Tue, 16 February 2016
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1983. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's new podcast Input/Output - Jay: Talking Heads, Robert Plant, Billy Idol, X, Motorhead, The Fixx, The Kinks - Lemmy and Brian Robertson didn't get along - "Come Dancing" is a great pop song - Brian's #5 - First exposure to Bowie music - Greg Dulli's great take on "Modern Love" - Binging on Bowie - Jay's #5 - The Police go out on top...and fighting - The Sting and Peter Gabriel tour could be interesting...or bad - Brian's #4 - The interesting story of Daniel Johnston - Jay's #4 - The American breakthrough for U2 - Jay: U2 was my favorite band through some of the '80s - Recent Paris concert was pretty good - 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. |
Tue, 9 February 2016
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1983. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's new podcast Input/Output - In '83, Brian turned 1, Jay turned 16 - A lot of classic '80s singles came out in '83 - From Men at Work to Metallica - Thriller loomed large - Strange mix of hits on the top 100 - CDs were first sold in the U.S. - The US Festival was a huge event - Brian recommends the Eagles documentary - The Strummer-Jones dynamic led to breakup of the Clash - KISS took off the makeup - Elton John had minor hits throughout the '80s - Aerosmith was fading - Brian: Stevie Ray Vaughan's debut - Jay: Ronnie James Dio strikes out on his own while Sabbath forges on with Ian Gillan - Brian: SST comp Blasting Concepts was a good intro to punk - Dinosaur Jr.'s recent 30th anniversary shows - 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. |
Tue, 2 February 2016
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss short attention spans. Show notes: - Order Matt's book The Entropy of Everything: The Indestructibles Book 3 - Fear of wasting time or fear of missing out? - Phone calls are rare and annoying - Tinder = instantaneous hookups - Jay: Thankful to have been in the dating Dark Ages - Guys are born stupid - Telephone hangups used to be way more dramatic - How often do you just hang out with a friend and talk? - Writing letters is a lost art - Friends who aren't on social media are lost or forgotten - How much faster can life get? - We still slow down occasionally - Nothing slows you down like a baby falling asleep on you
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. |
Tue, 26 January 2016
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss short attention spans. Show notes: - Order Matt's book The Entropy of Everything: The Indestructibles Book 3 - Spending too much time in front of screens - Much harder to get through long articles nowadays - How many words are worth $1? - Looking at phone is how we kill time - Smoking made Matt more social - A generation of socially inept people - Binge-watching TV requires more attention - Longer network TV seasons seem so much longer now - The Punisher is a tough character to get right - Hell hath no fury like a nerd upset over something stupid - Gotta pay attention when there are subtitles - Anime moves too fast - Audiences can't deal with slow scenes any more - As a writer, Matt writes shorter chapters - Short attention span applies to music listening - Matt: If I had an iPhone as a kid, I would never have read a book - 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. |
Tue, 19 January 2016
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss short attention spans. Show notes: - Order Matt's book The Entropy of Everything: The Indestructibles Book 3 - The inevitable joke - MP: The more novels I write, the shorter my attention span gets - Live-tweeting TV shows takes some effort - Trace back to quick cuts in MTV videos of the early '80s - Wireless Internet has sped up the attention decline - Twitter mulls expanding character limit to 10,000 - The fine art of crafting an effective tweet - News of Bowie's death spread fast on social media - What a way to go out, leaving a great piece of art behind - It's hard to sustain a long career these days - How to teach your kids about music - Dumbo doesn't hold up - Matt: New Star Wars is an homage to the original, but much faster - So much more dialog in TV shows now - HBO's In Therapy was different because much of it was just two people talking - Elmore Leonard mastered economical writing - 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. |
Tue, 12 January 2016
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the first half of this decade (2010-14). Show notes: - JB's #5 - Dan Bejar's guilty pleasure - JK's #5 - Band came out of left field - JB's #4 - Dream pop classic - JK's #4 - Comeback album from alt-rock legends - JB's #3 - Cassette-only release - JK's #3 - Prolific artist put it all together - JB's #2 - Veteran hardcore guitar god goes folk rock - JK's #2 - Sprawling punk rock concept album about the Civil War - JB's #1 - An epic from a band just dropped by its label - JK's #1 - First Matador act to hit #1 on album chart 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. |
Tue, 5 January 2016
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the first half of this decade (2010-14). Show notes: - Looking back - Breitling: My top albums of the 2013 and 2014 didn't make this list - JB's #10 and JK's #9 - "The purest distillation" of this band's sound - JK's #10 - Harking back to '70s glam punk - JB's #9 - New sound for indie rock stalwart - JB's #8 - Lots of side projects spun off from this band - JK's #8 - A super outing from an indie supergroup - JB's #7 - Unclear whether another release is coming from this act - JK's #7 - Top pick of 2011 - Turned Out a Punk is an interesting podcast - JB's #6 - Breakthrough for excellent indie act - JK's #6 - Television-Velvet Underground sound - 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. |
Tue, 29 December 2015
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2015. Show notes: - Jay Kumar's #5 album of the year - Productive collective out of the Bay Area - Jay Breitling's #4 - What's next for Jonah Furman? - JK's #4 - JB's #3 - Dark, crazy guitar ambience - JK's #3 - Another indie darling blowing up big - JB's #2 - Another great shoegaze act makes its mark - JK's #2 - A local indie act does well nationally - JB's #1 - Marriage of electronic and guitar rock - JK's #1 - Topped midyear list, still holds up - Looking ahead to 2016 - Next week: Our favorites of the first half of the decade (2010-14) 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. |
Tue, 22 December 2015
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2015. Show notes: - More music out than ever before - JK: Immersed in top 40 pop against my will thanks to my kids - JB's honorable mentions - Ava Luna is the Steely Dan of indie rock - JK's honorable mentions - Some notable comeback albums - JB's #10 - JK's #10 - The insanity of the Paris concert tragedy - JB's #9 - JK's #9 - The ever-prolific Patrick Stickles - JB's #8 - JK's #8 - Constant touring hones a band's sound - JB's #7 - JK's #7 - JB's #6 - Exploding in Sound is the indie rock label of the moment - JK's #6 - JB's #5 - For those not about to rock, we salute you - 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. |
Tue, 15 December 2015
This week, I'm joined by author Greg Renoff as we discuss the response to his new book about the early days of Van Halen. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Buy Greg's book Van Halen Rising at Amazon or get a signed copy from the Van Halen Store - We last spoke in March before the book came out - Great response from readers - Selling well on Amazon, was reviewed in Rolling Stone - DLR's role in the band's early days surprised some - Roth defied the odds to become a star - Gene Simmons was an early supporter of the band - Roth had different musical interests than the VH brothers - Greg: Not sure what next writing project will be - Meeting readers at book signings is fun - Launch party in Pasadena featured VH's original bassist Mark Stone - Visited neighborhood where VH played backyard parties - The revolutionary sound of "Eruption" - VH's disappointing live album - Debate over what's in the archives - The future of the band is murky - Little released output from Eddie over the last 15 years - Dave's role in the band is much different now - DLR could be reuniting with his Eat 'Em and Smile-era band for some shows
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. |
Tue, 8 December 2015
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1992. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Jay: Rollins Band broke out with The End of Silence - Jay's #5 - The best album from The Tragically Hip - Brian's #5 and Jay's #4 - Pavement's first stab at greatness - The Pavement reunion was disappointing - Brian's #4 and Jay's #2 - Brian's #3 - 1992 was a banner year for Alice in Chains - Dirt was unrelentingly dark - Jay's #3 - Jay: The album that got me into Buffalo Tom - Saw them play Let Me Come Over front to back earlier this year - Brian's #2 - Found at CMJ conference: Balanescu Quartet does Kraftwerk - Sugar was a great combination of Bob Mould's worlds - Came out at the right time as alt-rock was hitting - Brian's #1 - With Kerplunk, Green Day laid blueprint for future success - Jay's #1 - The Afghan Whigs set up a great decade melding rock with R&B - A few others we missed - Next year to tackle: 1983
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. |
Tue, 1 December 2015
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1992. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Brian: A friend was at the Eagles of Death Metal show in Paris but escaped unharmed - Security at club shows is minimal - Post-9/11 concert experiences - Bands formed in '92: Brainiac, Bush, Shellac, Sugar, Weezer - Harvey Danger's "Flagpole Sitta" is a great song - Bands that broke up in '92: Bullet Lavolta, Europe, Fine Young Cannibals, Feelies - Albums that didn't make our top 5 - Brian: Nirvana, Late!, GBV, Ween, They Might Be Giants, Beasties, R.E.M. - Jay: Lemonheads, Rage Against the Machine, Sloan, Neil Young, Mudhoney, Alice in Chains, Sonic Youth, Screaming Trees - Tom Scharpling does the best version of "Killing in the Name Of" - Jay: Saw Alice in Chains at a small Boston club in late '92 - Automatic for the People was the last great R.E.M. album - 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. |
Tue, 24 November 2015
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1992. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - In '92, Brian turned 10 and Jay turned 25 - Hot 100 chart had a lot of pop, R&B, some hip hop - But alternative rock was booming - "Baby Got Back" was #2 song of the year - Clapton's Unplugged album was huge - The greatness of early Dire Straits - Pat Smear in the Chili Peppers? - The evolution of Guns 'N Roses - Axl's vampire voice - Labels got rid of the CD longbox - Once it was about hifi, now nobody cares about audio quality - Big year for rock weddings - Concert for Life paid tribute to the late Freddie Mercury - Wayne's World appealed to both of us for different reasons - Hair metal died in the U.S. but remained huge in Europe - Montreal fans rioted because of Axl's antics - Arena shows were de rigeur in the '70s and '80s - Bands play much smaller venues now - 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. |
Tue, 17 November 2015
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the problem with research studies. Show notes: - Order Matt's book The Entropy of Everything: The Indestructibles Book 3 - Don't get sick! - Studies can be scary - Apply some logic when reading studies - People live in fear of everything - We love to get worked up about studies - Studies with no research on long-term effects - Studies seem to have lost all value - Outrage only lasts for about a week and we move on - Nobody wants to take the time to verify - Are cell phones dangerous? Let's hope not - Studies: Everything gives you cancer - We're all gonna die! - Only thing Wall-e got wrong was everyone was happy - Pixar wants to make you sad - Near-death running experiences
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. |
Tue, 10 November 2015
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the problem with research studies. Show notes: - Order Matt's book The Entropy of Everything: The Indestructibles Book 3 - Surviving Halloween in Salem - Endless barrage of studies - You can find a study to prove just about any point - Pick and choose the result you want - Going down the WebMD wormhole - Studies get picked up by mass media - People don't verify the research, just pass it on - Morning TV shows are an empty void - Study says processed meat causes cancer - The research-industrial complex - Watch out for Big Vegetable - The folly of the Farmer's Almanac - The influence of pharma companies on research studies - Too much TV as a child dident make us dumm - Rarely watch TV now without social media interruptions - Studies don't change behavior - 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. |
Tue, 27 October 2015
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Mike Heyliger as we discuss the trials and tribulations of moving. Show notes: - Check out Mike's blog Popblerd and his podcast Blerd Radio - Jay: Haven't moved since 2000, but moved a lot in the '80s and '90s - TVs used to be a lot bigger and heavier - People used to always move around September 1 - Jay: Used to borrow the newspaper delivery van for moves - Mike: Upcoming move back to New York will be like going to a different place - Narrowed list down to a handful of cities to settle down in - Mike: Currently conveniently located near Boston-area clubs - Watertown is a quiet community, but Boston Marathon bomber was caught there - Tough times for journalism majors - Mike: Took a while to get used to earlier Boston closing times - It's easier to stay out super late when you're younger - Drunken work parties are always interesting - You don't want to be the drunk one - Alcohol-fueled fun can lead to awkwardness at work - Mike: Been working from home for several years - Looking forward to separating work from home life - It's tough being the person on the other end of the speaker phone - Mike: New office will have an open floor plan - You have to be conscious of people around you in an open office
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. |
Tue, 20 October 2015
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Mike Heyliger as we discuss the trials and tribulations of moving. Show notes: - Check out Mike's blog Popblerd and his podcast Blerd Radio - Mike's moving to Brooklyn - Music industry changes led to job change - Boston's no longer the focus of record labels that it once was - Moving vinyl is tricky - A good excuse to streamline and get rid of stuff - Who watches DVDs anymore? - Collections can take over your life - Jay: Used to have a huge comics collection - Jay: Moved around a lot when I was single - Roommates can be good or bad - Mike has lived alone for years - The shocking state of women's bathrooms - When beepers were a thing - In the '80s and '90s, calling cards made it cheaper to make long distance calls on pay phones - 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. |
