Completely Conspicuous 208: The Final Countdown

Part 3 of my conversation with special guest Jay Breitling as we look back at the best rock music of 2011. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

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 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 Matador.

The Johnny Foreigner song is on the album Johnny Foreigner vs. Everything on Alcopop Records. Download the song for free at Bandcamp.

The Dananananaykroyd song is from the album There Is a Way on Pizza College. Download the song for free at the band's Internet Home Page.

The Yuck song is on the band's self-titled album on Fat Possum. Download the song for free at Brooklyn Vegan.

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. 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.

Completely Conspicuous 207: Add It Up

Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Jay Breitling as we look back at the best rock music of 2011. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



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 download the entire album for free at Bandcamp.

The Buffalo Tom song is on the album Skins on Scrawny Records. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at Spin.

The Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks song is on the album Mirror Traffic on Matador Records. Download the song for free at Matador.

The War on Drugs song is on the album Slave Ambient on Secretly Canadian. Download the song for free at Clicky Clicky.

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. 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.

Completely Conspicuous 206: Hits of the Year

Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Jay Breitling as we look back at the best rock music of 2011. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Of new additions and beer

- Revisiting our beer discussion of episodes 133 and 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 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 Stereogum.

The Ringo Deathstarr song is on the album Colour Trip on Sonic Unyon Records. Download the song for free at RCRDLBL.

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 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 his fine music blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. 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.

Completely Conspicuous 205: The End and Everything After

Part 3 of my conversation with special guest Matt Phillion as we discuss movie remakes. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



Show notes:

- Still going over bad remakes

- Jay: The Shaggy Dog with Tim Allen

- The original Disney movies 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 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 Sub Pop.

The Handsome Furs song is on the album Sound Kapital on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at Sub Pop.

The Sheila Divine song is available for free download (in exchange for your email address) at Bandcamp.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music sites Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. 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.

Completely Conspicuous 204: One More Time

Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Matt Phillion as we count down our favorite movie remakes. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



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 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 SoundCloud.

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 Records. Download the song for free at SoundCloud.

The Heartless Bastards song is from the forthcoming album Arrow on Partisan Records. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at the band's website.

The Okkervil River song is from the EP Golden Opportunities 2. Download the EP for free from the band's website.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. 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.

Completely Conspicuous 203: Do It Again

Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Matt Phillion as we count down our favorite movie remakes. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

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 the band's website.

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) from the band's blog.

The Damien Jurado song is on the album Mariqopa on Secretly Canadian. Download the song for free at http://rcrdlbl.com/2011/11/23/download_damien_jurado_nothing_is_the_news.

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 IODA Promonet:

Benjamin Shaw
"How to Test the Depth of a Well" (mp3)
from "There's Always Hope, There's Always Cabernet"
(Audio Antihero)
Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album

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. 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.

Completely Conspicuous 202: Stuck Between Stations

Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss the current state of television. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



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 about becoming new parents; also, donate to Brian's mustache fundraising campaign

- 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 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 Insound.

The J. Mascis song is the B-side of the 7-inch single Circle on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at Stereogum.

The Wye Oak song is the title track of the album Civilian on Merge Records. Download the song for free at Insound.

The Gross Magic song is from the EP Teen Jamz on Fat Possum. Download the song for free from RCRDLBL.

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. 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.

Completely Conspicuous 201: On With the Show

Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss the current state of television. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



Show notes:

- First-ever Skype-recorded show

- Drinkin' beer and talkin' TV

- Check out Brian's new podcast Expectations about becoming new parents; also, donate to Brian's mustache fundraising campaign

- 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 (featuring Greg Dulli) - 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 the Village Voice.

The Fishbone song is on the EP Crazy Glue on Cockroach Media. Download the song for free at IODA Promonet:

Fishbone
"Crazy Glue" (mp3)
from "Crazy Glue"
(Cockroach Media)
Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album



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 Amazon.

The Johnny 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 his fine music blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. 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.

Completely Conspicuous 200: Race for the Prize

Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Phil Stacey as we discuss what happens when your favorite team finally wins the big one. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

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 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 Daytrotter.

