Monday, May 28, 2012

Completely Conspicuous 229: Around the Dial

Part 1 of my conversation with special guests Nick Lorenzen and Mike Piantigini as we discuss the death of rock radio. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Boston alternative rock station WFNX was sold to Clear Channel recently
- Rock radio has been on life support for quite some time
- Too much radio programming and formats
- WFNX was pioneer of the alternative format
- Nick: Knew of WFNX more by reputation as a kid
- Mike: College radio introduced me to a world beyond classic rock and metal

- Jay: R.E.M. and U2 were first so-called alternative bands I got into
- WBCN was revolutionary back in late '60s and '70s, playing free-form rock
- Eventually became formatted like all the rest
- WBCN switched to alternative format in mid-'90s to compete with FNX
- Eventually, BCN went to more talk: Stern, Opie & Anthony
- FNX went downhill for a while with nu metal
- Nick: FNX had rebounded in last few years
- We old guys don't get newer bands like Mumford and Sons
- FNX wasn't going after geezers like us anymore
- Many more options for listeners now: iPod, streaming audio, Pandora
- The "Mike FM" stations just regurgitate '90s alternacrap
- The much-bigger WBCN went off air in '09, turned into a sports talk station
- The market for rock music has diminished; kids are listening to more hip hop and pop
- Plenty of new rock bands coming out all the time
- Nick: Hard rock is used more in sports arenas and commercials
- To be continued next week
- Bonehead of the Week

Music:
Bob Mould - The Act We Act (live)

Hallelujah the Hills - Get Me in a Room
Zeus - Anything You Want, Dear
The White Stripes - Jimmy the Exploder
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Bob Mould song is from Live at Bottom of the Hill, a free EP of three Sugar songs from the album Copper Blue performed live on Feb. 24 in San Francisco. Download the EP for free (in exchange for your email address) at New.Official.Fm.

The Hallelujah the Hills song is on the album No One Knows What Happens Next on Discrete Pageantry. Download the song for free from HallelujahTheHills.com.


The Zeus song is on the album Busting Visions on Arts and Crafts. Download the song for free from IODA Promonet:
Busting VisionsZeus
"Anything You Want Dear" (mp3)
from "Busting Visions"
(Arts & Crafts)

More On This Album

The White Stripes song is from the band's self-titled album on Sympathy for the Record Industry. Download the song for free from Epitonic.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site PodGeek.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Completely Conspicuous 228: Feel the Burn

Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Adam Tinkoff as we discuss diet and exercise. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Adam's new show Zen@10 and also the Slow Runners Club
- Adam: Think before you eat
- Jay: Hot dogs gross me out
- Food processing is a nasty business
- Keep track of what you eat for 30 days
- Mix up your workouts
- Adam: Latin dancing is a great workout
- Adam's a "carousel of crazy"
- He did Internet broadcasting in 2000 before podcasting was created
- Taking a break from Slow Runners Club podcast because of busy schedules
- Kicked off 2012 Spring Clean Reboot
- Group effort to eat better
- First week is easy, but after that it's tough to sustain
- We need to make it easy for people to exercise
- Much has changed in the last 20 years
- Harder to lose weight as you get older
- Body mass index (BMI) is useless
- Body fat percentage doesn't need to be single digits
- Adam: All diet plans fail
- Change your habits, then adjustments

- Getting into online fitness coaching
- You don't need a gym to get fit
- The Biggest Loser made weight loss inspiring
- Bonehead of the Week

Music:
The Afghan Whigs - See and Don't See

The Alabama Shakes - Hold On
Sunny Ali and the Kid - Chai
Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra - Do It With a Rockstar

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Afghan Whigs song is the first new recording from the band since 2006. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at TheAfghanWhigs.com.
The Alabama Shakes song is on the album Boys & Girls on ATO Records. Download the song for free as part of The ATO Spring Sampler (in exchange for your email address) at ATO Records.

The Sunny Ali and the Kid  song is a digital single available for free download at Bandcamp
The Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra song is on her forthcoming album on 8ft Records. Download the song for free from Soundcloud.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site PodGeek.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Completely Conspicuous 227: Shapes of Things

Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Adam Tinkoff as we discuss fitness. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype

- Check out Adam's new show Zen@10 and also the Slow Runners Club
- Talking a little rock: Against Me singer switching genders
- Are Bowie Bonds worth anything?

- Adam's mulling a trip to Bonnaroo
- We both met Trey from Phish at different points

- Frank Zappa's influence on modern music
- Adam doesn't buy the new CDC obesity report
- More folks are becoming long-distance runners getting into fitness
- People need to make better dietary choices
- Bigger problem is inactivity of people on Facebook
- Adam: Was seriously into martial arts, then focused on fatherhood in his 30s
- Now back into fitness
- Adam was a podcasting pioneer, talking about weight loss and fitness
- Drinking alcohol can affect how much nutrition your body gets from food
- Formaldehyde: Your last drink
- Giving up alcohol for short periods can benefit your weight loss and fitness efforts
- Soft drinks are full of unwanted side effects
- Everything in moderation
- To be continued next week
- Bonehead of the Week

Music:
Young Adults - Decay

Guided By Voices - Class Clown Spots a UFO
The Riverboat Gamblers - Comedians
Beck - Lost Cause

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Young Adults song is on the compilation NOFUCKINGWHERE, featuring Boston bands covering songs from Ride's 1990 album Nowhere compiled by Jay Breitling. Download the entire album for free at Clicky Clicky.

The Guided By Voices song is the title track of the band's forthcoming album on Guided By Voices/Fire Records. Download the song for free at Stereogum.

The Riverboat Gamblers song is on the album The Wolf You Feed on Volcom Entertainment. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) from TheRiverboatGamblers.com
The Beck song is on the album Sea Change on Geffen. Download the song for free from Epitonic.
The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site PodGeek.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Completely Conspicuous 226: Bottoms Up!

Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Ben Amirault as we discuss the growth of craft beer. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").
Show notes:
- Check out Ben's beer blog The Church Key
- Dogfish Head has branched out with TV show, limited edition beers
- Northeast has many great brewers: Magic Hat, Smuttynose, Baxter, Long Trail
- "Ice beer" was, and still is, a thing
- Regional pockets of great craft beer throughout the U.S.
- Some of beers can overdo it with the accents (fruit, pumpkin, caramel, chocolate, coffee, etc.)
- Jay: Not big into pairing certain beers with certain types of food
- Canadians will drink Bud or Coors because it's so light
- Ben: Hard to keep up with all the new brewers
- Recent trend is putting craft beer in cans
- Some brewers won't do it, but many are: Sierra Nevada, Harpoon, Oskar Blues, Baxter
- Great packaging can get you to try a beer
- The bomber is a great way to check out a new beer
- Some stores let you "make" your own six-pack from singles
- Bonehead of the Week

Music:
Mission of Burma - Dust Devil

Father John Misty - Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings
Hallelujah the Hills - Hungry Ghost Extraordinaire

The Men - Open Your Heart

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The Mission of Burma song is on the forthcoming album Unsound on Fire Records. Download the song for free at Team Clermont.

The Father John Misty song is on the album Fear Fun on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at Sub Pop.

The Hallelujah the Hills song is on the album No One Knows What Happens Next on Discrete Pageantry. Download the song for free from Prefix Mag
The song by The Men is on the album Open Hearts on Sacred Bones. Download the song for free from Epitonic.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site PodGeek.