Tue, 13 October 2015
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1994. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Jay's #4 - Pavement was a shock to the system at the time - Malkmus continues to be a solo force - Brian's #3 - Ween's second-based album - Brian: Ween made 5 perfect albums in a row - Jay's #3 - Drive Like Jehu delivers scorching rock - Brian's #2 and Jay's #2 - Jay: Frank Black's Guided by Voices album - Black had serious writer's block during the making of this record - Brian's #1 - Weezer's debut features 10 perfect pop songs - Videos helped the album take off - Jay's #1 - One of Sloan's greatest albums got them dropped by DGC - Abrupt shift from first album's sound - Other '94 notables: Soundgarden, Nas, NIN, Portishead, Neil Young, Helmet, New Bomb Turks, Pearl Jam - Also: Magnetic Fields, TMBG, R.E.M., Outkast - Next up: 1992 - Jam bands became popular - Jay: Covered the best of the 2000s in CompCon episodes 96-99
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. |
Tue, 6 October 2015
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1994. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Brian: Enjoyed albums from Tom Petty, Rancid, Sea and Cake - Beasties were all over the place on Ill Communication--in a good way - Sunny Day Real Estate's epic album - Halo Benders teamed Doug Martsch and Calvin Johnson - The Toadies break through - Jay: Sebadoh's Bakesale was a good combo of punk and melodic songs - Jeff Buckley went from hard rock to cabaret on Grace - Sugar's 2nd full-length was punchy and fun...for Bob Mould - Green Day's Dookie was a monster hit that nobody needs to hear anymore - Jay: Foolish was my intro to Superchunk - Brian's #5 - Nirvana's best album was Unplugged in New York - Jay saw Nirvana in Springfield, Mass., about a week before the Unplugged show - Jay's #5 - Bee Thousand is probably the perfect distillation of Guided By Voices - Brian's #4 - Alice in Chains' Jar of Flies was the first EP to top the album charts - Jay: "No Excuses" got me through a tough time - Brian: Jerry Cantrell looks like an uncle now - 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. |
Tue, 29 September 2015
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1994. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Rooting for a Jays-Mets World Series - Brian: 1994 was a big year for me - Rock radio was all about the alternative - Big year for Ace of Base with three songs in top 10 of '94 - Lots of pop and hip hop on singles chart - Aerosmith's foray into downloadable music - Took hours to download, no way to share it - Pearl Jam vs. Ticketmaster didn't end well - Corporate-owned venues are everywhere now - Woodstock '94 was full of mud - Sheryl Crow and Jackyl played on the same stage - Cobain's unsurprising fate - Brian: Was obsessed with music in '94 - Soundtracks were a big deal: Pulp Fiction, The Crow, Reality Bites - Older alternative acts turned up the guitars: R.E.M., Meat Puppets - Bands formed in '94 that loomed large a few years later: Creed, Limp Bizkit, Hoobastank, Maroon 5 - Eagles returned with Hell Freezes Over tour and introduced $100 tickets - Page and Plant reunited without John Paul Jones - Mark Lanegan's interesting solo work - Elvis Costello released a rock record - Rollins Band scored an unlikely hit - 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. |
Tue, 22 September 2015
Quick hit episode this week as I discuss the power of a song. Show notes: - In 1979, I listened to Toronto's CHUM-AM all the time - Used to collect the Top 30 singles chart every Friday - A song that captured my imagination was Joe Jackson's "I'm the Man" - The clock radio was important - Couldn't get enough of "I'm the Man" - Still powerful after all these years - Jackson's best work was in the late '70s/early '80s
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. |
Tue, 1 September 2015
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we discuss vacations. Show notes: - Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ - Check out our web series Trust Fund Challenge - Vancouver is a great destination - Trouble at the border - Someday, Jay will visit India again - A co-worker's move to France - Ric's vacation movie marathon - Dick Clark's role in Killers Three - Ric has beef with Christopher Nolan movies - Medical emergencies - Black Christmas is a Canuck horror classic from the director of Porky's
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. |
Tue, 25 August 2015
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we discuss vacations. Show notes: - Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ - Check out our web series Trust Fund Challenge - A reboot/remake/sequel to National Lampoon's Vacation is out - The first Vacation movie still holds up - Based on a National Lampoon novella - Both of our families went to Disney World in the '70s - Family vacations can either be packed with activities or relaxing - Jay: Just went to Disney with two other families - Ric: We rent a vacation home in Maine every summer with inlaws - Jay: We vary vacations each year; might go to Europe in a few years - Doing work while on vacation sucks - Ric: We were an hour away from everything - Ric's dad takes on a ropes course - Going out West - 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. |
Wed, 19 August 2015
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the art of hype. Show notes: - Order Matt's book The Entropy of Everything: The Indestructibles Book 3 - Patreon is a crowdfunding option - The patronage model - Kickstarter, Indie GoGo efforts are commonplace - Matt loves board games - Contributing to podcasts and radio shows - Matt's research on dino romance novels - A Gronk to Remember was a big-selling e-book - Matt: "People are hot for were-critters" - Readers like series and formulas - John Irving always writes the last line first - Matt: Want to interact with more people to hype books - The problem with contests - The vagaries of web traffic - Nine years, man
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. |
Wed, 12 August 2015
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the art of hype. Show notes: - Order Matt's book The Entropy of Everything: The Indestructibles Book 3 - Avoiding overhype - Getting RTs from celebrities - Sometimes it feels like there's no benefit to Internet hype - Getting bummed out to write sad scenes - Cosplayers are having a moment - Day jobs are a must, unfortunately - Tagging somebody famous can work from time to time - YouTube "stars" - Spider-man with no butt - 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. |
Wed, 5 August 2015
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the art of hype and celebrate CompCon's 9th anniversary. Show notes: - Pre-order Matt's book The Entropy of Everything: The Indestructibles Book 3 - When your medical professional is younger than you - It's all about the hype - Matt was at Boston ComiCon last weekend - How to effectively hype your stuff online - Perfecting the pitch - Geeking out like a fanboy - Books sell better when you meet people face to face - One of a handful of authors - Writing is fun, editing sucks - Gotta hustle to sell books - To hype without hyping - Matt live-tweets superhero shows - Making friends with people you've never met - Women 18-40 are Matt's target audience - Ensemble cast - Harley the cat wants in - 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. |
Tue, 28 July 2015
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1997. Show notes: - Jay and Brian's #4 - Pavement continues a strong run of records - Brian's coffee shop - Jay's #3 - Ben Folds Five breaks through - Brian's #3 to be discussed later - Jay's #2 - Built to Spill's guitar pop excellence - Brian's #2 - Foo Fighters' sophomore album is chock full o' good songs - Backbeat soundtrack is great - Jay gets confused - Jay's #1 and Brian's #3 - Radiohead steps up their game - Brian's #1 - Ween shows off its chops on The Mollusk - Next up: 1994
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. |
Tue, 21 July 2015
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1997. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Bubbling under albums - Brian: Flaming Lips' Zaireeka was designed to have its 4 CDs listened to simultaneously - Sweet 75 was Krist Novoselic's side project - Brian gives thumbs down to Eyes Adrift, which had a song about Jonbenet Ramsey - Jay: Totally missed Superchunk's Indoor Living at the time - Different sounds from Cornershop, Portishead - Return to form for Cheap Trick - Brian: Aerosmith's Nine Lives had a few good songs - Brian: Deftones were the most interesting of the metal acts - McCartney's Flaming Pie is one of his last great albums - Jay: Decent but not great albums from Matthew Sweet, Rollins Band, Dino Jr. - GBV's Mag Earwhig was a strong release - BS: Dylan's current comeback started with Time Out of Mind - To a certain generation, pop punk is classic rock - Sleater-Kinney hasn't made a bad album - Jay's #5 will come up later - Brian's #5 - Primus has more of a straight-ahead rock sound on The Brown Album - 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. |
Tue, 14 July 2015
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1997. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - 1997 was first year Brian was aware of popular and cool music - Brian was 15, Jay was 29-30 - Both of us had our first dates with our future wives in '97 - Some quintessential '90s hits: Mmm Bop, Wannabe, I Believe I Can Fly - Jay: Saw a lot of great shows that year - Big year for chick rock - Brian: Spawn soundtrack combined hard rock with trip hop - Industrial/electronic music became prominent - Bowie's 50th birthday concert - Tail end of swing music era - Ska-rock was hot - Rap rock was taking root - Adult alternative radio format was big - Green Day's "Good Riddance" blew up - Brian defends Third Eye Blind - Big deaths: Hutchence, Jeff Buckley, Tim Taylor of Brainiac, Notorious B.I.G., John Denver - Chris Farley died - Rainbow broke up in '97 - 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. |
Tue, 7 July 2015
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the year so far. Show notes: - JK: Nai Harvest's new album is infectious, fun rock - Topshelf Records has some good acts in its lineup - JB: Colleen is a former schoolteacher turned recording artist - JK: Chandos is the band formerly known as Chandeliers - JB's #1: Spectres has a psych-blues sound out of the UK - JK: Viet Cong stirred up dumb controversy because of its name - METZ is back with more kickassery - New Mikal Cronin album expands his sound with orchestral touches - JK's #1: Jeff Rosenstock's sound combines Weezer and Titus Andronicus - JB: Looking forward to new releases from Infinity Girl, Lubec, Johnny Foreigner - JK: Anticipating new material from Savages, Titus Andronicus, Destroyer, Fidlar, Kurt Vile - Not looking forward to new Don Henley album 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. |
Tue, 30 June 2015
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the year so far. Show notes: - JK: Courtney Barnett is blowing up - JB: Ava Luna released an interesting record - Funk, psych sound - JK: Kuroma is a psych pop act fronted by former member of the Whigs, MGMT - JK: My kids love listening to top 40 radio, hearing same songs over and over - Classic rock fans are the same way, except they never get sick of their favorites - JB: Not impressed with new Madonna song - JB: Beeef is a catchy Boston act fronted by music blogger - JK: New Krill record is full of quirk and deep philosophical lyrics - JB wrote terrific review of the album - Clicky Clicky presents great show July 9 at Great Scott: Infinity Girl, Lubec, Guillermo Sexo and Havania Waal - JB: Thin Lips is another in a line of great Philly rock acts - JK: Another excellent release from Thee Oh Sees - JB: Another Philly band, Hopalong, released good album on Saddle Creek - 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. |
Tue, 23 June 2015
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the year so far. Show notes: - Pixies played "surprise show" at TT the Bear's - Cambridge club is closing after 40+ years - A primer on the Boston rock club scene - Free Converse shows were a bummer for those of us who couldn't get tickets - Van Halen talk continues with Eddie slagging DLR and Michael Anthony - JB: Indie bands move beyond the '90s guitar rock sound - Speedy Ortiz explored different textures on new album - Nice work, Insound - JK: Reunited bands with good new releases: Sleater-Kinney, Swervedriver and Faith No More - JB: Pile's new album has a live feel to it - Hard to categorize Pile - 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. |
Tue, 16 June 2015
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss hero worship. Show notes: - Check out Matt's book, The Indestructibles: Breakout - Scared of the stunt guy - Watch out for the quiet ones - Comic book movies and shows tend to be pretty dark - Daredevil series on Netflix has been really good - Matt: Dark Knight Returns series portrayed heroes as old and fat - The problem with vigilantes - Realistic fight scenes - Why the Punisher hasn't worked as a movie hero - Superhero comics target new readers - Rebooting superheroes - Iron Man's alcoholic years - Fast and Furious series is quietly the most diverse
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.
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Tue, 9 June 2015
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss hero worship. Show notes: - Check out Matt's book, The Indestructibles: Breakout - Bronies and furries, oh my - Why would you want to run for office these days? - Small-town politics - Tearing down heroes on Twitter - Avengers press junket goes awry - Celebs stumble on social media - Michael Richards, Mel Gibson go from beloved stars to pariahs - Can you enjoy a Gibson movie now knowing what you know about him? - When politics get in the way of entertainment - 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.
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Tue, 2 June 2015
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss hero worship. Show notes: - Check out Matt's book, The Indestructibles: Breakout - Matt founded Home For Wayward Geeks to rant about superheroes - The problem with binge watching TV - Superhero movies and TV shows are everywhere now - Marvel's got a new movie coming out every few months - Simon Pegg bites the hand that feeds him - Comics are still big business, but the real money is in movies and merch - Do we need superheroes? - Matt: They're not going away until things get better in the real world - We love to tear our heroes down - Nobody likes a winner - Robert Downey Jr. was a mess before he became Iron Man - The Hugo Awards controversy - People get all worked up over casting in comic book movies - Matt doesn't get aniime - 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.
