Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Completely Conspicuous 276: Oh, Canada

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we dissect a classic mid-1970s song from a Canadian music legend. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ
- Dissecting Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald"
- Song's a total downer, no pun intended
- Based on a true life incident in 1975
- Sounds like Lightfoot put the Wikipedia entry to music
- Checking out the early '70s Canadian band Lighthouse
- Sounds like the Guess Who or Blood, Sweat and Tears
- Lightfoot's "Sundown" is a much better song
- Ric: A little like Velvet Underground's "Loaded"
- Frank Chacksfield, the king of elevator music
- Making slow '70s songs even slower
- Pat Boone and Paul Anka later made entire albums covering hard rock songs
- Anne Murray dominated Canadian radio in the '70s
- Canadian content rule meant a third of music on the radio had to be Canadian
- A random song from The Randoms to wash the MOR crap away
- Teenage Head was an Ontario punk band from the late '70s
- CanCon meant a lot of bands got on the radio that normally wouldn't have
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Sloan - Everything You've Done Wrong

Stars - Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It

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

The Sloan song is on the album One Chord to Another on Murderecords. Download the song for free at Noisetrade.
The Stars song is on the album The North on ATO Records. Download it for free at Epitonic.

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

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Completely Conspicuous 275: Picking Up the Pieces

Part 2 of my conversation with guest James Gralian about the post-lockout NHL. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- NHL surprises this season include talented teams struggling: Detroit, Philly, Nashville, Tampa
- Philadelphia's long stretch of bad goaltending
- Gotta love Ilya Bryzgalov
- Toronto-Detroit will be in Winter Classic next year
- Chicago's been the best team in the league by far
- The long, strange journey of Ray Emery
- Jay: Making the case for the Leafs
- Pittsburgh messes with success, keeps winning
- Realignment kicks in next season
- Playoff hockey is the best
- James picks a team to root for when the Avs don't make it
- Jay: Just happy to see Leafs in playoffs
- Players rarely stay on same team for entire career
- Rooting for dirty teams
- NHL has come back strong from lockout
- Fighting in hockey at most levels
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
The Hush Now - Marathon Monday

Guided By Voices - Flunky Minnows
Iceage - Morals
Game Theory - Erica's Word

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

The Hush Now song is available for free download at Clicky Clicky.
The Guided By Voices song is on the album English Little League on GBV Records. Download the song for free at Stereogum.
The Iceage song is on the album You're Nothing on Matador. Download the song for free at MatadorRecords.com.
The Game Theory song is on the album The Big Shot Chronicles. In memory of late Game Theory frontman Scott Miller, you can find all the now out-of-print Game Theory albums available for free download at LoudFamily.
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.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Completely Conspicuous 274: Business as Usual

Part 1 of my conversation with guest James Gralian about the post-lockout NHL. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded last weekend via Skype
- Last spoke in October before NHL lockout began
- Season relaunched in mid-January and is wrapping up in next few weeks
- Definitely some bitterness when the NHL came back
- James' many online efforts include The Avs Hockey Podcast and Jerseys and Hockey Love
- JG: Playing hockey has deepened my appreciation for the sport
- NHL teams sign plenty of undrafted college players
- Georges Vezina was known as the Chicoutimi Cucumber
- Jack Falla wrote some great hockey books
- JK: I was mad at both sides after the lockout
- Ended up getting satellite package and following the Leafs anyway
- Greed is a given in pro sports
- The Leafs fired their GM right before season started
- Now they're on the verge of making playoffs for first time in 9 years
- JK remembers the Leafs' 1993 playoff run
- JK: Not a fan of the shootout
- Rough year for James' favorite team, Colorado
- JG: The Avs need to clean house
- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Beck - Halo of Gold

Buffalo Tom - Mineral
Dinosaur Jr. - Freak Scene
Titus Andronicus - Titus Andronicus Forever

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

The Beck song is the B-side to the single "Tropicalia" from the album Mutations. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The Buffalo Tom song is on the album Let Me Come Over on Beggars Banquet. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The Dinosaur Jr. song is on the album Bug on SST. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The Titus Andronicus song is on the album The Monitor on XL Recordings. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. 
Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his blog PodGeek.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Completely Conspicuous 273: Hang On to Your Ego

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion about our narcissistic society. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Anybody can have a show or self-publish a book
- Everybody's a photojournalist now
- Online commenters are the worst
- Talk radio callers are moving online
- Onion AV Club comment sections can be great
- Matt: Arguing on the Internet makes everyone dumber
- So easy to hit "send"
- Begging for RTs from celebs on Twitter is pathetic
- The ridiculousness of Google Glass
- How much information do you really need?
- Can you watch a movie or TV show without checking your phone?
- Staying off social media to avoid spoilers
- The need to live tweet TV shows
- The moviegoing experience sucks
- Matt can go entire days without dealing with a live human
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Thee Oh Sees - Toe Cutter - Thumb Buster

Fidlar - Gimme Something
The Kills - Future Starts Slow
Drive Like Jehu - Caress

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

The Thee Oh Sees song is on the album Floating Coffin on Castle Face Records. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The Fidlar song is on the band's self-titled album on Mom + Pop. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The Kills song is on the album Blood Pressures on Domino Records. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The Drive Like Jehu song is on the band's self-titled album on Cargo. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Completely Conspicuous 272: I Me Mine

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion about our narcissistic society. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Narcissism is on the rise
- Recent study looks at the Internet "narcissism epidemic"
- We are part of the problem
- We're more likely to take photos of injustice than actually help out
- Matt works from home, posts on Facebook to get social interaction
- Some people need to post status updates of their every move
- Gay marriage debate has been ubiquitous on social media
- Linked In endorsements: What's the point?
- Matt's creepy clown photo
- Creating a false impression through upbeat self-promotion
- Selfies are everywhere
- People will do anything to get on TV
- Reality TV has never been more popular
- MySpace was a mess
- Googling yourself is a common activity
- Matt's IMDB page
- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
JEFF the Brotherhood - Shredder

Le Butcherettes - Henry Don't Got Love
Sleater-Kinney - Jumpers
Ty Segall - You're the Doctor

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

The JEFF the Brotherhood song is on the album We Are the Champions on Infinity Cat Recordings/Warner Music. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The Le Butcherettes song is on the album Sin Sin Sin on Rodriguez Lopez Productions. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The Sleater-Kinney song is on the album The Woods on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The Ty Segall song is on the album Twins on Drag City. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.