Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Brad Searles as we discuss band reunions. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Nada Surf, Girlfriends and Destroyer.
Show notes:
- Check out Brad’s excellent blog, Bradley’s Almanac (http://www.bradleysalmanac.com/)
- Recorded at the Sunset Grill in Allston, Mass.
- The Pixies are making a second career out of their reunion tours
- The only money for a lot of artists comes from licensing
- The Strokes’ debut album hasn’t aged well
- Iggy Pop is endorsing insurance in the UK
- Mission of Burma picked up after 20 years and are better than ever
- Brad: First Pixies show was on the ill-fated U2 tour
- Explaining myself to the waitress
- Broken-up bands realize a fanbase is out there
- Letters to Cleo sold some merch after t-shirt showed up on "Parks and Recreation"
- "Hallelujah" covers are making Leonard Cohen big bucks
- Fired up about the Afghan Whigs reunion
- At the Drive-In spawned a movement
- Brad’s played drums in several bands
- The awesomeness of the Styx Behind the Music episode
- Styx’s Paradise Theater is one of the first albums we both bought
- Brad: Early vinyl inherited from dad
- Brad loved the first two Men at Work albums
- My younger brother turned me on to Nirvana and Soundgarden
- Saw a lot of concerts with my brother in our 20s
- Bands we’d like to see reunite
- Jay: Replacements, Husker Du, The Jam, The Smiths
- Fogerty’s open to a CCR reunion
- Brad: A Ride reunion is possible
- To be continued...
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Nada Surf - Waiting for Something
Girlfriends - Big Machines
Destroyer - Leave Me Alone
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Nada Surf song is on the album The Stars are Indifferent to Astronomy on Barsuk
Records.
Download the song for free at http://soundcloud.com/antler/nada-surf-waiting-for .
The Girlfriends song is on the EP Nothing Nice to Say. Stream the EP at http://girlfriendsband.bandcamp.com/album/nothing-nice-to-say.
The Destroyer song is on a MOJO magazine compilation of artists covering songs from the 1983 New Order album Power, Corruption and Lies. Download
the song for free at http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com/2012/01/22/destroyer-leave-me-alone-new-order/.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
Part 3 of my conversation with special guests Nick Lorenzen and Mike Piantigini as we discuss all things rock. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from The King Khan Experience, Zeus, Shearwater and Craig Finn.
The show notes:
- Biggest regrets of missed live bands
- Daltrey’s voice lasted longer than many peers
- Jay drops a Frank Frazetta reference
- Sabbath reunion
- Does metal work if you’re 60?
- Springsteen and Young are still going strong
- N-Lo doesn’t dig latter-day Dylan
- Lorenzen: Waits is 100% relevant
- Robert Plant has aged well
- Mike defends The Who’s continued existence
- Give the people what they want
- Literal cat fight
- McCartney won’t stop
- The communal aspect of live music
- N-Lo pissed off The Moody Blues’ fanbase
- How big is the relevance window?
- U2 won’t go away
- Albums you would’ve liked to hear when they came out
- 1971 was a great year for rock
- Mike: The ’80s killed music because of crappy production
- The sound doesn’t hold up these days
- Subscription services aren’t there yet
- No money in the music biz anymore
- Jonathan Coulton is doing it himself
- Licensing music to commercials or TV/movies is huge
- David Caruso is synonymous with "Won’t Get Fooled Again" intro
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
The King Khan Experience - Knock Me Off My Feet
Zeus - Are You Gonna Waste My Time?
Shearwater - You As You Were
Craig Finn - Honolulu Blues
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The
show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to
get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get
you 10% off any order of $50 at Eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at Eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at Footlocker.com.
The King Khan Experience song
is on the band’s self-titled EP courtesy of Scion AV. You can downlaod the entire album
for free at http://www.scionav.com/collection/851.
The Zeus song is on the album Busting Vision on Arts and Crafts.
Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at http://themusicofzeus.com/.
The Shearwater song is on the album Animal Joy on Sub Pop.
Download the song for free at http://stereogum.com/927252/shearwater-you-as-you-were/mp3s/.
The Craig Finn song is on the album Clear Heart, Full Eyes on Vagrant Records. Download the song for free at http://wxrt.radio.com/2012/01/13/craig-finn-honolulu-blues-free-mp3-download/.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
Part 2 of my conversation with special guests Nick Lorenzen and Mike Piantigini as we discuss Boston’s live music scene. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Lee Ranaldo, Reigning Sound, White Rabbits and Mind Spiders.
Show notes:
- Mike still goes to many rock shows
- The scene’s rebounding, more new clubs
- Nick did not pogo at recent Superchunk show
- Nick and Mike saw Paul Westerberg’s first solo show
- Myspace lives!
- Nick and Mike were in the band Lump in the ’90s
- Brighton Music Hall is making an impression
- Live Nation squeezes out smaller clubs
- Live Nation Entertainment owns Live Nation and Ticketmaster
- Big venues are in trouble
- More bands played big arenas like Worcester Centrum in the ’80s
- Memories of INXS
- Discovering your new singer on YouTube: Yes, Journey
- O Positive, a great Boston band from the past
- The suburban rock clubs of the ’80s and ’90s are mostly gone now
- The smartphone has reduced the amount of longform reading we do
- Debating Pearl Jam’s fight vs. Ticketmaster
- Tickets in big venues are more expensive, but club tickets are still cheap
- Movie ticket prices haven’t grown exponentially
- Moviegoing experience is less enjoyable
- Pixies need to pick another album to play; touring behind Doolittle for a few years now
- Mike: 2011 was a good music year
- We consume and digest music much quicker now
- Who doesn’t have a Rick Neilsen guitar pick?
- Jay and Mike realized they grew up a few towns over from each other
- Mike bagged Queensryche’s groceries (not a euphemism)
- The Kingston, NH Fairgrounds had several big festival shows in the ’80s
- Next episode: Older artists aging gracefully while others hang on too long
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Lee Ranaldo - Off the Wall
Reigning Sound - Shaw
White Rabbits - Heavy Metal
Mind Spiders - Wait For Us
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Lee Ranadlo song is on the album Between the Times and Tides on Matador Records.
Download the song for free at http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/2012/01/13/lee-ranaldo-off-the-wall-first-mp3-from-the-forthcoming-between-the-times-the-tides/.
The Reigning Sound song is on the EP Abdication...For Your Love.
Download the song for free at http://www.scionav.com/collection/852/Scion-A/V-Presents:-Reigning-Sound---Abdication...For-Your-Love.
The White Rabbits song is from the album Milk Famous on TBD Records. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at http://whiterabbitsmusic.com.
The Mind Spiders song is on the album Meltdown on Dirtnap Records. Download
the song for free at
http://epitonic.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
Part 1 of my conversation with special guests Nick Lorenzen and Mike Piantigini as we discuss the death of the CD. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from The Kominas, PJ Harvey, Le Butcherettes and Mclusky.
The show notes:
- Mike hosts Clicky Clicky Radio on BostonFreeRadio.com every Thursday
- Physical media is disappearing from store shelves
- Rarely buy CDs anymore
- Digital music sales overtook CD sales in 2011
- Minor resurgence in vinyl
- Listening to music has become "a solitary engagement"
- It’s rare to listen to music now without doing anything else
- Many more distractions while watching movies or TV
- Glut of media; so many more albums available now
- N-Lo is no Geddy Lee
- With digital music, it’s rare you get liner notes
- Looking back at metal mags of the ’80s: Hit Parader, Circus
- Labels are trying to cash in with reissues and box sets
- Pink Floyd box sets come with plenty of extras
- Mike is miffed at the Quadrophenia box set
- Pete Townshend loves a narrative
- Mike: The Who’s Endless Wire is pretty good
- N-Lo’s not a big fan of rock stars with hankies
- Mike: CD’s not dead yet, but it’s close
- N-Lo remembers his Discman fondly
- Reissuing albums a year after the original comes out
- In the ’90s, we’d go digging for singles with bonus tracks
- The Columbia House Record Club: 12 for a penny
- Packaging and pressing quality sucked for record club albums
- Next episode: We complain about Ticketmaster
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
The Kominas - Doomsday
PJ Harvey - The Last Living Rose
Le Butcherettes - New York
Mclusky - To Hell With Good Intentions
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The
show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to
get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get
you 10% off any order of $50 at Eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at Eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at Footlocker.com.
The Kominas song
is on the band’s self-released, self-titled album. You can downlaod the entire album
for free at http://thekominas.com.
The PJ Harvey song is on the album Let England Shake on Vagrant Records.
Download the song for free at http://epitonic.com/.
The Le Butcherettes song is on the album Sin Sin Sin on Rodriguez Lopez Productions.
Download the song for free at http://epitonic.com/.
The Mclusky song is on the album Mclusky Do Dallas on Too Pure Records. Download the song for free at http://epitonic.com/.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
Part 3 of my conversation with special guest Jay Breitling as we look back at the best rock music of 2011. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Fucked Up, Johnny Foreigner, Dananananaykroyd and Yuck.
Show notes:
- Kumar’s #2: Sloan
- Band’s 20th anniversary
- Jan. 26: New Music Night with Breitling and Brad Searles at River Gods in Cambridge, Mass.
- Breitling #1: Johnny Foreigner
- No overlap on our lists
- Kumar #1: Fucked Up
- Did a vinyl release of music from fake bands
- Breitling’s bubbling under: Yuck, Screaming Maldini, Gold Bears
- Kumar’s bubbling under: Mighty Fine, Foo Fighters, Mastodon, Feelies
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Fucked Up - A Little Death
Johnny Foreigner - (Don’t) Show Us Your Fangs
Dananananaykroyd - E-Numbers
Yuck - Georgia
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Fucked Up song is on the album David Comes to Life on Matador Records.
Download the song for free at http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/2011/04/15/fucked-up-second-of-four-singles/.
The Johnny Foreigner song is on the album Johnny Foreigner vs. Everything on Alcopop Records.
Download the song for free at http://johnnyforeigner.bandcamp.com/track/dont-show-us-your-fangs.
The Dananananaykroyd song is from the album There Is a Way on Pizza College. Download the song for free at http://dananananaykroyd.co.uk/.
The Yuck song is on the band’s self-titled album on Fat Possum. Download the song for free at http://www.brooklynvegan.com/archives/2011/10/yuck_porcelain.html#more.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Jay Breitling as we look back at the best rock music of 2011. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from The Hush Now, Buffalo Tom, Stephen Malkmus and The War on Drugs.
The show notes:
- Breitling’s #7: The Hush Now
- Clicky Clicky and Ash Gray Proclamation co-present live show on 1/14 with Hallelujah the Hills and The Blue Dress
- Breitling: Yuck is so-so live
- Kumar’s #7: Buffalo Tom
- BT recently celebrated 25th anniversary
- Breitling’s #6: Algernon Cadwallader
- Tough to make money as a band
- Kumar’s #6: Malkmus
- Breitling’s #5: War on Drugs
- Kumar’s #4: Twilight Singers
- Afghan Whigs are reuniting in 2012
- Breitling’s #4: Destroyer
- Album threw off some longtime fans
- Kumar’s #4: Wild Flag
- Breitling’s #3: Age Rings
- Kumar’s #3: Deer Tick
- Breitling’s #2: Benjamin Shaw
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
The Hush Now - Clouds
Buffalo Tom - Guilty Girls
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Senator
The War on Drugs - Baby Missiles
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The
show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to
get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get
you 10% off any order of $50 at Eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at Eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at Footlocker.com.
The Hush Now song is on the self-released album Memos. You can downlaod the entire album for free at http://thehushnow.bandcamp.com/album/memos.
The Buffalo Tom song is on the album Skins on Scrawny Records.
Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at http://www.spin.com/articles/exclusive-new-song-buffalo-tom.
The Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks song is on the album Mirror Traffic on Matador Records.
Download the song for free at http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/2011/06/08/stephen-malkmus-free-song-from-the-upcoming-album/.
The War on Drugs song is on the album Slave Ambient on Secretly Canadian. Download the song for free at http://jbreitling.blogspot.com/2011/05/todays-hotness-gold-bears-war-on-drugs.html.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Jay Breitling as we look back at the best rock music of 2011. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Los Campesinos, Ringo Deathstarr and the Drive-By Truckers.
Show notes:
- New addition to Breitling household
- Revisiting our beer discussion of episodes 133-134
- Trends in 2011: The return of the ’90s
- Bands reunited, new bands echo ’90s influences
- Imminent death of the CD?
- Tons of reissues for classic albums
- Expanded versions of relatively recent albums
- Breitling’s #10 album: Los Campesinos
- Proggy elements added to band’s sound
- Kumar’s #10: Drive-By Truckers
- Uber-prolific band combines Southern rock and soul
- Breitling’s #9: Soccer Mom
- Boston band echoes sound of bands like Sonic Youth
- Kumar’s #9: J. Mascis
- Solo album turns down the jet engine roar
- Breitling’s #8: Ringo Deathstarr
- Album was four years in the making
- Kumar’s #8: Beastie Boys
- Sounds like classic Beasties
- Overblown non-controversy of the week: Questlove vs. Michele Bachmann
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Los Campesinos - Hello Sadness
Ringo Deathstarr - Imagine Hearts
Drive-By Truckers - Used to Be a Cop
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Los Campesinos song is on the album Hello Sadness on Arts and Crafts. Download the song for free at http://stereogum.com/804262/los-campesinos-by-your-hand/mp3s/.
The Ringo Deathstarr song is on the album Colour Trip on Sonic Unyon Records.
Download the song for free at http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Ringo_Deathstarr/track/Imagine_Hearts .
The Drive-By Truckers song is from the album Go-Go Boots on ATO
Records. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at
http://drivebytruckers.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
Part 3 of my conversation with special guest Matt Phillion as we discuss movie remakes. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Mark Lanegan, Shearwater, Handsome Furs and The Sheila Divine.
Show notes:
- Still going over bad remakes
- Jay: The Shaggy Dog with Tim Allen
- The original Disney versions were good
- Kurt Russell’s the man
- Matt: Sabrina with Harrison Ford
- Harrison Ford should not do comedy
- Ashton Kutcher in Guess Who was problematic
- Nicole Kidman’s made a bunch of crappy remakes: The Invasion, Bewitched, Stepford Wives
- Daniel Craig is too handsome for remake of Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
- Matt likes him some Noomi Rapace
- More bad remakes of Michael Caine movies: Alfie, Get Carter
- Stallone loves making movies
- Jason Statham is a charismatic action star
- Spider-man reboot on the way
- Jay: Have the Peter Jackson King Kong and still haven’t watched it
- Matt: Zach Snyder directs with his dong
- Liked Watchmen, though
- How can you remake the Freddy Krueger movies without Robert Englund?
- Horror franchise reboots have been terrible
- Matt had shut off Human Centipede
- Hulk TV show changed Banner’s name because "Bruce" was considered gay
- Batman movies of early ’90s led the comic book film renaissance
- The Dark Knight comics were great, and brutal
- The Joel Schumacher Batman movies were horrendous
- Ben Affleck and Mark Wahlberg are only good in certain roles
- Matt: The Wolverine movie had great cast but was terrible
- Neither of us have seen many of the recent spate of comic book flicks
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Mark Lanegan Band - The Gravedigger’s Song
Shearwater - Breaking the Yearlings
Handsome Furs - Repatriated
The Sheila Divine - Carve Away
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The
show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to
get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get
you 10% off any order of $50 at Eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at Eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at Footlocker.com.
The Mark Lanegan song is on the forthcoming album Blues Funeral on 4AD and is
available for free download (in exchange for your email address) at http://marklanegan.com.
The Shearwater song is on the forthcoming album Animal Joy on Sub Pop. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at http://www.subpop.com/artists/shearwater.
The Handsome Furs song is on the album Sound Kapital on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at http://www.subpop.com/artists/handsome_furs.
The Sheila Divine song is available for free download (in exchange for your email address) at http://thesheiladivine.bandcamp.com/track/carve-away.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Matt Phillion as we count down our favorite movie remakes. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Archers of Loaf, Guided By Voices, Heartless Bastards and Okkervil River.
Show notes:
- More remakes
- Jay: True Lies
- Arnold as James Bond
- Matt: The Fly
- The movie Jeff Goldblum was born to make
- Jay: The Ring
- The best of the remakes of Japanese horror
- Jay: Ransom
- "Gimme back my son!"
- Worst remakes
- Matt: Never remake a Michael Caine movie
- Even bad Nic Cage movies are entertaining
- The Pink Panther remakes were bad ideas
- Dean Martin’s Matt Helm movies were the inspiration for Austin Powers
- Matt: Wicker Man
- Nic Cage strikes again
- Jay: Arthur
- Another pointless remake
- Matt: Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes
- Rise of the Planet of the Apes was good
- Jay: Godzilla (1998)
- True bomb given all the merchandising tie-ins
- Soundtrack featured Godzilla sounds
- Matt owns the soundtrack
- Matt: Gus Van Sant’s Psycho remake
- Shot-for-shot remake
- Jay: The Longest Yard
- Matt’s never seen a Sandler movie he liked
- Playing a bunch of characters usually backfires
- Eddie Murphy’s Nutty Professor was pretty funny
- Matt: Last House on the Left
- Doesn’t go far enough
- Taken was enjoyable
- Liam Neeson has a very specific set of skills
- Paul Thomas Anderson vs. P.S. Anderson
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Archers of Loaf - Harnessed in Slums
Guided By Voices - Doughnut for a Snowman
Heartless Bastards - Parted Ways
Okkervil River - Plan D
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Archers of Loaf song is on the remastered and expanded reissue of Vee Vee on Merge Records.
Download the song for free at http://soundcloud.com/mergerecords/archers-of-loaf-harnessed-in/ .
The Guided By Voices song is on the forthcoming album Let’s Go Eat the Factory on Guided By Voices Records; the single is available from Fire Recorfds.
Download the song for free at http://soundcloud.com/firerecords/gbv-doughnut.
The Heartless Bastards song is from the forthcoming album Arrow on Partisan
Records. Download the song for free at
http://www.theheartlessbastards.com.
The Okkervil River song is from the EP Golden Opportunities 2. Download the EP for free from http://okkervilriver.com..
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Matt Phillion as we count down our favorite movie remakes. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from The Dodos, The Delta Spirit, Damien Jurado and Benjamin Shaw.
Show notes:
- Seems like every movie’s a remake these days
- Hollywood’s afraid of original ideas
- Many different types of remakes
- Many American movies are remakes from films originally made overseas
- Remakes of TV shows
- Reboots of franchises (Spider-man, Superman, Hulk, Bourne)
- Recent remakes include Footloose, The Thing, Fright Night
- Matt’s list of best remakes starts with: The Magnificent Seven
- Toughest actors in toughest movie
- Jay: The Departed
- Based on Korean movie
- Jay recommends checking out Oldboy, crazy Korean thriller
- Matt: True Grit
- Liked it better than the original
- Jay: Cape Fear
- Another Scorsese remake, DeNiro plays creepy
- Matt: 3:10 to Yuma
- In praise of Ben Foster
- Jay: Evil Dead 2, a sequel that’s also a remake
- Bruce Campbell rules
- Matt: Bad Lieutenant, Port of Call New Orleans
- Nic Cage brings the crazy
- Cage’s wacky career choices
- Jay: Scarface
- Totally over the top
- Matt: Insomnia
- Christopher Nolan’s followup to Memento
- Jay: Fatal Attraction
- Glenn Close played classic scorned woman
- Matt: Ocean’s 11
- Fun movie with great cast
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
The Dodos - So Cold
The Delta Spirit - Gimme Some Motivation
Damien Jurado - Nothing is the News
Benjamin Shaw - How to Test the Depth of a Well
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The
show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to
get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get
you 10% off any order of $50 at Eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at Eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at Footlocker.com.
The Dodos song is previously unreleased and is
available for free download (in exchange for your email address) at http://www.dodosmusic.net/.
The Delta Spirit song is on the EP I Think I’ve Found It. Download the EP for free (in exchange for your email address) at http://blog.deltaspirit.net/post/13214484917/free-download-i-think-ive-found-it-ep.
The Damien Jurado song is on the album Mariqopa on Secretly Canadian. Download the song for free at http://rcrdlbl.com/.
The Benjamin Shaw song is on the album There’s Always Hope, There’s Always Cabernet on Audio Antihero. Download the song for free at http://iodapromonet.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss the current state of television. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Deer Tick, J. Mascis, Wye Oak and Gross Magic.
Show notes:
- Watching movies on IFC sucks now because of commercials
- Portlandia is a great show
- Crushing on St. Vincent
- Albini vs. Odd Future
- Is this the greatest era of late night TV?
- Jay: Letterman at 12:30 on NBC was legendary
- Daily Show and Colbert Report are amazing
- Remember Kilborn?
- Reality TV
- Brian likes the cooking shows
- Brian doesn’t get 30 Rock
- Jay recommends Parks and Rec and Community
- Five favorite shows
- Jay’s favorite is Breaking Bad, Brian’s is Mad Men
- America loves its procedurals (NCIS et al)
- Ripped from the headlines
- Growing up with old-school cable access
- Keeping up with media
- A kid can make great media (podcast, movie, music, etc.)
- The podcast battle for earbuds
- Check out Brian’s new podcast Expectations (http://expectations.mevio.com/) about becoming new parents; also, donate to Brian’s mustache fundraising campaing (http://us.movember.com/mospace/2419600/)
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Deer Tick - Main Street
J. Mascis - I’ve Been Thinking
Wye Oak - Civilian
Gross Magic - Yesterdays
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Deer Tick song is from the album Divine Providence on Partisan Records.
Download the song for free at http://www.insound.com/digital/free-mp3s .
The J. Mascis song is the B-side of the 7-inch single Circle on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at http://stereogum.com/879221/j-mascis-ive-been-thinking/mp3s/.
The Wye Oak song is the title track of the album Civilian on Merge Records. Download the song for free at http://www.insound.com/digital/free-mp3s.
The Gross Magic song is from the EP Teen Jamz on Fat Possum. Download the song for free from RCRDLBL.com..
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss the current state of television. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Mighty Fine, Fishbone, Le Savy Fav and Johnny Foreigner.