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Tue, 26 May 2015
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1982. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's radio show Unsolicited Mixtape - Jay's #3 - Peter Gabriel's breakthrough - Exploring dark themes - Parallels between Eddie Van Halen and John Romita Jr. - Brian's #2 - Descendents were very relatable to suburban teens - Bass player was way older than rest of band - Big influence on '90s pop punk - Jay's #2 - Prince played 99% of the music on 1999 - Brian's #1 - Bad Brains were unmatched for sheer insanity and awesomeness - Jay's #1 - Mission of Burma's only full-length during their first stint - Broke up a year later, reunited nearly two decades later - Next up: 1997
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. |
Tue, 19 May 2015
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1982. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's radio show Unsolicited Mixtape - Recording industry was warning of the evils of home taping - Jay: Would tape my records so I could listen to them on my Walkman - Streaming is convenient - '82 was a good year for both hard rock and synth pop - Guess the chart toppers - Bubbling under albums - Brian: Prince, Captain Beefheart, James White - Nebraska was an interesting departure for Springsteen - XTC releases another great record - Jay: Iron Maiden, Scorpions, Van Halen - Rush enters their synth phase - Pete Townshend released another solid solo effort - Joe Jackson blew up with "Steppin' Out" - Brian's #5 - Jim Jarmusch's band made a splash on the no wave scene - Jay's #5 - R.E.M.'s hugely influential debut EP - Brian's #4 - The worst Lounge Lizards album was still pretty good - Jay's #4 - Brian's #3 - Not the best Clash album, but a decent effort - 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. |
Tue, 12 May 2015
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1982. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's radio show Unsolicited Mixtape - Brian was born in '82 - "Ebony and Ivory" was the #1 song the week he was born - Strange year for music - The band Fear is better to talk about than listen to - John Belushi's death - SNL was a very different show at first - Jay: Started watching SNL in '81-'82 when Eddie Murphy was blowing up - The brilliance of SCTV - Strange year for Ozzy - First CDs were sold in Japan - Big year for top 40 - Thriller was a monster hit - The Who's "farewell" tour, sponsored by Schlitz - The abrupt ending of "Young Turks" - 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. |
Tue, 5 May 2015
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about whether songs have an expiration date. Show notes: - Critical writing about rock musicians is important and rare - The corruptness of Rolling Stone reviews - Songs that focus on obsolete technology - Songs you like at first but grow to hate - The problem with Red Hot Chili Peppers - Goo Goo Dolls, Soul Asylum started strong but sucked later - JK: U2 was once my favorite band, but not anymore - The Strokes fizzled after a strong debut - JK: Listen to a lot of top 40 thanks to kids - Tidal and Pono - Different relationship with music today - Classic rock stations now include and overplay music from the '90s 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. |
Tue, 28 April 2015
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about whether songs have an expiration date. Show notes: - JK: After a bad breakup, couldn't listen to "Wild Horses" for years - "Suite Judy Blue Eyes" as a torture device - Classic rock and top 40 stations overplay certain songs to the point of no return - Indie rock is only played on college radio for the most part (in Boston, anyway) - Parody songs are often dated, although Weird Al endures - In the '80s and '90s, you could get sick of songs both on radio and video - Playlists were very tight - Pop and rock music steers clear of social issues nowadays - More focused on personal statements - Ted Cruz loves country - UK acts disavow David Cameron's fandom - Looking back not so fondly at the hardcore scene - 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. |
Tue, 21 April 2015
This week, I talk to filmmaker Eric Green about the release of his documentary on the mid-'80s Boston music channel V66. Show notes: - We last spoke in 2012, when Eric was still working on Life on the V - Previously appeared in episodes 231 and 232 - Movie's now out on DVD and in film festivals - In 1985, MTV was still growing and smaller music video shows were on - Two Boston radio veterans wanted V66 to be like a radio station - Audiences who are unfamiliar with V66 have enjoyed the movie - Long post-production process - Cast and crew screening was in early 2014 - Founder John Garabedian quickly realized V66 couldn't just show videos - Needed other programming to keep viewers - Added wrestling, sports and lifestyle shows - Original cut of movie was 2 hours - Connecting to the Boston community - Good response at festivals - Developing other projects - Great time for music documentaries - Eric: It's as much a business story as a music story 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. |
Tue, 14 April 2015
This week, it's my conversation with Bryan Hamill about how music discovery has evolved over the years. Show notes: - Recorded at a noisy pub in Cambridge, Mass. - Check out Bryan's blog The Ash Gray Proclamation - Pre-gaming prior to Swervedriver show - Bryan used to find out about music from radio (WBCN, WFNX) and magazines - The inevitable teenage metal phase - Older brother introduced him to bands like the Neighborhoods and the Replacements - Record reviews and tips from friends were important - Boston rock scene was pivotal, then and now - Worked in radio for several years - Started blog 9 years ago to champion indie rock scene - Scours Soundcloud, Twitter, Spotify for new music - Major labels are less important now - Nobody plays indie rock on radio other than college stations - Bands make money through playing shows and selling merch - Records sales are no longer a factor - Tips from publicists and bands - Bands don't have to compromise because chances of success are slight - As a teen, found music by combing through stacks at record stores - Boston still has great clubs to see new music - Corporatization of radio is bad for everyone - Rock is niche music now - As a genre, rock is in a down cycle 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. |
Tue, 7 April 2015
Part 2 of my conversation with author Greg Renoff about his upcoming book on the early days of Van Halen. Show notes: - Check out Greg's Van Halen Rising page - Book is out Oct. 1 - Getting blurbs, reviews, photo permissions - Publisher ECW Press released Neil Peart's books - Book will feature previously unpublished photos - Backyard parties were how the band grew - New VH tour on the way - Greg: Had an inkling it would happen - Roth's solo career - Greg: Became a VH fan because of "Jump" - Roth stopped focusing on vocals after first few years - New live album's shaky vocals - Modern production techniques - Is there a new studio album on the way? - Next up for Greg: Possible work on unnamed artist's autobiography - VH has a passionate fan base - Afterword talks of the band's legacy
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. |
Tue, 31 March 2015
Part 1 of my conversation with author Greg Renoff about his upcoming book about the early days of Van Halen. Show notes: - Check out Greg's Van Halen Rising page - Book is out Oct. 1 - Greg's a college professor - Fan of arena rock and guitar as a kid - In grad school, wrote his disseration and a book about a traveling circus - Many parallels to a rock tour - Wanted to learn more about VH's beginnings - Interviewed people around the scene starting in 2009 - Eventually talked to Michael Anthony, Ted Templeman, Donn Landee - Started at the bottom and worked up - Dug into the myths around VH's major label signing - Eddie's beginnings on guitar - VH hit a lot of dead ends along the way - The first big tour really made the band - The fine art of choosing opening acts - Getting a book publisher isn't easy - Putting together the book proposal - Finished writing in summer 2014 - 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. |
Wed, 18 March 2015
The latest installment of Driving with Kumar as I discuss the joys and travails of having pets. Show notes: - Driving to Ric Dube's to record for our web series Trust Fund Challenge - We got a puppy almost two years ago - As a kid in Canada, we got a German Shepherd puppy but she got too big for us and was adopted by someone else - Got a smaller dog a year later - Sammy moved with us to Washington state and New Hampshire - We also got a black lab puppy, Caesar - Tough junior prom was followed by bad news the next day - Fighting off marauding pit bulls - Sammy lived for another eight years - I lived with a girlfriend who had a cat - Didn't have any pets for the next 20 years - New puppy, Charlie, lived downstairs for nine months before moving up with us - The Poopsplosion - A Very Charlie Christmas, aka Tree Scares Dog - Getting drenched on walks - Hard to work from home with Charlie here - He sometimes snaps at us if he's cranky
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. |
Tue, 10 March 2015
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1993. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's radio show Unsolicited Mixtape - Brian's #3 - Frank Black's first solo effort was a sign of greatness to come - Some songs were written for the Pixies - Jay's #3 - PJ Harvey's blistering second album - Brian's #2 - A "pretty perfect album" from the Lemonheads - Reality Bites really does bite - Jay's #2 and Brian's #1 - Nirvana followed up Nevermind with a raw, seething album - Easy to read a lot into Cobain's state of mind at the time - Jay's #1 - Jay's intro to the Afghan Whigs - Already differentiating themselves from their peers - Dulli's lyrics were really in your face - Whither Rick McCollum? - Next up: 1982
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. |
Tue, 3 March 2015
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1993. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's radio show Unsolicited Mixtape - Brian saw his first concert in '93, Paul McCartney - Sir Paul dropped f-bombs galore on "Big Boys Bickering" - Billy Joel hasn't released a new album since '93 - Jay: Saw Dino Jr., Mudhoney, Nirvana, Tragically Hip, Living Colour, Urge Overkill - Saw Lollapalooza '93 in Rhode Island with Primus, Alice in Chains, Fishbone - Jay: Became aware that 8-year-olds liked the same music I did - Brian helped out at a record store as an 11-year-old - Flaming Lips showed up on Beverly Hills 90210 - Jay: Saw Buffalo Tom on MTV's 120 Minutes - Matthew Sweet's Altered Beast was underrated and depressing - Brian: Got into Tribe Called Quest years later - Morphine had a completely different sound - Cracker had a quintessential '90s song in "Low" - Radiohead's big rock debut - Brian's #5 - Primus hit #7 on the charts with Pork Soda - Jay's #5 - Urge Overkill got a lot of listens - Brian's #4 - The Breeders broke through in '93 - "Cannonball" was another classic '90s tune - Jay's #4 - Siamese Dream is a massive-sounding album - Billy Corgan went for broke with guitar army sound - 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. |
Tue, 24 February 2015
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1993. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's radio show Unsolicited Mixtape - In'93, Brian was 10, Jay was 25 - First year Brian was interested in pop culture - Jay was into the first wave of grunge - Brian's failsafe plan involving an Adam Sandler tape - SNL40 was strange because of the live audience of celebs - '93 was a big year for R&B and mainstream hip hop - Pharrell's guest verse on "Rump Shaker" - Not much rock on the year-end Hot 100 - Whoomp and Whoot There It Is - Nary a trace of hair metal to be found anywhere - Formed: At the Drive-In, Backstreet Boys, Wilco, Ben Folds Five, Spoon, Korn - Broke up: Echo and the Bunnymen, New Order, Stryper, Television, Triumph, Venom - Puzzling Rock Hall picks - In '93, Prince changed his name to a symbol - Bill Wyman's adventures in wedded bliss - Michael Jackson's legal troubles - Shaq Diesel and Coverdale-Page made appearances - 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. |
Wed, 11 February 2015
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss friendship in the digital age. Show notes: - Check out Matt's new book, The Indestructibles: Breakout - Matt: I will sell out tomorrow - Matt founded Home For Wayward Geeks to rant about superheroes - A lack of institutional rock knowledge - Sitting next to Jordan Knight on a plane - Friends who overshare online about kids, pets, butts - Matt: I miss hanging out with friends - It's work to get people together - Two levels of interaction - Social media ghosts - Online relationships can be as real as physical ones for some - You'll exist online long after your death - The Digital Cleaner
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.
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Tue, 3 February 2015
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss friendship in the digital age. I've also got music from Colleen Green, Radical Dads and Boom Said Thunder. Show notes: - Check out Matt's new book, The Indestructibles: Breakout - Matt stopped working in offices several years ago - Used to being alone all day - Going out with friends tends to slow down as you settle down - Less likely to make the effort to organize group outings - House parties can be fun - Young people like Tinder - Matt used OK Cupid - Photos can be deceiving - Blind dates can be rough - When older parents start texting - Mom Guilt never ends - Matt came back to the U.S. because of family - Jay was ready to move far away after college...and didn't - Matt: Watching Dancing With the Stars is a family tradition - "The Fighter" was like "National Geographic: Boston" - To be continued
Music: Colleen Green - TV Radical Dads - Don't Go Boom Said Thunder - Summer Twin
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The Colleen Green song is on the album I Want to Grow Up on Hardly Art. Download the song for free at Soundcloud. The Radical Dads song is on the album Universal Coolers on Old Flame Records. Download the song for free at Soundcloud. The Boom Said Thunder song is on the EP Summer Twin, which is available for free download at Bandcamp.
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. |
Tue, 27 January 2015
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss friendship in the digital age. I've also got music from Stag, Cult of Youth and Young Adults. Show notes: - Check out Matt's new book, The Indestructibles: Breakout - How friendship has changed over the years - Rarely have long conversations with people anymore - Jay: Have closer relationships with podcast guests than anyone else - Matt: Internet has helped save friendships - Letter writing is a lost art - Email replaced letters for a while - Fewer phone calls with friends - Jay: Still stay in touch with certain groups of friends - Seems like people at work go out less anymore - Friends you've never met - Making friends on the Interwebs - Matt meets people through book publishing world - Reconnecting with people from childhood can be awkward - Losing touch with friends who aren't on social media - Friends from different interests, jobs - To be continued
Music: Stag - She Plus Me Cult of Youth - God's Garden Young Adults - Void
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The Stag song is on the EP Temporary Machines on Pop Maelstrom. Download the song for free at KEXP. The Cult of Youth song is on the album Final Days on Sacred Bones Records. Download the song for free at KEXP. The Young Adults song is available for free download at Bandcamp.