The Big Sleep song is on the band's forthcoming album Nature Experiments on Frenchkiss Records. Download the song for free at Stereogum.

The Frightened Rabbit song is on A Frightened Rabbit EP. You can download the EP for free (in exchange for your email address) at the band's website.

The Kisses song is available for free download (in exchange for your email address) at the band's website.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. 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.

Completely Conspicuous 199: We Used to Wait

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. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Bruins' Stanley Cup win was a long time coming

- 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 Superchunk.com.

The Hush Now song is available for free at Bandcamp.

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 from Matador Records.

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 the band's website.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. 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.

Completely Conspicuous 198: Guest List

This week on the podcast, I talk about our incessant need to make lists. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



Show notes:

- Driving to a rock show
- We love lists
- Best-of lists spur on debate
- Just contributed to best albums of '90s list on Popblerd
- More lists at Dan Paquette's Music Obsession on Facebook
- Top 100 songs of all-time was a tough list to compile
- 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 - ArkansasSoccer 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 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 Bandcamp.

The Hush Now song is on the band's self-released album Memos. Find out more and download the entire album for free at Bandcamp.

The Soccer Mom song is on the band's self-titled 7-inch. You can download the song for free at the Soccer Mom website.

The King Khan Experience song is on the EP Scion A/V Presents the King Khan Experience. Download the song for free at Pitchfork.

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. 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.

Completely Conspicuous 197: Let's Get Lost

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. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



Show notes:

- Dube plays good music on his podcast, More Lost Time

- Remember when John Travolta was in Squeeze?

- Breitling disses NYC

- 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, where you can download the song for free.

The Telekinesis song is on the band's album 12 Desperate Straight Lines on Merge Records. Download the song for free from the Merge Records 2011 Sampler at Amazon.

The Gossip song is on the album Standing in the Way of Control on Kill Rock Stars. Download the song for free from the Kill Rock Stars 20 Year Anniversary Sampler at Amazon.

The Sleater-Kinney song is on the album Dig Me Out on Kill Rock Stars. Download the song for free from the Kill Rock Stars 20 Year Anniversary Sampler at Amazon.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. 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.

Completely Conspicuous 196: Gouge Away

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. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



Show notes:

- Dube: Stevie Wonder definitely recorded a lot of dreck after brilliant stretch

- The decline of Clapton is legendary

- Dube 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 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. Download the song for free at Chromewaves.

The Electric Flower song is on the band's self-titled EP on Narnack Records. Download the song for free at RCRDLBL.

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 Pitchfork.

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 Rolling Stone.

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. 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.

Completely Conspicuous 195: Hit It and Quit It

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. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").





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.

Completely Conspicuous 194: Feeling Gravity's Pull

This week, I talk about the legacy left behind by R.E.M., who called it quits last week after 31 years. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



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 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. 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.

Completely Conspicuous 193: Run to the Hills

This week on the podcast, I talk about my experience running in a 200-mile relay. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



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
- 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 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 Devo song is from Yo Gabba Gabba! Music is Awesome! Volume 3 on Filter U.S. Recordings. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.

The Twerps song is on the band's self-titled debut on Underwater Peoples. Download the song for free at RCRDLBL.

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 RCRDLBL.

The Rational Animals song is on the album Bock Rock Parade on Katorga Works. Download the song for free at RCRDLBL.

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.

Completely Conspicuous 192: Paperback Writer

Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Christian Douglass as we discuss the challenges facing first-time authors. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



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 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 PJ20.

The Los Campesinos song is on the album Hello Sadness on Wichita Recordings. Download the song for free at the band's website.

The Kurt Vile song is on the EP So Outta Reach on Matador Records, where you can download the song for free.

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 his website.

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

Completely Conspicuous 191: Scene of the Crime

Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Christian Douglass as we discuss his recent trip to Alaska to research a book. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



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 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 album Endless Now on Sub Pop, where you can download the song for free.

The F***ed Up song is on the album David Comes to Life on Matador Records, where you can download the song for free.

The Moondoggies song is on the album Tidelands on Hardly Art Records. Download the song for free at the band's website.