Show notes:
- First-ever Skype-recorded show
- Drinkin’ beer and talkin’ TV
- Check out Brian’s new podcast (http://expectations.mevio.com) about becoming new parents
- Donate to Brian’s mustache fundraising campaign: http://mobro.co/BrianNeedsANap
- New fall network shows have been lousy
- The awesomeness of Breaking Bad
- AMC is on a roll (Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Walking Dead)
- FX has also had some quality shows (The Shield, Terriers, Louie)
- HBO still bringing good shows (Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones)
- Walking Dead is more than just zombies eating people
- Watching a show all at once vs. week-to-week
- Lost generated so much analysis and discussion, like Twin Peaks in the early ’90s
- Netflix instant streaming is great
- Catching up with the Larry Sanders Show
- On-demand and streaming seems to be the wave of the future
- Will the Arrested Development movie be any good?
- Jay: Rarely watch shows when they air
- DVRs are great for late night shows
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Mighty Fine - Ready to Roar
Fishbone - Crazy Glue
Les Savy Fav - Clear Spirits
Johnny Foreigner - 200X
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The
show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to
get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get
you 10% off any order of $50 at Eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at Eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at Footlocker.com.
The Mighty Fine song is on the album Get Up to Get Down on Drug Front Records and is
available for free download at http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2011/11/the_mighty_fine_ready_to_roar_mp3.php.
The Fishbone song is on the EP Crazy Glue on Cockroach Media. Download the song for free at http://iodapromonet.com.
The Les Savy Fav song is on the album Root for Ruin on Frenchkiss Records. Download the song for free from the Frenchkiss sampler Battles of the Squid-Faced Massacre Men at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00596QATK.
TheJohnny Foreigner song is on the album Johnny Foreigner vs. Everything on Alcopop 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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Phil Stacey as we discuss what happens when your favorite team finally wins the big one. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Chixdiggit, The Big Sleep, Frightened Rabbit and Kisses.
Show notes:
- Jay reminisces about ’93, a good sports year for Toronto fans
- Rooted for the Bruins to beat Vancouver
- Phil covers occasional Bruins games
- We’re now older than pretty much every pro athlete
- Phil and Jay attended a few games in Toronto back in the day
- Maintaining objectivity in the press box
- Nothing better than sudden death OT in hockey playoffs
- Jay started rooting for Patriots in early ’80s
- Many years of misery for Bruins fans
- Phil makes some musical requests
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Chixdiggit - The Highway Man
The Big Sleep - Ace
Frightened Rabbit - Scottish Winds
Kisses - Johnny and Mary
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Chixdiggit song is from the band’s recent Daytrotter session. Download the song for free at http://www.daytrotter.com/#!/concert/chixdiggit/20054998-1234.
The Big Sleep song is on the band’s forthcoming album Nature Experiments on Frenchkiss Records. Download the song for free at http://stereogum.com/865381/the-big-sleep-ace/mp3s/.
The Frightened Rabbit song is on A Frightened Rabbit EP. You can
download the EP for free (in exchange for your email address) at http://frightenedrabbit.com/.
The Kisses song is available for free download (in exchange for your email address) at http://blowkisses.info/.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Phil Stacey as we discuss what happens to long-suffering sports fans when their favorite team finally wins the big one. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Superchunk, The Hush Now, Guided by Voices and Nada Surf.
Show notes:
- Bruins’ Stanley Cup win was a long time comping
- Plenty of championships in Boston in recent years
- Phil predicted Bruins win before last season
- The greatness of Tim Thomas
- Bruins did it the hard way
- Game 7 is always special
- Watching the big game alone
- Bruins had many heartbreaking losses over the years
- Last time the Leafs won the Cup, NHL was very different
- Sports is less life or death as you get older
- Texas Rangers came so close to winning
- Jay watched the Blue Jays win two World Series in early ’90s
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Superchunk - Where Eagles Dare
The Hush Now - The Legend of Dudley Town
Guided by Voices - The Unsinkable Fats Domino
Nada Surf - When I Was Young
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The
show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to
get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get
you 10% off any order of $50 at Eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at Eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at Footlocker.com.
The Superchunk song was recorded especially for Halloween and is available for free download at http://www.superchunk.com/music/halloween-2011-exclusive-where-eagles-dare.
The Hush Now song is available for free at http://thehushnow.bandcamp.com/track/the-legend-of-dudley-town.
The Guided by Voices song is on the band’s forthcoming album Let’s Go Eat the Factory on Guided by Voices Records. Download the song for free at http://www.matadorrecords.com/matablog/2011/10/25/guided-by-voices-new-single-by-original-lineup-the-unsinkable-fats-domino/.
The Nada Surf song is on the album The Stars are Indifferent to Astronomy on Barsuk Records. You can download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at http://www.nadasurf.com/.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>This week, I talk about our incessant need to make lists. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Johnny Foreigner, The Hush Now, Soccer Mom and The King Khan Experience.
Show notes:
- Driving to a rock show
- We love lists
- Best-of lists spur on debate
- Just contributed to best albums of ’90s list: http://popblerd.com/2011/10/25/blisterd-the-top-100-albums-of-the-90s-100-91/
- More lists at Dan Paquette’s Music Obsession on Facebook
- Top 100 songs of all-time was a tough list
- Putting lists together is fun, just to see the different choices
- Plenty of pop culture lists
- My top 20 songs
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Johnny Foreigner - (Don’t) Show Us Your Fangs
The Hush Now - Arkansas
Soccer Mom - High on Dad
The King Khan Experience - I Got Love
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Johnny Foreigner song is on the band’s forthcoming album Johnny Foreigner vs. Everything on Alcopop. Download the song for free at http://johnnyforeigner.bandcamp.com/track/dont-show-us-your-fangs
The Hush Now song is on the band’s self-released album Memos.
Find out more and download the entire album for free at http://thehushnow.bandcamp.com/album/memos.
The Soccer Mom song is on the band’s self-titled 7-inch. You can
download the song for free at http://www.soccermomboston.com/soccermomboston.com/audio.html.
The King Khan Experience song is on the EP Scion A/V Presents the King Khan Experience. Download the song for free athttp://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/12644-i-got-love/ .
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 3 of my conversation with special guests Jay Breitling and Ric Dube as we discuss bands that don’t know when to call it quits. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Male Bonding, Telekinesis, The Gossip and Sleater-Kinney.
Show notes:
- Dube plays good music on his podcast, More Lost Time (http://morelosttime.podbean.com)
- Remember when John Travolta was in Squeeze?
- Breitling disses a major metropolis
- We explain the Odd Future-Steve Albini beef
- Albini rises above our premise
- Trashing The Eagles
- Everybody’s got their so-called guilty pleasure
- In praise of non-formatted FM radio
- Defending the J. Geils Band reunion
- Dube pitches a movie
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Male Bonding - Bones
Telekinesis - Please Ask for Help
The Gossip - Standing in the Way of Control
Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The
show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to
get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get
you 10% off any order of $50 at Eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at Eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at Footlocker.com.
The Male Bonding song is on the band’s album Endless Now on Sub Pop. Find out
more and download the song for free at http://www.subpop.com/artists/male_bonding
The Telekinesis song is on the band’s album 12 Desperate Straight Lines on Merge Records.
Find out more at http://telekinesismusic.com/ and download the song for free from the Merge Records 2011 Sampler at http://www.amazon.com/Merge-Records-2011-Sampler/dp/B0058VIHEM/ref=sr_shvl_album_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1318812240&sr=301-2
The Gossip song is on the album Standing in the Way of Control on Kill Rock Stars. Find out more and
download the song for free from the Kill Rock Stars 20 Year Anniversary Sampler at http://www.amazon.com/Kill-Rock-Stars-Anniversary-Sampler/dp/B00581CXU6/ref=sr_shvl_album_1
The Sleater-Kinney song is on the album Dig Me Out on Kill Rock Stars. Find out more and download the song for free from the Kill Rock Stars 20 Year Anniversary Sampler at http://www.amazon.com/Kill-Rock-Stars-Anniversary-Sampler/dp/B00581CXU6/ref=sr_shvl_album_1
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
Part 2 of my conversation with special guests Jay Breitling and Ric Dube as we discuss bands that don’t know when to call it quits. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Wild Flag, Electric Flower, Animal Man and PS I Love You.
Show notes:
- Dube: Stevie Wonder definitely recorded a lot of dreck after brilliant stretch
- The decline of Clapton is legendary
- Ric defends the early output of Jet
- The current state of music criticism
- Dube romanticizes The White Stripes
- Can current bands afford to hang around too long?
- We don’t know the hippity hop
- "Three guys who don’t know about anything."
- Yo La Tengo opened for The National?
- Gauging New Hampshire’s interest in indie rock
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Wild Flag - Romance
Electric Flower - Four16
Animal Man - Do You Feed
PS I Love You - Subdivisions
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Wild Flag song is on the band’s self-titled album on Merge. Find out
more at http://www.mergerecords.com/artists/wild_flag and download the song for free at http://www.chromewaves.net/2011/10/rocktober-giveaways-wild-flag-vs-fucked-up-and-more/.
The Electric Flower song is on the band’s self-titled EP on Narnack Records.
Find out more and download the song for free at http://rcrdlbl.com/2011/10/04/download_electric_flower_four16.
The Animal Man song is on the EP David’s Town, a companion to Fucked Up’s album David Comes to Life on Matador Records. Find out more and download the song for free at http://pitchfork.com/news/42060-hear-a-song-from-fucked-ups-fake-compilation/.
The PS I Love You song is on the album Figure It Out on Paper Bag Records. Find out more and download the song at http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/mp3-download-ps-i-love-yous-gritty-rush-cover-subdivisions-20111004.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>
Part 1 of my conversation with special guests Jay Breitling and Ric Dube as we discuss bands that don’t know when to call it quits. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Wilco, Tommy Stinson, Real Estate and Dum Dum Girls.
Show notes:
- Dube goes on a rant about R.E.M.’s breakup- Bands that have worn out their welcome
- Breitling: Does Van Hagar count?
- Breaking down the suckiosity of SuperHeavy
- The Stones and the Who should have stopped decades ago
- Dube: The Who as traveling circus act
- Kumar: U2 keeps on keeping on
- Bands as corporations
- Breitling: Rolling Stone specializes in "celebrity maintenance" journalism
- Kumar defends Rush
- Using outside songwriters is a bad sign
- Cheap Trick has come full circle
- Journey’s new relevance
- Dube: Journey should just play "Don’t Stop Believin’" in concert
- Bands that quit at their peak: The Jam, Husker Du, Replacements, Stone Roses, Smiths
- Elvis Costello keeps reissuing his catalog
- Mission of Burma went away, came back and are better than ever
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Wilco - Whole Love
Tommy Stinson - Meant to Be
Real Estate -Green Aisles
Dum Dum Girls - Bedroom Eyes
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The
show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to
get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get
you 10% off any order of $50 at Eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at Eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at Footlocker.com.
The
Wilco song is on the album The Whole Love on Anti/Epitaph. Find out
more at and download the song for free at Amazon.
The Tommy Stinson song is on the album One Man Mutiny on Done to Death Music.
Find out more at and download the song for free at Amazon.
The Real Estate song is on the album Days on Domino Recordings. Find out more and download the song for free at Stereogum.
The
Dum Dum Girls song is on the album Only in Dreams on Sub Pop, where you can download the song for free at .
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 blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets.
Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is
the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at his blog. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site PodGeek.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>
This week, I talk about the legacy left behind by R.E.M., a band that called it quits last week after 31 years.
Show notes:
- First saw R.E.M. on Late Night With David Letterman in 1983
- Stipe stayed in background while Buck and Mills talked to Dave
- Band played UNH in October ’86, but I didn’t go for some reason
- Started getting regular FM airplay by mid-80s
- More guitars in the mix on Life’s Rich Pageant and Document
- "The One I Love" was first big hit
- Sentimental memories of Green
- Saw them play Mansfield, Mass., in 1989
- Early ’90s saw R.E.M. become hugely popular
- "Losing My Religion" was everywhere in ’91
- Automatic for the People put band on par with U2
- Monster gets unfairly criticized
- Bill Berry left band in ’97
- Next three albums had diminishing returns
- Bounced back in last few years with more energized sound
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>This week, I talk about my experience running in a 200-mile relay. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Devo, Twerps, Tunabunny and Rational Animals.
Show notes:
- Heading up to NH for Reach the Beach relay
- Was up really late
- Suffering from Achilles problem
- Won’t be running for a while after this weekend
- Running three times in 24 hours
- Doing another relay next May
- Don’t get a lot of sleep
- Didn’t record anything during or right after relay
- Ran faster than last year
- Slept very little
- Didn’t have much left in tank for third leg
- Great team-building event
- All about adrenaline
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Devo - Watch Us Work It
Twerps - Dreamin’
Tunabunny - Bury the Present
Rational Animals - Guess What? (Crunch)
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Devo song is from Yo Gabba Gabba! Music is Awesome! Volume 3 on Filter U.S. Recordings. Download the song for free at http://soundcloud.com/filter-magazine/devo-watch-us-work-it.
The Twerps song is on the band’s self-titled debut on Underwater Peoples. Download the song for free at http://rcrdlbl.com/2011/09/19/download_twerps_dreamin.
The Tunabunny song is on the album Minima Moralia on Happy Happy Birthday to Me. Find out more and download the song for free at http://rcrdlbl.com/2011/09/19/premiere_tunabunny_bury_the_present.
The Rational Animals song is on the album Bock Rock Parade on Katorga Works. Download the song for free at http://rcrdlbl.com/2011/09/16/download_rational_animals_guess_what_crunch.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Christian Douglass as we discuss the challenges facing first-time authors. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Pearl Jam, Los Campesinos, Kurt Vile and Charles Bradley.
Show notes:
- Is book audience dying off?
- There are still very successful books
- Plenty of small publishing houses out there
- Marketing is big
- Zach Galifianakis made a promo trailer for a book he liked
- The tale of the Honey Badger
- James Franco’s grandmother
- Plenty of content out there
- Easier for music to break through than a novel
- Douglass points to educational system for lack of readers
- Many more distractions for consumers’ free time
- Reading fiction is rewarding
- Authors turning novels into podcasts
- Learning about Charles Dickens
- Turning books into movies is difficult
- World According to Garp had to cut a lot of stuff out
- Cormac McCarthy’s had a few books made into movies
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Pearl Jam - Ole
Los Campesinos - By Your Hand
Kurt Vile - The Creature
Charles Bradley - The World (Is Going Up in Flames)
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Pearl Jam song is part of the band’s 20th anniversary celebration. Find out more and download the song for free at http://www.pj20.com.
The Los Campesinos song is on the album Hello Sadness on Wichita Recordings. Find out more and download the song for free at http://www.loscampesinos.com.
The Kurt Vile song is on the EP So Outta Reach on Matador Records. Find out more at http://kurtvile.com/ and download the song for free at http://www.matadorrecords.com.
The Charles Bradley song is on the album No Time for Dreaming on Dunham Records. Find out more and download the song (in exchange for your email address) at http://thecharlesbradley.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Christian Douglass as we discuss his recent trip to Alaska to research a book. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Male Bonding, F***ed Up, The Moondoggies and Sloan.
Show notes:
- Douglass: One book written, researching the next one
- First book finished in June, sent out to reviewers
- Need to define characters clearly at the beginning
- Kumar: Challenging books are rewarding, but takes a while to get going
- Have to be in the right mood to dig into a complex John Irving novel
- Douglass: Second book digs into unsolved murder in the Alaskan bush
- Murder took place in indigenous Yupik village
- High rate of alcoholism
- Tough time selling the first book
- Village is in big fishing area
- Murder was pinned on an unlikely suspect
- Lots of heavy drinking
- Many holes in murder story
- Douglass posed as a writer for fishing magazine and lived with drug dealer
- Could be a "true crime" story, but Douglass will do fictionalized version
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Male Bonding - Tame the Sun
F***ed Up - The Other Shoe
The Moondoggies- It’s a Shame, It’s a Pity
Sloan - Losing California
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Male Bonding song is on the album Endless Now on Sub Pop. Find out more and download the song for free at http://www.subpop.com/artists/male_bonding.
The F***ed Up song is on the album David Comes to Life on Matador Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/epicsinminutes and download the song for free at http://www.matadorrecords.com.
The Moondoggies song is on the album Tidelands on Hardly Art Records. Find out more and download the song for free at http://moondoggiesmusic.com.
The Sloan song is on Select Singles, ’92-’11, courtesy of NoiseTrade. Find out more at http://www.sloanmusic.com and download the 14-song sampler for free (in exchange for your email address) at /sloan.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 3 of my conversation with special guests Jay Breitling and Ric Dube as we discuss the world of rock books. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Crooked Fingers, Charles Bradley and the Menahan Street Band, Arcade Fire and Mini Mansions.
Show notes:
- Dube (http://morelosttime.podbean.com): Gina Arnold’s "Route 666: The Road to Nirvana" was annoying, but had good Replacements info
- Tendency for writers to document bands in terms of their own experiences
- Dube: Ramones’ oral history by road manager Monte Melnick had great inside info
- Using quotes to tell a story
- Dube met the Ramones when they came through record store where he worked
- Azerrad’s "Our Band Could Be Your Life" was hugely influential
- Dube was behind the scenes when Mission of Burma reunited
- Azerrad’s book got people interested in Burma again
- Band has bigger career now than it did before
- Dube helped Azerrad with his fanzine research
- Kumar: Rob Sheffield’s "Love Is a Mixtape"
- Breitling: Steven Blush’s "American Hardcore"
- Was made into a movie that didn’t capture spirit of book
- Kumar: Our buddy Dave Brigham’s book "(C)Rock Stories: Milion-Dollar Tales of Music, Mayhem and Immaturity"
- Dube wants to produce the movie version
- Dube: B. George and Martha Defoe’s "The International Discography of the New Wave"
- Dube has second edition from 1982; copy is well-worn and marked up
- Dube: "Rolling Stone’s Alt-Rock-a-Rama" is "phenomenal by accident"
- Another one from the pile: Kim Cooper and David Smay’s "Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth"
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Crooked Fingers - Typhoon
Charles Bradley and the Menahan Street Band - Stay Away
Arcade Fire - We Used to Wait
Mini Mansions - The Room Outside
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Crooked Fingers song is on the forthcoming album Breaks in the Armor on Merge Records. Find out more at http://www.crookedfingers.com/ and download the song for free at http://stereogum.com/788022/crooked-fingers-typhoon/mp3s.
The Charles Bradley and the Menahan Street Band song is on Newermind: A Tribute Album. Find out more at http://thecharlesbradley.com/ and download the album for free by going to http://www.facebook.com/SPIN and "liking" the page.
The Arcade Fire song is on the album The Suburbs on Merge Records. Find out more at http://www.arcadefire.com/ and download the song for free at http://www.insound.com/digital/free-mp3s.
The Mini Mansions song is on the band’s self-titled, self-released EP. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/minimansionsmusic and download the song for free at http://www.insound.com/digital/free-mp3s.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 2 of my conversation with special guests Jay Breitling and Ric Dube as we discuss the world of rock books. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Matthew Sweet, Deer Tick, Don Fleming and Screaming Trees.
Show notes:
- Rock memoirs
- Kumar: Jen Trynin’s Everything I’m Cracked Up to Be
- Dube (http://morelosttime.podbean.com): Dave Simpson’s The Fallen talks to the many former members of The Fall
- The Fall’s being going for 35 years
- Steven Tyler’s memoir was out this year
- Breitling can’t stop yawning
- Falling off the wagon
- One-upping each other with Aerosmith rehab connections
- Joey Kramer has a memoir out, too
- Kumar: Motley Crue’s The Dirt is a great rock bio
- Dube recalls defiling the memory of Hanoi Rocks drummer Razzle
- Dube: Jim Derogatis bio of legendary rock writer Lester Bangs, Let It Blurt
- Hollywood music biopics (Walk the Line, Ray) follow the same formula: Triumph, downfall, comeback
- More Bangs: Main Lines, Blood Feasts and Bad Taste
- No more big names in rock journalism
- Kumar goes on "people don’t read anymore" rant
- Dube: Ugly Things, a book-length periodical out of California
- Breitling learns about some band called the Beatles
- Plenty of books about Elvis, Dylan
- Kumar: Shakey, bio about Neil Young by Jimmy McDonough
- Massive tome, kinda messy, very interesting
- Our friend Marc is smart
- Dube: Best oral history book is Fool the World, about the Pixies
- When done right, oral histories use quotes to tell the story
- Breitling: Replacements’ oral history suffers because most band members weren’t quoted
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Matthew Sweet - She Walks the Night
Deer Tick - Miss K
Don Fleming - My Little Lamb
Screaming Trees - Ash Gray Sunday
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Matthew Sweet song is on the forthcoming album Modern Art on Missing Piece Records. Find out more and download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at www.matthewsweet.com.
The Deer Tick song is on the album Divine Providence on Partisan Records. Find out more and download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at http://deertick.viinyl.com.
The Don Fleming song is on the EP Don Fleming 4 on Instant Mayhem. Find out more at http://www.instantmayhem.com/ and download the song for free at http://www.iodapromonet.com.
The Screaming Trees song is on the album Last Words: The Final Recordings on Sunyata Records. Download the song for free at http://www.iodapromonet.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>This week, I’ve got part 1 of my conversation with special guests Jay Breitling and Ric Dube as we discuss the world of rock books. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Boston Spaceships, Archers of Loaf, Okkervil River and The Delta Spirit.
