Saturday, July 27, 2013

Completely Conspicuous 288: You Better You Bet

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the first half of 2013 and look ahead to the rest of the year. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ
- JB: Lady Lamb the Beekeeper - Ripely Pine
- Maine native wrote songs while working in video store
- JK: The National - Trouble Will Find Me
- Still digging into this one
- What's the deal with Vampire Weekend?
- JB: Slowdim - s/t
- "A real nice listen"
- JK: Mikal Cronin - MC II
- Plays in Ty Segall's band
- The Besnard Lakes are an interesting band
- JK: New Sabbath is surprisingly non-sucky
- Old bands getting eclipsed by cover acts
- The Stones should just stop
- New Arcade Fire album expected in the fall
- JB: New Soccer Mom full-length may be out this year
- New music from Earthquake Party and Guillermo Sexo
- JK: Looking forward to new Obits album
- More new Pixies music on the way?
- Superchunk's new album coming in the fall
- New Arctic Monkeys and Pearl Jam albums due out
- JB: Anticipating new Polvo, Johnny Foreigner, Weekend, Golden Gurls
- JB: Predict the John Hughes soundtrack sound is going to come back
- Small venues are where it's at
- Pop country is attracting older fans who used to like rock
- Wear earplugs to shows, kids
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Lady Lamb the Beekeeper - Rooftop

Savages - She Will
Veronica Falls - Bad Feeling
Mikal Cronin - Weight
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Lady Lamb the Beekeeper song is on the album Ripely Pine on Ba Da Bing! Download the song for free at Spinner.
The Savages song is on the album Silence Yourself on Matador. Download the song for free as part of the Matador Intended Play 2013 sampler on Amazon.
The Veronica Falls song is on the album Waiting for Something to Happen on Slumberland Records. Download the song for free as part of the Slumberland Records Spring/Summer 2013 Sampler on Amazon.
The Mikal Cronin song is on the album MCII on Merge Records. Download the song for free as part of the Merge Records Summer Sampler 2013 on 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 blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Completely Conspicuous 287: Halfway There

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the first half of 2013. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ
- Rick Moranis has a new album out
- Rush's only U.S. top 40 hit was 1982's "New World Man"
- Brought to you (not really) by Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Sumpin'
- JK: iTunes crashed, lost all playlists and play counts
- Spotify recently added music recommendations
- Serious signal-to-noise ratio
- YouTube's a great source of cool audio and video
- JB: A lot of great music from Exploding in Sound label
- JB: Ovlov - Am
- JK: Speedy Ortiz - Major Arcana
- Featured on JB's Lilys comp
- Many young bands embracing '90s sounds
- JB: Krill - Lucky Leaves
- Bass-playing singers free up space for guitarists
- JK: Palma Violets - 180
- Catchy Britpop that rocks
- JB: Radiator Hospital - Something Wild
- Album title comes from Jonathan Demme movie
- JK: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away
- More subdued effort, but still excellent
- JB: Colleen - The Weighing of the Heart
- Former French schoolteacher
- Speedy Ortiz posted a great mixtape on their blog
- JK: David Bowie - The Next Day
- Unexpected but surprisingly good
- JB: Veronica Falls - Waiting for Something to Happen
- Melodic British guitar pop
- JK hasn't purchased any CDs this year; JB's bought fewer than 10
- Vinyl ain't cheap
- JB's listed in liner notes of new Speedy Ortiz album
- JK: Kurt Vile - Wakin' on a Pretty Daze
- Very chill, lots of long jams
- Kurt's brother sells Jell-O shots at festivals
- JB: Light Heat - s/t
- Former Mazarin fronter on his own
- JK: Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork
- Expected hard rocker and got something more interesting
- New QOTSA drummer is Jon Theodore, ex of Mars Volta
- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Speedy Ortiz - Tiger Tank

Radiator Hospital - Your Boyfriend
Kurt Vile - Wakin' on a Pretty Day
Light Heat - The Mirror (live)
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Speedy Ortiz song is on the album Major Arcana on Carpark Records. Download the song for free at Stereogum.
The Radiator Hospital song is on the album Something Wild. Download the entire album for free at Bandcamp.
The Kurt Vile song is on the album Wakin' on a Pretty Daze on Matador Records. Download the song for free at Matador.
The Light Heat song is on the band's self-titled album on Ribbon Music. Download the live version for free as part of the WXPN/Key Studio Session at The Key.
 