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. |
Tue, 13 January 2015
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1988. I've also got music from Restorations, The Shivas and Nai Harvest. Show notes: - Recorded before Thanksgiving via Skype - Check out Brian's radio show Unsolicited Mixtape - Jay's #4 - The Pursuit of Happiness combined hard rock crunch with girl group harmonies - Brian's #3 - Skipping a day of college to see TMBG in Cleveland - Jay's #3 - Public Enemy scared white people - Brian's #2 - The Lounge Lizards were punk rockers who played weird jazz - Jay's #2 and Brian's #1 - First full-length from the Pixies - Jay's #1 - Jane's Addiction straddled the line between hard rock and alternative - Brian: Able to look back at these years without emotion - Next up: 1993
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
Music: Restorations - Separate Songs The Shivas - Stalking Legs Nai Harvest - Buttercups
The Restorations song is on the album LP3 on SideOne Dummy Records. Download the song for free at KEXP. The Shivas song is on the album You Know What to Do on K Records. Download the song for free at KEXP. The Nai Harvest song is a single available for free download at Bandcamp.
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.
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Tue, 6 January 2015
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1988. I've also got music from Flake Music, Wanted Man and My Goodness. Show notes: - Recorded before Thanksgiving via Skype - Check out Brian's radio show Unsolicited Mixtape - Elton John had another crappy comeback - Bands formed in '88: Bad English, Breeders, GVSB, NIN, Jawbreaker, Mudhoney - Bands that broke up: The Cars, Grim Reaper, Loverboy, Plasmatics - Our honorable mentions - Brian: Talking Heads' Naked featured Johnny Marr on guitar - Jay: First got into Camper Van Beethoven with Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart - Prince had Lovesexy out, taking the place of the Black Album - Cowboy Junkies scored a big hit with cover of "Sweet Jane" - Jay: HMs include Smithereens, Soundgarden, Keith Richards, B.A.D., Run DMC, Waterboys, Sonic Youth, Living Colour, Metallica, Plant, Church - Brian had a substitute teacher who sang the praises of Queensryche - Brian's #5 - CDs led to longer album run times in late '80s - Jay's #5 - Dino Jr. toured behind Bug a few years ago - Brian's #4 - Leonard Cohen discovers synths - Comparable to Destroyer's Kaputt - To be continued
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
Music: Flake Music - Spanway Hits Wanted Man - Pardon Me If I Stare My Goodness - Cold Feet Killer
The Flake Music song is on the reissue of the band's 1997 album When You Land Here, It's Time to Return on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at KEXP. The Wanted Man song is on the band's self-titled EP, which is available for free on Bandcamp. The My Goodness song is on the album Shiver + Shake on Votiv Music. Download the song for free for a limited time at Amazon MP3.
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.
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Tue, 30 December 2014
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1988. I've also got music from JEFF the Brotherhood, Hookworms and Murder Vibes. Show notes: - Recorded before Thanksgiving via Skype - Check out Brian's radio show Unsolicited Mixtape - JK: Hard drive issues - Brian was 6 in '88, Jay was 20 - George Harrison's comeback - Big year for George Michael and pop in general - INXS was huge in '88 - MTV ruled the roost - Videos resurrected a lot of dormant careers - James Brown's car chase - Zeppelin worship - Ill-fated trip to Monsters of Rock festival - John Lydon's iPad app addiction - The strange end of the Clash - Zeppelin reformed to play Atlantic Records' 40th anniversary bash - Where's Mike Johnson? - '70s nostalgia peaked in '88 - GNR broke through in '88 - Power ballads were the big ticket for hard rock bands - BS: Dylan's album had a diverse collection of guests - Tori Amos' pop debut, Y Kant Tori Read - Ted Nugent released If You Can't Lick 'Em, Lick 'Em - David Lee Roth's disappointing followup to Eat 'Em and Smile - BS: VH's OU812 was a lowlight - To be continued
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
Music: JEFF the Brotherhood - What's a Creep Hookworms - Radio Tokyo Murder Vibes - Not Alone Tonight
The JEFF the Brotherhood song is on the band's forthcoming album on Warner Bros. Records. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at the band's website. The Hookworms song is on the album The Hum on Weird World Record Co./Domino. Download the song for free at KEXP. The Murder Vibes song is on the band's self-titled, self-released album. The song is available for free download at KEXP.
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.
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Tue, 23 December 2014
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss the year in music. I've also got music from Protomartyr, The Afghan Whigs and Johnny Foreigner. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ - JB's #5 - Perfect Pussy marks the return of political punk - JK's #5 - Protomartyr came out of nowhere - An unlikely combo - JB's #4 - Krill's EP packs a punch - Jonah Furman is a serious thinker - Boston rock scene has been tremendous the last few years - R.I.P., Soccer Mom, Young Adults, The Hush Now - JK's #4 - Ty Segall was less prolific but released an incredible album - JB's #3 - Cookies is latest side project from Mobius Band's Ben Sterling - JK's #3 - Yet another great album from Sloan - Each member contributes an album side - JB's #2 - Lubec released a strong album under the radar - JK's #2 - First Afghan Whigs album in 16 years - Greg Dulli keeps delivering at a high level - JB's #1 - Johnny Foreigner digs deep - JK's #1 - Parquet Courts released two albums in 2014 - Harking back to CBGB-era punk sounds - JB: Looking forward to new records from Pile, Chandos, Krill, Infinity Girl, Winter - JK: Sleater-Kinney, Titus Andronicus, Faith No More will have new releases in 2015
Music: Protomartyr - Scum, Rise! The Afghan Whigs - Matamoros Johnny Foreigner - Le Sigh
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The Protomartyr song is on the album Under Color of Official Right on Hardly Art. Download the song for free at Stereogum.
The Afghan Whigs song is on the album Do to the Beast on Sub Pop. Download the song for free from Soundcloud. The Johnny Foreigner song is on the album You Can Do Better on Alcopop. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.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.
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Tue, 16 December 2014
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss the year in music. I've also got music from Hallelujah the Hills, Soccer Mom and Ex Hex. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ - Dog talk - Honorable mentions - JK: New Pornographers, Spoon are consistently excellent - Bob Mould, Stephen Malkmus, War on Drugs - Mark Kozelek is having fun trolling everybody - Good EPs from Krill and Speedy Ortiz - Run the Jewels released another good album - Ryan Adams released a rockin' singles series EP - JB: High grades for Nai Harvest, White Laces, Nothing, Wrong Shapes, Sneeze, Burning Alms, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Room Runner - JK: Check out the free Exploding in Sound sampler on Bandcamp - JB: New Two Inch Astronaut album is great - JB's #10 - Radiator Hospital has been prolific and good - JK's #10 - Hallelujah the Hills with a quality release - JB's #9 and JK's #7 - The first Soccer Mom album is also their last - JK's #9 - Unlikely release from Gord Downie and the Sadies - JB's #8 - Literature is yet another good band on Slumberland - Spotify usage habits - JK's #8 - Comeback album for Death From Above 1979 has tons of great riffs - JB's #7 - Ava Luna brings interesting approach to funk and punk - JB's #6 - She Sir's latest was years in the making - JK's #6 - Mary Timony's latest project harks back to '70s NYC punk scene - Next week: Our top 5 albums
Music: Hallelujah the Hills - Pick Up an Old Phone Soccer Mom - Orejas Ex Hex - Don't Wanna Lose Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The Hallelujah the Hills song is on the album Have You Ever Done Something Evil? on Discrete Pageantry. Download the song for free from Stereogum. The Soccer Mom song is on the band's self-titled album on 100m Records. Download the song for free from Soundcloud. The Ex Hex song is on the album Rips on Merge Records. Download the song and album for free at KEXP.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.
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Tue, 9 December 2014
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss the year in music. I've also got music from Bob Mould, Dum Dum Girls and Radiator Hospital. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ - Still searching for a beer sponsor - An annual tradition - JB: Post-device lifestyle - Streaming options abound - JK: Still use the iTunes player - Nobody's buying music anymore - Vinyl found a niche with hipsters/indie rock fans - Another big year for pop - Taylor Swift had the only platinum album of 2014 - The spirit of radio is on the ropes - More music out there than ever - Noise for Toys benefit at Great Scott, 12/16 - Missed the Replacements show in Boston - JK: Saw lots of good live shows in 2014 - Parquet Courts, Protomartyr, Ty Segall, Sloan, GBV, Afghan Whigs, Caspian - JB: Hoping for a Ride show in Boston next year - Next week: Our favorite music of the year
Music: Bob Mould - Hey Mr. Grey Dum Dum Girls - Under These Hands Radiator Hospital - Five & Dime
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The Bob Mould song is on the album Beauty & Ruin on Merge Records. Download the song for free from KEXP. The Dum Dum Girls song is on the album Too True on Sub Pop. Download the song for free from Soundcloud. The Radiator Hospital song is on the album Torch Song. Download the song and album for free at Bandcamp.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.
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Tue, 2 December 2014
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss media-driven hysteria. I've also got music from The Sheila Divine, Meatbodies and Interpol. Show notes: - Check out Matt's new book, The Indestructibles: Breakout - What's the next big media story? - Charlie keeps butting in - It's amazing what gets people upset - Reality TV plays into outrage culture - Internet comments reach new depths - Easy to be cynical about politics - Would you ever run for office? - Vote Beelzebub - We were inundated with New Hampshire political ads for two months - The importance of reading cue cards on SNL - Chris Rock caught some heat for telling jokes about Boston Marathon - Post 9-11, humor became a touchy subject - Everybody's waiting to be offended - Know your audience, like the Duck Dynasty guys - The risk of alienating your audience - We never really fix anything
Music: The Sheila Divine - Watch Out for Us Meatbodies - Mountain Interpol - What is What
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The Sheila Divine song is available for free download at Bandcamp. The Meatbodies song is on the album Meatbodies on In the Red Recordings. Download the song for free at KEXP. The Interpol song is a B-side from the album El Pintor on Matador Records. Download the song for free by entering the words "Everything is Wrong" on the band's website. 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. |
Tue, 25 November 2014
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss media-driven hysteria. I've also got music from King Tuff, Greylag and Dream Police. Show notes: - Check out Matt's new book, The Indestructibles: Breakout - Reading newspapers was once a thing - Boston was a strong two newspaper town - The Herald used to delight in tweaking the Globe - Election ads go for the blue collar vote - "Like hugging a Chicken McNugget" - When your new boss is an uninspirational leader - Matt: The end user is the product - Pop-up ads are the worst - People don't want to hear bad news - It's entirely possible to avoid anything you disagree with - Nobody wants to find middle ground - News networks try to ratchet up the hysteria - Fragmented workplaces - Friends who aren't on social media are easily forgotten - Jay: I don't talk to anyone on the phone anymore -Another Charlie interruption - To be continued
Music: King Tuff - Eyes of the Muse Greylag - Yours to Shake Dream Police - Hypnotized
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The King Tuff song is on the album Black Moon Spell on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at KEXP. The Greylag song is on the album Greylag on Dead Oceans. Download the song for free at KEXP. The Dream Police song is on the album Hypnotized on Sacred Bones Records. Download the song for free at KEXP. 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. |
Tue, 18 November 2014
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss media-driven hysteria. I've also got music from Dan Mangan and Blacksmith, GravelRoad and Wimps. Show notes: - Jay and Matt, bitchin' and drinking beer - Enough with the pumpkin beer - We've both worked in the media - There's always a hot topic to get upset about - Ebola's got everybody worked up - It's been around for 40 years, but finally made it here - Ebola response became a political football - Before that, it was terrorism - John Grisham made a controversial comment, which was forgotten after ISIS and Ebola dominated headlines - CNN, Fox News, MSNBC amp up the stupid - Twitter is the go-to source for news these days - Matt was at Rhode Island ComiCon - People love to be outraged - Angry tweet from a low-level celeb can cause a stir - Mixing up your social media accounts - The end user is the product -Dealing with clickbait - To be continued
Music: Dan Mangan + Blacksmith - Vessel GravelRoad - Green Grass Wimps - Stop Having Fun
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The Dan Mangan + Blacksmith song is on the album Club Meds on Arts and Crafts. Download the song for free at KEXP. The GravelRoad song is on the album El Scuerpo on Knick Knack. Download the song for free at KEXP. The Wimps song is on the album Repeat on End of Times Records. Download the album for free at Gimme Tinnitus. 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. |
Tue, 11 November 2014
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we look at the career of '70s pop star Leo Sayer. I've also got music from Menace Beach, Thee Oh Sees and The Fresh & Onlys. Show notes: - Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ - Check out our new web series Trust Fund Challenge - In '77, Sayer hit it big with "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" - Jumped on disco bandwagon - Hit #1 and was on charts for 17 weeks - Had a song in top 40 from Nov. '76 to Feb. '78 - "When I Need You" also hit #1 - Ric: Skate park memories - Smoothed out all the edges - We listened to a lot of kind of stuff at college newspaper - By the mid-80s, Sayer was a distant memory - "More Than I Can Say" was originally written by guys from The Crickets - Half country, half Fleetwood Mac - Sayer started doing covers in the '80s - Ric loves Anzac biscuits from Australia - "Sheetwood Mac" - Sayer had some UK hits in the '80s - Ric talks up the post - What happened to Beck? - An Australian artist remixed "Thunder in My Heart" in 2006 and it went to #1 there - Sayer did Beatles covers for All This and World War II, a pseudo-documentary that bombed - Voiced Dan the Forest Ranger in Canadian cartoon called The Raccoons on Ice
Music: Menace Beach - Fortune Teller Thee Oh Sees - I Was Denied The Fresh & Onlys - Fascinated
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The Menace Beach song is on the album Ratworld on Memphis Industries. Download the song for free at KEXP. The song from Thee Oh Sees is on the album Warm Slime on In the Red. Download the song for free at Epitonic. The Fresh & Onlys song is on the album Play It Strange on In the Red. Download the album for free at Epitonic. 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. |
Tue, 4 November 2014
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we look at the career of '70s pop star Leo Sayer. I've also got music from Nude Beach, The Vaselines and Happy You. Show notes: - Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ - Check out our new web series Trust Fund Challenge - Just watched the 1969 grindhouse flick The Babysitter - Rated X then, pretty tame by today's standards - Our society's pruder in some ways, more open in others - Leo Sayer was discovered by David Courtney and Adam Faith - Ric: Sayer was less threatening than Elton John or Barry Manilow - Adam Faith was a British teen idol in early '60s - Sayer and Faith had a falling out over money - Sayer struck out at first - Roger Daltrey recorded a Sayer song - Sayer's version of "Giving It All Away" sounds like Elton - Some weird album covers - Dube: Sayer looked like a mime who sings - British guys who sound American and vice versa - To be continued
Music: Nude Beach - For You The Vaselines - Last Half Hour Happy You - Chummy
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The Nude Beach song is on the album 77 on Don Giovanni Records. Download the song for free for a limited time at Amazon MP3. The Vaselines song is on the album V for Vaselines on Rosary Music. Download the song for free at KEXP. The Happy You song is on the self-released album Giggle. Download the album for free (in exchange for your email address) at Bandcamp. 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. |
Tue, 28 October 2014
Part 2 of the latest installment of Driving with Kumar as I share some thoughts while driving to and from my 25th college reunion. I've also got music from Ty Segall, Wormburner and The Pharmacy. Show notes: - No regrets about college years - Could have graduated a semester early, but chose to stay for full year - Got a job before I graduated - Worked first few months at newspaper while also working weekends at supermarket - Moved to Massachusetts after a few months - Lived in 10 different places in a decade - One apartment I shared with three women; a year later, it was all guys - Nearly got married in mid-20s - Went to Homecoming in '93 and passed on a party to go home and watch World Series - Toronto won Series on Joe Carter HR that night - Went up to UNH a lot the first few years after college - On drive home - Lots of drunken kids when I arrived at 2:30 - Wandered around through a mass of partying young people - Eventually found class of '89 tent and my old roommate - Saw some folks I hadn't seen in many years - Only saw a little of the football game - Overwhelming feeling of oldness, but had fun
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
Music: Ty Segall - Feel Wormburner - Somewhere Else to Be The Pharmacy - Masten Lake Lagoon
The Ty Segall song is on the album Manipulator on Drag City. Download the song for free at KEXP. The Wormburner song is on the album Pleasant Living in Planned Communities on Dive Records. Download the song for free at KEXP. The Pharmacy song is on the album Spells on Old Flame Records. Download the song for free at KEXP.
