly

- So many different Batmen

- How long will Batfleck last?

- Daredevil: Netflix show is much better than the movie

- Stephen King's cocaine years

- "The hamster just fell off the wheel"

- To be continued

 

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_455_020817.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 6:47pm EDT

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite indie rock of 2016.

Show notes:

- Breitling's #4

- Frankie Cosmos is fronted by Kevin Kline's daughter

- Engaging pop record

- Kumar's #4

- Very political album from Drive-By Truckers

- Breitling's #3

- Classic C86-style guitar pop

- Good advice: Don't pay the ferryman

- Kumar's #3

- Another outstanding release from Jeff Rosenstock

- Digs into Millennial angst

- Breitling's #2

- Lambchop's new album isn't about the First Lady

- First single is 18minutes long

- Kumar's #2

- Iggy's last hurrah?

- Josh Homme and friends provide backup

- Breitling's #1

- Johnny Foreigner explore life's beauty and disappointments

- Album came with a script

- Kumar's #1 and Breitling's #6

- Bowie goes out on a high note

- Put a lot of effort into the packaging

- Explorations of mortality from a man who knew he was about to die

- Looking forward to new albums in 2017: Cloud Nothings, Los Campesinos, Feelies, LCD Soundsystem, Jesus and Mary Chain, Ty Segall, Run the Jewels

 

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_454_011017.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 7:57pm EDT

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite indie rock of 2016.

Show notes:

- Kumar's #9

- PUP comes into its own on second album

- Breitling's #8

- A more experimental release from Hallelujah the Hills

- Kumar's #8

- Car Seat Headrest's album had to be recalled thanks to Ric Ocasek

- Breitling's #7

- Preoccupations expanded the sound of their debut (as Viet Cong)

- Dumb band name controversy

- Kumar's #7

- Continuing a triumphant stretch of rock records from Bob Mould

- Defying the effects of age, unlike other aging rockers

- "More barn!"

- The Feelies can't stop/won't stop

- Breitling's #6 will be discussed later

- Kumar's #6

- Parquet Courts is an interesting act that has evolved quickly

- Breitling's #5

- Straight outta Portland, OR

- Lubec adds layers to its sound

- Kumar's #5

- Heavy space rock from Vancouver

- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Direct download: CompCon_453_010317.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 8:03pm EDT

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