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, July 9, 2013

Completely Conspicuous 286: Good Riddance

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss music we've outgrown. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic
- Jay: U2 was favorite band from late '80s to early '90s
- Diminishing returns over last 20 years; sick of Bono
- Brian: R.E.M. was approaching that territory when they quit
- Brian: Done with Metallica
- Jay: Musically, haven't dug them since The Black Album
- Brian: Want to get back into old (non-Metallica) thrash
- Not loving the Cookie Monster vocals
- Jay: Once liked Don Henley's solo work, now hate him
- Brian: Second incarnation of Aerosmith from 1985-on is terrible
- Music got dumb, started working with outside writers
- The curse of '80s production techniques
- Brian: Not a good time for hard rock recording now; too much compression
- Jay: Hair metal lost its appeal quickly
- Saw many hair metal shows in mid-80s: Ratt, Motley Crue, Dokken
- Brian: Mall punk and ska have lost their luster
- Bands specialized in terrible covers
- Culprits include Blink 182, Goldfinger, Less Than Jake, Save Ferris
- Jay: Clapton is NOT God
- Brian: Not a fan of the blues; too samey
- Jay: Still like the blues, but don't listen much anymore
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Queens of the Stone Age - My God is the Sun
The National - Don't Swallow the Cap
Superchunk - FOH
Eleanor Friedberger - Stare at the Sun
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Queens of the Stone Age song is on the album ...Like Clockwork on Matador Records. Download the song for free as part of the Matador Intended Play 2013 sampler on Amazon.
The National song is on the album Trouble Will Find Me on 4AD. Download the song for free as part of the 4AD Sampler on Amazon.
The Superchunk song is on the forthcoming album I Hate Music on Merge Records. Download the song for free as part of the Merge Records Summer Sampler 2013 on Amazon.
The Eleanor Friedberger song is on the album Personal Record on Merge Records. Download the song for free as part of the Merge Records Summer Sampler 2013 on 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 blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Completely Conspicuous 285: Full Grown

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss music we've outgrown. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic
- Will launch Input/Output, a music-themed show, soon
- Tracking the different Black Flag reunions
- Rollins doesn't sing anymore
- Kim Deal leaves Pixies
- Rumors of new Pixies recordings (we talked a few days before the new Pixies song dropped)
- Music we once loved but have outgrown
- Brian: The Offspring (on Jay's list as well)
- Somehow grew popular
- Jay: Red Hot Chili Peppers
- Really, it's Kiedis who hasn't aged well
- Awkward moments at Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame inductions
- The greatness of Tom Scharpling and The Best Show
- The bland rock of Bad Company
- Brian drops a bomb with Sonic Youth
- Just can't get into them
- Jay: Sting has grown tiresome
- Big fan of The Police, but in the early '90s, Sting began to suck mightily
- Brian: Wank guitar (also on Jay's list)
- Yngwie Malmsteen led a wave of classically-inspired speed guitarists
- The Vinnie Vincent Invasion was so dumb, so fast
- Soft spot for That Metal Show
- Stephen Malkmus crams tons of solos into good songs
- DLR and Ozzy had plenty of hot guitarists come through their bands
- Brian: Recent McCartney concert was best show he's ever seen
- Listening to music is no longer a sole activity; now, it's always done while you do something else
- Music discovery was a challenging pursuit prior to the Internet
- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
The Pixies - Bagboy
Obits - Taste the Diff
Adam Franklin - Boocat Leah
Bob Mould - The Descent
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Pixies song is available for free download (in exchange for your email address) at PixiesMusic.
The Obits song is on the forthcoming album Bed & Bugs on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at Sub Pop.
The Adam Franklin song is on the album Black Horses on Goodnight Records. Download the song for free at Largehearted Boy.
The Bob Mould song is on the album Silver Age on Merge Records. Download the song for free as part of the Forecastle Festive Sampler 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 blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.