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.
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Tue, 21 October 2014
Part 1 of the latest installment of Driving with Kumar as I share some thoughts while driving to my 25th college reunion. I've also got music from Sleater-Kinney, Coaches and The Cherry Wave. Show notes: - Coached in a youth soccer tournament before driving up to University of New Hampshire - Haven't gone to a college reunion before - Still see many friends from college on occasion - Nearly flunked out freshman year - Switched from engineering to journalism and turned it around - Worked for newspaper for six years after college - Journalism majors use theirs skill in different ways now - College was my first time away from parental discipline - Real partying began when grades improved - Did not drink in high school - First weekend in college, that changed - Freshman year roommate had a tough time - Sophomore year roomie was super busy with activities - Moved off campus junior year - Unlucky in love - Always hung out with both nerds and jocks - Ate a lot of junk food - To be continued
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
Music: Sleater-Kinney - Bury Our Friends Coaches - amisarewaswere The Cherry Wave - Whitey
The Sleater-Kinney song is on the forthcoming album No Cities to Love on Sub Pop. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at Stereogum. The Coaches song is available for free download at Bandcamp. The Cherry Wave song is on the forthcoming album Avalancher and available for free download at Bandcamp.
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.
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Tue, 14 October 2014
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1996. I've also got music from Ex Hex, Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas, and Mini Dresses. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's new radio show Unsolicited Mixtape - Brian's #5 - Olivia Tremor Control made Brian's favorite Elephant 6 album - Jay's #5 and Brian's #4 - Frank Black had a tough task following up Teenager of the Year - Moved to a rawer sound - In the middle of an excellent stretch of solo music - Jay's #4 - Weezer's underrated (at the time) masterpiece - Brian's #3 - Ween goes to Nashville - Serious musicianship behind silly songs - Jay's #3 - Afghan Whigs' Black Love was a cinematic concept album - Serious Quadrophenia feel on the ballads - Brian's #2 - Fountains of Wayne's debut was also underrated - Jay's #2 - Sloan bounced back from short-lived breakup to put together a brilliant album - Trading a Ween mix for a Sloan mix - Brian's #1 - Pinkerton was the first album Brian liked and his friends didn't - Serious dropoff in quality since then - Jay's #1 - Beck followed up Mellow Gold with an amazing album - Brian: Midnite Vultures is the best Prince album of the '90s - Next up: 1988
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
Music: Ex Hex - Don't Wanna Lose Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas - Caught Up Mini Dresses - In Two
The Ex Hex song is on the album Rips on Merge Records. Download the song for free for a limited time at KEXP. The Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas song is on the album Secret Evil on Instant Records. Download the song for free at KEXP. The Mini Dresses song is on the EP Three and available for free download at Bandcamp.
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.
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Tue, 7 October 2014
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1996. I've also got music from King Tuff, Purling Hiss and Young Adults. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - Brian: Beck's Odelay was just outside my top 5 - New album's okay, but not great - Brian: Cake, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Wrens' Secaucus - The endless wait for the new Wrens album - Brian was supposed to play piano with the Wrens but got sick - Sticking up for Stone Temple Pilots' album - Jay: STP were equal opportunity ripoff artists - The '90s brought new wave of festivals: Lolla, Gathering of the Vibes, HORDE, Ozzfest - Jay: No desire to go to Bonnaroo or Coachella - Nothing better than seeing a band in a club - Jay: Dug albums from D Generation, Sebadoh, Luscious Jackson, Johnny Cash, Chixdiggit, Brainiac, GBV, Maxwell, Westerberg - Singing the praises of Live at Drew's - Brian: Belle and Sebastian, Bill Frisell - Frisell did the soundtrack to a Far Side cartoon - To be continued
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
Music: King Tuff - Headbanger Purling Hiss - Forcefield of Solitude Young Adults - Old Kids
The King Tuff song is on the album Black Moon Spell on Sub Pop. Download the song for free for a limited time at Amazon MP3. The Purling Hiss song is on the album Weirdon on Drag City. Download the song for free at KEXP. The Young Adults song is available for free download at Bandcamp.
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.
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Tue, 30 September 2014
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1996. I've also got music from Whirr, Withered Hand and Super Medusa. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - In '96, Jay was 28 going on 29 - Brian: 13 going on 14 - Grunge was fading, pop was back in a big way - Two versions of "The Macarena" were on top 100 singles chart - Brian: At the time, didn't feel like a pop year - Bush made an album with Steve Albini - Lots of unsuccessful followups: Ugly Kid Joe, Kriss Kross - Metallica's Load lived down to its name - Strange year for Van Halen: Twister soundtrack, followed by greatest hits album with two DLR songs - VH went through three singers in a matter of months - Michael Anthony, Everyman - We deconstructed VH III in eps 315 and 316 - Nickelback's first album came out in '96 - KISS reunited with original lineup - Hip hop went mainstream - New acts on the rise, like The Roots, Outkast, Wu Tang Clan - Roots of nu metal - The death of rock criticism with David Fricke in Rolling Stone giving U2's new album a five-star rating - Rolling Stone typically hands out good reviews to old-school artists like U2, Dylan, Stones - Last time U2 did anything interesting was 1997's Pop - The U2 backlash is fierce - To be continued
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
Music: Whirr - Mumble Withered Hand - Black Tambourine Super Medusa - Doomed Boy
The Whirr song is on the album Sway on Graveface Records. Download the song for free for a limited time at Amazon MP3. The Withered Hand song is on the album New Gods on Slumberland Records. Download the song for free as part of the Slumberland Records 25th Anniversary Sampler on Amazon MP3. The Super Medusa song is on the EP of the same name, which is available for free download at Bandcamp.
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.
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Tue, 23 September 2014
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion about society's obsession with celebrity. I've also got music from SW/MM/NG, Gold-Bears and Weekend. Show notes: - The Brits love them some Arctic Monkeys - Matt learns how to do Twitter - Getting followed by dead authors and weirdos - Desperate for celeb RTs - Positive Twitter interactions - Jay: Old friend has been writing about celebrities for a few decades now - PR jobs require a different mindset - Meeting your heroes can be problematic - Searching for Jagger - In the presence of Howard - Rock star deaths - Dying young does wonders for an artist's legacy - Brando's death isn't well remembered...by Matt, anyway - How dumb would we be if we had money?
Music: SW/MM/NG - Some Dreams Come True Gold-Bears - From Tallahassee to Gainesville Weekend - Hazel
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The SW/MM/NG song is on the album Feel Not Bad on Old Flame Records. Download the song for free from KEXP. The Gold-Bears song is on the album Dalliance on Slumberland Records. Download the song for free as part of the Slumberland Records 25th Anniversary Sampler on Amazon MP3. The Weekend song is on the EP Red on Slumberland Records. 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. |
Tue, 16 September 2014
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion about society's obsession with celebrity. I've also got music from Creepers, Naomi Punk and Hooray for Earth. Show notes: - Scandal rags are still popular - Celebs and social media can lead to trouble - Now everyone's got a camera to catch your every mistake - Michael Richards was beloved until he screwed up - People will turn on celebs in an instant - The strange life of Tom Cruise, Entertainment Robot - Doing interview junkets must be mind-numbing - Supreme Court nominee was rejected in the '80s because of pot smoking - The media mastery of Bill Clinton - Public perception matters - Asking the wrong question - Jay: Meeting Stephen Colbert was pretty cool - Jay: Sat next to Jordan Knight of New Kids on the Block on a flight once - People will stand for hours just to get shown on The Today Show - Suing Naked Dating reality show for...being naked - To be continued
Music: Creepers - Stuck Naomi Punk - Television Man Hooray for Earth - Airs
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The Creepers song is on the album Lush from the All Black Recording Company. Download the song for free from Stereogum. The Naomi Punk song is on the album Television Man on Captured Tracks. Download the song for free from KEXP. The Hooray for Earth song is on the album Racy on Dovecote Records. Download the song for free from KEXP. 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. |
Tue, 9 September 2014
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion about society's obsession with celebrity. I've also got music from The Wytches, Aan and Little Racer. Show notes: - Celebrity deaths - Jay: Robin Williams' death hit me hard - We don't have royalty so celebs fill that role - Getting rich doesn't necessarily equal happiness - Americans are surprisingly fascinated by the British royal family - Dealing with fans could get annoying after a while - Matt was at Boston ComiCon hyping his book - Check out his YA superhero novel The Indestructibles - Saw some minor celebs like Jason Momoa and John Barrowman - What do you say to an actor or musician you admire? - Matt met Susan Sarandon while working at Museum of Science - Jay: Met my favorite hockey player and I was a dork - Many movies filmed around here and people flock to watch - People will do anything to get onscreen - Worked with a guy who was on a short-lived reality show - Matt went to college with actor Charlie Day - The lameness of celeb interviews during sports telecasts - To be continued
Music: The Wytches - Digsaw Aan - Spiritual Provisions Little Racer - Dancing
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The Wytches song is on the album Annabel Dream Reader on Partisan Records. Download the song for free from KEXP. The Aan song is on the album Amor Ad Nauseum on Party Damage Records. Download the song for free from KEXP. The Little Racer song is on the EP Modern Accent on PaperCup Music. Download the song for free from KEXP. 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. |
Tue, 2 September 2014
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we examine the back story of '70s hitmakers Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds. I've also got music from Owl John and Benjamin Booker. Show notes: - Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ - Check out our new web series Trust Fund Challenge - Playboy Records had Barbi Benton signed to a deal - RD: Hef likes "female impersonator impersonators" - Benton guested on many '70s TV shows like Fantasy Island and The Love Boat - She released five albums that hit the country charts - Worked on Playboy After Dark - Show had many great musical guests - Playboy Records made HJFR keep Reynolds in the name after he left - HJFR had their biggest hit in '75 with "Fallin' in Love" - Drake sampled it and was sued by Playboy Enterprises - Poor Dennison - Singer Dan Hamilton died in '94 of Cushing's Syndrome - Three subsequent singles bombed - Album only went to #82, even with a #1 hit - Bad distro - Band probably didn't make much money from sales - MST3K had a good HJFR reference - The King's last hit
Music: Owl John - Red Hand Benjamin Booker - Violent Shiver
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The Owl John song is on its self-titled album on Canvasback/Atlantic. Download the song for free at KEXP. The Benjamin Booker song is on his self-titled album on ATO Records. Download the song for free at KEXP. 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. |
Tue, 19 August 2014
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we examine the back story of '70s hitmakers Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds. I've also got music from The Hush Now and Kingdom of the Holy Sun. Show notes: - Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ - Check out our new web series Trust Fund Challenge - The adventures of Steve Austin Astronaut - Hamilton, Joe Frank and Reynolds were synonymous with '70s AM pop - "Don't Pull Your Love" was their first big hit in '71 - Singer does an Elvis impression - Song written by Lambert and Potter, who had hits with many artists - Guys from HJFR were in the T-Bones, who had a hit in '60s with "No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach Is In)" - An "offshoot" of the Ventures, an instrumental band that made tons of records covering hits - Session musicians made the albums - T-Bones were put together to tour and later they formed HJFR - The Wrecking Crew was a famous session band that cranked out hits - Reynolds left HJFR in '72 - Second HJFR album stiffed - Ric: A bunch of Ventures albums probably don't have the Ventures on them - HJFR replaced Reynolds but contract with Playboy Records required them to keep old name - Many bands are named after the musicians - To be continued
Music: The Hush Now - Arthur Come On, Really You Can't Be Serious Kingdom of the Holy Sun - Thirteen Eyes Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The Hush Now song is on the forthcoming album Sparkle Drive. Download the song for free at Soundcloud. The Kingdom of the Holy Sun song is on the self-released EP Thirteen Eyes. Download the song for free at KEXP. 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. |
Tue, 12 August 2014
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1989. I've also got music from Ty Segall, Spoon and J. Mascis. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - Jay's #3 - Neil Young rebounds from a long, strange decade - Led to a fruitful stretch of albums - Jay's #2 - Bob Mould moves beyond Husker Du - Inspired new direction and sound - Our picks for #1 are the same - Pixies at their peak - Doolittle covers all facets of the band's sound - Brian saw them several times when they toured behind Doolittle in the last decade - Brian: Latest live incarnation of Pixies is more energized - Bad choice for first single with "Bagboy" - Frank Black was prolific, but he can't keep up with Bob Pollard - Next up: 1996 - Popular music was shifting again
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
Music: Ty Segall - Susie Thumb Spoon - Rent I Pay J. Mascis - Every Morning
The Ty Segall song is on the album Manipulator on Drag City Records. Download the song for free at KEXP. The Spoon song is on the album They Want My Soul on Loma Vista Recordings. Download the song for free at KEXP. The J. Mascis song is on the album Tied to a Star on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at KEXP.