Show notes:
- Dube (http://morelosttime.podbean.com) prepared well for topic
- Good time for rock books: Keith Richards, Bob Mould
- Breaking down types of rock books: Memoirs, biographies, oral histories, indexes
- Pete Townshend could do something weird with his memoir
- Air quote alert
- Objective biographies can be better than memoirs
- Police bio was very critical of the band
- SPIN magazine used to do good oral histories about bands
- Every old issue of SPIN is up on Google Books
- Mixed reviews for Klosterman
- Azerrad’s Our Band Could Be Your Life was momentous
- Got his big break with Nirvana bio in early ’90s
- Breitling: I want to read only one book about a particular band
- Dube introduces us to the work of Vernon Joynson
- Trouser Press guides
- Bootlegs are much more accessible online
- Kumar: Keith Richards memoir is excellent
- Breitling: Rollins’ Get in the Van is a great memoir of the Black Flag years
- Dube: Jim Greer’s book about Guided By Voices is good; Greer used to play in band
- Juliana Hatfield’s memoir wasn’t interesting enough
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Boston Spaceships - Christmas Girl
Archers of Loaf - Wrong
Okkervil River - Your Past Life as a Blast
The Delta Spirit - She’s Not There
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Boston Spaceshps song is on the album Let It Beard on Guided by Voices Records. Find out more at http://www.bostonspaceships.com/ and download the song for free at http://evilspeakers.blogspot.com/2011/08/reviewed-boston-spaceships-let-it-beard.html.
The Archers of Loaf song is on the deluxe reissue of the album Icky Mettle on Merge Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/archersofloaf and download the song for free at http://www.amazon.com/Wrong/dp/B005EU4OM6/ref=amb_link_357030562_5.
The Okkervil River song is on the album I Am Very Far on Jagjaguwar Records. Find out more at http://okkervilriver.com/ and download the song for free at http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004XU0CDI/ref=as_li_ss_tl.
The Delta Spirit song is available as a free download (in exchange for your email address) at http://deltaspirit.net/.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>This week, I celebrate the show’s fifth birthday by discussing the podcast’s origins and where it’s going. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from St. Vincent, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Shonen Knife and Algernon Cadwallader.
Show notes:
- Driving to Boston
- Big 5th birthday of the show
- First started listening to podcasts in the car
- Considered doing show about running
- Started with scripted segments
- Eventually brought guests on
- Recharged show’s batteries
- Rain gets heavier, as does traffic
- Not in it for the money because there isn’t any]
- First podcasts showed up in 2004
- Addition of podcasts to iTunes store was huge for exposure
- I listen to many shows: Phedippidations, Smodcast, No Agenda, WTF, Nerdist, Rock n’ Roll Geek Show
- Podcasting is thriving, but not as a money-making venture necessarily
- Listen to podcasts instead of radio
- It’s easy to do a podcast
- Friends are doing shows: Ric Dube’s More Lost Time
- I’ve made friends through podcasting: Steve Runner, James Gralian, Brian Salvatore, Adam Tinkoff
- Stuck in traffic
- Plan to keep doing the show as long as I can
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
St. Vincent - Surgeon
We Were Promised Jetpacks - Act on Impulse
Shonen Knife - Rock n’ Roll High School
Algernon Cadwallader - Cruisin’
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The St. Vincent song is on the forthcoming album Strange Mercy on 4AD. Find out more and download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at StrangeMercy.com.
The We Were Promised Jetpacks song is on the forthcoming album In the Pit of the Stomach on Fat Cat. Find out more and download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at http://wewerepromisedjetpacks.com/.
The Shonen Knife song is on the album Osaka Ramones: Tribute to the Ramones on Good Charamel Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/shonenknife and download the song for free at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B005935NNW/.
The Algernon Cadwallader song is on the album Parrot Flies on Big Scary Monsters. Find out more at http://algernoncadwallader.blogspot.com/ and download the song for free at http://soundcloud.com/bsmrocks/algernon-cadwallader-cruisin-1.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>This week, I’ve got some dispatches from my trip to Seattle. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Band of Horses, Mudhoney and the Murder City Devils.
Show notes:
- In Seattle for work
- Went to high school for few years in town three hours away
- Greeted by old man crashing into me on escalator
- First time in Seattle since 1983
- Visited Experience Music Project
- Seattle supposedly has last working monorail
- Went running down by the waterfront
- Went to a Mariners baseball game
- Met an old buddy from high school
- Plenty to see in the city
- Had we not moved, I might have gone to college in Seattle
- Major heatwave everywhere in U.S. except Seattle
- Checking in on last night in Seattle
- Finished working
- Got together with another old high school friend
- I got way off track on my way there and was an hour late
- Enjoyable trip
- When I first moved away, kept in touch via letters
- Stopped writing back when I got to college
- Was able to reconnect via Facebook
- Interesting to see how our lives turned out
- When I moved, we were all 15-year-old dorks
- Similarly reconnected with a childhood friend in Toronto a few years ago
- A bit of uncertainty meeting somebody you haven’t seen in 30 years
- It’s amazing how much you forget over the years
- Used a lot of public transportation in Seattle
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Band of Horses - The Funeral
Mudhoney - In ’N’ Out of Grace
The Murder City Devils - Idle Hands
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Band of Horses song is on the album Everything All the Time on Sub Pop. Find out more at http://www.bandofhorses.com/us/home and download the song for free at http://www.subpop.com/artists/band_of_horses.
The Mudhoney song is on the deluxe reissue of the album Superfuzz Bigmuff on Sub Pop. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/mudhoney and download the song for free at http://www.subpop.com/artists/mudhoney.
The Murder City Devils song is on the album In Name and Blood on Sub Pop. Find out more at http://www.themurdercitydevils.com/ and download the song for free at http://www.subpop.com/artists/the_murder_city_devils.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Special guest Lee Black joins me as we discuss the popularity and unpopularity of soccer. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Titus Andronicus, Young Adults and Boots Electric.
Show notes:
- Mr. Black’s first appearance on the show
- Driving to see New England Revolution play Manchester United
- Stuck in Boston traffic
- Women’s World Cup stoked interest in U.S.
- When there’s no big event, interest tails off
- Women’s soccer burst on scene in ’99 after US won gold
- Youth soccer is booming
- Lee grew interested in soccer as a young kid after visiting Europe
- No teams in Iowa until years later
- High school didn’t have a team until after he left
- In college, Lee was on the school’s first soccer team
- Prefers watching World Cup games in Spanish
- Was in Italy when they won World Cup
- Still little interest in the heartland
- Jay: Played youth soccer in Canada
- Moved to Richland, Wash., birthplace of Hope Solo
- Played high school soccer in NH
- Played on indoor and outdoor teams
- Would rather play than watch soccer
- European nature of the game turns off some Americans
- More exposure via ESPN and other cable channels
- Women’s game is more popular thanks to ’99 gold medal
- Soccer will never be as big here as in the rest of the world
- Popular because you can play it anywhere and it’s easy to learn
- In alternate reality, Lee’s a hockey goalie
- (Postscript: ManU beat Revs 4-1; U.S. women lost in World Cup final to Japan)
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Tigers
Titus Andronicus - Breed
Young Adults - Let Us Out
Boots Electric - Boots Electric Theme
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks song is on the forthcoming album Mirror Traffic on Matador Records. Find out more at http://www.stephenmalkmus.com/ and download the song for free at http://matadorrecords.com.
The Titus Andronicus cover of a Nirvana song is on the album Newermind: A Tribute Album. Find out more at http://www.titusandronicus.net/ and download the album for free by going to http://www.facebook.com/SPIN and "liking" the page.
The Young Adults song is on the band’s Demo. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/youngadultsband and download the song for free at http://soundcloud.com/clicky-clicky-music-blog/young-adults-let-us-out.
The Boots Electric song is on the forthcoming album Honkey Kong on Dangerbird Records. Find out more and download the song for free at http://www.boots-electric.com/.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Special guest Jay Breitling joins me as we discuss our favorite rock music of the first half of 2011. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Yuck, J. Mascis, Sloan and The Twilight Singers.
Show notes:
- Breitling: Yuck’s self-titled album
- Reminiscent of great ’90s acts
- Kumar: Reissue of Queens of the Stone Age’s first album
- Originally came out in ’98, was out of print
- Breitling: J Mascis--Several Shades of Why
- Mostly acoustic
- Dino Jr.’s Where You Been has been unfairly forgotten
- Kumar: Sloan--The Double Cross
- 20 years of terrific rock and power pop
- Breitling: Rival Schools--Pedal
- NY post-hardcore legends
- Kumar: Twilight Singers--Dynamite Steps
- Greg Dulli’s back with yet another great album
- Breitling: Destroyer--Kaputt
- Synth pop detour for Dan Bejar
- Whither Don Felder?
- Kumar: PJ Harvey--Let England Shake
- Polarizing album
- Bjork’s selling her new songs as apps
- Breitling: Wartgore Hellsnicker--Moderate Rock
- "The last grunge record"
- Kumar: Buffalo Tom--Skins
- ’90 alt-rock heroes still sound great
- Breitling: Also dig Johnny Foreigner, Wye Oak releases
- Kumar: Honorable mention includes Drive-By Truckers, Beastie Boys, Feelies
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Yuck - The Wall
J. Mascis - Not Enough
Sloan - Follow the Leader
The Twilight Singers - On the Corner
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Yuck song is on the band’s self-titled album on Fat Possum Records. Find out more at http://yuckband.blogspot.com/ and download the song for free at http://blog.kexp.org/blog/2011/03/14/song-of-the-day-yuck-the-wall/.
The J. Mascis song is on the album Several Shades of Why on Sub Pop. Find out more at http://jmascis.com/ and download the song for free at http://www.subpop.com/artists/j_mascis.
The Sloan song is on the album The Double Cross on Yep Roc Records. Find out more and download the song for free at http://www.sloanmusic.com/.
The Twilight Singers song is on the album Dynamite Steps on Sub Pop. Find out more at http://www.thetwilightsingers.com/ and download the song for free at http://www.subpop.com/artists/the_twilight_singers.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 3 of my conversation with special guest Jay Breitling as we discuss and play music from underappreciated albums. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week.
Show notes:
- Kumar’s pick: Matthew Sweet
- Very dark followup to Girlfriend
- Breitling: Slicker
- IDM: Intelligent Dance Music
- Check out ClickyClicky Radio Thursdays from 8-10 Eastern at http://www.bostonfreeradio.com
- Slicker features John Hughes’ son
- Kumar: The Pursuit of Happiness
- Had MTV hit in ’88 with "I’m an Adult Now"
- Breitling: Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start
- Worst band name ever
- Breitling: Okay Paddy
- Turned into a bluegrass band
- Straight outta Scranton
- Kumar: Drive Like Jehu
- Pete Townshend has an autobiography coming out
- Bubbling under picks
- Bonehead of the Week
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Completely Conspicuous 182: Long Gone and Hard to Find
Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Jay Breitling as we discuss and play music from underappreciated albums. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week.
Show notes:
- Now accepting beer donations
- Breitling’s pick: The Hip Young Things
- Pavement-esque German band
- Kumar: The Nation of Ulysses
- On Dischord in early ’90s
- Breitling: Eggs
- Another DC act
- Kumar: Frank Black and the Catholics
- Stripped down garage rock
- Breitling: Projekt A-ko
- Name is Japanese, band is Scottish
- Kumar: Big Chief
- Detroit act combining sludge rock with funk
- The return of "120 Minutes"
- On gravelly voiced DJs
- Breitling: The Coctails
- Featured Archer Prewitt
- Bonehead of the Week
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Jay Breitling as we discuss and play music from unsung albums. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week.
Show notes:
- Welcome back, Senor Breitling
- What is an unsung album?
- Breitling’s pick: The Wannadies
- Different albums for different countries
- Def Leppard talk
- Bands with "extra guys" on stage
- Kumar: Max Webster
- Toured with Rush in the ’70s
- Frontman Kim Mitchell went on to solo career
- Breitling: Jon Brion
- Played with Til Tuesday, Jellyfish before becoming producer
- Kumar: The Dirtbombs
- Heavy fuzz garage take on R&B and soul
- Breitling: Latimer
- Great Philly act
- Kumar: New Bomb Turks
- Garage rock ass-kickers
- Bonehead of the Week
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 3 of my conversation with special guest Ric Dube as we dissect 1990s movies. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, Sun Airway and J. Mascis.
Show notes:
- Check out Ric’s great podcast, More Lost Time (http://morelosttime.podbean.com)
- Ric: Kirk Cameron’s "Left Behind" movies were exploitation flicks
- Ric got early copies of the Dysfunctional Family Circus
- Ric offers better artists to replace Smash Mouth’s reign of soundtrack terror in ’98
- Match the Bond Girl to the movie
- First digitally edited movie soundtrack was in 1996
- Rating the destructive film families
- A cavalcade o’ Culkins
- Ill-fated jumps from TV to movies
- Michael Moore reinvents the documentary
- Jay: In ’90s, Nicolas Cage went from serious actor to uber nutjob
- Pulp Fiction inspired many knockoffs
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Senator
Sun Airway - Wild Palms
J. Mascis - Alone (live)
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks song is on the forthcoming album Mirror Traffic on Matador Records. Find out more at http://www.stephenmalkmus.com/ and download the song for free at http://matadorrecords.com.
The Sun Airway song is on the 7-inch Wild Palms on Dead Oceans. Find out more at http://sunairway.com/ and download the song for free at http://pitchfork.com/news/42740-new-sun-airway-wild-palms/.
The J. Mascis song was recorded as part of a live Daytrotter session. Find out more at http://jmascis.com/ and download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at http://www.daytrotter.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Ric Dube as we dissect 1990s movies. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Robert Pollard, The Answering Machine and Gold-Bears.
The show notes...
- Listen to Ric’s podcast More Lost Time (http://morelosttime.podbean.com)
- Ric: Major ’90s trend was precocious kids who are smarter than adults
- Sympathy for Wile E. Coyote
- Ralph Bakshi’s 1990s output
- Body-switching comedies keep coming back
- Ric’s beef about "Shrek" and Smash Mouth
- Smash Mouth had songs in numerous movies in the ’90s
- In many ’90s rock music hits, the hooks got smaller and more annoying
- Bryan Adams went from meat-and-potatoes rocker to ’90s soundtrack guy
- What really happened in the Summer of ’69?
- Movie trend: Animals smarter than their co-stars
- Rant alert: Ric hates TV dramas
- The argument against "Mad Men" and "The Sopranos"
- Talking about "The Simpsons"
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Robert Pollard - In a Circle
The Answering Machine - Another City, Another Sorry
Gold-Bears - Record Store
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Robert Pollard song is on the album Lord of the Birdcage on Guided By Voices Records. Find out more at http://robertpollard.net/ and download the song for free at /single/robertpollard_inacircle.mp3 (right click and "save as").
The Answering Machine song is on the album Another City, Another Sorry on Heist or Hit Records. Find out more at http://www.theansweringmachine.co.uk/. Download the song for free at http://soundcloud.com/heistorhitrecords/the-answering-machine-another-city-another-sorry.
The Gold-Bears song is on the album Are You Falling in Love? on Slumberland Records. Find out more at http://gold-bears.com/ and download the song for free at http://soundcloud.com/slumberland-records/gold-bears-record-store.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Completely Conspicuous 178: Look Back in Anger
Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Ric Dube as we dissect 1990s movies. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Centro-matic, Roadside Graves and Bon Iver.
Show notes:
- Check out Ric’s great podcast, More Lost Time (http://morelosttime.podbean.com)
- Indie film emerged as viable entity in the ’90s
- Richard Linklater, Kevin Smith, Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino
- Still in the age of VHS and fewer cable options for viewers
- Internet was in its infancy at start of decade, text-based
- Reinventing brands, like Coke did with Diet Coke
- Ric’s million-dollar idea
- Studios started experimenting with quality projects
- Ric: Huge trend of "Adjective Noun" movies
- Revisiting "The Cable Guy"
- Jay: The end of the bankable star
- Every star had huge bombs
- Eddie Murphy had the biggest decline from ’80s to ’90s
- Ric feels the same way about R.E.M. after the first few albums
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Centro-matic - Only in My Double Mind
Roadside Graves -Love Me More
Bon Iver - Calgary
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Centro-matic song is on the forthcoming album Candidate Waltz on Undertow Music. Find out more and download the song for free at /share.
The Roadside Graves song is on the forthcoming album We Can Take Care of Ourselves on Autumn Tone. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/theroadsidegraves and download the song for free at http://stereogum.com/712431/roadside-graves-love-me-more-stereogum-premiere/mp3s/.
The Bon Iver song is on album Bon Iver on Jagjaguwar Records. Find out more and download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at http://www.boniver.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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>This week, I take a look at why we’re so fascinated with the end of the world. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Joel Plaskett, Ty Segall and the Smashing Pumpkins.
The show notes...
- Saturday, May 21 was supposed to be the Rapture
- Harold Camping financed ad campaign proclaiming the end of the world
- Nothing happened
- Many others have predicted doomsday in the past
- In 1954, Dorothy Martin predicted world would end via flood
- In 1800s, Mariana Andrada made similar predictions
- Some take warnings seriously
- California woman tried to kill her daughters and herself last week to avoid the end of the world
- Next up: Mayans predicted doom in 2012
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Joel Plaskett - When I Go
Ty Segall - You Make the Sun Fry
The Smashing Pumpkins - Quiet (live)
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Joel Plaskett song is on the album Emergencys, false alarms, shipwrecks, castaways, fragile creatures, special features, demons and demonstrations on New Scotland Records. Find out more at http://www.joelplaskett.com and download the song for free at http://www.pigeonrow.com.
The Ty Segall song is on the album Goodbye Bread on Matador Records. Find out more at ysegall. Download the song for free at http://www.dragcity.com.
The Smashing Pumpkins song was recorded live at BBC Studios on Sept. 12, 1993. Find out more at http://www.smashingpumpkins.com/ and download the song for free at http://www.archive.org/details/tsp1993-09-12.shn.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>
Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Jim Corrigan as we discuss social media. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from F***ed Up, The National and The Sam Roberts Band.
Show notes:
- Jim is a Twitter newbie (@JimCorrigan2011), Jay has been on for two years (@koomdogg)
- Jim’s already Tweeted more than 1,300 times
- Previously, was a blogger about politics
- Lots of pressure to write cogent posts
- Resisted Twitter for a long time, but now loves it
- Jay: Follow comedians, bands
- Corrigan fell for Twitter spam
- Stay off Facebook at work, but easier to tweet throughout the day
- Great source of immediate news
- Jay: Heard about Bin Laden’s death on Twitter more than hour before Obama announced it
- Good way to hype new eps of CompCon, columns, occasional blog post
- Jim: Twitter offers less feedback than Facebook; no "like" button
- Spam bots galore on Twitter
- Jay: Like to post interesting links, retweets
- FYI: Jim would rather be clubbed than tased
- Jay: Steer clear of political stuff on Twitter
- Jim works a solitary job, so social media offers sense of community
- Facebook’s good for keeping up with friends
- Social media didn’t cause governmental overthrow in Egypt and Libya
- Differences of musical opinion on Facebook
- Ranking favorite songs is tough
- Jay: Use Google Reader to follow blogs
- Charlie Sheen situation was played out in a matter of days
- Twitter memes fly by fast and furiously
- Jim’s mom is on Facebook
- There are things you can say on Twitter that you can’t on FB
- Reconnecting with people via social media is cool, but can be awkward
- Blocking friends on Facebook
- Annoying social media habits: Trolling for opinions, retweets
- If you really want privacy, don’t go on Facebook
- Don’t post anything that you don’t want getting out there
- Jim: As a means of expression, Twitter is better
- Facebook’s better for more personal stuff
- Some people just use social media to complain about their lives
- If you need social media for friends, you’ve got bigger problems
- Spoiler alerts
- Social networks involved actual human interaction when we were kids
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
F***ed Up - Queen of Hearts
The National - About Today
The Sam Roberts Band - Longitude
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The F***ed Up song is on the album David Comes to Life on Matador Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/epicsinminutes and download the song for free at http://www.matadorrecords.com.
The National song is on the re-released 2004 EP Cherry Tree on Brassland. Find out more and download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at /track/about-today.
The Sam Roberts Band song is on the album Collider on Rounder Records. Find out more at http://www.samrobertsband.com and download the song for free at /longitude/longitude.mp3 (right click and "save as").
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 1 of my podcast conversation with special guest Jim Corrigan as we talk politics. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Thurston Moore, Joel Plaskett and Shotgun Jimmie, and Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears.
The show notes...
- Corrigan’s a lifelong but "not typical" Democrat
- Mixing up Obama and Osama
- Debate over releasing Bin Laden photos
- OBL was "hiding" in plain sight for years
- Kumar: Very jaded about politics
- Making sense of Ron Paul
- Is Obama more liberal than Bill Clinton?
- Jim’s brother worked for Mike Dukakis campaign
- Kumar: Two-party system sucks
- Gitmo’s still open despite Obama’s promise to close it
- Jim first encountered Clinton in Arkansas in ’88
- Four years later, he came out of nowhere to win Dem nomination
- Politicians getting in trouble with sex scandals (John Edwards, Gary Hart)
- Republicans in the 2012 presidential race face tough odds
- Trump is a joke
- Jim: Not fired up about Obama, but committed
- Jim’s brother "made" Obama
- Key to campaigning now is canvassing
- Gotta get out and shake hands
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Thurston Moore - Circulation
Joel Plaskett and Shotgun Jimmie - Jimmie’s Still Jimmie
Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears - Livin’ in the Jungle
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Thurston Moore song is on the album Demolished Thoughts on Matador Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/treesoutside. Download the song for free at http://www.matadorrecords.com.
The Joel Plaskett and Shotgun Jimmie song is on the 7-inch Jimmie’s Still Jimmie on New Scotland Records. Find out more at http://www.joelplaskett.com and download the song for free at http://www.pigeonrow.com.
The Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears song is from the album Scandalous on Lost Highway Records. Find out more at http://www.blackjoelewis.com/scandalous/ and download the song for free at http://www.amazon.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>This week, I take a look at my complicated relationship with running. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from The Twilight Singers, The Church and Sebadoh.
Show notes:
- Never saw the point of running
- Played sports but never ran for running’s sake
- After college, started working out again
- Watched Boston Marathon every year but never thought I could do it
- Started running in late ’90s because of my girlfriend (now wife)
- Ran a 5K, then kept increasing distance
- In 2002, ran Boston Marathon for the first time
- Have run 13 marathons since then
- No marathon this spring because of burnout
- Enjoying shorter distances and just running in general
- Ran in the Poco Loco in Boston last weekend
- Social running event with no pressure for time or speed
- Similar events in the works for St. Louis, London
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
The Twilight Singers - Don’t Call
The Church - Under the Milky Way
Sebadoh - Rebound
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Twilight Singers song is a B-side from the band’s album Dynamite Steps on Sub Pop Records. Find out more and download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at http://www.thetwilightsingers.com.