The Sloan song is on Select Singles, '92-'11, courtesy of NoiseTrade. Download the 14-song sampler for free (in exchange for your email address) at NoiseTrade.

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

Completely Conspicuous 190: Turn the Page

Part 3 of my conversation with special guests Jay Breitling and Ric Dube as we discuss the world of rock books. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").







Show notes:



- Dube: 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: "On the Road with the 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

- Michael 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 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. Download the song for free at Stereogum.



The Charles Bradley and the Menahan Street Band song is on Newermind: A Tribute Album. Download the album for free by "liking" SPIN magazine's Facebook page.



The Arcade Fire song is on the album The Suburbs on Merge Records. Download the song for free at Insound.



The Mini Mansions song is on the band's self-titled, self-released EP. Download the song for free at Insound.



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.

Completely Conspicuous 189: No New Tale to Tell

The podcast returns this week with part 2 of my conversation with special guests Jay Breitling and Ric Dube as we discuss the world of rock books. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").







Show notes:



- Rock memoirs



- Kumar: Jen Trynin's Everything I'm Cracked Up to Be



- Dube: 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 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 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 his website.



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 the band's website.



The Don Fleming song is on the EP Don Fleming 4 on Instant Mayhem. Find out more at Instant Mayhem and download the song for free at IODA Promonet:



Don Fleming

"My Little Lamb � EP (Feat. R. Stevie Moore) " (mp3)

from "Don Fleming 4"

(Instant Mayhem)



Buy at iTunes Music Store

More On This Album







The Screaming Trees song is on the album Last Words: The Final Recordings on Sunyata Records. Download the song for free at IODA Promonet:



Screaming Trees

"Ash Gray Sunday" (mp3)

from "Last Words: The Final Recordings"

(Sunyata Records)



Buy at iTunes Music Store

More On This Album







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 188: Words and Guitar

This week on the podcast, I've got part 1 of my conversation with special guests Jay Breitling and Ric Dube as we discuss the world of rock books. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").







Show notes:



- Dube (check out the More Lost Time podcast) 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 Budget.com/CompCon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental.



The Boston Spaceships song is on the album Let It Beard on Guided by Voices Records. Download the song for free at The Ash Gray Proclamation.



The Archers of Loaf song is on the deluxe reissue of the album Icky Mettle on Merge Records. Download the song for free at Amazon.



The Okkervil River song is on the album I Am Very Far on Jagjaguwar Records. Download the song for free at Amazon.



The Delta Spirit song is available as a free download (in exchange for your email address) at the band's website.



The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. Also, check out Clicky Clicky Radio Thursdays from 8 to 10 p.m. on Boston Free Radio. 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.

Completely Conspicuous 187: Five Years

This week, I celebrate the podcast's fifth birthday by discussing the podcast's origins and where it's going. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



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 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 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 Strange Mercy.

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 WWPJ.

The Shonen Knife song is on the album Osaka Ramones: Tribute to the Ramones on Good Charamel Records. Download the song for free at Amazon.

The Algernon Cadwallader song is on the album Parrot Flies on Big Scary Monsters. Download the song for free at SoundCloud.

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

Completely Conspicuous 186: The Farther I Go

This week on the podcast, I've got some dispatches from my trip to Seattle. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



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

- Caught 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 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, where you can download the song for free.

The Mudhoney song is on the deluxe reissue of the album Superfuzz Bigmuff on Sub Pop, where you can download the song for free.

The Murder City Devils song is on the album In Name and Blood on Sub Pop, where you can 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 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.

Completely Conspicuous 185: Trampled Under Foot

Special guest Lee Black joins me as we discuss the popularity and unpopularity of soccer. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



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 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 Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks song is on the forthcoming album Mirror Traffic on Matador Records, where you can download the song for free.

The Titus Andronicus cover of a Nirvana song is on the album Newermind: A Tribute Album. Download the album for free by "liking" SPIN's Facebook page.

The Young Adults song is on the band's demo. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.

The Boots Electric song is on the forthcoming album Honkey Kong on Dangerbird Records. Find out more and download the song for free at his site.

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.