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.
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Tue, 29 July 2014
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1989. I've also got music from Stickers, Cretin Girls and Ex-Cult. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - Brian: Pump was the best post-reunion Aerosmith album - Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever is decent - Jay's bubbling under picks: The Cure, Smithereens, Tragically Hip, Lou Reed, XTC, Michael Penn, Cult, Faith No More - Brian's bubbling under picks: Fugazi, Tin Machine, CVB, Elvis Costello, Dylan - The strange career of Dave Navarro - Jay: Good releases from Stone Roses, Hoodoo Gurus, Big Audio Dynamite - Brian: Joe Strummer took a long time to release a good post-Clash album - Brian's #5 - McCartney's comeback album - Jay's #5 and Brian's #4 - Nirvana's debut was under the radar - Jay's #4 and Brian's #2 - Paul's Boutique was a major shift for Beasties - Brian recommends the Kathleen Hanna doc, The Punk Singer - Brian's #3 - De La Soul brought a different feel to hip hop - To be continued
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
Music: Stickers - Outlet Cretin Girls - Walk the City Ex-Cult - Mister Fantasy
The Stickers song is on the album Swollen on End of Time Records. Download the song for free at Gimme Tinnitus. The Cretin Girls song is on the band's self-titled EP on Soft Science Records. Download the song for free from Gimme Tinnitus. The Ex-Cult song is on the 7-inch Mister Fantasy on Goner Records. Download the song for free from Gimme Tinnitus.
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.
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Tue, 29 July 2014
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1989. I've also got music from Stickers, Cretin Girls and Ex-Cult. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - Brian: Pump was the best post-reunion Aerosmith album - Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever is decent - Jay's bubbling under picks: The Cure, Smithereens, Tragically Hip, Lou Reed, XTC, Michael Penn, Cult, Faith No More - Brian's bubbling under picks: Fugazi, Tin Machine, CVB, Elvis Costello, Dylan - The strange career of Dave Navarro - Jay: Good releases from Stone Roses, Hoodoo Gurus, Big Audio Dynamite - Brian: Joe Strummer took a long time to release a good post-Clash album - Brian's #5 - McCartney's comeback album - Jay's #5 and Brian's #4 - Nirvana's debut was under the radar - Jay's #4 and Brian's #2 - Paul's Boutique was a major shift for Beasties - Brian recommends the Kathleen Hanna doc, The Punk Singer - Brian's #3 - De La Soul brought a different feel to hip hop - To be continued
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
Music: Stickers - Outlet Cretin Girls - Walk the City Ex-Cult - Mister Fantasy
The Stickers song is on the album Swollen on End of Time Records. Download the song for free at Gimme Tinnitus. The Cretin Girls song is on the band's self-titled EP on Soft Science Records. Download the song for free from Gimme Tinnitus. The Ex-Cult song is on the 7-inch Mister Fantasy on Goner Records. Download the song for free from Gimme Tinnitus.
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.
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Wed, 23 July 2014
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1989. I've also got music from Radiator Hospital, Sex Hands and Priests. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - In 1989, Brian was 7 and Jay graduated from college - Jay: Never saw the Indiana Jones sequels - Brian: A lot of records I liked, few that I loved - Jay: Seeds of Seattle sound came out in '89--Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Screaming Trees with crucial early albums - Madchester scene: Stone Roses, Happy Mondays - Jay: Started seeing club shows in Boston 'burbs - Great local scene now: Speedy Ortiz, Krill, Pile, Soccer Mom - Waiting for The Best Show to return - In '89, alt-rock was coming into its own - R.E.M., B-52's both hit it big - Brian: Mid-'90s indie rock bands formed, as did swing acts - First Green Day EP came out - Classic rock tours started making big bucks: McCartney, Ringo, Stones, Who - Tin Machine marked Bowie's return to rock - Kids seem to go through a classic rock phase - Thank goodness for college radio - Lots of pop detritus in '89: Milli Vanilli, Paula Abdul, Debbie Gibson - The power ballad was the last hurrah for hair metal bands - Ugh: Beach Boys' Still Cruisin' - Brian: Ramones' Brain Drain was disappointing - Strange collection of Top 100 singles - To be continued
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
Music: Radiator Hospital - Five & Dime Sex Hands - Pivot Priests - New
The Radiator Hospital song is on the album Torch Song. Download the song and album for free at Bandcamp. The Sex Hands song is on the album Pleh on Faux Discx and Negative Space. Download the song for free from Gimme Tinnitus. The Priests song is on the EP Bodies and Control and Power and Money on Don Giovanni Records. Download the song for free from Fluxblog.
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.
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Tue, 15 July 2014
This week, it's an episode of Driving With Kumar as guests Dave Olson and Phil Stacey join me to discuss whether the album is an endangered species. I've also got music from Speedy Ortiz, Dead Stars and Parquet Courts. Show notes: - Recorded on the way to Fenway Park - A BBC radio exec proclaimed the album is about to be extinct - "Playlists are the future" - Phil: Listen to a lot of albums by new or unfamiliar artists on Spotify - Much different listening experience when we were kids - Dave: Worked in restaurants as a kid and brought mix tapes to listen to - Albums brought more lasting satisfaction - Phil: Song order is interesting - Sometimes an album only has 1 or 2 good songs - Deep cuts - Hunting for B-sides - Digging through back catalog - The vagaries of bubblegum pop - Kids don't listen to albums as much anymore - Phil likes the jam bands - Commercial radio is in rough shape - Music sales are a fraction of what they once were 20+ years ago - The power of licensed music in movies and TV - MTV used to be a huge music influencer - The vinyl resurgence - Mixes or playlists can have interesting choices - Offending people with mixtape selections
Music: Speedy Ortiz - Bigger Party Dead Stars - Wasted Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The Speedy Ortiz song is part of the Adult Swim Singles Series. Download the song for free at Adult Swim. The Dead Stars song is on the album Slumber on Old Flame Records. Download the song for free at KEXP. 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.
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Tue, 8 July 2014
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the first half of the year. I've also got music from Johnny Foreigner, Soccer Mom and Protomartyr. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ - JB: Ava Luna does not fake the funk - JK: Johnny Foreigner comes back with another excellent album - They also dropped a surprise live album recently - JB: Soccer Mom's full-length debut did not disappoint - JK: Protomartyr has an interesting back story - JB: Engineer Jeff Zeigler has worked on most great recent albums out of Philly - Nothing's Guilty of Everything is exceedingly loud but pretty - Wear earplugs, kids - JK: Parquet Courts continues to refine their sound - The Strokes were another band who came out to much acclaim - Critical comparisons are often ill-informed - JB: Perfect Pussy is female-fronted hardcore - JK: Stephen Malkmus has had an interesting and rewarding solo career - JK: Bob Mould keeps the rock vibe going - JK: Afghan Whigs release first album in 16 years, don't miss a beat - New Spoon album coming out - JB: Looking forward to new records from Lubec, White Laces, Golden Gurls, Hush Now - JK: New Mascis and Titus Andronicus due out soon - Plenty of great stuff out there
Music: Johnny Foreigner - Le Sigh Soccer Mom - Orejas Protomartyr - Come & See
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The Johnny Foreigner song is on the album You Can Do Better on Alcopop. Download the song for free at Soundcloud. The Soccer Mom song is on the band's self-titled album 100m Records. Download the song for free at Soundcloud. 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.
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Tue, 1 July 2014
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the first half of the year. I've also got music from Hallelujah the Hills, She Sir and The Collected Fictions. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ - A farewell to Moviefone - JB: Forced to listen to lite rock radio at work - Frozen vs. High School Musical - Rock stations play the same old catalog stuff - Regional radio leanings - JK's radio show Stuck In Thee Garage is almost a year old - The debut of Clicky Clicky Live - JB's honorable mentions: New Mendicants, Steiner, The Collected Fictions, The Wrong Shapes - Ovlov's breakup/reunion - JK's honorable mentions: Hallelujah the Hills, The Hold Steady, Krill, Speedy Ortiz, Mastodon - JB: La Ligas Menores makes good indie pop out of Argentina - JK: The War on Drugs' Lost in the Dream has an '80s feel - JB: Krill has best song imagining oneself as poop - JK: F'd Up combines gruff vocals with intricate arrangements - JB: She Sir is a two-piece from Austin that takes its time - JK: New Cloud Nothings record continues a winning formula - JB: Speedy Ortiz continues to impress - Touring non-stop despite loss of guitarist - JK: Gord Downie and the Sadies recorded album over several years - Punk-influenced sound from roots rock artists - To be continued Music: Hallelujah the Hills - Pick Up an Old Phone She Sir - Condensedindents The Collected Fictions - Talk
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The Hallelujah the Hills song is on the album Have You Ever Done Something Evil? on Discrete Pageantry. Download the song for free at Stereogum. The She Sir song is on the album Go Guitars on Shelflife Records. Download the song for free at Largehearted Boy. The song by The Collected Fictions is on the band's self-titled EP. Download the EP for free (in exchange for your email address) at Bandcamp.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.
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Tue, 24 June 2014
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Lewandowski as we discuss working, childhood homes and corporal punishment. I've also got music from The Afghan Whigs, Lubec and Dum Dum Girls. Show notes: - Brian: Writing for a prepper show called America Unplugged - Getting your news from Pat Robertson - Visiting your childhood home - Jay: Toronto suburb I once lived in tripled in size within a few years - Brian hasn't been back to Buffalo since '93 - Corporal punishment was once acceptable - Brian: Worst punishment was kneeling - Don't eat your vegetables, kids - Louis CK is doing his own thing - Brian saw Eels (without Steve Perry) - Unconventional frontmen - Jay: Never had to see the Wiggles - Dan Zanes' children's music is pretty listenable - Brian liked Raffi - The Creationism Museum looks fun - Preparing for the End Times - Great ideas come in unlikely places - Dream journals - Brian has similar dreams over and over - We worked out some issues
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
Music: The Afghan Whigs - Matamoros Lubec - Almost Vince Dum Dum Girls - Under These Hands
The Afghan Whigs song is on the album Do to the Beast on Sub Pop. Download the song for free from Soundcloud. The Lubec song is on the forthcoming album The Thrall. Download the song for free from Bandcamp. The Dum Dum Girls song is on the album Too True on Sub Pop. Download the song for free from Soundcloud.