The Church song is on the 1988 album Starfish on Arista Records. Find out more at http://www.thechurchband.net/ and download the song for free at http://www.amazon.com.
The Sebadoh song is on the upcoming re-release of the 1994 album Bakesale on Sub Pop Records. Find out more at http://www.sebadoh.com and download the song for free at http://www.subpop.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>This week, I’ve got another installment of Driving With Kumar as I discuss privacy in the digital age. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Dawes, Eleanor Friedberger and Boris.
Show notes:
- Is there any privacy nowadays?
- Plenty of personal info is online
- People don’t mind sharing every detail of their lives online
- Checking in from wherever you are
- Social media everywhere
- I like Twitter for quick bursts of info
- People are much more apt to voice opinions, good or bad, online
- Message boards and blog comments are an entire subculture unto themselves
- Anonymous comments on newspaper sites are similarly annoying
- How much is too much?
- Immersion in role-playing games, Second Life
- Monitoring kids’ online activity
- Putting family photos online
- Facebook privacy concerns
- Folks love posting YouTube videos
- Getting off the grid
- Information overload
- Blogs can be confessional for people
- I do essays, concert reviews, CompCon show notes
- Podcasting allows anyone to create programming
- Never feel like I’m putting too much out there
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Dawes - If I Wanted Someone
Eleanor Friedberger - My Mistakes
Boris - Riot Sugar
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Dawes song is on the forthcoming album Nothing is Wrong on ATO Records. Find out more and download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at http://www.dawestheband.com.
The Eleanor Friedberger song is on the forthcoming album Last Summer on Merge Records. Find out more and download the song for free at http://www.mergerecords.com/blog/2011/04/merge-welcomes-eleanor-friedberger/.
The Boris song is from the album Heavy Rocks on Sargent House Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/borisdronevil and download the song for free at http://pitchfork.com/news/42041-new-boris-riot-sugar/.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Tom Salemi as we discuss career shifts. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from My Morning Jacket, Maritime and The Smoking Popes.
- Recorded at Choate Bridge Pub in Ipswich, Mass.
- Tom moved from local daily newspaper to Boston Business Journal
- Transition was smooth
- After a year, moved on to work at private equity newsletter
- Ready for a steady job with good pay, as opposed to a newspaper job
- Around the same time, Jay left healthcare writing gig for a dotcom
- Had stock in the company, hoped for good payoff but didn’t happen
- Now you see the companies who had the best ideas: Apple, Netflix, Pandora, TiVo
- Went back to old job in fall of ’01, right before dotcom went under
- Owner of Tom’s company had the sense to sell at right time
- Another company tried to hire Tom for eight months
- Finally, he gave in; now writes about medical devices
- Tom has his own office in Newburyport, works by himself
- Jay now has a cube instead of an office
- Jay: Miss covering election nights at paper, court trials
- Don’t miss covering night meetings
- Jay: Write a column about running for local paper
- Non-newspaper jobs offer more flexibility
- Tom writes blog about Newburyport (http://www.newburyportposts.com/)
- Neither of us could do PR
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
My Morning Jacket - Circuital
Maritime - Paraphernalia
The Smoking Popes - Wish You Were
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The My Morning Jacket song is on the forthcoming album Circuital on ATO Records. Find out more and download the song for free at http://www.mymorningjacket.com.
The Maritime song is on the album Human Hearts on Dangerbird Records. Find out more at /maritimesongs and download the song for free at http://dangerbird.s3.amazonaws.com/mp3/Maritime-Paraphernalia.mp3 (right click and "save as").
The Smoking Popes song is from the album This is Only a Test on Asian Man Records. Find out more at http://www.smokingpopes.net/ and download the song for free at http://www.iodapromonet.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Tom Salemi as we discuss what happens when your career takes a different turn. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Art Brut, Sloan and Low.
- Recorded at Choate Bridge Pub in Ipswich, Mass.
- Old newspaper reporters from back in the day
- Tom toured the Boston Herald newsroom as a high schooler
- Went to BU, worked at the Daily Free Press
- Saw journalism as a public service/crusade
- Looked down on journalists who left the fold
- When you’re a young reporter, you work crazy hours and don’t mind
- Tom started working at small weekly on Cape Cod
- Jay and Tom worked for daily papers in the same chain
- Tom worked at three papers before arriving at Newburyport Daily News
- Eventually, Tom burned out on community journalism
- Jay: Similar burnout story happened a few years earlier
- Weird adjustment to 9 to 5 gig
- Tom was miserable at first non-newspaper job
- Some reporters can’t handle the transition to a "regular" job
- Enjoying the casual aspects of the job
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Art Brut - Lost Weekend
Sloan - Unkind
Low - Especially Me
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Art Brut song is on the forthcoming album Brilliant! Tragic! on Cooking Vinyl Records. Find out more at http://www.artbrut.org.uk. Download the song for free at http://pitchfork.com/news/42152-listen-new-art-brut-lost-weekend/.
The Sloan song is on the forthcoming album The Double Cross on Yep Roc Records. Find out more at http://www.sloanmusic.com and download the song for free at .mp3 (right click and "save as").
The Low song is from the album C’mon on Sub Pop Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/low and download the song for free at http://www.subpop.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>I’ve got another installment of Driving With Kumar as I discuss the strange sensation of getting older. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Yuck, Wild Flag and The Smith Westerns.
- Don’t feel old, but constantly reminded that I’m getting older
- I’ve been out of college almost 22 years
- Friends have kids who are now in their 20s and 30s
- Time has flown by, but much has happened
- Some of my co-workers were born when I was in college
- The technological advances in the last 20 years are amazing
- My first cell phone was actually a car phone in late ’90s
- Had interoffice email at newspaper in late ’80s
- Got my first Internet-connected PC in ’95
- My new Droid is faster and more powerful than my first few computers
- We’ve grown very narcissistic as a society
- My attention span is shorter nowadays
- Haven’t hit midlife crisis yet
- Definition of fun changes as you get older
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Yuck - Georgia
Wild Flag - Glass Tambourine
The Smith Westerns - Imagine, Pt. 3
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Yuck song ison the band’s self-titled album on Fat Possum Records. Find out more at http://yuckband.blogspot.com/ and download the song for free at /2011/mp3/Yuck-Georgia.mp3.
The Wild Flag song is on the B-side of the band’s new 7-inch on Merge Records. Find out more at wildflag. Download the song for free at http://www.groundcontroltouring.com.
The Smith Westerns song is from the album Dye It Blonde on Fat Possum Records. Find out more at http://www.smithwesterns.blogspot.com. Download the song for free at http://www.pitchforkmedia.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his website at http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Chris Lohring, brewer/founder of Notch Session beer (http://www.notchsession.com) as we discuss craft brewing. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Thurston Moore, Tres Mts. and The Biters.
- Recorded at In a Pig’s Eye in Salem, Mass.
- Chris was a bartender at legendary punk club The Rat in Boston in mid-’80s
- Samples came in from new brewer called Samuel Adams
- Met a local brewer and got interested in craft beer in ’89
- Chris took a liking to porter at Cambridge Brewing Co.
- Visited Anchor Steam in California
- Boston Brewers Festival in early ’90s started to draw big crowds
- People in attendance had never tried most of the beers there
- Pete’s Wicked Ale had a good run in the ’90s
- Commonwealth Brewery was ahead of its time, first brew pub in Boston
- Craft beer peaked in ’90s and then fizzled
- Many local brew pubs ended up closing
- In early ’90s, there was an explosion of new craft breweries
- By end of the decade, many of those breweries went away
- Things dipped with the economy after 9/11/01
- Bounced back a few years later
- Now craft beer has always been around for young drinkers
- Craft beer is still a very small percentage of overall beer market
- More of a market now for products that aren’t mass-produced: beer, bread, coffee
- Chris: Budweiser is a high-quality beer, it’s just not flavorful
- Major brewers have tried making so-called craft beers over the years
- Chris: I actually like Bud American Ale
- Jay: I drink Bud Light after playing hockey every week
- Craft brewing scene is kinda like indie rock
- Fat Tire in Colorado and Sam Adams are seen by some beer snobs as sellouts because they’ve grown
- Chris: Every brewer and consumer owes respect to Jim Koch for introducing craft beer to the masses
- Chris: I don’t get involved in beer snobbery
- For Notch, Chris hopes to meet demand and slowly grow from there
- Hope to expand Notch regionally, but find a balance
- Locally, Chris sees return to focus on local beers
- Nationally, he’s hoping for "return to sanity"
- Innovation means product fits consumer need and it sells
- Need to find ways to expand craft beer category
- Session beer could be a good transition for folks trying craft beer
- Sam Adams Light was an interesting experiment
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Thurston Moore - Benediction
Tres Mts. - My Baby
The Biters - Born to Cry
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Thurston Moore song is on the forthcoming album Demolished Thoughts on Matador Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/treesoutside. Download the song for free at http://www.matadorrecords.com.
The Tres Mts. song is on the album Three Mountains on Monkeywrench Records. Find out more and download the song for free at http://www.tresmts.com.
The Biters song is from the EP All Chewed Up on Underrated Records. Find out more and download the song for free at http://www.wearethebiters.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site http://www.podgeek.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Chris Lohring, brewer/founder of Notch Session beer ( http://www.notchsession.com ) as we discuss his journey through the world of craft brewing. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, The Dirtbombs, and The Soundtrack of Our Lives.
- Recorded at In a Pig’s Eye in Salem, Mass.
- Chris got interested in craft brewing when in college
- In ’92, worked with a partner to start Tremont Brewery
- Raised funding from "friends, family and fools"
- Launched brewery in ’94
- Started with draft only in Boston-area bars
- Began bottling Tremont in ’97
- Became second-largest brewer in Mass. behind Harpoon
- Back in early ’90s, you were selling the concept of craft beer to bars
- Installed first cask engine in greater Boston at Redbones
- Introduced cask beer to Boston
- Tremont did its own distribution until ’99, sold it to expand reach to CT and RI
- Brewery reached capacity in late ’99
- You can still find Tremont in various states
- Sold to Shipyard in 2002 because investors wanted out
- Chris was burned out, got out of the brewing business
- Worked at engineering firm for several years
- "The world doesn’t need another double IPA"
- Interest rekindled by session beer, lower-alcohol beer with great taste
- Influenced by European beers
- Session category has been ignored in U.S. as brewers go with higher-alcohol beers
- Craft beer started at 5% or less alcohol by volume
- Session beer is lower than 5% ABV
- Difficult brewing task to make session beer
- Not a lot of lower-ABV craft beer options
- Session beer’s been around forever in Europe
- Designed by farmers for workers in the fields to drink
- First came up with idea two years ago, got serious about 18 months ago
- Brewed some test batches and got bars to serve it
- At first tried to emulate British beer; ended up doing an American-style ale and Czech-style pilsner
- Struck a deal to brew Notch at Ipswich Ale Brewery
- Chris wanted to remain actively involved in the brewing process
- Released two new beers in early March, bottles in Boston-area stores
- Draft handles in growing number of Boston-area bars
- Using social media to spread the word about Notch
- Thanks to Twitter, Jay got first six-pack of Notch Session ale on North Shore
- Tremont was marketed via a newsletter
- Now Twitter and Facebook gets message out directly to fans
- Chris’ goals for Notch: Have fun and bring session beer into craft beer conversation
- Older consumers (30+) understand concept; younger drinkers in their 20s may not right away
- Also looking to build Notch into a viable business
- Small session beer resurgence on West Coast
- It’s an East Coast-West Coast thing
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Codeine
The Dirtbombs - Cosmic Cars
The Soundtrack of Our Lives - Karmageddon
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by <a href=" http://www.budget.com/CompCon">Budget</a >, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to <a href=" http://www.budget.com/CompCon">Budget.com/CompCon</a > and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The <a href=" http://www.jasonisbell.com/">Jason Isbell</a> song is on the forthcoming album Here We Rest on Lightning Rod Records. Download the song for free (in exchange for your e-mail address) at <a href=" http://www.jasonisbell.com/">his website</a>.
The <a href=" http://www.thedirtbombs.net/">Dirtbombs</a > song is on the album Party Store on In the Red Records. Download the song for free at <a href=" http://blog.kexp.org/blog/2011/03/17/song-of-the-day-the-dirtbombs-cosmic-cars">KEXP</a >.
The <a href=" http://www.tsool.net/">Soundtrack of Our Lives</a> song is from the album Golden Greats Vol. 1 on Little W Productions. Download the song for free (in exchange for your e-mail address) at <a href=" http://www.tsool.net/">the band’s website</a>.
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 blogs <a href=" http://clickyclickymusic.com/">Clicky Clicky</a> and <a href=" http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net/">Keeping Some Dark Secrets</a>. Additional music used in the show is by <a href=" http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull">Me and Boris the Bull</a>, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at <a href=" http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/">his blog</a>. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his new site <a href=" http://www.podgeek.com/">PodGeek</a >.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>No guest this week as I play music from The Wrens, Mark Lanegan, Okkervil River, The Henry Clay People and more. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week.
Music:
The Wrens - As I’ve Known
Mark Lanegan - Burning Jacob’s Ladder
Okkervil River - Wake and Be Fine
The Henry Clay People - California Wildfire
TV On the Radio - Caffeinated Consciousness
The Kills - DNA
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Wrens song is available at http://www.epitonic.com.
The Okkervil River song is on the forthcoming album I am Very Far on Jagjaguwar Records. Find out more and download the song for free (in exchange for your e-mail address) at http://www.okkervilriver.com.
The Henry Clay People song is on the forthcoming EP This is a Desert on TBD Records. Find out more at thehenryclaypeople. Download the song for free at http://www.aquariumdrunkard.com.
The TV On the Radio song is on the forthcoming album Nine Types of Light on Interscope Records. Find out more and download the song for free (in exchange for your e-mail address) at http://www.tvontheradio.com.
The Kills song is on the forthcoming album Blood Pressures on Domino Records. Find out more and download the song for free (in exchange for your e-mail address) at http://www.thekills.tv/dna.php.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Eric Convey as we discuss the current state of journalism. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Art Brut, Black Francis and Robert Pollard.
- Eric’s Managing Editor of the Boston Business Journal (http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/)
- Nobody knows where journalism is going
- Rupert Murdock may have the answer with The Daily, designed for the iPad
- Local news could survive through iPad, smartphone apps
- Local news is the only niche left
- AOL bought Huffington Post for big bucks
- Eric: AOL’s Politics Daily (http://www.politicsdaily.com) is most interesting news site
- AOL’s Patch doesn’t need local advertisers, it needs clicks
- Eric’s food adventures at the Peabody International Festival
- Eric: BBJ uses print and web to thrive
- Worked at Boston Herald for 11 years
- Tales of covering overnight accidents
- Eric: Print papers aren’t economically sustainable long-term
- Papers are moving towards charging for online access
- When Boston Globe starts charging, the Herald will follow
- When you’re forced for everything, where will traffic go?
- From the start, Wall Street Journal was saying papers should charge
- Nobody really understood online commerce in the ’90s
- Jay: Used to buy Globe and Herald every day; now just read them online for free
- Similar parallel to music industry
- Music sales are an all-time low
- Eric: Print is still in the picture at BBJ
- Eric teaches a college journalism class
- Helps students think like journalists
- Some are still looking for newspaper jobs
- Students all have laptops or iPads now
- The future is scary
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Art Brut - Unprofessional Wrestling
Black Francis - Bad News
Robert Pollard - Touch Me in the Right Place at the Right Time
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Art Brut song is a B-side from the forthcoming album Brilliant! Tragic! on Cooking Vinyl Records. Find out more at http://www.artbrut.org.uk and download the song for free (in exchange for your e-mail address) at http://www.pledgemusic.com.
The Black Francis song is on the album The Golem on Frenchkiss Records. Find out more at http://www.frankblack.net/. Download the song for free at http://www.iodapromonet.com.
The Robert Pollard song is from the album Space City Kicks on Guided by Voices Records. Find out more at http://www.robertpollard.net. Download the song for free at http://www.spinner.com/2011/01/05/robert-pollard-space-city-kicks.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Eric Convey as we discuss the familiar themes of American political rhetoric. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Sloan, The Dodos and Sunny Ali and the Kid.
Topics:
- Eric’s Managing Editor of the Boston Business Journal (http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/)
- Worked for congressman in DC in early ’90s
- It was a contentious time
- In ’94 mid-term elections, Newt Gingrich led the Republican takeover of the House
- Big Clinton tax increase didn’t go over well
- Convey: There’s always a backlash in mid-term elections
- In ’92, local Democratic congressman was indicted on corruption charges
- Convey got gig as press secretary for the new Republican congressman
- "I was nowhere near cynical enough."
- Eric was good at political spin
- After a few years, he made the jump back to newspapers
- Eric was a master of political spin
- Eric: Don’t think the rhetoric now is no worse than ’94 or 2000
- Rhetoric raises money
- The two-party system sucks
- Eric: Parliamentary system is better
- Nowadays, everybody is more concerned with themselves than politics
- People are more likely to read viewpoints they agree with
- Too many distractions; our attention span is shrinking
- Eric: Giffords shooting was caused by a disturbed person, not political rhetoric
- Eric turns to the Washington Post for the most fair political reporting
- Jay and Eric reminisce about their days covering local politics
- There were a lot more sources of local news 20 years ago
- The public doesn’t trust journalists anymore, mainly because of TV news
- Recalling Eric’s tormenting of a rival press secretary
- Back then, the newspapers were the main conduit for news for political campaigns
- Now campaigns can use YouTube, Facebook, Twitter to get their message out
- The Palin phenomenon
- People in Middle America relate to her
- Jay: Suspicious of every candidate
- Eric: Wish politicians would have the guts to say things people don’t want to hear
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Sloan - Follow the Leader
The Dodos - Don’t Stop
Sunny Ali and the Kid - I oh you
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Sloan song is on the forthcoming album The Double Cross on Yep Roc Records. Find out more and download the song for free (in exchange for your e-mail address) at http://www.sloanmusic.com.
The Dodos song is on the album No Color on Frenchkiss Records. Find out more at http://www.dodosmusic.net/nocolor/. Download the song for free at http://stereogum.com/646601/the-dodos-dont-stop/mp3s/.
The Sunny Ali and the Kid song is available for free at http://sunnyaliandthekid.bandcamp.com/album/i-oh-you.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Christian Douglass as we discuss the story behind his new novel. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from The Strokes, Obits and The Raveonettes.
Topics:
- Christian wishes he started writing books 10 years ago
- Plenty of life experience
- Learned most from time spent writing the book
- Jay: You learn by doing
- Christian credits The Teaching Company, which sells college lectures on tape
- Realized in ’99 that he could write books
- Christian’s wife Kerry says hi
- Best way to get published is through a writing program
- Or go to conferences or the "slush pile"
- Tried to write book while working full-time in 2001-2003 and failed
- Hopes to start writing second book in April or May
- Wanted to write "something good"
- Christian: I didn’t like this book until 3 or 4 weeks ago
- Christian uses YouTube to capture characters’ voices
- Scott Sigler turned his books into podcasts and then got traditional publishing deal
- Book’s down to 330 pages, just doing final edits
- Christian’s going to Alaska to visit his mom
- She lives near Sarah Palin’s hometown
- Christian’s going to research a story while up there
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
The Strokes - Under Cover of Darkness
Obits - Shift Operator
The Raveonettes - Forget That You’re Young
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Strokes song is on the forthcoming album Angles on RCA Records. Find out more and download the song for free at http://www.thestrokes.com.
The Obits song is on the forthcoming album Moody, Standard and Poor on Sub Pop Records. Find out more at http://www.obitsurl.com. Download the song for free at http://subpop.com.
The Raveonettes song is on the forthcoming album Raven in the Grave on Vice Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/theraveonettes. Download the song for free at http://pitchfork.com/news/41510-the-raveonettes-announce-new-album-iraven-in-the-gravei-schedule-tour-share-new-song/.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Completely Conspicuous 163: We Call Upon the Author
Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Christian Douglass as we discuss the story behind his new novel. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from PJ Harvey, J. Mascis and Telekinesis.
Topics:
- Christian started writing the book in May 2010
- Spent three years working for oil industry consulting company
- Collected cost of living info around the world
- Company founder was involved in early research into the Internet
- Company needed to figure out cost of living allowances for oil engineers
- Christian took the job for book material
- Studied journalism in grad school at BU
- On the road six months of the year for three years
- Went to more than 80 countries
- "Talking about spoiled white people abroad"
- Books is like "Catch-22" for global petroleum world
- One protagonist is "diabetic, drug-addicted 40-year-old doing my job"
- Inspired by former co-worker who doesn’t know about this book
- Revisit places once or twice a year
- Story opens in Dubai, moves to Lagos, then to Turkmenistan
- "Glands Across America"
- Female character is narrator
- "Absurdist immigration story" about lies
- Christian quit his job to write novel
- Debating the value of journalism school
- Putting yourself in debt to get a low-paying job
- Life got in the way of Christian becoming a reporter
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
PJ Harvey - Written on the Forehead
J. Mascis - Is It Done
Telekinesis - Car Crash
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The PJ Harvey song is on the album Let England Shake on Island Records. Find out more at http://www.pjharvey.net and download the song for free at http://www.chromewaves.net/2011/02/pj-harvey-shakes-out-preview-of-new-record/.
The J. Mascis song is on the forthcoming album Several Shades of Why on Sub Pop Records. Find out more at http://jmascis.com. Download the song for free at http://subpop.com.
The Telekinesis song is on the album 12 Desperate Straight Lines on Merge Records. Find out more at music. Download the song for free at http://www.spin.com/audio/download/80256/carcrash.mp3 (right click and "save as").
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Completely Conspicuous 162: Eat ’Em and Smile
Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss nutrition in America. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Das Racist, R.E.M. and Deerhoof.
Topics:
- Check out Brian’s podcast The Enthusiasts’ Radio Hour (http://enthuseyourself.mevio.com}
- Is banning fast food joints the answer?
