Completely Conspicuous 140: OK Computer

I'm joined on the podcast by special guests Dave Brigham and Jay Breitling as I continue my look back at the rise and fall of the dotcom era. Listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

Topics:

- Brigham joined Webnoize full time in May 1997

- He quit a paying gig as a proofreader

- Eventually, Webnoize started paying him

- We were given stock options

- At the time, seemed like a good opportunity

- Kumar was hired in October 1999, but had done work for site for a few years

- Dave bought guitar with first check

- First office was in Stoneham, Mass., home of Nancy Kerrigan; later moved to Cambridge

- At first, only four people in office

- Webnoize received funding from "angel investors"

- Meanwhile, other dotcoms pulled in huge sums for barely an idea

- It was all about buzzwords

- Saw pattern of companies with no entertainment or tech background getting into online entertainment space

- These included an oil and gas exploration company, Arthur Treacher's fish and chip restaurant

- Webnoize had good ideas but no business savvy

- MusicPhone.com offered voicemails from celebs like Whoopi Goldberg; t-shirt lasted longer than the company

- The big entertainment companies were just as clueless about the Web

- We got early versions of MP3 players: Diamond Rio, Nomad Jukebox

- Lessons learned: Need to know your limitations

- We went from Macs to a Sun Solaris computer system

- Breitling joined Webnoize after getting master's degree in journalism

- Started as intern in December 1999

- Eventually, he went back to his old job as paralegal

- Post-Webnoize, he worked for Listen.com and AOL Digital Cities

- AOL's now pumping money into local journalism sites called Patch

- The futility of journalism school

- Breitling: Dotcom era ended with many losers, few winners

- The "celestial jukebox" idea still hasn't happened

- Licensing is still a major obstacle

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

Jesse Malin and the St. Marks Social - Burning the Bowery (live)

No Age - Glitter

The Delta Spirit - White Table

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 Jesse Malin and the St. Marks Social song is on the band's Daytrotter session recorded in May. Download the session for free at Daytrotter.

The No Age song is on the album Everything In Between on Sub Pop Records, where you can download the song for free.

The Delta Spirit song is on the album History From Below on Rounder Records. Download the song for free at Music Induced Euphoria.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. Additional music used in the show is by Me and Boris the Bull, which is the brainchild of the mighty Mark Campbell. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at his blog.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous Episode 36: Too Damn Hot to Talk

The title says it all. It's ridiculously hot here right now, so I went with another all-music episode of tha CC. Download it directly here (right click and "save as").


There are a couple of points during the Sunset Rubdown and Los Campesinos songs when the music cuts out; not sure what the hell that was all about. Oh, well.


The show notes, if you will:


Music:
- Blake Morgan - Danger to Wake You
- Jesse Malin - Broken Radio
- Elliott Smith - Needle in the Hay
- Sunset Rubdown - Stadiums and Shrines II
- Los Campesinos - You! Me! Dancing!
- Built to Spill - Lie for a Lie


Promos:
- The Phedippidations World Wide Half Marathon. Find out more here.

- New England Podcasting. Find out more here.

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes, Yahoo Podcasts and Podcast Pickle podcast directories. Subscribe and write a review!

The Jesse Malin song is from the album Glitter in the Gutter on Adeline Records; find out more here. It is provided by the Podsafe Music Network. The song from Blake Morgan is on his album Burning Daylight on Engine Company Records; find out more here. The Elliott Smith song is on his self-titled album on Kill Rock Stars; find out more here. The Sunset Rubdown song is on their album Shut Up I Am Dreaming on Absolutely Kosher Records; go here for more info. The song by Los Campesinos is on their EP Sticking Fingers Into Sockets on Arts and Crafts; find out more here. The Built to Spill song is on their album Ultimate Alternative Wavers on C/Z Records; find out more at their Internet home page. All five songs were provided by IODA Promonet.



"Danger To Wake You" (mp3)
from "Burning Daylight"
by Blake Morgan
(Engine Company Records)
Buy at Rhapsody
Stream from Rhapsody
More On This Album





"Needle In The Hay" (mp3)
from "Elliott Smith"
by Elliott Smith
(Kill Rock Stars)
Buy at Kill Rock Stars Store
Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album




"Stadiums And Shrines II" (mp3)
from "Shut Up I Am Dreaming"
by Sunset Rubdown
(Absolutely Kosher)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at eMusic
Buy at Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy at GroupieTunes
Buy at Insound
More On This Album




"You! Me! Dancing!" (mp3)
from "Sticking Fingers Into Sockets"
by Los Campesinos!
(Arts & Crafts)
Buy at eMusic
Buy at Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
Stream from Rhapsody
More On This Album




"Lie For A Lie" (mp3)
from "Ultimate Alternative Wavers"
by Built To Spill
(C/Z)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at eMusic
Buy at Rhapsody
Buy at Napster
Stream from Rhapsody
Buy at GroupieTunes
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 blog.


Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous Episode 28: Less Talk, More Rock

I was under the gun to get the latest episode of CC done before we left tomorrow at midday for Deb's college reunion in Springfield, so I decided to go with an all-music show for a change. I think it came out quite nicely. Downloadimafy it here (right click and "save as").

The show notes and shizz...

Rock:
- Midlake - Roscoe
- Tim Armstrong - Hold On
- Ziggy Marley - Into the Groove
- Frank Black and the Catholics - Robert Onion
- Jesse Malin - Prisoners of Paradise

Promo:
- New England Podcasting. Find out more here. The song from Tim Armstrong is on his A Poet's Life album on Hellcat Records; find out more here. The Ziggy Marley song is on his Love is My Religion release on Tuff Gong Worldwide; go here for more info. The Jesse Malin song is on his new album Glitter in the Gutter on Adeline Records; visit here to learn more. All four songs were provided by the Podsafe Music Network; find out more here.

The Frank Black and the Catholics song is on Frank's forthcoming compilation album, 93-03 on Cooking Vinyl; find out more here. The song is courtesy of IODA Promonet; find out more here.

Download "Robert Onion" (mp3)
from "93-03"
by Frank Black
Cooking Vinyl

More On This Album



The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Read Senor Breitling's fine music blog, willya?

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous Episode 26: Break Out the Popcorn

So after another 20-plus day gap between shows, I came to the conclusion that I needed to streamline things a bit. Hence, I've cut back on the number of segments in the hopes of getting this thing back on a regular schedule. You download the latest episode here (right click and "save as").

On with the show notes:

Topics:
- The outsourcing of local journalism jobs
- Summer blockbuster season
- Outstanding Press Release
- Pinhead of the Week

Music:
- Elliott Smith - High Times
- Jesse Malin - Don't Let Them Take You Down

Promo:
- New England Podcasting. Find out more here.

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes, Yahoo Podcasts and Podcast Pickle podcast directories. Subscribe and write a review!

The song from Elliott Smith is on the new album of unreleased tracks New Moon on the Kill Rock Stars label; find out more here. It was provided by IODA Promonet.

Download "High Times" (mp3)
from "New Moon"
by Elliott Smith
Kill Rock Stars

• Buy at Kill Rock Stars Pre-order

More On This Album


The song from Jesse Malin is on his new album Glitter in the Gutter on Adeline Records; find out more here. It was provided courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network; find out more here.

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Read his fine music blog here. And the incidental music used in the show was "Clibopb (Fosco Groove)" by Me and Boris the Bull. Find out more about Me and Boris the Bull here.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.