Completely Conspicuous 304: Freedom of Choice

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1980. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Brian: 1980 was a much better year for music than our last choice, '87
- Jay: Was living in Toronto in '80
- Brian: Was -2 years old, but really dig the music of 1980
- Jay: New wave and post-punk really came into their own: B-52s, Talking Heads, U2, Pretenders
- Brian: Arena rock bands like Queen and Rush took different paths
- New sounds on the radio
- Brian: Guitar rock was strong with VH, Ozzy, Sabbath, AC/DC
- Poor Bob Daisley
- New Wave of British Heavy Metal: Maiden, Leppard, Motorhead all influenced thrash scene that emerged a few years later
- Worst musical moments: Wuss rock like Christopher Cross and Air Supply thrived
- Brian: Blues Brothers movie came out
- Put spotlight on music that was considered unhip at the time
- Early hip-hop in the mainstream: Kurtis Blow, Blondie's "Rapture," Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight"
- The Clash were incredibly prolific: London Calling and Sandinista! both came out within less than a year
- The crumminess of Cut the Crap
- Worst musical moment: John Lennon was killed
- Other deaths included John Bonham, Bon Scott, Ian Curtis, Darby Crash
- Death of the Beatles: John killed, Paul was busted, George's album was held up, Ringo was wasted
- Led Zeppelin also broke up in 1980
- Trading hockey cards for a Rush album is uniquely Canadian
- Soundtrack of Decline of Western Civilization came out in late '80 - To be continued

Music:
Calories - DMT
Shearwater - A Wake for the Minotaur
Mark Kozelek - I Know

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

The Calories song is on the album Calories III. Download the song for free at Bandcamp.
The Shearwater song is on the album Fellow Travelers on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at The Current.
The Mark Kozelek song is on the compilation album You Be My Heart benefiting 826 National. Download the song for free at GLGPub.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 blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. 

Completely Conspicuous 298: Give 'Til It Hurts

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss the benefit concert he's organizing. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded at Casa Breitling before a live studio audience
- Breitling's hosting the 2nd annual Community Servings benefit show on Nov. 3 at TT the Bears in Cambridge, Mass.
- Featuring K. Heasley of Lilys, Soccer Mom, The Hush Now and Earthquake Party
- Sadie Dupuis of Speedy Ortiz will provide DJ sets
- Olive sniffs the recorder
- Get tickets now
- Providing meals to acutely ill folks
- Last year's event featured Johnny Foreigner
- Rock benefits have been happening for decades
- They seem less impactful now
- Live Aid was a huge event in 1985 with shows in Philly and London
- Controversy over charity administration
- The Concert for Bangaldesh in '71 was the first big charity concert
- The Secret Policeman's Ball was run by Amnesty International
- Sting's Rock for the Rainforest benefit has been happening for 20+ years
- Amnesty International's Conspiracy of Hope was a big deal in 1986
- Breitling: Axl Rose has Vince Neil-itis
- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Shearwater - Fucked Up Life
Deer Tick - The Dream's in the Ditch

FIDLAR - Got No Money

Come - String (live)

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

The Shearwater song is on the album Fellow Travelers on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at Stereogum.
The Deer Tick song is on the album Negativity on Partisan Records. Download the song for free as part of the Partisan Records Summer/Fall Sampler 2013 on Amazon.

The FIDLAR song is on the EP Don't Try on Mom + Pop Music. Download the song for free at Chromewaves.

The Come song is part of the band's Epitonic Saki Session, which you can download 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.

Completely Conspicuous 293: Don't Give Up on Us

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we discuss actor-turned-singer David Soul's massive 1977 hit song. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ
- David Soul, aka Hutch from "Starsky and Hutch," just turned 70
- "Don't Give Up on Us" hit #1 in April 1977
- Soul started out as a folk singer
- "Don't Give Up on Us" in the same vein as wuss rock by Bread, Dan Hill, Manilow
- Ric: Soul was on Private Stock Records, which churned out pop hits
- Label run by Larry Uttal, who was previously a hitmaker for Bell Records
- Private Stock master tapes were all lost after label went bankrupt
- Soul just had the one hit
- The B-side was weird song called "Black Bean Soup" that sounded like old Robert Palmer
- John Travolta was another actor with a record deal in the '70s
- Travolta was a teen idol after "Welcome Back, Kotter" and "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble"; pre-Saturday Night Fever and Grease
- Big single was "Let Her In," even schmaltzier than the David Soul song
- No vocal range whatsoever
- "Rack jobbers" were big business; putting records in racks in drugstores and supermarkets for impulse shoppers
- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Mean Creek - Cool Town
Los Campesinos - What Death Leaves Behind
Shearwater - I Luv the Valley OH!

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

The Mean Creek song is on the forthcoming album Local Losers on Old Flame Records. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.
The Los Campesinos song is on the forthcoming album No Blues on Wichita Recordings. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.
The Shearwater song is on the album Fellow Travelers on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at Sub Pop.

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.

Completely Conspicuous 211: Keep Hanging On

Part 3 of my conversation with special guests Nick Lorenzen and Mike Piantigini as we discuss all things rock. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").




The show notes:

- Biggest regrets of missed live bands

- Daltrey's voice lasted longer than many peers

- Jay drops a Frank Frazetta reference

- Sabbath reunion

- Does metal work if you're 60?