- You can’t force kids to eat vegetables
- Leading by example
- People should have options
- New restaurant idea: The Fat Place
- Brian: Government shouldn’t fund gastric bypass, liposuction
- Jay: Tax breaks for restaurants that serve healthy food
- Easier to be a vegetarian now
- Genetically modified food isn’t a good idea
- Brian wants synthetic meat
- Jay’s ultimate meal: Either Brazilian BBQ or Southern BBQ ribs
- Brian’s ultimate meal: Bacon cheeseburger
- Brian recommends White Manna burgers in NJ
- Jay: Love Indian food, but it gives me heartburn
- Jay: Never had any poutine when I lived in Canada
- Brian: Parents like to cook, but not adventurous eaters
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Das Racist - Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell
R.E.M. - Oh My Heart
Deerhoof - Super Duper Rescue Heads!
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Das Racist song is on the mixtape Shut Up, Dude. Find out more at http://dasracist.net and download the song for free at http://pitchfork.com/reviews/tracks/11301-combination-pizza-hut-and-taco-bell-wallpaper-remix.
The R.E.M. song is on the forthcoming album Collapse Into Now on Warner Bros. Records. Find out more at http://www.remhq.com. Download the song for free at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004LKJPCY/.
The Deerhoof song is on the album Deerhoof vs. Evil on Polyvinyl Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/deerhoof. Download the song for free at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004ITIEHK.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Completely Conspicuous 161: You Are What You Is
Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss nutrition in America. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from The Feelies, The Drive-By Truckers and The Mind Spiders.
Topics:
- Check out Brian’s podcast The Enthusiasts’ Radio Hour (http://enthuseyourself.mevio.com}
- Recorded before a live studio audience in Pompton Lakes, NJ
- Efforts to ban trans fats
- The Salvatores belong to a food co-op
- It’s good to know where your food comes from
- McDonald’s Instant Remorse
- Brian made enchilada lasagna last night, Jay had a Quarter Pounder with cheese
- Taco Bell: Less than 30% actual meat in tacos
- People should be able to choose to eat junk if they want
- Jay: We limit junk food for our kids
- Parents need to take responsibility for their kids’ nutrition
- Jay watched a ton of TV as a kid
- You can’t force people to eat right
- Having a busy schedule is no excuse to eat poorly
- Nutrition education is important
- Food assistance programs need funding
- Brian: Haven’t noticed a difference in flavor at NYC restaurants since trans fat ban
- Tainted food outbreaks are biggest concerns
- Jay: In college, going off dining plan led to poor nutrition
- Food trucks were big hit in college
- Brian: Learned to cook for myself at a young age
- Government needs to step in to enforce child nutrition
- Once you’re an adult, you know what’s bad for you
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
The Feelies - Should Be Gone
Drive-By Truckers - Everybody Needs Love
Mind Spiders - Don’t Let Her Go
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Feelies song is on theforthcoming album Here Before on Bar/None Records. Find out more at http://www.thefeeliesweb.com/ and download the song for free at http://pitchfork.com/forkcast/15338-should-be-gone.
The Drive-By Truckers song is on the forthcoming album Go-Go Boots on ATO Records. Find out more at http://drivebytruckers.com. Download the song for free at http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004KVREQ8/.
The Mind Spiders song is on the band’s self-titled album on Dirt Nap Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/mindspiderstx. Download the song for free at http://alteredzones.com/posts/798/mind-spiders-dont-let-her-go/.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Completely Conspicuous 160: Cold as Ice
This week, it’s another installment of Driving With Kumar as I discuss life during winter. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Buffalo Tom, Mike Watt, Mogwai and Tapes ’N Tapes.
Topics:
- Already more snow in Boston area than entire last winter
- Temps dropping into single digits to subzero
- Tough running weather
- People like to complain about winter
- Lack of daylight leads to depression
- Why do people choose to live in cold-weather climates?
- In Washington state, I dealt with the occasional sandstorm
- Extreme weather in Texas
- Seasonal Affect Disorder
- Bad drivers + snow = A mess
- Fall is the perfect season
- Local media drives snow hysteria
- Bonehead of the Week (HT: The Smoking Gun)
Music:
Buffalo Tom - Guilty Girls
Mike Watt - Arrow-Pierced-Egg-Man
Mogwai - San Pedro
Tapes ’N Tapes - Badaboom
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Buffalo Tom song is on the forthcoming album Skins on Scrawny Records. Find out more at http://www.buffalotom.com/ and download the song for free (in exchange for your e-mail address) at http://www.spin.com/articles/exclusive-new-song-buffalo-tom.
The Mike Watt song is on the album Hyphenated-Man on clenchedwrench Records. Find out more at http://www.hootpage.com. Download the song for free at http://stereogum.com/620561/mike-watt-arrow-pierced-egg-man/mp3s/.
The Mogwai song is on the album Hardcore Will Never Die, but You Will on Sub Pop. Find out more at http://www.mogwai.co.uk and download the song for free at http://stereogum.com/614561/mogwai-san-pedro/mp3s/.
The Tapes ’N Tapes song is on the album Outside on Ibid Records. Find out more at http://www.tapesntapes.com and download the song for free at http://blog.kexp.org/blog/2011/01/17/song-of-the-day-tapes-n-tapes-badaboom/.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Completely Conspicuous 159: Pitch Perfect
Part 3 of my conversation with special guest Ric Dube as we conclude our movie pitching extravaganza. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead and Wire.
Topics:
- Check out Ric’s podcast More Lost Time (http://morelosttime.podbean.com}
- Dube’s summer movie: "Camp Cruise Ship"
- Ric’s an Andy Samberg fan
- Summer camp on a cruise ship; two businesses in big trouble
- Kumar: "Cell Block," it’s "Memento" meets "Shawshank" meets "The Hangover"
- Dube: "Witness Revocation Program"
- James Franco, Emma Stone and Anne Hathaway would star
- Kumar: "Gilligan’s Island" remake with troubled celebs
- Mel Gibson, Andy Dick and Charlie Sheen: "The Expendables" meets "Celebrity Rehab"
- Christian "Big Audio" Douglass makes a surprise appearance on the show
- Big Audio harasses Dube’s neighbors
- Dube: "Freaky Festival," a body switching comedy
- Movie exec and screenwriter switch bodies
- Kumar: "The Claus Conundrum" with Tim Allen as department store Santa who realizes he’s an assassin
- Christian makes us watch a Logitech commercial
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead - Weight of the Sun
Wire - Adapt
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead song is on theforthcoming album Tao of the Dead on Richter Scale Records. Find out more at http://www.trailofdead.com/ and download the song for free at http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/And_You_Will_Know_Us_by_the_Trail_of_Dead/track/Weight_Of_The_Sun.
The Wire song is on the album Red Barked Tree on Pink Flag Records. Find out more at http://pinkflag.com. Download the song for free at http://rcrdlbl.com/artists/Wire/track/Adapt.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Completely Conspicuous 158: Hammering Out the Beats
Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Ric Dube as we pitch movie ideas for 2011. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Obits, Best Coast and Tommy Stinson.
Topics:
- Check out Ric’s podcast More Lost Time (http://morelosttime.podbean.com}
- Kumar: "Judge Fredd" with Rob Schneider and Jim Belushi
- Wacky case of mistaken judicial identity
- Blanking on Nancy Grace
- Dube’s got Bieber Fever
- Dube: "Extra Sensory Reception"
- Cavity filling gives Bieber ability to read minds
- Tracing Kurt Russell’s career path
- Echoes of "Teen Wolf"
- The classic ’80s bully/a-hole archetype
- Recalling Dube’s similar baseball movie pitch
- Kumar: "Time’s Up," with Flavor Flav and Jennifer Lopez
- Capitalizing on reality show fame
- "When Justin Met Kelly"
- Tom Green starred in a movie
- Glorifying the unhealthy relationship
- Ric owns the fine Leno-Morita vehicle "Collision Course"
- Contemplating J. Lo
- Lamenting short-lived excellent TV shows
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Obits- You Gotta Lose
Best Coast - Boyfriend
Tommy Stinson - One Man Mutiny
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Obits song is on theforthcoming album Moody, Standard and Poor on Sub Pop. Find out more at http://www.obitsurl.com/ and download the song for free at http://pitchfork.com/news/41121-new-release-obits-imoody-standard-and-poori.
The Best Coast song is on the album Crazy for You on Mexican Summer Records. Find out more at http://bestycoasty.blogspot.com/. Download the song for free at /422942/best-coast-boyfriend-2/mp3s.
The Tommy Stinson song was given away as a thank you to fans for helping him raise money to benefit relief efforts in Haiti. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/tommystinsonofficial. Download the song for free at http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com/2010/11/12/tommy-stinson-free-download-one-man-mutiny/.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Completely Conspicuous 157: A Good Idea
Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Ric Dube as we pitch movie ideas for 2011. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from The National, Kurt Vile and The Jameses.
Topics:
- Check out Ric’s podcast More Lost Time (http://morelosttime.podbean.com}
- Ric offers up some leftover reality show ideas
- "The Accountant"
- Dube: Reviving "Will Power" starring Chris Rock
- Ric’s Sandler impression
- Releasing movies in the "dead zone"
- Debating the merits of Oscar hosts
- Kumar: "It Takes Two," a Jennifer Aniston romantic comedy
- Dube suggests combining it with suicidal vampire movie
- "Havin’ a Snuh"
- Dube: "App-Lickable"
- Justin Long and an iPhone app
- Digitizing food
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
The National - Afraid of Everyone
Kurt Vile - In My Time
The Jameses - The Fifth Dimension
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The National song is on the album High Violet on 4AD. Find out more at http://www.americanmary.com/ and download the song for free at http://stereogum.com/339721/the-national-afraid-of-everyone/mp3s/.
The Kurt Vile song is on the EP In My Time on Matador Records. Find out more at http://www.kurtvile.com. Download the song for free at http://www.matadorrecords.com.
The Jameses song is the B-side of the 7-inch single "Caribou" on Captured Tracks. Find out more at 3headedlion. Download the song for free at http://alteredzones.com/posts/639/premiere-jameses-5th-dimension/.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Completely Conspicuous 156: At the Edge of the Scene
Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Matt Phillion as we discuss his new indie film Certainly Never (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Certainly-Never/93791399307?ref=ts). I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from The Twilight Singers, Middle Brother and Ryan Adams and the Cardinals.
Topics:
- Scheduling filming is a tricky art
- Sometimes you have to cut scenes you like
- Distribution: Film festivals, Netflix, hoping to create indie buzz
- "Chasing the unicorn"
- Directing is Matt’s film school
- Movie was Matt’s most satisfying and most draining accomplishment
- Salem hotel thought crew was filming ghost hunter TV show
- Crew became close-knit group after filming
- Dealing with bystanders
- Now Matt’s returning favors by acting in other folks’ projects
- Putting together the soundtrack
- Missed all deadlines for 2010 festivals
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
The Twilight Singers - On the Corner
Middle Brother - Me, Me, Me
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals - No
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Twilight Singers song is on the forthcoming album Dynamite Steps on Sub Pop Records. Find out more at http://www.thetwilightsingers.com and download the song for free at http://soundcloud.com/subpop/the-twilight-singers-on-the-corner.
The Middle Brother song is from the band’s self-titled album on Partisan Records. Find out more at http://www.middlebrother.com. The song was given away for free as part of a Christmas promotion at http://www.partisanrecords.com/artists/middle-brother.
The Ryan Adams and the Cardinals song is on the double album III/IV on Pax-Am Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/ryanadamsandthecardinals. Download the song for free at http://www.amazon.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Matt Phillion as we discuss his new indie film Certainly Never (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Certainly-Never/93791399307?ref=ts). I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from R.E.M., East River Pipe and Los Campesinos.
Topics:
- Enjoy the relaxing sounds of my fish tank in background
- Matt did some acting in school
- Started acting again 5-6 years ago
- Equipment is expensive but affordable
- Matt wrote script for Certainly Never in summer 2009, filmed in summer 2010
- Film was response to Breakfast at Tiffany’s
- Film clocks in at 85 minutes
- Basically a second full-time job this summer
- Filmed two weekday nights, every weekend from mid-July to late September
- Matt financed film himself
- Goal for film is to get the actors future work
- Had to replace lead actress because of scheduling conflict
- Hoping to get film in festivals
- Hyper-aware of sound
- Film at a bar when Mercedes commercial crew showed up outside
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
R.E.M. - Discoverer
East River Pipe - Cold Ground
Los Campesinos - Kindle a Flame in Her Heart
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The R.E.M. song is on the forthcoming album Collapse Into Now on Warner Bros. Records. Find out more and download the song for free (in exchange for your e-mail address) at http://remhq.com.
The East River Pipe song is from the forthcoming album We Live in Rented Rooms on Merge Records. Find out more at http://eastriverpipe.net and download the song for free at /audio/eastrp/coldground.mp3 (right click and "save as").
The Los Campesinos is a special Christmas song the band is giving away at http://www.loscampesinos.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Completely Conspicuous 154: Word Up!
Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Dave Brigham (http://davebrigham.com) as we discuss the making of his new book, "(C)rock Stories: Million-Dollar Tales of Music, Mayhem and Immaturity." I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from The Dears, The Drive-By Truckers and J. Mascis.
Topics:
- One story grew out of trips to see the Butthole Surfers
- Turned into a tale of violence and road-trippin’
- Dave saw the Surfers at the Channel in 1987
- Created (C)rock-related t-shirts for sale
- Slogan is "Rock + Fiction = (C)rock"
- More than 100 bands mentioned in the book
- National Novel Writing Month
- Dave was working on a UFO concept album that started turning into a book
- Gratuitous Humpmuscle Pete reference
- Dave ponders new marketing strategies
- Jay’s mom needs to talk to "the Gmail people"
- Look for the book soon: Makes a good Christmas/New Year’s/MLK Day present (http://booklocker.com)
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
The Dears - Blood
The Drive-By Truckers - Used to be a Cop
J. Mascis - Not Enough
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Dears song is on the forthcoming album Degeneration Street on DangerBird Records. Find out more at thedears.org. Download the song for free at http://www.dangerbirdrecords.com.
The Drive-By Truckers song is from the band’s forthcoming album Go-Go Boots on ATO Records. Find out more and download the song for free at http://drivebytruckers.com.
The J. Mascis song is on his forthcoming album Several Shades of Why on Sub Pop. Find out more at http://www.jmascis.com. Download it for free at http://www.subpop.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Completely Conspicuous 153: Everyday I Write the Book
Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Dave Brigham (http://davebrigham.com) as we discuss the making of his new book, "(C)rock Stories: Million-Dollar Tales of Music, Mayhem and Immaturity." I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Weekend, Scarce and The Sheila Divine.
Topics:
- Book to be published by print-on-demand house Booklocker
- Brick-and-mortar bookstores can order copies
- Ten years in the making
- Dave learns about SEO
- Started with Dave remembering all the bands he’d seen
- Wrote stories based on concert experiences
- Later combined truth and fiction
- Dave hates lame memoirists like James Frey
- Wrote 18 stories initially
- Book should be available for order before Christmas
- Booklocker reviewed book before agreeing to publish it
- Dave’s doppelganger: Actor Anthony Edwards
- First stories revolve around Rick Derringer, Foghat
- Narrator reconciles punk rock with love of classic rock
- Book’s really about friendships
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Weekend - Coma Summer
Scarce - The Hurricane
The Sheila Divine - We are an Island
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Weekend song is on the album Sports on Slumberland Records. Find out more at http://www.slumberlandrecords.com/#weekend. Download the song for free at http://www.iodapromonet.com.
The Scarce song is a free download released through the band’s Reverb Nation page at http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/6256844.
The Sheila Divine song is on a free download available from the band’s Bandcamp page at http://thesheiladivine.bandcamp.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 3 of my conversation with special guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our picks for the best music of 2010. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Los Campesinos, Destroyer and Buffalo Tom.
Topics:
- Breitling’s #1
- Kumar’s #1
- Disappointments
- Most anticipated releases of 2011: Destroyer, Dears, Twilight Singers, Johnny Foreigner, Yuck
- Breitling laments the demise of Run DMC
- New Radiohead album?
- Yuck makes a Scorpions video
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Even Heroes Have to Die
Los Campesinos - The Sea is a Good Place to Think of the Future
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Bottled in Cork
Destroyer - Chinatown
Buffalo Tom - Arise, Watch
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Ted Leo and the Pharmacists songs are on the album The Brutalist Bricks on Matador Records. Find out more at http://www.tedleo.com. Download the songs for free at ted_leo_and_the_pharmacists.
The Los Campesinos song is on the band’s album Romance is Boring on Arts and Crafts. Find out more at http://www.loscampesinos.com. Download the song for free at http://www.iodapromonet.com.
The Destroyer song is on the forthcoming album Kaputt on Merge Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/destroyer. Download the song for free at http://www.mergerecords.com/audio/destroyer/chinatown.mp3 (right click and "save as").
The Buffalo Tom song is on the forthcoming album Skins on Scrawny Records. Find out more at http://www.buffalotom.com. Download the song for free at http://stereogum.com/586771/buffalo-tom-arise-watch-stereogum-premiere/mp3s.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our picks for the best music of 2010. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Superchunk, Everyone Everywhere and Walter Schreifels.
Topics:
- Breitling’s #6
- Breitling schools us on the videogames and such
- Kumar’s #6
- Breitling’s #5
- eMusic’s changing again
- Kumar’s #5
- What’s the deal with Mumford & Sons?
- Breitling’s #4
- Kumar’s #4
- Breitling’s #3
- Kumar’s #3
- Breitling’s #2
- Kumar’s #2
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Superchunk - Digging for Something
Everyone Everywhere - Obama House, Fukui Prefecture
Walter Schreifels - Arthur Lee’s Lullabye
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Superchunk song is on the album Majesty Shredding on Merge Records. Download it for free at http://www.mergerecords.com/audio/superchunk/diggingforsomething.mp3.
The Everyone Everywhere song is on the band’s self-titled album on Tiny Engines. Download it for free at http://jbreitling.blogspot.com/2010/04/everyone-everywhere-blog-tour-finale.html.
The Walter Schreifels song is on the album An Open Letter to the Scene on Dine Alone Records. Download it for free at http://jbreitling.blogspot.com/2010/05/review-walter-schreifels-open-letter-to.html.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>
Completely Conspicuous 150: The Year in Rock, Part 1
I’m joined by special guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our picks for the best music of 2010. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Los Campesinos, Spoon and The Henry Clay People.
Topics:
- Last show from Casa Breitling in Cambridge
- Going through our top 10 albums for 2010
- Breitling Honorable Mention: Arcade Fire
- Kumar HM: Les Savy Fav
- Breitling HM: Deerhunter, Adebisi Shank, Frightened Rabbit
- Kumar HM: LCD Soundsystem, Drive-By Truckers
- Breitling’s #10
- Kumar’s #10
- Breitling’s #9
- Breitling explains how cassettes work, sort of
- Chloe B. provides background vocals
- Kumar’s #9
- Breitling’s #8
- Kumar’s #8
- Breitling’s #7
- Kumar’s #7
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Los Campesinos - There are Listed Buildings
Spoon - Written in Reverse
The Henry Clay People - Your Famous Friends
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Los Campesinos song is on the album Romance is Boring on Arts and Crafts. Find out more at http://www.loscampesinos.com. Download the song for free courtesy of IODA Promonet:
<IMG style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 4px" alt="Romance Is Boring" align=left src="http://image.iodalliance.com/release/thumbs_60/297980-72.jpg" width=60 height=60><STRONG><A href="http://redirect2.iodalliance.com/artist.php?id=B6792D44115D55E1D75714D825245A3EA3D0DAA541FC2A5FDECF181AA1615C2F" rel=nofollow target=_new>Los Campesinos!</A></STRONG><BR><EM><A href="http://redirect2.iodalliance.com/download_track.php?id=0EDDE0624BCAE1ED68FBD748F1F9198A573BAD4EA785F317047A70B05830C6178CDBC2629213F4D6B831D11D1796CD31" rel=nofollow target=_new><IMG border=0 src="http://www.iodapromonet.com/img/download_icon.gif"> "There Are Listed Buildings"</A></EM> (mp3) <BR>from "Romance Is Boring" <BR><A href="http://redirect2.iodalliance.com/label.php?id=AAAD1B4CE509F077A9617E94601EB9680E4A4F75D5132D756949B1F949749ED3" rel=nofollow target=_new>(Arts & Crafts)</A><BR clear=all><BR><IMG src="http://www.iodapromonet.com/img/service_icon_2.gif"> <STRONG>Buy at </STRONG><A href="http://redirect2.iodalliance.com/buy_album.php?id=0EDDE0624BCAE1ED68FBD748F1F9198AE4556378C997F476E3E54BF447CECB1D231B2FE3E738DD7D4057183E3075635D" rel=nofollow target=_blank>Napster</A><BR><IMG src="http://www.iodapromonet.com/img/service_icon_426.gif"> <STRONG>Buy at </STRONG><A href="http://redirect2.iodalliance.com/buy_album.php?id=0EDDE0624BCAE1ED68FBD748F1F9198A0546ED9E29C1F5C4801255347B4B0B550022F3065D720D558B0AF18B282BF269" rel=nofollow target=_blank>Amazon MP3</A><BR><IMG src="http://www.iodapromonet.com/img/icon_landing_page.gif"> <A href="http://redirect2.iodalliance.com/buy_album.php?id=0EDDE0624BCAE1ED68FBD748F1F9198AECB7D6C2E60DE9C4646383F18303F52A9F10D15CC70426F188151356AE789F7F" rel=nofollow target=_new>More On This Album</A><BR><BR><IMG src="http://redirect2.iodalliance.com/log_pageview.php?id=0EDDE0624BCAE1ED68FBD748F1F9198A573BAD4EA785F317047A70B05830C6178CDBC2629213F4D6B831D11D1796CD31">
The Spoon song is on the album Transference on Merge Records. Find out more at http://www.spoontheband.com. Download the song for free courtesy of IODA Promonet:
<IMG style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 4px" alt=Transference align=left src="http://image.iodalliance.com/release/thumbs_60/299225-72.jpg" width=60 height=60><STRONG><A href="http://redirect2.iodalliance.com/artist.php?id=920C2BDA2C4BC5F266C2EDCE1F6B437C5233C601D41C54B436B5BC1D0977A6C8" rel=nofollow target=_new>Spoon</A></STRONG><BR><EM><A href="http://redirect2.iodalliance.com/download_track.php?id=9FD71E202E4A1EB5F7C75FF440EE9E40872E21E6855DDE97AE0527B4595920D88CDBC2629213F4D6B831D11D1796CD31" rel=nofollow target=_new><IMG border=0 src="http://www.iodapromonet.com/img/download_icon.gif"> "Written In Reverse"</A></EM> (mp3) <BR>from "Transference" <BR><A href="http://redirect2.iodalliance.com/label.php?id=B1F0365E77ED4CD07F6180E67CFD83580022F3065D720D558B0AF18B282BF269" rel=nofollow target=_new>(Arts & Crafts Mexico)</A><BR clear=all><BR><IMG src="http://www.iodapromonet.com/img/icon_landing_page.gif"> <A href="http://redirect2.iodalliance.com/buy_album.php?id=9FD71E202E4A1EB5F7C75FF440EE9E40ECB7D6C2E60DE9C4646383F18303F52A9F10D15CC70426F188151356AE789F7F" rel=nofollow target=_new>More On This Album</A><BR><BR><IMG src="http://redirect2.iodalliance.com/log_pageview.php?id=9FD71E202E4A1EB5F7C75FF440EE9E40872E21E6855DDE97AE0527B4595920D88CDBC2629213F4D6B831D11D1796CD31">
The Henry Clay People song is on the album Somewhere on the Golden Coast on TBD Records. Find out more at http://henryclaypeople.com. Download the song for free at http://www.spinner.com/2010/06/16/the-henry-clay-people-your-famous-friends-free-mp3-downloa.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
Completely Conspicuous 149: Cover Me
This week, I’ve got a music-heavy episode as I take a look at the fine art of the cover song.