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.
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Tue, 17 June 2014
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Lewandowski as we discuss writing for reality TV, early jobs and freelancing. I've also got music from The Vaselines, Jawbreaker Reunion and Kittyhawk. Show notes: - Brian's doing freelance work for The Sportsman's Channel - "Inhumane interest stories" - Worked on a Sarah Palin-hosted show - Writing ads for a new Penn Gillette show - Jay: Never seen It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia - Tales of Brother Dave, who once had a following - Supermarket jobs - Working on the night crew - Brian's brush with a suicidal/homicidal security guard - Bill Murray's showing up in random places - When you're younger, you tend to bond more closely with co-workers - Brian's getting along with himself these days - Working from home - Brian took a break from comedy but is now writing jokes again - Back up your online work - To be continued
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
Music: The Vaselines - One Lost Year Jawbreaker Reunion - E.M.O. Kittyhawk - The Daily Dodger
The Vaselines song is on the album V for Vaselines on Rosary Music. Download the song for free from Soundcloud. The Jawbreaker Reunion song is on the album Lutheran Sisterhood Gun Club. Download the song for free from Bandcamp. The Kittyhawk song is on the Droughts/Framework/Kittyhawk/Prawn split. Download the song for free from Bandcamp.
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.
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Tue, 10 June 2014
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1986. I've also got music from Los Campesinos!, The Fresh & Onlys and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - Brian's #3 - Feelies' second album was very influential - Jay's #3 - R.E.M. debuts heavier guitar sound - Band kept going too long - Brian's #2 - They Might Be Giants got off to great start - Lots of NJ love - Jay's #2 - Husker Du's amazing stretch - '80s production techniques hurt some great albums - Grant Hart dominated Candy Apple Grey - Brian's #1 - Camper Van Beethoven released two albums in '86 - Jay's #1 - '86 was the year of thrash - Metallica at their best - Drawbacks to sound fidelity with MP3, but convenience is worth it - Hair metal also thrived in '86 - Next up: 1989
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
Music: Los Campesinos! - Little Mouth The Fresh & Onlys - Animal of One The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Simple and Sure
The Los Campesinos! song is on the soundtrack to the movie Benny and Jolene. Download the song for free from Stereogum. The Fresh & Onlys song is on the album House of Spirits on Mexican Summer Records. Download the song for free from KEXP. The Pains of Being Pure at Heart song is on the album Days of Abandon on Yebo. Download the song for free from KEXP.
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.
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Tue, 3 June 2014
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1986. I've also got music from Superchunk, Bottomless Pit and Lazy. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - Sammy Hagar's lyrical prowess - Sam Halen? - Jay: Saw VH and DLR touring separately in summer of '86 - The sad tale of Jason Becker - Amnesty International's Conspiracy of Hope tour featured U2, Peter Gabriel, Sting - Led to ill-fated Police reunion - Bands that formed or released debut albums in '86: NWA, 2 Live Crew, Buffalo Tom, Pixies, Throwing Muses, Goo Goo Dolls, Firehose, Big Audio Dynamite - A comeback of sorts for Neil Young - Ramones album was plagued by bad '80s production - Jay was conflicted about XTC's "Dear God" - Brian's #5 album - Jonathan Richman's mostly under the radar career path - Jay's #5 - Eat 'Em and Smile out-Van Halened Van Halen - Brian's #4 - Mark Sandman's pre-Morphine act, Treat Her Right, released debut - Jay's #4 - John Lydon put together a crack session band including Steve Vai and came up with a great album - Lydon was set to tour in Jesus Christ Superstar but show was cancelled - To be continued...
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
Music: Superchunk - Untied (live) Bottomless Pit - Fleece (live) Lazy - Party City (live)
The Superchunk song is part of the band's Epitonic Saki Session. Download the set for free at Epitonic. The Bottomless Pit song is part of the band's Epitonic Saki Session. Download the set for free at Epitonic. The Lazy song is part of the band's Epitonic Saki Session. Download the set for free at Epitonic.
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.
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Tue, 27 May 2014
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1986. I've also got music from Fucked Up, Mudhoney and Two Inch Astronaut. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - Brian was 4 in '86; Jay was (cough) 18 and in college - Jay: Watched a lot of MTV that year - Brian: Paul Simon's Graceland was huge - Peter Gabriel became a megastar - Van Halen and David Lee Roth split up and released albums - Brian: Musically, 1986 was all over the place - Nine of the top 10 selling albums were released in '85 - Album sales were enormous back then - The Bangles hit big with "Walk Like an Egyptian" - Springsteen's Live 1975-85 was a big box set release - First year of Rock Hall of Fame - Rush and KISS were shocking admissions to Rock Hall in recent years - Hair metal was thriving; even Judas Priest poofed up their hair - Hip hop hit hard: Beasties and Run DMC made big impressions - Aerosmith's career was revived thanks to Run DMC - Brian: Worst moments include band breakups (Black Flag, Minutemen, Smiths, Dead Kennedys) - "That's What Friends Are For": Great cause, awful song - Lionel Richie went from cool in the Commodores to cheesy - Deaths: Phil Lynott, Richard Manuel, Cliff Burton, Benny Goodman, Scatman Crothers - Boston's long-awaited third album - The Vinnie Vincent Invasion took hair metal to ridiculous extremes - Wank guitar was all the rage - To be continued...
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
Music: Fucked Up - Paper the House Mudhoney - Touch Me I'm Sick (live) Two Inch Astronaut - Part of Your Scene (live on WVAU)
The Fucked Up song is on the album Glass Boys on Matador Records. Download the song for free at Matablog. The Mudhoney song is on the EP Mudhoney on Top! KEXP Presents Mudhoney Live on Top of the Space Needle. Download the song for free at KEXP. The Two Inch Astronaut song is available for free download (in exchange for your email address) as part of Exploding in Sound's EIS Sampler 2013-2014 on Bandcamp.
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.
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Tue, 20 May 2014
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss hipsters. I've also got music from Twin Peaks, Feral Jenny and Ancient Babes. Show notes: - Matt recently became a published author - Check out his YA superhero novel The Indestructibles - Matt: The definition of cool is not trying too hard - Shopping is simple if you don't care about trends - WTF is up with skinny jeans? - Changing office dress codes - Matt's office phobia - Hippies turned into yuppies - Aging well - Bronies are hipsters who have gone too far - The life cycle of a hipster - Matt lived in Hipster Ground Zero for a while - Saw early signs of the hipster look a decade ago - The seamy underside of politics - You need a lack of self-awareness to run for office - Some employers seem to want mindless worker drones - Conclusion: We're not hipsters
Music: Twin Peaks - Flavor Feral Jenny - Tearless Creep Ancient Babes - What Mean Expendable?
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The Twin Peaks song is on the album Sunken. Download the album for free from Noisetrade. The Feral Jenny song is on the EP Sylvia Songs. Download the EP for free from Bandcamp. The Ancient Babes song is available for free download on Soundcloud. 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. |
Tue, 13 May 2014
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the scourge of hipsterism. I've also got music from Bob Mould, The Hold Steady and The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Show notes: - Matt recently became a published author - Check out his YA superhero novel The Indestructibles - Vin Diesel, businessman - The brilliance of True Detective - Hipsters: Is there a cutoff age? - '90s hipsters were into the grunge look - The mysterious allure of Mumford and Sons - Hipsters love shitty beer - Going to an effort to not look attractive - Of beards and men - Tattoos are trendy - The Beatles set the trends of their day - Where does it go from here? - For a few years in the late '90s, it was nu metal and baggy pants - We're all about the low-maintenance wardrobe - Hair today, gone tomorrow - To be continued
Music: Bob Mould - Hey Mr. Grey The Hold Steady - Spinners The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - She's On It/Jack the Ripper (live)
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The Bob Mould song is on the forthcoming album Beauty & Ruin on Merge Records. Download the song for free from KEXP. The Hold Steady song is on the album Teeth Dreams on Washington Square/Razor and Tie. Download the song for free from KEXP. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion song is available for free download on Bandcamp. 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. |
Tue, 6 May 2014
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we dissect the strange connections of '70s-era pop hitmakers. I've also got music from Deerhoof, Fat History Month and The Baseball Project. Show notes: - Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ - Christopher Cross' surprisingly long career - Producer Michael Omartian was in disco act Rhythm Heritage, which released the #1 hit "Theme from S.W.A.T." in 1976 - Also did theme from Baretta - Steve Barry formed Rhythm Heritage with Omartian - Barry produced Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods - Ric plans his funk album - Sammy Davis Jr. sang the Baretta theme - "Billy, Don't Be a Hero" was big hit for Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods - Ric's unsealed Bo Donaldson record - First discovered while touring with the Osmonds - The sadness of the 1970s package tour - The Osmonds actually had a few cool songs - "Hold Her Tight" was a Zeppelin sound-alike - Recorded during their "rock" phase, which didn't last long - Donny and Marie were the big moneymakers - Donny Osmond had a few hits in 1989 - His mid-'70s song "C'mon Marianne" was much better
Music: Deerhoof - Milk Man Fat History Month - Angel From Montgomery The Baseball Project - To the Veterans Committee
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The Deerhoof song is on the Kill Rock Stars compilation Crazed MP3 Fans Vol. 1. Download the comp for free at Bandcamp. The Fat History Month song is on Exploding in Sound's EIS Sampler 2013-2014 on Bandcamp. The Baseball Project song is on Yep Roc in Austin: On Spider's Tab. Download the comp for free at Noisetrade. 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. |
Tue, 29 April 2014
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we try to figure out how Christopher Cross became a pop star. I've also got music from Bedroom Eyes, Hymnals and Kinski. Show notes: - Recorded in at More Lost Time world HQ - All about the shrews in Shrewsbury - Record fairs are back - Where did Christopher Cross come from? - Went from San Antonio cover band to stardom - Produced by Michael Omartian - Omartian worked with lots of big artists, including Rod Stewart and Donna Summer - Lots of big names helped out on Cross' debut: Henley, Michael McDonald, Nicolette Larson - Cross didn't have a particularly great voice - Jay's Christopher Cross album - Pre-MTV fame - First single was "Ride Like the Wind," second was "Sailing" - Theme from Arthur was his biggest hit - Couldn't escape it on the radio for a while - Ric: Played plenty of music like this at Strawberries - "Think of Laura" was written for General Hospital - To be continued
Music: Bedroom Eyes - Wild Sins Hymnals - When You're Away Kinski - Conflict Free Diamonds
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The Bedroom Eyes song is a single available for free at Bandcamp. The Hymnals song is a single available for free at Bandcamp. The Kinski song is on the Kill Rock Stars compilation Crazed MP3 Fans Vol. 1. Download the comp for free at Bandcamp. 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. |
Tue, 15 April 2014
Part 2 of my conversation with guest James Gralian as we discuss the future of podcasting. I've also got music from Courtney Barnett, What Moon Things and Mattress Financial. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out James' show The Avs Hockey Podcast - Old media (radio, newspapers) is struggling - Radio stations need to think differently - Boston was once a great radio town - College radio is still going - Jay: Playing DJ on BFF.fm - Apple helped grow podcasting with iTunes - Talk radio is still popular - James' podcast has nothing to do with sports talk radio - Mo' money, mo' problems - Everything revolves around smartphones - Podcasting is about as DIY as it gets - Still having fun with it - James: There will be massive dropoff in conventional podcasts - Hard to keep up with all the shows - Similar to the amount of good TV out there - This American Life was originally rejected by NPR, went to PRI - It's not about SEO, it's about making good shows
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
Music: Courtney Barnett - Avant Gardener What Moon Things - Astronaut Mattress Financial - I Do That Good
The Courtney Barnett song is on The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas on Milk! Records. Download the song for free at Amazon MP3. The What Moon Things song is on the band's self-titled album. Download the song for free at Soundcloud. The Mattress Financial is on the Mattress Financial/Fond Han single Private Split. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) as part of Exploding in Sound's EIS Sampler 2013-2014 on Bandcamp.
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.