- Springsteen and Young are still going strong

- N-Lo doesn't dig latter-day Dylan

- Lorenzen: Waits is 100% relevant

- Robert Plant has aged well

- Mike defends The Who's continued existence

- Give the people what they want

- Literal cat fight

- McCartney won't stop

- The communal aspect of live music

- N-Lo pissed off The Moody Blues' fanbase

- How big is the relevance window?

- U2 won't go away

- Albums you would've liked to hear when they came out

- 1971 was a great year for rock

- Mike: The '80s killed music because of crappy production

- The sound doesn't hold up these days

- Subscription services aren't there yet

- No money in the music biz anymore

- Jonathan Coulton is doing it himself

- Licensing music to commercials or TV/movies is huge

- David Caruso is synonymous with "Won't Get Fooled Again" intro

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:
The King Khan Experience - Knock Me Off My Feet

Zeus - Are You Gonna Waste My Time?

Shearwater - You As You Were

Craig Finn - Honolulu Blues

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 King Khan Experience song is on the band's self-titled EP courtesy of Scion AV. You can download the entire album for free at Scion AV.

The Zeus song is on the album Busting Vision on Arts and Crafts. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at The Music of Zeus.

The Shearwater song is on the album Animal Joy on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at Stereogum.

The Craig Finn song is on the album Clear Heart, Full Eyes on Vagrant Records. Download the song for free at WXRT.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 111: I Predict a Riot

The podcast returns with part 3 of my conversation with Ric Dube. We wrap up our pop culture predictions for the next decade. Click here to listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly here (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

Topics:

- Dube praises the CompCon movie recap episodes

- Joseph Gordon-Levitt will continue to do good work

- Dube wants you to see 500 Days of Summer...to understand why he hates it

- "Annie Hall for dumb kids"

- Annoying Hollywood trend: Self-conscious namedropping of "cool bands"

- Talking Avatar...which neither of us has seen

- Ric loves his Kindle

- Prediction: Touchscreen technology may turn actual desktops into computers, creating virtual clutter

- Ric's moneymaking idea: Halloween costume generator

- Female version makes every costume slutty (E.g., slutty trash collector)

- Tailor made for an iPhone app

- The adventures of intern Gabe

- Ric: The TSA is comprised of power-mad mall cops

- Product idea: Terror alert level M&Ms

- Eat your way to comfort level

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

- Drive-By Truckers - This F*cking Job

- Shearwater - Black Eyes

- The Smashing Pumpkins - Widow Wake My Mind

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

The Drive-By Truckers song was recorded for the forthcoming album The Big To-Do on ATO Records. Find out more at and download the song for free at Stereogum.

The Shearwater song is on the album The Golden Archipelago on Matador Records, where you can download the track for free.

The Smashing Pumpkins song is on the forthcoming album Teargarden by Kaleidyscope. Find out more and download the song for free here.

The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com, a leading supplier of athletic footwear, apparel and sports equipment. The promo code AFCOMP15 will get you 15% off any order at Eastbay, AFCOMP20 will get you 20% off any order of $75 or more at Eastbay and AFCOMPFL will get you 15% off any order at Footlocker.

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 Campbelll. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography here.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous 104: Celluloid Heroes

The podcast's back with special guest Matt Phillion as we look at the decade in movies, starting with our picks for best dramas. Click here to listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly here (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

Topics:
- Matt's picks are in "gutpunch order"
- The decade of the Coen brothers
- Christopher Nolan did good work
- Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen teamed up for two great films
- There Will Be Blood: Epic or too over the top?
- Woody Allen's European tour was rewarding
- Mickey Rourke's return from oblivion
- Pan's Labyrinth was a freaky take on fairy tales
- Almost Famous: Cameron Crowe's last good movie
- Soderberg did a lot of good work
- Matt doesn't dig Charlie Kaufman or Wes Anderson movies
- Coming to the realization that Leo DiCaprio is a good actor
- Jim Carrey's Oscar hunt
- Away We Go made an impact on Matt
- Pixar has made excellent string of films this decade
- Bonehead of the Week

Music:
- Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Even Heroes Have to Die
- Shout Out Louds - Walls
- Shearwater - Castaways
- Sweet Apple - Do You Remember

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

The Ted Leo and the Pharmacists song is on the band's forthcoming album The Brutalist Bricks on Matador Records, where you can download the track for free.

The Shout Out Louds song is on the forthcoming album Walls on Merge Records, where you can download the song for free.

The Shearwater song is on the forthcoming album The Golden Archipelago on Matador Records, where you can download the song for free.

The Sweet Apple song is on the forthcoming album Love and Desperation on Tee Pee Records. Download the song for free here.

The show is sponsored by Budget, the country's premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to Budget and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental. Help out the show by patronizing my sponsors and rent like a genius with Budget.

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 here.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous Episode 73: Can't Hear the Revolution

Here's the latest episode of CompCon, featuring part 2 of my conversation with Jay Breitling. You can listen to it in streaming audio here or download it directly here (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

Topics:
- Digital music sales
- The state of live music
- Pinhead of the Week

Music:
- Shearwater - Rooks
- The Riverboat Gamblers - Don't Jinx

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

The Shearwater song is on the album Rook on Matador Records, where you can find out more and download the track.

The Riverboat Gamblers song is on their new album Underneath the Owl on Volcom Entertainment. Find out more and download the song here.

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.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.