Topics:
- Covers rarely outshine the originals
- Hendrix made Dylan’s "All Along the Watchtower" his own
- Jeff Buckley’s cover of "Hallelujah" spawned many awful imitators
- American Idol and Glee have made covers more popular than ever
- Journey’s "Don’t Stop Believin’" just won’t die
- Tribute albums have grown popular in recent years
- Bonehead of the Week
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>This week, I share my thoughts before and after running the Baystate Marathon last month. I’ve also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Drive-By Truckers, Wire and Crystal Castles with Robert Smith.
Topics:
- The night before the race, I’m feeling pretty confident
- Ran Baystate in 2007 in 3:46
- Hoping to do a little better this time
- Had disastrous run in May at Providence Marathon because of 80-degree heat
- Check back in after the race, driving home
- Struggled with side stitch from mile 9 on
- Weather was perfect
- Taking the spring off from marathons
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Drive-By Truckers - Your Woman is a Living Thing
Wire - Two Minutes
Crystal Castles with Robert Smith - I’m Not in Love
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Drive-By Truckers song was originally released as a single on Record Store Day. The band is giving it away as a free download to its Facebook friends. Find out more at http://www.drivebytruckers.com.
The Wire song is on the forthcoming album Red Barked Tree on the band’s label Pink Flag. Download the song for free at http://www.pinkflag.com.
The Crystal Castles song features Robert Smith of the Cure on vocals and is a cover of a Platinum Blonde song. The remix is available as a single on Fiction Records. Download the song for free at http://Stereogum.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
This week, I’m joined by special guest Amanda Guest as we discuss music geekdom.
Topics:
- Check out Amanda’s show Radioculars (http://www.wmwmonline.com) Saturdays from 3-6 p.m. Eastern at Salem State University
- Amanda: Music geekery started when she got to WMWM
- Parents played radio for her while she was still in a crib
- Amanda’s first musical memory: Manilow’s "Copacabana"
- Kumar: Remember hearing War and Eric Burdon’s "Spill the Wine" as 3-year-old
- As a kid, Amanda dug ABBA and Muppets albums
- Later she got into showtunes like Les Miserables, Cats
- She also liked NKOTB, Bon Jovi, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince
- Kumar: Saw Alanis Morisette at the Paradise in ’94
- WMWM’s sister station is WFNX
- FNX DJ got Amanda into voiceover work
- She recited MLK’s "I Have a Dream" speech
- Amanda’s geekdom grew as she did radio show each week
- Easier to find more obscure music now
- Music licensing doesn’t have same stigma it used to
- Amanda doesn’t have too many female friends who are music geeks
- Amanda: Girls don’t get as obsessive about music collections
- Guys tend to have much larger music collections
- Amanda won contest to see every concert at Paradise Rock Club in October 2009
- She went to 20 shows, spent 20 to 30 hours a week at the ’Dise that month
- Shows included Bajofondo, Blues Traveler, Bob Mould
- After that month of shows, Amanda took winter off from concertgoing
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Wintersleep - Trace Decay
Yuck - Georgia
Ringo Deathstarr - Imagine Hearts
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Wintersleep song is on the band’s album New Inheritors on Tom Kotter Records. Find out more and download the song at http://www.wintersleep.com.
The Yuck song is on 7-inch release Georgia on Transparent Records. Find out more at http://yuckband.blogspot.com. Download the song for free at http://www.forcefieldpr.com/yuckgeorgia.mp3.
The Ringo Deathstarr song is on the album Colour Trip on Club AC30. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/ringodeathstarr and download the song for free at http://www.rcrdlbl.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>This week, I’m joined by special guest Amanda Guest as we discuss college radio.
Topics:
- Amanda hosts Radioculars (http://www.wmwmonline.com) Saturdays from 3-6 p.m. Eastern at Salem State University
- Started working at station in 1994
- Amanda was a top 40 fan when got to college
- Station only played indie rock at the time
- Lots of uptalking at first
- First DJ name was Bob, followed by Cosmic Amanda
- First time slot was Tuesdays noon-3
- Later got the "coveted" Friday 6-9 p.m. time slot
- Online streaming means Amanda now has listeners all over the world
- Stuck with Friday nights for several years
- Left SSC and came back in 2000-2001
- Graduated in 2003, but kept doing a show
- Anyone can do a show, but preference is given to students
- Mid-’90s was a great time for music
- Only played noncommercial music, but had a playlist rotation
- Now WMWM is freeform
- Amanda plays indie rock from artists like Surfer Blood, Wavves, Thermals
- College radio has less influence now
- Feedback comes via Facebook, Twitter, IM
- Studio is all digital now; used to be mix of vinyl and CDs
- For a while, Amanda did a ’70s disco show
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
The Twilight Singers (with Ani DiFranco) - The Blackbird and the Fox
The Morning Benders - Outlaw Blues
Gang of Four - Never Pay for the Farm
No Age - Fever Dreaming
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Twilight Singers song is on the band’s forthcoming album on Sub Pop Records. Find out more and download the song for free at http://www.thetwilightsingers.com.
The Morning Benders song is on the album Subterranean Homesick Blues: A Tribute to Bob Dylan’s Bringing It All Back Home on Reimagine Records. Download the song for free at http://www.themorningbenders.com.
The Gang of Four song is on the forthcoming album Content on Yep Roc. Find out more at http://www.gangoffour.co.uk. Download the song for free at http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/2929657.
The No Age song is on the album Everything in Between on Sub Pop. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/nonoage and download the song for free at http://www.subpop.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>This week, it’s part 3 of my conversation with special guest Ric Dube (http://morelosttime.podbean.com) about comedy.
Topics:
- Appearing on The Tonight Show doesn’t have same impact it once did
- Three categories of comedy
- 1) Comics who came up as standups and leave it behind for acting
- 2) Comics who both act and do standup
- 3) New comics who are like indie rockers
- Comedians are getting the word out online, through podcasts, live shows
- The Dane Cook conundrum: his fans aren’t necessarily comedy fans
- Howard Stern: Going to satellite meant too much of the dwarves and strippers
- YouTube is a goldmine for comedy fans
- The Onion News Network keeps National Lampoon aesthetic alive
- Ric liked The Onion Movie
- Comedy album is not what it once was
- Dube just bought new Doug Benson album directly from his site
- Adam Carolla does free podcast, sells downloadable live shows
- Sponsored podcasts are similar to 1950s television
- Comedians use online marketing to build their audiences
- Dube: Comedy is still very healthy
- Check out Dube’s special comedy episode of More Lost Time
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Eternal Summers - A Salty Salute
Johnny Foreigner - The Most Beautiful Widow
The Thermals - Never Listen to Me
Teenage Fanclub - What You Do to Me
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following codes to get athletic gear from Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. AFCOMP15 will get you 10% off any order of $50 at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Eternal Summers song is on the band’s new album Silver on Kanine Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/eternalsummers and download the song for free at http://www.rcrdlbl.com.
The Johnny Foreigner song is a Sparklehorse cover the band’s label Alcopop! is giving away at http://www.clickyclickymusic.com. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/johnnyforeigner.
The Thermals song is on the album Personal Life on Kill Rock Stars. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/thethermals. Download the song for free at http://www.pitchfork.com.
The Teenage Fanclub song is on the album Bandwagonesque and the compilation Four Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-Six Seconds. Find out more at http://www.teenagefanclub.com and download the song for free at http://www.insound.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>This week, it’s part 2 of my conversation with special guest Ric Dube (http://morelosttime.podbean.com) about comedy.
Topics:
- Ric don’t need no Instant Google
- Corporate websites still suck
- As a kid, Dube had a book that reprinted comedy bits
- Early SNL had no respect for structure
- ABC Dunhill released a Gabe Kaplan album after "Welcome Back, Kotter" was a hit
- Making fun of Chinese people was no big deal in the ’70s
- Jerry Lewis’ terrible comeback flick "Hardly Working" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082501/)
- Leno made a crappy buddy comedy with Pat Morita (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097081/)
- Dube saw Joe Piscopo and Treat Williams in "Dead Heat" in the theater
- SNL in the ’80s was a mixed bag
- Dick Ebersol brought a sports philosophy to SNL
- Lorne Michaels returned in ’85-’86 with new blood
- Eddie Murphy’s "Comedian" album was one of first comedy albums Kumar bought
- Dube didn’t have a problem with the PMRC
- Kumar knew most of the routines on Murphy’s album before he actually heard them
- Murphy’s more homophobic routines haven’t aged well
- Kumar: Didn’t enjoy watching raunchy shows on TV with parents
- Dube’s dad took 6-year-old Ric to see Jack Lemmon’s "Save the Tiger"
- Kumar was able to see Mel Brooks movies as a young kid thanks to lax Canadian movie ratings
- Ric’s mom didn’t see the psychological impact of "Dumbo" on kids of divorce
- Eddie Murphy’s ice cream man bit came true with Ric’s son
- Murphy was never the same after he started making music
- More comedic actors nowadays did not get start as standups
- Zach Galifanakis is great standup, good in movies
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
The Black Angels - Telephone
The Henry Clay People - Switch Kids
Deer Tick - Piece by Piece, Frame by Frame
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Black Angels song is on the band’s new album Phosphene Dream on Blue Horizon Records. Find out more at http://www.theblackangels.com and download the song for free at http://www.dailyrindblog.com/audio/theblackangels_telephone.mp3.
The Henry Clay People song is an unreleased track the band is giving away at http://t.opsp.in/KFiO. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/thehenryclaypeople.
The Deer Tick song is on the album The Black Dirt Sessions on Partisan Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/deertick. Download the song for free at http://www.forcefieldPR.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>This week, special guest Ric Dube (http://morelosttime.podbean.com) joins me to discuss our comedy influences.
Topics:
- Dube got into standup comedy through listening to albums with his dad
- Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show was huge for comedians
- Only three main channels in the ’60s and ’70s
- Audience is diluted now by cable, DVRs, Internet
- Kumar: Listened to sketch comedy on radio from National Lampoon, Firesign Theater
- Watched SNL, Fridays, SCTV
- Stereos used to be furniture
- Dube’s uncle would invite friends over to listen to new comedy LPs
- Kumar: Watched reruns of "Bob Newhart Show" with dad
- Comedy in the ’70s went from a social to a solitary experience
- Differing opinions on SCTV
- Kids in the Hall was a brilliant show
- Letterman’s 12:30 a.m. NBC show was amazing
- Kumar went to one of the last Letterman shows on NBC; Leno was guest
- Leno was hilarious back in the day
- Marc Maron’s podcast (http://wtfpod.com) features great interview with Judd Apatow
- As 16-year-old, Apatow interviewed Seinfeld, Leno, Shandling about comedy
- Steve Martin’s autobiography focuses on standup days
- Martin got a job at Disneyland to get into showbiz
- Apatow started as a busboy in a comedy club
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Japandroids - Heavenward Grand Prix
Marnie Stern - Transparency is the New Mystery
Grinderman - Heathen Child
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com, a leading supplier of athletic footwear, apparel and sports equipment. Use promo code AFCOMP15 to get 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 to get 15% off any order of $75 or more at http://eastbay.com, and AFCOMPFL to get 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://footlocker.com.
The Japandroids song is part of the band’s ongoing 7-inch single series. Download the song for free at http://pitchfork.com.
The Marnie Stern song is from her eponymous forthcoming album on Kill Rock Stars Records. Download the song for free at http://www.stereogum.com.
The Grinderman song is on the Grinderman 2 album on ANTI Records. Download the song for free at http://www.chromewaves.net.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>This week, it’s another installment of Driving with Kumar as I discuss commuting.
Topics:
- We spend a good chunk of our lives commuting
- I’ve got a 25-minute commute now
- First job out of college was in Peabody, Mass.
- Commute shortened from 45 to 20 to 5 minutes
- Longest commute was to Cambridge, nearly 90 minutes
- Salem is super-busy in fall with tourists
- My commute’s about to change for the better
- Plenty of folks who commute for hours each day
- More people are willing to travel farther
- I like working closer to home
- Telecommuters can work from anywhere
- People do many other things while driving
- Bumpy streets brought to you by town of Marblehead
- Cue old guy cell phone rant
- People get a lot braver behind the wheel
- Stereo helps make commute more bearable
- When I was a reporter, I was driving out to stories all day
- Commute’s a good time to clear your head or do some thinking
- Ran to work a few times
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
The 20/20 Project - Back to Work
Cee Lo Green - Georgia
The Knux - Floozy
Del the Funkee Homosapien - Phoney Phranchise
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The 20/20 Project song is on the self-released EP Employees of the Year. Download the song and EP for free at http://the2020project.bandcamp.com.
The Cee Lo Green song is from his forthcoming album The Lady Killer on Warner Bros. Records. Find out more and download the song for free at http://www.ceelogreen.com.
The Knux song is on the self-released EP F*ck You, which is available for free download via http://www.rcrdlbl.com.
The Del the Funkee Homosapien song is on the album Both Sides of the Brain on Hieroglyphics Imperium Records. The song is available through IODA Promonet. Visit http://jzkumar.blogspot.com for a direct link to download the song for free.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>On this episode, I discuss the lasting power of the mix tape.
Topics:
- Music takes you back to specific time or place
- Couldn’t listen to "Wild Horses" for a few years
- Joe Jackson’s "I’m the Man" brings back good memories
- Made mix tapes on clock radio with tape deck
- Mix tapes have made a comeback
- Started writing series called Mixology to look back old mix tapes (http://jzkumar.blogspot.com)
- Oldest mix tape I have was recorded in 1981
- Lots of hard rock and prog rock featured
- Was surprised to hear that I recorded little bits on some of the tapes
- 1981 started out great
- Eighth grade was a lot of fun
- But we knew were moving to Washington state soon
- Moved in November
- Radio stations there sucked, so mix tapes kept me going
- Didn’t make another mix tape until I got to college
- Made a few tapes in college, but really started making a lot after I graduated
- Listening to those old tapes really reminds of me of good and bad times
- Last mix tape was made in 1999 until my tape deck died
- Still make CD and iTunes playlist mixes
- Bonehead of the Week
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com, a leading supplier of athletic footwear, apparel and sports equipment. Use the promo code AFCOMP15 to get 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOM20 will get you 15% off any order of $75 or more at http://www.eastbay.com, and AFCOMPFL will get you 10% off any order of $50 or more at http://www.footlocker.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 2 of my look back at the rise and fall of the dotcom era with special guests Dave Brigham (http://backsideofamerica.blogspot.com) and Jay Breitling (http://clickyclickymusic.com).
Topics:
- Brigham joined Webnoize full time in May 1997
- He quit a paying gig as a proofreader
- Eventually, Webnoize started paying him
- We were given stock options
- At the time, seemed like a good opportunity
- Kumar was hired in October 1999, but had done work for site for a few years
- Dave bought guitar with first check
- First office was in Stoneham, Mass., home of Nancy Kerrigan; later moved to Cambridge
- At first, only four people in office
- Webnoize received funding from "angel investors"
- Meanwhile, other dotcoms pulled in huge sums for barely an idea
- It was all about buzzwords
- Saw pattern of companies with no entertainment or tech background getting into online entertainment space
- These included an oil and gas exploration company, Arthur Treacher’s fish and chip restaurant
- Webnoize had good ideas but no business savvy
- MusicPhone.com offered voicemails from celebs like Whoopi Goldberg; t-shirt lasted longer than the company
- The big entertainment companies were just as clueless about the Web
- We got early versions of MP3 players: Diamond Rio, Nomad Jukebox
- Lessons learned: Need to know your limitations
- We went from Macs to a Sun Solaris computer system
- Breitling joined Webnoize after getting master’s degree in journalism
- Started as intern in December 1999
- Eventually, he went back to his old job as paralegal
- Post-Webnoize, he worked for Listen.com and AOL Digital Cities
- AOL’s now pumping money into local journalism sites called Patch
- The futility of journalism school
- Breitling: Dotcom era ended with many losers, few winners
- The "celestial jukebox" idea still hasn’t happened
- Licensing is still a major obstacle
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Jesse Malin and the St. Marks Social - Burning the Bowery (live)
No Age - Glitter
The Delta Spirit - White Table
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://Budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Jesse Malin and the St. Marks Social song is on the band’s Daytrotter session recorded in May. Find out more at http://www.jessemalin.com and download the session for free at http://www.daytrotter.com.
The No Age song is on the album Everything In Between on Sub Pop Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/nonoage. You can download the song for free at http://www.subpop.com.
The Delta Spirit song is on the album History From Below on Rounder Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/deltaspirit. Download the song for free at http://musicinducedeuphoria.blogspot.com/2010/08/video-delta-spirit-bushwick-blues.html.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 1 of my look back at the rise and fall of the dotcom era with special guest Ric Dube (http://morelosttime.podbean.com).
Topics:
- Webnoize looked at how entertainment and the Web converged
- We covered the start of the MP3 revolution
- Napster let people a world apart share music
- Before Napster, the only choice you had if you liked a song was to buy the CD
- Dube: Napster was a collective act of civil disobedience
- Recording industry said online sharing would hurt, but nobody listened
- Most companies’ Internet strategy represented an agenda, but no idea
- The dotcoms with good ideas often got bought out
- Napster’s technology was art, not a viable business
- Millions of people used Napster
- We started noticing companies had no idea behind the money
- Apple capitalized on digital music with iPod and iTunes store
- Dube had one of the first iPods in America
- We rode around Boston with XM Satellite Radio listening to service before it launched
- Amazon has thrived with MP3 store
- Music industry sales are hurting
- Ten years ago, CD duplication wasn’t as easy and cheap as it is now
- Dube predicted the phone was the future of music industry
- Dube: Didn’t see Apple becoming a big player in consumer electronics and media
- Lee was right about business convergence
- WiFi networks must improve
- Stitcher is an impressive app--turns iPhone into a TiVo
- Music will become more like a service than a product
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
The Posies - Licenses to Hide
The Vaselines - Sex with an X
Boston Spaceships - Come on Baby Grace
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com, a leading supplier of athletic footwear, apparel and sports equipment. Use promo code AFCOMP15 to get 15% off any order at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 to get 20% off any order of $75 or more at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL to get 15% off any order at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Posies song is on the forthcoming album Blood/Candy on Rykodisc. Find out more at http://theposies.net and download the song for free at http://www.ampmagazine.com.
The Vaselines song is on the album Sex with an X on Sub Pop Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/thevaselinesband. You can download the song for free at http://www.subpop.com.
The Boston Spaceships song is on the forthcoming self-released album Our Cubehouse Still Rocks. Find out more at http://www.bostonspaceships.com. Download the song for free at http://www.pitchfork.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Brian Salvatore (http://frankblack.net/podcast, http://enthuseyourself.mevio.com) about baseball.
Topics:
- Brian and a buddy pick an AL team to root for every year
- Jay doesn’t have a favorite NL team
- The ’04 and ’07 Red Sox World Series wins were huge, but anti-climactic
- Red Sox fans have nothing to complain about anymore
- Making sense of the Plaxico Burress nightclub incident
- Baseball has the most unathletic athletes
- The ’93 Jays were an offensive powerhouse
- Nobody remembers that Mitch Williams and Bill Buckner had good careers
- Jay’s hazy bachelor party memories of Clemens beaning Piazza
- Steroids: Was Fred McGriff the last honest slugger?
- Ken Griffey Jr.’s accomplishments overshadowed by alleged roid users
- We should’ve known better during McGwire-Sosa HR race in ’98
- Jose Canseco was right about everything
- Will Roger Clemens get in Hall of Fame?
- Misconception that steroids turn you into a monster HR hitter
- Catchers never used to wear pads
- The wager: Mets vs. Jays for best record
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
The Corin Tucker Band - Doubt
The Hush Now - Vietnam Giraffe
Frightened Rabbit - Son C
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the company’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.Budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Corin Tucker Band song is on the album 1,000 Years on Kill Rock Stars Records. Find out more and download the song for free at http://killrockstars.com/artists/viewartist.php?id=2631.
The Hush Now song is on the self-released EP Shiver Me Starships. Find out more at http://thehushnow.com. You can download the song for free at http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2010/08/daily_downloads_2364.html.
