Completely Conspicuous

Categories

moving
rock talk
Nick Lorenzen
Fucked Up
Footlocker discount code
Soccer Mom
Heartless Bastards
Damien Jurado
Gross Magic
hockey
fandom
rock and/or roll
Budget
Twerps
Screaming Trees
Delta Spirit
five years
unsung albums
Stephen Malkmus
Robert Pollard
Roadside Graves
The Church
online privacy
career shifts
journalism
The Dirtbombs
The Kills
PJ Harvey
Mogwai
Wire
East River Pipe
Destroyer
Walter Schreifels
No Age
Teenage Fanclub
Mixology
Mondo Generator
athletic gear
LCD Soundsystem
Silversun Pickups
ChkChkChk
The Dead Weather
Everyone Everywhere
Midlake
The Whigs
Quasi
Dinosaur Jr.
Elliott Smith
Jason Collett
The Apples in Stereo
guilty pleasures
The King Khan and BBQ Show
Great Northern
Deer Tick
Canada
Metric
Spiral Stairs
Almighty Defenders
Completely Conspicuous
Rick Johnson
Warrior Soul
Andrew Bird
movies
Sunset Rubdown
The Dears
Sonic Youth
Jarvis Cocker
The Pink Mountaintops
Eric Convey
Shearwater
Pavement
Swan Lake
RCRD LBL
The Secret Machines
Frightened Rabbit
Volcano Suns
Deltron 3030
Juliana Hatfield
IODA Promonet
Ladyhawk
Podsafe Music Network
The Zambonis
Sub Pop Records
Joseph Arthur
The Constantines
Panthers
British Sea Power
Ween
Flight of the Conchords
Controller.Controller
El-P
Stars
The Shods
Frank Black
The Nice Device
Dios Malos
Riverboat Gamblers
TV On the Radio
general

Archives

2024
March
February
January

2023
December
November
September
August
July
June
April
March
February
January

2022
December
November
October
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2021
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
April
March
February
January

2020
December
November
October
September
July
June
May
April
March
February

2019
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
March
February
January

2018
December
November
October
August
July
June
March
February
January

2017
December
November
October
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2016
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2015
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2014
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2013
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2012
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2011
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2010
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2009
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2008
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2007
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March

March 2017
S M T W T F S
     
      1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31

Syndication

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