Completely Conspicuous 120: Feel the Pain

I'm joined on the podcast for more rock talk by special guest Jay Breitling as we discuss music as a torture device. Listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

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, where you can download the song for free.

The Bettie Serveert song is on the album Pharmacy of Love on Second Motion Records; download the song for free at Planetary Group.

The Whigs song is on the album In the Dark on ATO Records; download the song for free at TheWhigs.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 Eastbay.com; AFCOMP20 gets you 20% off any order of $75 or more at Eastbay.com; and AFCOMPFL gets you 15% off any order at 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 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.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous 119: New Frontier

I'm joined again on the podcast by James Gralian as we continue our discussion about podcasting and the slow death of radio. Click here to listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly here (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

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

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, where you can download the song for free.

The Future of the Left song is on the album Curses on 4AD. The Libertines song is on the album The Best of the Libertines on Rough Trade. 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 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 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.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous 118: Radio Nowhere

The podcast returns with special guest James Gralian, who joins me to discuss podcasting and the slow death of commercial radio. Click here to listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly here (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

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. The song is courtesy of RCRDLBL, where you can download the song for free.

The We Were Promised Jetpacks song is on the EP The Last Place You'll Look on Fat Cat Records. The Beach House song is on the album Teen Dream on Sub Pop Records. The songs are courtesy of IODA Promonet:

We Were Promised Jetpacks
"A Far Cry" (mp3)
from "The Last Place You'll Look"
(Fat Cat Records)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at eMusic Delivery
Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album

Beach House
"Norway" (mp3)
from "Teen Dream"
(Arts & Crafts Mexico)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album

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 Eastbay.com; AFCOMP20 gets you 20% off any order of $75 or more at Eastbay.com; and AFCOMPFL gets you 15% off any order at 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 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.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous 117: Pop Culture Principles, Part 3

I'm joined on the podcast by Ric Dube as we conclude our discussion of pop culture principles. Click here to listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly here (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

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, where you can download the song for free.

The Zeus song is on the album Say Us on Arts and Crafts Records. The song is courtesy of IODA Promonet:

Zeus
"Marching Through Your Head" (mp3)
from "Say Us"
(Arts & Crafts)

Buy at Napster
Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album

The show is sponsored by Budget, the country's premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to 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 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.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous 116: Pop Culture Principles, Part 2

I'm joined on the podcast by special guest Ric Dube as we continue our discussion of the underlying themes behind pop culture trends. Click here to listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly here (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

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. The Morning Benders song is on the album Big Echo on Rough Trade Records. Download the songs for free at Beggars Group USA.

The Riverboat Gamblers song is on the album Underneath the Owl on Volcom Entertainment. Find out more and download the track for free here.

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 Eastbay.com, AFCOMP20 to get 20% off any order of $75 or more at Eastbay.com and AFCOMPFL to get 15% off any order at 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 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.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.