The Frightened Rabbit song was sent out recently to the band’s mailing list. Find out more at http://www.frightenedrabbit.com. Download the song for free at http://www.fuelfriendsblog.com/2010/08/06/new-frightened-rabbit-son-c/.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Special guest Brian Salvatore (http://frankblack.net/podcast, http://enthuseyourself.mevio.com) joins me on the show’s fourth anniversary to discuss baseball.
Topics:
- Check out Brian’s podcasts
- Brian’s a diehard Mets fan
- Game 6 of the 1986 World Series was huge
- Jay sticks by his loser Toronto teams
- The Blue Jays are a small market team in a large market
- Brian: Every pitch means something
- Brian wants a longer baseball season
- It’s rare that best team doesn’t make it to World Series
- Marlins won Series twice then dismantled team
- Baseball needs a salary cap
- Roy Halladay had to learn how to pitch again
- Steinbrenner made his mark by overspending
- Brian lived in Pittsburgh; nobody cared about Pirates
- Brian: Pittsburgh’s PNC Park is best stadium in baseball
- Wrigley Field, Fenway Park have their old-school charms
- Sox-Yankees playoff series in 2004 was amazing
- Jay used to go to Blue Jays games every summer in early ’90s
- Brian saw last Expos game
- The Nationals are a sad, sad franchise
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Black Mountain - The Hair Song
Les Savy Fav - Let’s Get Out of Here
Mondo Generator - Dog Food
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com, a leading supplier of athletic gear. Use promo code AFCOMP15 to get 15% off any order at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 to get 20% off any order of $75 or more at http://www.eastbay.com, and AFCOMPFL to get 15% off any order at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Black Mountain song is on the forthcoming album Wilderness Heart on Jagjaguwar Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/blackmountain and download the song for free at http://www.spinnermusic.co.uk/2010/07/27/black-mountain-hair-song-free-mp3.
The Les Savy Fav song is on the forthcoming album Root for Ruin on Frenchkiss Records. Find out more at http://www.lessavyfav.com. You can download the song for free at http://pitchfork.com.
The Mondo Generator song is on the EP Dog Food on Impedance Music. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/mondogenerator. The song is courtesy of IODA Promonet; find a link to download the song for free in the show notes at http://jzkumar.blogspot.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>I’m flying solo this week with a recap of my vacation to Mexico.
Topics:
- At Puerto Vallarta airport, had to fight through timeshare sharks
- Taxi ride to the resort was insane
- Anything goes with Mexican motorists
- Reminded me of chaotic traffic in India
- Took a while to get used to pesos (12 pesos = $1)
- Disconnected from the Web for most of the week
- Visited Internet cafe to check email occasionally
- Strange TV package at resort
- Spent most of the week at the pool or beach
- Didn’t venture off resort much
- Careful not to drink anything but bottled water
- Got sunburned last few days
- Mostly families at resort, but there were occasional drunk frat boys or horny couples
- Drank Mexican beer (Pacifico, Corona, Dos Equis, Tecate)
- Boarding for return flight was bizarre experience
- Sbarro’s at PV airport charges $7 per slice
- They really push the duty free goods
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Pearl Jam - Amongst the Waves (live)
The Hush Now - The Other Ones
Marnie Stern - For Ash
PO PO - Bummer Summer
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com, a leading supplier of athletic gear. Use promo code AFCOMP15 to get 15% off any order at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 to get 20% off any order of $75 or more at http://www.eastbay.com, and AFCOMPFL to get 15% off any order at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Pearl Jam song is a live track recorded last Halloween in Philadelphia. Find out more and download the song for free at http://www.pearljam.com.
The Hush Now song is on the self-released EP Shiver Me Starships. Find out more at http://thehushnow.com. You can download the song for free at http://clickyclickymusic.com.
The Marnie Stern song is on her forthcoming self-titled album on Kill Rock Stars. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/marniestern1. You can download the song for free at http://pitchfork.com.
The PO PO song is on the EP Bummer Summer/Teen Dreamz on Mad Decent Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/popobros. You can download the song for free at http://rcrdlbl.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>I’m flying solo this week, discussing business trips while actually on a business trip to Tampa.
Topics:
- Live from Tampa Bay
- Haven’t traveled for work since December 2006
- My first day on job was at a conference in Pittsburgh
- Have been on many trips over the years
- Memorable trips to New Orleans, San Francisco
- Last trip to Nawlins, was stuck in St. Louis airport for a night because of ice storm
- Not much happening in Tampa on a Sunday
- Day 2: Set up booth in convention center
- Company across from us brought in "booth babes"
- Plenty of booth babes at the old Webnoize conference
- No fear of flying
- George Clooney’s "Up in the Air" is good look at business traveling
- Had a screaming baby across aisle on trip to Tampa
- More sympathetic to folks with kids now
- Flight back from Orlando in ’99 was full of kids
- On same flight, saw old lady get scalded by hot water
- Lawyer called me few years later to ask what I saw
- Can’t get meals on flights anymore, just snacks
- Security measures are annoying
- Day 3: Went for early run
- Working conference booth is different role for me
- Trips are a good distraction from day-to-day work
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Superchunk - Digging for Something
Versus - Gone to Earth
LCD Soundsystem - Drunk Girls (Holy Ghost Adult Swim remix)
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Superchunk song is on the album Majesty Shredding on Merge Records. Find out more at http://www.superchunk.com. The Versus song is on the album On the Ones and Threes on Merge Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/versusnyc. You can download both songs for free at http://www.mergerecords.com.
The LCD Soundsystem song was remixed for the Adult Swim Singles Program. Find out more at http://lcdsoundsystem.com. The original version is on the album This is Happening on DFA Records. You can download the remix for free at http://www.stereogum.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Jay Breitling (http://clickyclickymusic.com) about beer, recorded during and after a Red Sox game.
Topics:
- Drinking Guinness at Fenway Park
- Kumar: Go-to beer in the mid-’90s was Pete’s Wicked Ale
- Breitling started getting into Yuengling
- Adrian Beltre hits HR for Red Sox
- Variety packs are good ways to try different kinds of beer
- Breitling prefers seasonal beers, especially fall seasonals
- Kumar: Big fan of porter
- Breitling: Helped out at Cisco Brewers in Nantucket
- Breitling isn’t huge fan of winter beers
- Bitter beer face
- IPAs are bitter, but we like ’em
- Kumar: Don’t drink much homebrew
- Breitling’s pal Rob Mathews makes good homebrew
- Ice beer was big in the early ’90s
- Kumar: Tried ice beer for a while, but it was too strong
- Still see drunks buying 40s of Natty Light Ice
- Beer consumption is limited to two or three at a time now
- Pros and cons of beer fridges
- Walking back from the game
- What to tell our kids about drinking
- Just hope they make sensible decisions
- It’s tough being a responsible adult
- Breitling’s max bench: 265
- Drunk episodes are few and far between these days
- Never understood why people got wasted before concerts
- Breitling’s bar altercation
- Kids don’t respect hangovers
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Drive-By Truckers - Girls Who Smoke
We Were Promised Jetpacks - Roll Up Your Sleeves
Silversun Pickups - It’s Nice to Know You Work Alone
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Drive-By Truckers song is a B-side off the album The Big To-Do on ATO Records. Find out more at http://www.drivebytruckers.com and download the song for free at http://www.atorecords.com/girlswhosmoke.
The We Were Promised Jetpacks song was recorded for the Daytrotter Sessions. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/wewerepromisedjetpacks and download the song for free at http://www.daytrotter.com.
The Silversun Pickups song is on the album Swoon on Dangerbird Records. Find out more at http://www.silversunpickups.com and download the song for free as part of the Dangerbird Amazon Sampler at http://www.amazon.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Jay Breitling (http://clickyclickymusic.com) about beer.
Topics:
- Walking the mean streets of Cambridge, Mass.
- Breitling remembers swiping beers to blow ’em up
- Schmidt’s was a prominent beer in Philly
- The hipsters love the Pabst Blue Ribbon, ironically
- Breitling brothers collected beer cans
- Breitling started drinking at high school parties
- Kumar: Never drank much until college
- Kumar: House in Canada had a great bar in basement
- Kumar: In college, drank plenty of Busch, Milwaukee’s Best and other affordable beverages
- Breitling: Family trip to Germany led to consumption of much beer
- Kumar: Had planned to throw party at parents’ house while in high school but thought better of it
- Breitling: In college, drank anything and everything
- Kumar: Can’t drink tequila, Southern Comfort anymore
- Breitling: Never touch the hard stuff anymore in the house, but beer is gone quick
- Breitling didn’t get picky about beer until after college
- Kumar: After college, starting drinking Rolling Rock at rock clubs
- In Washington state, Olympia beer benefited from good marketing like Rolling Rock
- Kumar: Tried a Sam Adams in ’89 and didn’t like it
- At the ballpark: To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
The Kills - Pale Blue Eyes
Of Montreal - Coquet, Coquette
The Black Keys - Ohio
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com, a leading supplier of athletic footwear, apparel and sports equipment. Find gear from top brands such as Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. Use promo code AFCOMP15 for 15% off any order at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 for 20% off any order of $75 or more at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL for 15% off any order at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Kills song was recorded as part of the Levi’s Pioneer Sessions. Find out more at http://www.thekills.tv and download the song for free at http://www.levispioneersessions.com.
The Of Montreal song is on the band’s forthcoming album False Priest on Polyvinyl Records. Find out more at http://www.ofmontreal.net and download the song for free at http://iheartvinyl.polyvinylrecords.com/em/coquette.
The Black Keys song is a B-side on the album Brothers on Nonesuch Records. Find out more and download the song for free at http://www.theblackkeys.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Jay Breitling (http://clickyclickymusic.com) about the power of live rock.
Topics:
- Kumar only went to arena rock shows in the ’80s
- The Worcester Centrum was the big rock venue in the Boston area back then
- Started going to club shows in early ’90s
- Breitling camped out for Stones tickets in ’89
- Chloe lets rip a mighty screech
- Breitling saw a ton of club shows
- We saw a drunken Hold Steady show in ’06 that was awesome
- In late ’80s/early ’90s, Kumar started seeing bands play in rock club in Beverly, Mass.
- Breitling’s friends were playing in bands
- Club shows are great for seeing bands on the way up
- Half time = bath time
- Listen to Ric Dube’s More Lost Time podcast (http://morelosttime.podbean.com)
- Big arena shows now suck because of corporate influence
- Kumar and Dube saw the Go-Go’s play a JVC private party at CES in 2001
- People got annoyed because we were jumping around
- People don’t pay attention at shows anymore
- Only really huge bands and teenybopper acts sell a lot of tickets now
- Established acts like the Eagles and AC/DC are doing store exclusive deals, charging huge ticket prices
- Wear earplugs, people
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
!!! - AM/FM
The Kominas - High Noon
Eels - Looking Up
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com, a leading supplier of athletic footwear, apparel and sports equipment. Find gear from top brands such as Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. Use promo code AFCOMP15 for 15% off any order at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 for 20% off any order of $75 or more at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL for 15% off any order at http://www.footlocker.com.
The !!! song is on the forthcoming album Strange Weather, Isn’t It? on Warp Records. Find out more and download the song for free at http://www.chkchkchk.net.
The Kominas song is on the EP Escape to Blackout Beach. Find out more and download the EP for free at http://komin.as/escape.
The Eels song is on the forthcoming album Tomorrow Morning on E Works/Vagrant Records. Find out more and download the song for free at http://eelstheband.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Jay Breitling (http://clickyclickymusic.com) about the power of live rock.
Topics:
- Breitling thought we were going to talk about beer
- It was much easier to see bands before becoming a parent
- Chloe’s trashing the place
- We saw The Feelies play six encores recently
- Remembering Dread Zeppelin
- Hammer of the Gods is a classic rock biography
- Fond memories of cranking Triumph and Bad Co.
- Gotta love when bands open and close with the same song
- House of Pain had a wussy posse
- Breitling was inspired by seeing classmate’s band in high school
- Breitling’s first concert: Super ’70s Fest with BTO, Guess Who, Dr. Hook, Grand Funk Railroad
- As a 12-year-old, Kumar hoped to see Led Zep...but then Bonham died
- Kumar’s first concert: Cheap Trick, Ratt, Twisted Sister, Lita Ford
- Twisted Sister had a great live show
- Cheap Trick was one of the first bands to play old albums in their entirety
- Now everyone’s doing it
- Bands can alienate audience by playing entire new album
- Some bands you want to see while they’re still around
- Seeing bands in smaller venues is preferable
- Breitling saw The Cure, The Grateful Dead and Nitzer Ebb in same week
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Iron Maiden - El Dorado
The Melvins - Evil New War God
The Black Angels - Bad Vibrations
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Iron Maiden song is on the forthcoming album The Final Frontier on EMI Records. Find out more and download the song for free at http://www.ironmaiden.com.
The Melvins song is on the album The Bride Screamed Murder on Ipecac Records. Find out more at http://www.themelvins.net and download the song for free at http://rcrdlbl.com.
The Black Angels song is on the forthcoming album Phosphene Dream on Blue Horizon Records. Find out more and download the song for free at http://www.theblackangels.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 3 of my conversation with special guest Matt Phillion about his experiences in Ireland.
Topics:
- In Ireland, liquor stores are called "off licenses"
- They loves the hard cider
- Not a great beer selection in stores
- No anti-American sentiment
- The Irish call McDonald’s "Maccy D’s"
- Matt bonded with the immigrants
- Irish don’t pronounce "th" sounds
- Fashion: They rock the popped collar
- Matt left a few shirts behind to avoid getting his ass kicked here
- The skinny jeans incident
- Mullets live on
- The women are "makeup ninjas"
- Tales of airport security
- Tough to break into Irish acting scene
- Shocked to get some modeling offers
- Sorting out customs paperwork
- A care package of 6 lbs. of Twizzlers
- Missing Dunkin’ Donuts
- Metric still confounds
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Black Mountain - Old Fangs
Japandroids - Younger Us
The Vaselines - I Hate the ’80s
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com, a leading supplier of athletic footwear, apparel and sports equipment. Find gear from top brands such as Nike, Adidas and Asics. Use the promo code AFCOMP15 to get 15% off any order at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 to get 20% off any order at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL to get 15% off any order at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Black Mountain song is on the forthcoming album Wilderness Heart on Jagjaguwar Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/blackmountain and download the song for free at http://www.jagjaguwar.com/blackmountain.
The Japandroids song is on the band’s Younger Us 7-inch. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/japandroids and download the song for free at http://pitchfork.com.
The Vaselins song is on the forthcoming album Sex With an X on Sub Pop Records. Find out more and download the song for free at http://www.thevaselines.co.uk.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Matt Phillion about his adventures in Ireland.
Topics:
- Running in Ireland: Matt gets racially profiled
- Rarely see runners there
- Irish drivers are either really slow or really fast
- Drunk driving laws are much stricter
- "A distinct Irish ear"
- TV in Ireland: Lots of American shows air
- Law & Order: London (real show)
- Matt wants to audition for the Irish soap opera Fair City
- Gaelic version of American Idol
- Gaelic is subtitled on TV
- You can see boobs on regular TV
- Call a restroom a "bog" or "jax," not "the loo"
- Following baseball from abroad
- Fantasy baseball challenges
- Spotting Americans
- Eating strange foods for sport
- Eating flies on the run
- Matt discovers cows and "flying chickens"
- Matt’s girlfriend coming here for a visit
- Irish moonshine = "holy water"
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Bottled in Cork
Johnny Foreigner - With Who, Who and What I’ve Got
Ugly Casanova - Lay Me Down
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com, a leading supplier of athletic footwear, apparel and sports equipment. Find gear from top brands such as Nike, Adidas and Asics. Use the promo code AFCOMP15 to get 15% off any order at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 to get 20% off any order at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL to get 15% off any order at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Ted Leo and the Pharmacists song is on the album The Brutalist Bricks on Matador Records. Find out more at http://www.tedleo.com/ and download the song for free at http://matadorrecords.com.
The Johnny Foreigner song is an unreleased track you can download for free at http://bloggyforeigner.blogspot.com.
The Ugly Casanova song is on the soundtrack to the documentary 180 Degrees South on Brushfire Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/uglycasanovamusic and download the song for free at http://stereogum.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Matt Phillion about his adventures in Ireland.
Topics:
- Matt moved to Ireland in late February
- Followed a girl
- Had never been out of the U.S. before
- Fun with Irish border agents
- Home straightening out his paperwork
- Massive life change
- Culture shock: Lack of water pressure
- Matt’s proud to be an American
- Food’s fine if you don’t eat Irish
- Guinness makes a meal
- Matt ate a lot of lamb, Chinese food
- (Visit from my 6-year-old)
- Saw Hope Sandoval play
- In Ireland, everything requires a conversation
- Picking up different pronunciations
- Tipping differences
- Irish moonshine tastes sweet, smells like turpentine
- Hurling is Matt’s new favorite sport: Kill the man with the ball
- Irish follow rugby, soccer, hurling--but not cricket
- Matt confronts Polish bouncer with unintelligible accent
- Never turn down a drink in Ireland
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
The Hold Steady - Hurricane J
The Roots with Jim James - Dear God, 2.0
Wolf Parade - Ghost Pressure
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Hold Steady song is on the album Heaven is Whenever on Vagrant Records. Find out more at http://theholdsteady.net and download the song for free at http://insound.com.
The Roots song is on the forthcoming album How I Got Over on Island Def Jam Records. Find out more download the song for free at http://www.islanddefjam.com/theroots.
The Wolf Parade song is on the band’s album Expo 86 on Sub Pop Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/wolfparade and download the song for free at http://soundcloud.com/subpop.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 3 of my conversation with special guest Ric Dube (http://morelosttime.com) as we program our own TV networks.
Topics:
- Wednesday: Kumar presents The Great American TV Theme-a-thon
- Dube: Million Dollar Pet Challenge, a competition show based on Stupid Pet Tricks
- Kumar: That Guy Again
- Dube thinks it’s a Quantum Leap ripoff
- Dube: Dover, a nighttime soap based in the NH city
- Kumar: Slow Case
- Dube came up with Good Cop, Black Cop, a TV take on the old Eddie Murphy movie 48 Hours
- Thursday: Dube presents Gulf Hospital
- Kumar: Dolly, starring Dolly Parton and Pam Anderson
- Kumar: Schmasier, with Kelsey Grammer as a snooty garbageman
- Kumar: Norm and Tony, starring Norm MacDonald and Tony Danza
- Kumar: Snoop, There It Is
- Dube: Public Option
- Kumar: Skank Quest: Tara Reid
- Friday: Dube’s sci-fi show, Werewolves of Grunden
- Dube gets deep
- Kumar: Sad Men
- Dube: Honey Island, the "anti-LOST"
- Kumar: 30/30, a short attention span newsmagazine show
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
The Henry Clay People - Your Famous Friends
Japandroids - To Hell With Good Intentions
Versus - Invincible Hero
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Find gear from top brands such as Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. Use promo code AFCOMP15 to get 15% off any order at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 to get 20% off any order of $75 or more at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL to get 15% off any order at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Henry Clay People song is on the forthcoming album Somewhere Along the Gold Coast on TBD Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/thehenryclaypeople and download the song for free at http://clickyclickymusic.com.
The Japandroids song is on the No Singles compilation on Polyvinyl Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/japandroids. Download the song for free at http://www.saucony.com.
The Versus song is on the band’s forthcoming album On the Ones and Threes on Merge Records. Find out more and download the song for free at http://www.mergerecords.com/artists/versus.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Ric Dube (http://morelosttime.com) as we program our own TV networks.
Topics:
- Sunday night: Dube presents Old Harry Potter
- Like Archie Bunker’s Place for old wizards
- Kumar: 60 Minutes--Survivor
- Dube: Movie of the week featuring One of My Adenoids is Missing
- Kumar: Bevilacqua for Hire
- Kumar: Battle of the Network Jackasses
- Kumar: Sunday late night offering is Ben Stein’s Test Pattern Theatre
- Dube: M-F syndicated programming from 7-8 includes This Evening in Witchcraft and The Price is Unstable
- Kumar: The Broad Couple
- Kumar: Two and a Half Sheens
- Dube: Monday Night Playground
- Kumar: Wheels of Blue Steel
- Kumar: Wall (a medical show)
- Dube’s late night strategy: Bring back old failed talk shows
- Kumar’s late night: Different talk show each night from Stephen Hawking, Carrot Top, etc.
- Tuesday: Dube presents Grungy Days
- Dube: Rejected ideas include Who Wants to Punch a Millionaire?
- Kumar: Found
- Dube: In Seasickness or in Health
- Kumar: Ex-Cop Janitor starring Arsenio Hall
- Dube: As You Wish
- Theme songs are barely played anymore
- Kumar: Have Gavel, Will Travel
- Dube: Plantation Vacation
- Bonehead of the Week
- Tribute to Ronnie James Dio
Music:
The Dead Weather - Die by the Drop
The Dum Dum Girls - Bhang, Bhang, I’m a Burnout
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Find gear from top brands such as Nike, Adidas, Asics and more. Use promo code AFCOMP15 to get 15% off any order at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 to get 20% off any order of $75 or more at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL to get 15% off any order at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Dead Weather song is on the new album Sea of Cowards on Third Man Records. Find out more at http://www.thedeadweather.com and download the song for free at http://www.rcrdlbl.com.
The Dum Dum Girls song is on the new album I Will Be on Sub Pop Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/dumdumgirls. Download the song for free at http://www.subpop.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Ric Dube as we program our own TV networks.