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Tue, 8 April 2014
Part 1 of my conversation with guest James Gralian as we discuss the future of podcasting. I've also got music from Mean Creek, Foxy Shazam and Nothing. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out James' show The Avs Hockey Podcast - Also produces podcast for Denver Symphony Orchestra - We last spoke on this topic four years ago - 10th anniversary of podcasting - Tools are more accessible than ever - James: Don't see as many quality podcasts as I expected - Apple has played big role, positive and negative - James listens to Radiolab, Welcome to Nightvale, Definitely Not the Opera, 99% Invisible, among other podcasts - There are many "two white guys talking" podcasts - Waiting for the next interesting thing - Most podcasters aren't in it for the money - James: Not sure whether sponsors are getting a good return - Trying to have fun and be creative with Avs Hockey Podcast - Professional podcasters vs. hobbyists - Marc Maron is a podcasting success story; turned his entire career around - Commercial radio is much less interesting these days - Parallels with late night TV and Letterman's retirement - More freedom on basic cable for Stewart and Colbert - Are podcasters using their voice? - Having guests can bring new energy to a show - What constitutes success in podcasting? - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
Music: Mean Creek - Johnny Allen Foxy Shazam - Brutal Truth Nothing - Bent Nail
The Mean Creek song is on the album Local Losers on Old Flame Records. Download the song for free at Soundcloud. The Foxy Shazam song is on the self-released album Gonzo. Download the album for free (in exchange for your email address) at Noisetrade. The song by Nothing is on the album Guilty of Everything on Relapse Records. Download the song for free at Amazon.
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.
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Tue, 1 April 2014
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1984. I've also got music from Hallelujah the Hills, Feral Jenny and Red Sea. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - Brian's #5 - Pretenders are very underrated - Chrissie Hynde got a late start in rock - Jay's #5 - Saw R.E.M.'s first national TV appearance on Letterman - Brian's #4 - Minutemen covered a wide range of styles - Mike Watt's interesting career - Scott Asheton, R.I.P. - James Williamson went from playing with Iggy to become a Silicon Valley exec - Jay's #4 - Van Halen inadvertently helped create hair metal - Brian's #3 - Meat Puppets created a unique sound - Most people became aware of them a decade later - Jay's #3 - Replacements' sound evolved from punk to more mature rock - Brian's #2 was his #1 when we started talking - Jay's #2 - Husker Du was coming into its own in '84 - So much good music on SST in the early to mid-'80s - Brian's #1 - Gordon Gano wrote first two Violent Femmes albums while in high school - Serious gospel undertones - Jay's #1 - Purple Rain was a masterpiece - Jay chronicled 1984 in a diary reprinted on Kumar's Blizznog - Next up: 1986
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
Music: Hallelujah the Hills - Pick Up an Old Phone Feral Jenny - Law & Order Red Sea - Down with the Crown
The Hallelujah the Hills song is on the album Have You Ever Done Something Evil? on Discrete Pageantry. Download the song for free at Stereogum. The Feral Jenny song is on the EP Bedrooms. Download the song for free at Bandcamp. The Red Sea song is on the EP Yardsticks for Human Intelligence. Download the song for free at Bandcamp.
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.
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Tue, 25 March 2014
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1984. I've also got music from Nancy, Benjamin Shaw and The Men. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - 1984: Brian was 2, Jay was 16 - A pivotal year for college/indie rock - Husker Du, R.E.M., Minutemen, Meat Puppets, Replacements - Aerosmith reformed, Yes bounced back - Classic lineup of Deep Purple reunited - The '80s wank guitar movement started with Yngwie Malmsteen - Early days of hip hop, thrash - Hair metal was emerging as a commercial force: Ratt, Twisted Sister, Dokken, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi - Van Halen's 1984 was huge - Eddie VH embraced synths - The beginning of the end of the Roth era of VH - MTV was a bigger hitmaker than radio - The middle of a bad stretch for Paul McCartney - Older artists rebounded: Kool and the Gang, Chicago, Stevie Wonder - Miami Vice incorporated MTV-style techniques - The video as movie trailer - Death of Marvin Gaye - Billy Squier's "Rock Me Tonite" debacle - The negative power of a bad video - Crappy solo work from Bowie, Billy Joel, Steve Perry - Don Henley sucks - The pop and marketing genius of Madonna - Awesomely bad breakdance movies: Breakin', Body Rock, Beat Street - Brian's albums outside top 5: Black Flag, Queen - Jay: U2, The Cars, Rush, INXS, The Cult - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
Music: Nancy - I Want One Benjamin Shaw - Goodbye, Kagoul World The Men - Different Days
The Nancy song is on the album Nancy LP. Download the album for free at Bandcamp. The Benjamin Shaw song is on the album Goodbye Cagoule World on Audio Antihero. Download the song for free at Soundcloud. The song by The Men is on the album Tomorrow's Hits on Sacred Bones Records. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.
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.
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Tue, 18 March 2014
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss whether the world is getting dumber. I've also got music from Johnny Foreigner, Spray Paint and Pampers. Show notes: - Guy got fired after calling in sick and then posting video on YouTube - Another guy made it with a cow and had a buddy film it - Reality TV rewards dumbasses - It's a lazy Buzzfeed world - Beard transplants? Really? - Pre-ripped jeans - There's still good rock music out there - In praise of Mark Knopfler - Bravo, dude who came up with Shit My Dad Says - Medical bills are obscene - Selling your old junk - The bottom fell out of the sports card market - We fall for stupid memes designed to rile people up - Outrage culture - We're all dumb
Music: Johnny Foreigner - Stop Talking About Ghosts Spray Paint - Spock Fingers Pampers - Guts
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The Johnny Foreigner song is on the album You Can Do Better on Alcopop! Records. Download the song for free at Bandcamp. The Spray Paint and Pampers songs were recorded live on the Cherry Blossom Clinic on WFMU. Download the songs for free at Free Music Archive. 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. |
Tue, 11 March 2014
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss whether the world is getting dumber. I've also got music from Cloud Nothings, Eagulls and The So So Glos. Show notes: - There are studies that claim humans are getting dumber - Our IQs are supposedly dropping - We rely on smartphones for a lot of information - We're cramming so much info in our heads - Smart TV: True Detective did it right - Disney Channel sitcoms hark back to hacky TV crap of the '70s - Movie industry favors bigger, louder, dumber - Sometimes it's good to watch dumb stuff - Anonymous online comments are a prime source for idiocy - Wasting time online is so easy - People are so self-involved - Reality TV is a haven for dummies - People will do anything to get on TV - The Onion keeps fooling people - Beauty pageants - Our ability to self-incriminate Music: Cloud Nothings - I'm Not Part of Me Eagulls - Possessed The So So Glos - Lost Weekend
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The Cloud Nothings song is on the album Here and Nowhere Else on Carpark Records. The Eagulls song is on the band's self-titled album on Partisan Records. The So So Glos song is on the album Blowout on Votiv Records. Download all three songs for free at NPR.org. 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. |
Tue, 4 March 2014
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we examine music from a couple of forgotten artists from the 1970s. I've also got music from Ovlov, Palehound and Baked. Show notes: - Recorded in late January at More Lost Time world HQ - Edward Bear's prom song - They were better when they stuck to guitar rock - Band radically changed their sound - Ric breaks out a 1971 single by Tom Hartman, formerly of the Aerovons - Hartman and band when to England because of the Beatles - Strong resemblance to Sloan's Navy Blues sound - Ric's tips for finding good vinyl at flea markets - Aerovons had a serious Beatles fixation - Very McCartney-esque - Produced by none other than Mike Post - Ebay's a good way to get rare vinyl
Music: Ovlov - Moth Rock Palehound - Holiest Baked - Danelectroladyland
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The Ovlov song is on the album am. The Palehound song is on the Kitchen 7-inch. The Baked song is on the EP S/T Cassette. Download all three songs for free (in exchange for your email address) as part of Exploding in Sound's EIS Sampler 2013-2014 on Bandcamp. 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. |
Tue, 25 February 2014
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we look at the career of an obscure 1970s Canadian band that had a huge hit and then disappeared. I've also got music from Protomartyr, The Collected Fictions and Cloud Nothings. Show notes: - Recorded in late January at More Lost Time world HQ - What the hell is Edward Bear? - Named after character in Winnie the Pooh - Their one big hit, "Last Song," is instantly recognizable - Sounds like a studio act - No high or low end in '70s AM pop hits - Manilow had great timing - Second single from that album hit top 40 - Singer Larry Evoy was the one constant member of the band - Opened for Led Zeppelin in '69 - First album had a psychedelic "acid rock" sound - Geddy Lee's mellower uncle - Going for a Canned Heat/Steve Miller Band/Doors vibe - Endless jamming - Early Edward Bear ain't half bad - Opportunistic band, like The Police - Riding whatever music wave was trending - To be continued
Music: Protomartyr - Come & See The Collected Fictions - It Don't Matter Much Cloud Nothings - Didn't You
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The Protomartyr song is on the album Under Color of Official Right on Hardly Art. Download the song for free at Stereogum. The song by The Collected Fictions is on the band's self-titled EP. Download the EP for free (in exchange for your email address) at Bandcamp. The Cloud Nothings song was released as a single in 2010. Download it for free at Epitonic.
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. |
Tue, 18 February 2014
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we dissect the disaster that was Van Halen III. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - Jumping into an 8-minute epic snoozer - Rumors that the VH brothers had jammed with Ozzy around this time - Nuno Bettencourt has been touring with Rihanna - Jay happens to have issue of Guitar World from '98 nearby - The joys of the Columbia House Record Club - Michael Anthony's MIA for most of the album - Eddie compared his singing voice to Roger Waters meets Tom Waits - DLR says they're working on new VH album for mid-2015 - Brian: VH III was bad in a different way than expected - Jay: Almost an Adult Contemporary sound - Jay: Also haven't heard anything from VH's Balance, the last Hagar album - Record sales from the '90s were ridiculous; nearly everything sold well - Bizarre cover of Balance was actually PhotoShopped pic of Wolfgang VH - Putting shitty albums in your iTunes - The latest VH album was what Aerosmith should do: make a '70s-sounding record - The comics industry now is where music industry was before Napster - WWE is getting creative about its content - Netflix and others are changing the way we consume media - iPods are being phased out
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.
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Tue, 11 February 2014
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we dissect the disaster that was Van Halen III. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - An addendum to our look at 1998 - VH III featuring Gary Cherone on lead vocals - Jay hasn't heard the album, Brian's heard it twice - Last VH album with Michael Anthony - Many long songs - Produced by TV theme composer Mike Post - Pleasant acoustic instrumental to start album - Mission statement: We will wuss you - Cherone sounds a lot like Hagar - Brian: "Without You" not as bad as I remember - Eddie needed an editor - Tough position for Cherone to be in - EVH played some bass on album - Restrained drum sound from Alex VH - Songs drag on way too long - The "go get a beer" song - Extreme acquitted themselves well at Freddie Mercury tribute concert - Mike Post produced artists like Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton - Severe lack of kickassery - Jay saw both Van Hagar and DLR in the summer of '86 - Brian saw Pixies recently - The greatness of Lindsay Buckingham - 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.
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Tue, 4 February 2014
Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1998. I've also got music from Screaming Maldini, Brawlers and Grass is Green. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - Brian's #3 - Sean Lennon was considered the poor man's Beck - Yuka Honda was married to Lennon, now married to Nels Cline - Jay's #3 - Totally slept on QOTSA in '98 - Homme's first post-Kyuss band - The greatness of Them Crooked Vultures - Brian and Jay have same #2 - Frank Black got dropped by a major label - First album by major arist commercially released online - Jay: Pete Townshend made some great solo albums in early '80s - Brian's #1 - Billy Bragg and Wilco covering Woody Guthrie - Jay's #1 - Sloan has four talented songwriters - Paul Stanley's stage raps - The end of The Best Show on WFMU - Mourning a great radio experience - Next up: 1984 Music: Screaming Maldini - Soweto Brawlers - Instagram Famous Grass is Green - Vacation 2.0
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The Screaming Maldini song is a self-released single. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at Bandcamp. The Brawlers song is on the EP I am a Worthless Piece of Shit on Alcopop! Records. Download the song for free at Soundcloud. The Grass is Green song is on the album Vacation Vinny on Exploding in Sound Records. Download the song free at Amazon.
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. |
Tue, 28 January 2014
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1998. I've also got music from Built to Spill, Guillermo Sexo and Bill Janovitz. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - Remember Blues Brothers 2000? - Goo Goo Dolls went Hollywood - Brian: QOTSA released its debut - Rob Halford came out; first prominent metal dude to do so - In retrospect, '80s heavy metal was steeped in gayness - Bubbling under albums - Jay: Fugazi, GVSB, RFTC - Brian: Elliott Smith, The Catholics, Flin Flon, Tortoise, The Lounge Lizards - Jay: Pearl Jam, Neutral Milk Hotel, Pulp, Beasties, Tragically Hip, Cat Power - Brian's #5 album - Hello Nasty is the last classic Beasties album - Jay's #5 and Brian's #4 - Beck does a 180 from Odelay - Later Beck material rehashes older sounds - Jay's #4 - Afghan Whigs fully embrace soul and R&B - Greg Dulli can do no wrong - 1965 was the last Whigs album...until this year - To be continued Music: Built to Spill - Jokerman Guillermo Sexo - Color the Noise Bill Janovitz - Matter
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The Built to Spill song is on the tribute album Bob Dylan in the '80s: Volume One on ATO Records. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at Stereogum. The Guillermo Sexo song is a re-recording of an old track available for free at MobtownStudios.com. The Bill Janovitz song is available for free download on Bandcamp.
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. |
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