Topics:
- Wiping out the CW
- Check out Dube’s blog and forthcoming podcast, More Lost Time (http://morelosttime.com)
- Part of the NAC podcast network
- Saturday morning programming
- Kumar: The Misadventures and Sad Life of Scrappy Doo
- Many ghost-chasing cartoons in the ’70s
- Dube: The Blair Witch Laugh Factory and Crazy Hour Featuring Woof Woof
- Kumar: The Haughty Endorphin Seizure Hour
- Dube: Toredeing Ukado
- Kumar: iMarley
- Dube: Next of Kin Bandstand
- Kumar: Thundarr the Librarian
- Dube: Cereal Wars
- Ric’s co-worker Rachel suffered through this pitch
- Kumar: Wile E. Coyote’s Revenge
- Road Runner’s dark side is revealed
- Saturday night
- Dube: Route 128
- A look at pissed off Mass. drivers stuck in traffic
- Kumar: The Wonderful World of Hakayashi
- Dube: Arkancilliopoulos
- Promo: Arkancilliopoulos
- Kumar: Trump’s Trillions
- Kumar: KTV Movie of the Week
- Opposite of Lifetime movies
- Dube’s SNL competitor: Chipmunk Playhouse
- All squeakquel, all the time
- Promo: Chipmunk Playhouse does Jaws
- Kumar’s SNL competitor: Yakov Smirnov’s What a Country Laugh Riot
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Interpol - Lights
Wolf Parade - What Did My Lover Say? (It Always Had to Go This Way)
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://budget.com/compcon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Interpol song is a new song released by the band; no new album information is available yet. Find out more and download the song for free at http://www.interpolnyc.com.
The Wolf Parade song is on the new album Expo 86 on Sub Pop Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/wolfparade. Download the song for free at http://www.subpop.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Special guest Jay Breitling joins me to discuss misheard song lyrics.
Topics:
- Easy to look up lyrics online nowadays, but many user-generated lyrics can be wrong
- Mondegreen is term for the mishearing of a lyric or phrase
- Kumar used to mishear Manfred Mann’s "Blinded by the Light"
- Classic example is Hendrix’s "Purple Haze" with misheard line "Excuse me while I kiss this guy"
- Kissthisguy.com is misheard lyrics site, not gay dating site
- Breitling: Nobody knew the lyrics of "Louie Louie"
- Kumar: Beatles’ "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"
- Teenage Kumar used to mishear a line in Eddie Money’s "Shakin’"
- Kumar: Wild Cherry’s "Play That Funky Music"
- In ’70s, sometimes profanity was left in songs ("Who Are You," "Jet Airliner") played on radio
- Kumar: Just learned correct version of a line in Zeppelin’s "Black Dog"
- Certain singers are hard to understand: Plant, Jagger, Stipe, guys in shoegaze bands
- Das Efx vocals purposely mimicked music
- Mumblemouthed singers: Vedder begat crappier imitators Weiland, Stapp
- Pearl Jam’s "Yellow Ledbetter" is almost completely unintelligible
- Kumar: Thought PJ’s "Rats" referenced Hakeem Olajuwon
- Kumar: Long misheard lines in "Rock the Casbah," "Everybody Wants Some"
- Billy Corgan’s singing was hard to understand, but early Smashing Pumpkins rocked anyway
- Breitling: Bad Brains’ "Pay to Cum" was 75 seconds long, 10 understandable words
- Kumar: The Knack’s "My Sharona"
- Weird Al made his career on jokey lyrics
- Kumar: Stone Roses’ "I Wanna Be Adored"
- Amy’s co-worker thinks a Natalie Merchant song references dishpan hands
- Charles Kuralt’s secret life
- Breitling: J. Geils Band’s "Freeze Frame" was "Freeze Spray"
- J. Mascis was never big on enunciation
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Dead Meadow - That Old Temple
The Shout Out Louds - Fall Hard
Everyone Everywhere - Raw Bar OBX 2002
Fol Chen - In Ruins
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://budget.com/compcon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
The Dead Meadow song is on the album Three Kings on Xemu Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/deadmeadow. The song is courtesy of IODA Promonet; download the song for free at http://www.iodapromonet.com.
The Shout Out Louds song is on the album Work on Merge Records. Find out more at http://www.shoutoutlouds.com. Download the song for free at http://www.insound.com.
The Everyone Everywhere song is on the band’s self-titled album on Tiny Engines. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/everyoneeverywhere. The band is currently in the midst of a two-week blog tour in which it’s giving away a song a day on a different blog. Download this song for free at http://www.canyouseethesunset.com.
The Fol Chen song is on the album Part II: The New December on Asthmatic Kitty Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/folchen and download the song for free at http://stereogum.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>It’s another installment of Driving With Kumar as I discuss our love/hate relationship with fast food.
Topics:
- KFC’s Double Down sandwich is cartoonish gluttony
- Never ate much fast food as a young kid
- Only go to McDonald’s on road trips
- Instant regret and shame
- Most fast food I eat is pizza
- Plenty of other examples of ridiculous fast food meals
- I enjoy occasional visits to rib joint
- Moderation is the key
- Exercise helps counter effects of fatty food
- Parents need to make sure kids are active
- Fast Food Nation was an eye-opening book
- Learning about how meat producers work can turn you off fast food
- Trend towards banning trans fats in restaurants
- Push to ban trans fats in the UK
- People should have the choice
- Encourage folks to be more active and eat healthier
- A ban might be going too far
- Public smoking ban has worked well
- We can’t force people to be healthier
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
Deer Tick - 20 Miles
Blur - Fool’s Day
The Futureheads - Struck Dumb
Brad - Runnin’ for Cover
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com, a leading supplier of athletic footwear, apparel and sports equipment. Save on gear from top brands such as Nike, Adidas, Asics and more using these codes: AFCOMP15 will get you 15% off any order at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 will get you 20% off any order of $75 or more at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL will get you 15% off any order at http://www.footlocker.com.
The Deer Tick song is on the album The Black Dirt Sessions on Partisan Records. Find out more at http://www.deertickmusic.com. Download the song for free at http://forcefieldpr.com.
The Blur song is the first song the band has recorded in seven years, made for Record Store Day. After the 7-inch single sold out, the band made the song available for free at http://www.blur.co.uk.
The Futureheads song is on the album The Chaos on Dovecote Records. Find out more at http://www.thefutureheads.co.uk and download the song for free at http://www.spinner.com.
The Brad song is on the album Best Friends? on Monkeywrench Records. Find out more and download the song for free at http://www.bradcorporation.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>I’m joined by special guest Jay Breitling (and Ric Dube as live studio audience) as we trace our rock roots.
Topics:
- Breitling: John Lennon’s death led to Beatles albums in house
- Older bro joined Columbia House Record Club: AC/DC, Rush, VH, Kinks
- Breitling’s mom dug Sinatra, ELO, Winwood
- Sinatra made a concept album, Watertown
- Papa Breitling picked up Skynyrd hits comp
- Kumar: Dug War and Eric Burdon’s "Spill the Wine" as a toddler
- Parents dug Sinatra, Neil Diamond, mid-70s easy listening
- Parents got into disco and so did I
- Eventually started listening to hard rock
- Traded hockey cards for Zep II and Rush’s Fly By Night
- Breitling got into metal: VH, Leppard, Priest
- Breitling: Live video of VH’s "Unchained" was the pinnacle, featuring flaming gong
- Kumar laments late arrival of MTV to his NH town (1985)
- Watched USA’s "Night Flights" and NBC’s "Friday Night Videos"
- Breitling moved on to alternative: Cure, Smiths
- Also started listening to Grateful Dead
- Breitling got into hardcore through high school band called Lost
- Listened to Fugazi, Helmet, Orange 9mm; then got into indie rock
- Kumar was high school metalhead: Maiden, Priest, Metallica
- In college, got into alternative: REM, Husker Du, Cure
- Post-college, turned onto Seattle scene: Mother Love Bone, Temple of the Dog, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Pearl Jam, Nirvana
- Regrets, I’ve had a few: Spin Doctors
- Bonehead of the Week
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Jay Breitling as we discuss music as a torture device.
Topics:
- Breitling: Bad covers by inappropriate people
- Case in point: Lenny Kravitz’s "American Woman"
- Another: Big Mountain’s cover of "Baby I Love Your Way"
- Watch out for white guys with dreads
- Kumar: Bob Seger’s "Shakedown"
- Kenny Loggins was the patron saint of crappy ’80s soundtrack hits
- The Bruce Hornsby button
- Dube: Arthur Lizie came up with the Beverly Hills Cop genre of music
- Footloose was the Rosetta Stone of Beverly Hills Cop music
- Breitling: Rockapella sucks
- Michael Winslow was the ultimate beatboxer
- Breitling: GNR’s "Used to Love Her"
- Liked it, but heard it so many times he got sick of it
- Kumar: Billy Joel’s "We Didn’t Start the Fire"
- Breitling defends Christie Brinkley’s honor
- Smash Mouth’s "All Star" is evil and catchy
- Steve Miller’s whole head sucks
- Beach Boys’ "Kokomo" was doomed by the Stamos Factor
- Aerosmith’s "I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing" supersucked
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
- The National - Bloodbuzz Ohio
- Midlake - Acts of Man
- Jawbreaker - Gutless
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The National song is on the album High Violet on 4AD. Find out more at http://www.americanmary.com. Download the song for free at http://www.highviolet.com.
The Midlake song is on the album The Courage of Others on Bella Union Records; find out more at http://midlake.net. Download the song for free at http://www.insound.com.
The Jawbreaker song is on the reissue of the album Unfun on Blackball Records. Find out more at http://blackballrecords.com and download the song for free at http://www.rollingstone.com.
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com, a leading supplier of athletic footwear, apparel and sports equipment. You can find gear from top brands such as Nike, Adidas and Asics. The promo code AFCOMP15 gets you 15% off any order at http://www.eastbay.com; AFCOMP20 gets you 20% off any order of $75 or more at http://www.eastbay.com; and AFCOMPFL gets you 15% off any order at http://www.footlocker.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Jay Breitling as we discuss music as a torture device.
Topics:
- Dig the live studio audience: Ric, Karen, Amy and Chloe
- Baby Breitling rocks
- U.S. military used music to torture prisoners at Gitmo
- Also used rock against Noriega, Branch Davidians
- Let’s dwell on the negative
- Pizza arrives
- Kumar: CSN’s "Suite Judy Blue Eyes" tormented hungover party guests
- Breitling: Ramones tape stuck in cassette deck tortured his family
- Kumar: Matthew Wilder’s "Break My Stride" evokes painful memories
- Follow-up singles from one-hit wonders popped up on MTV in the ’80s
- Breitling: Aqua’s "Barbie Girl" is the worst of the worst
- Kumar: The unholy trio of Bryan Adams/Rod Stewart/Sting with "All for Love" was brutal
- Breitling defends the honor of Bryan Adams
- Milli Vanilli attempted many comebacks after lip sync disgrace
- Celebutantes make albums: Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton
- Breitling actually listened to this dreck in the name of research
- Mariah Carey’s Glitter soundtrack ruined songs by Robert Palmer, Foreigner
- Kumar: Mariah is vocal equivalent of wank metal guitar
- Spencer Pratt = tool
- Kumar: 4 Non Blondes’ "What’s Up?" is truly horrible
- Dance mixes make bad songs even worse
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
- Teenage Fanclub - Baby Lee
- Bettie Serveert - Deny All
- The Whigs - Kill Me, Carolyne
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The Teenage Fanclub song is on the album Shadows on Merge Records. Find out more at http://www.teenagefanclub.com. Download the song for free at http://www.mergerecords.com.
The Bettie Serveert song is on the album Pharmacy of Love on Second Motion Records; find out more at http://www.bettieserveert.com. Download the song for free at http://www.planetarygroup.com/newmedia/pages/bettieserveert.
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com, a leading supplier of athletic footwear, apparel and sports equipment. You can find gear from top brands such as Nike, Adidas and Asics. The promo code AFCOMP15 gets you 15% off any order at http://www.eastbay.com; AFCOMP20 gets you 20% off any order of $75 or more at http://www.eastbay.com; and AFCOMPFL gets you 15% off any order at http://www.footlocker.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 2 of my conversation with special guest James Gralian (http://www.rinkpodcast.com) as we discuss podcasting and the slow death of commercial radio.
Topics:
- Jay digs Smodcast and other shows that feature two people talking
- James likes You Look Nice Today
- Podcasts have no boundaries
- Podcast listeners make investment in time and money
- Radio listening can be very passive
- It’s a good time for audio-based entertainment
- No FCC limits on podcasts or satellite radio
- Internet radio licensing rates are fairly reasonable
- Lot of buzz around podcasting 2-3 years ago
- Ask a Ninja turned podcast into a book, iPhone app
- Talk radio still does well, especially sports talk stations
- Podcasting allows for 1:1 relationship with show
- Podcast audience will continue to grow
- #PodcastFriday on Twitter tries to get word out on shows
- HD radio is a total bust
- Radio’s running out of options
- Kids used to find out about new music from radio and later MTV
- Tweetcasts: James gets podcast guests via Twitter, like reverse call-in show
- More feedback would be nice
- There’s room for everybody
- Bonehead of the Week (featuring coughing fit)
Music:
- Happy Birthday - Subliminal Message
- Future of the Left - adeadenemyalwayssmellsgood
- The Libertines - Time for Heroes
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The Happy Birthday song is on the band’s self-titled album on Sub Pop. Find out more at http://www.subpop.com/artists/happy_birthday. Download the song for free at http://www.subpop.com.
The Future of the Left song is on the album Curses on 4AD; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/futureoftheleft. The Libertines song is on the album The Best of the Libertines on Rough Trade; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/thelibertines. Download the songs for free at http://www.beggarsgroupusa.com.
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://budget.com/compcon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 1 of my conversation with special guest James Gralian as we discuss podcasting and the slow death of commercial radio.
Topics:
- James hosts The Rink podcast (http://www.rinkpodcast.com)
- James got into podcasts after getting an iPod
- Worked as a radio engineer
- Wrote hockey blog for years and wanted to do more
- Plane flies overhead
- Don’t listen to commercial radio anymore
- Playlists are shorter, formatting has taken over
- College radio is still great
- Since ’96, consolidation has killed radio creativity
- Podcasting is a labor of love
- The fine art of podcasting while driving
- James started site called Podcasters Unite (http://www.podcastunite.com) to begin conversation about podcasting
- Operating in a vacuum
- Podcasting is more than Internet radio thanks to time-shifting element
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
- Quasi - Repulsion
- We Were Promised Jetpacks - A Far Cry
- Beach House - Norway
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The Quasi song is on the album American Gong on Kill Rock Stars. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/theequasi. The song is courtesy of RCRDLBL; download the song for free at http://www.rcrdlbl.com.
The We Were Promised Jetpacks song is on the EP The Last Place You’ll Look on Fat Cat Records; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/wewerepromisedjetpacks. The Beach House song is on the album Teen Dream on Sub Pop Records; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/beachhousemusic. The songs are courtesy of IODA Promonet; download them for free at http://www.iodapromonet.com.
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com, where you can find athletic gear from top brands such as Nike, Adidas and Asics. The promo code AFCOMP15 gets you 15% off any order at http://www.eastbay.com; AFCOMP20 gets you 20% off any order of $75 or more at http://www.eastbay.com; and AFCOMPFL gets you 15% off any order at http://www.footlocker.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 3 of my conversation with special guest Ric Dube as we continue to discuss the underlying rules behind pop culture trends.
Topics:
- More things Dube wants to do before he dies
- Dube’s Principle of the "Ta Dah!" Garment
- Kumar’s Principle of Songs with "Rock" in the Title
- Billy Squier’s "Rock Me Tonite" video ruined his career
- Dube recounts his interview with Vanilla Ice’s old manager
- Ric had the first interview with Tommy Lee after the sex tape with Pam Anderson broke
- Sex tapes 101
- Dube’s Principle of Polarized Visitors
- Talking racist Disney cartoons
- Sloppy audio edit
- Hollywood loves token racially diverse groups of friends
- Dube’s Principle of Polarized Point Spreads
- Kumar’s Fat Buddy Principle
- Is she really going out with him?
- Dube needs to see Teen Wolf
- Dube’s Principle of Broadcast Prescience
- Why Hot Tub Time Machine is a great movie title
- Ric rips into Must Love Dogs
- Crappy movie titles are commonplace: It’s Complicated
- Kumar’s Rules for Movie Remakes
- Dube’s Principle of Deadly Precipitation
- Dube’s Principle of Conflicting Civic Missions
- Pharma, Urban or Bard
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
- Ted Leo & the Pharmacists - The Mighty Sparrow
- Zeus - Marching Through Your Head
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The Ted Leo & the Pharmacists song is on the album The Brutalist Bricks on Matador Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/tedleo. Download the song for free at http://www.matadorrecords.com.
The Zeus song is on the album Say Us on Arts and Crafts Records; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/themusicofzeus. The song is courtesy of IODA Promonet; download the song for free at http://www.iodapromonet.com.
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://www.budget.com/compcon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Ric Dube as we continue to discuss the underlying rules behind pop culture trends.
Topics:
- White Men Can’t Judge (on TV)
- Dube’s Principle of Inevitable Communication
- Kumar’s standard requirements for benefit songs
- Need at least one non-singer involved
- To win an Oscar, actor must gain/lose large amount of weight and/or become ugly
- Karen’s Principle: Dumb actors only play characters that have their name (e.g., Tony Danza)
- Who the Hell Does That? Only on TV is a gift box lid wrapped separately from box itself
- Everybody leaves one side of dinner table open (for camera)
- Kumar: Rod Stewart Suckability Quotient
- Others that qualify for this list: Clapton, Sting, Phil Collins, Dave Navarro, Elton John
- Dube: Synchronicity album was beginning of the end for the Police
- Collins went from prog-rock drummer to frontman to solo artist to actor to hammy soundtrack artist
- Disney soundtracks = big bucks for Elton, Collins, Sting
- "Against All Odds" was first of many power ballads for Collins
- Jay blames Michael Mann for acting careers of musicians: Collins, Nugent, Sheena Easton, Glenn Frey
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
- Titus Andronicus - A More Perfect Union
- The Morning Bender - Promises
- The Riverboat Gamblers - Robots May Break Your Heart
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The Titus Andronicus song is on the forthcoming album The Monitor on XL Recordings. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/titusandronicus. The Morning Benders song is on the album Big Echo on Rough Trade Records; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/themorningbenders. Download the songs for free at http://www.beggarsgroupusa.com.
The Riverboat Gamblers song is on the album Underneath the Owl on Volcom Entertainment. Find out more and download the track for free at http://theriverboatgamblers.com.
The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com, a leading supplier of athletic footwear, apparel and sports equipment. Use promo code AFCOMP15 to get 15% off any order at http://www.eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 to get 20% off any order of $75 or more at http://www.eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL to get 15% off any order at http://www.footlocker.com.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Special guest Ric Dube joins me to discuss the underlying rules behind pop culture trends.
Topics:
- ’Twas a dark and stormy night
- Ric’s dropping some science
- Wardrobe malfunctions at the Super Bowl (Janet Jackson, Pete Townshend)
- Super Bowl has older halftime acts every year
- All movies use fish-out-of-water premise
- On TV shows, star always has a wacky neighbor
- Dube’s Principle of Ballistic Karma: ’splosions only get the bad guy
- Slow motion is a key indicator
- "Dolls should never be seen outdoors"
- Kumar: A-Team Principle of Ammo Dispersement
- That background noise is rain pounding on the windows
- ’80s action shows always have bad guy’s car flying off a ramp
- Dube’s Principle of Unadvanced Technology
- Glasses are always a prop
- Ric’s 5th grade teacher was disgusting
- Computers in TV shows or movies are totally unrealistic
- Things Ric wants to do someday: Guess someone’s password from trivial fact about person
- Kumar: The Principle of Hard Rock Album Progression
- Artists always say the new album is way better than the previous one
- Every celeb thinks he or she can write a children’s book
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
- The New Pornographers - Your Hands (Together)
- Broken Social Scene - World Sick
- Black Rebel Motorcyle Club - Conscience Killer
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The New Pornographers song is on the forthcoming album Together on Matador Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/thenewpornographers and download the song for free at http://www.matadorrecords.com.
The Broken Social Scene song is on the forthcoming album Forgiveness Rock Record on Arts and Crafts Records. Find out more and download the track for free at http://brokensocialscene.ca.
The Black Rebel Motorcycle Club song is on the album Beat the Devil’s Tattoo on Vagrant Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/blackrebelmotorcycleclub. The song is courtesy of RCRDLBL; download it for free at http://rcrdlbl.com.
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Visit http://Budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>Special guest Dave Brigham joins me to discuss UFOs.
Topics:
- Interest in UFOs stoked by book "Chariots of the Gods"
- Dave interest is mixed with mockery
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind was huge
- The UFO subculture is as interesting as UFOs themselves
- If actual alien was captured, nobody would believe it
- Bigfoot sightings are still popular
- The X-Files kept all the conspiracy stuff alive
- In NM, Dave was too drunk to visit Roswell
- Dave vs. the armless panhandler
- UFOs have contributed much to pop culture
- Dave talks about his UFO concept album and novel
- UFO-related songs: Jay’s favorite is Gary Numan’s "Down in the Park"
- Dave says Flaming Lips’ movie "Christmas on Mars" is bad
- Dave gives shout out to the Ass Ponys
- Jay hates the Stone Temple Pilots
- Dave: Split TV seasons are annoying
- Dave reflects on his childhood, UFOs
- 2012 doomsday scenarios loom
- Bonehead of the Week
Music:
- Japandroids - Art Czars
- Yeasayer - Ambling Alp
- We Were Promised Jetpacks - Ships With Holes Will Sink
- Los Campesinos! - The Sea is a Good Place to Think of the Future
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The Japandroids song is the first of a five-part singles series. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/japandroids and download the song for free at http://www.stereogum.com.
The Yeasayer song is on the album Odd Blood on Secretly Canadian Records. Find out more at http://www.yeasayer.net and download the track for free at http://www.amblingalp.com.
The We Were Promised Jetpacks song is on the album These Four Walls on Fat Cat Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/wewerepromisedjetpacks. The Los Campesinos! song is on the album Romance is Boring on Arts and Crafts Records. Find out more at http://www.myspace.com/loscampesinos. Both songs are courtesy of IODA Promonet; download them for free at http://www.iodapromonet.com.
The Future of the Left song is on the album Travels With Myself and Another on 4AD Records. Find out more at http://www.futureoftheleft.com. Download the track for free at http://www.beggarsgroupusa.com.
The show is sponsored by Budget, the country’s premier car rental service with 900 locations. Visit http://Budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell; find out more at http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/.
Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.
]]>
