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.

Completely Conspicuous 214: Hear About It Later

Part 1 of my conversation with special guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss the new Van Halen album, the band's first with David Lee Roth in almost 30 years. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



Show notes:

- Recorded via Skype

- Not interested in Grammy Awards

- Gary Cherone was in band at its worst

- Brian: Only VH album in his iTunes is VH III

- Brian started listening to VH in early '90s

- Always preferred DLR

- Jay: First VH album was Diver Down on cassette

- Diver Down was a cash-in album

- Jay: Liked Hagar, but not as VH singer

- Lyrical content not a big concern for VH

- Brian: VH III was pretty stark

- Eddie's synth phase was similar to what Rush did in the '80s

- VH has always picked curious opening acts

- Wolfgang is a decent bassist

- Neither VH or DLR had done anything good for 20+ years

- Jay: Eat 'Em and Smile was better than 5150

- Brian: First impression of new album was it sounds like DLR solo album

- Jay: First single is worst song on album

- Brian: Everybody sounds energized

- Beginning of second career or one-time deal?

- To be continued

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:
Frank Black and the Catholics - Nadine

Buffalo Tom - Mineral

Hot Snakes - Who Died

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

The Frank Black and the Catholics song is on the album Show Me Your Tears on SpinART Records. 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 Hot Snakes song is on the album Suicide Invoice on Swami Records. 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 blogs Clicky Clicky and Keeping Some Dark Secrets. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site PodGeek.

Completely Conspicuous 207: Add It Up

Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Jay Breitling as we look back at the best rock music of 2011. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



The show notes:

- Breitling's #7: The Hush Now

- Clicky Clicky and Ash Gray Proclamation co-present live show on 1/14 with Hallelujah the Hills and The Blue Dress

- Breitling: Yuck is so-so live

- Kumar's #7: Buffalo Tom

- BT recently celebrated 25th anniversary

- Breitling's #6: Algernon Cadwallader

- Tough to make money as a band

- Kumar's #6: Malkmus

- Breitling's #5: War on Drugs

- Kumar's #4: Twilight Singers

- Afghan Whigs are reuniting in 2012

- Breitling's #4: Destroyer

- Album threw off some longtime fans

- Kumar's #4: Wild Flag

- Breitling's #3: Age Rings

- Kumar's #3: Deer Tick

- Breitling's #2: Benjamin Shaw

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:
The Hush Now - Clouds

Buffalo Tom - Guilty Girls

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Senator

The War on Drugs - Baby Missiles

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 Hush Now song is on the self-released album Memos. You can download the entire album for free at Bandcamp.

The Buffalo Tom song is on the album Skins on Scrawny Records. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at Spin.

The Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks song is on the album Mirror Traffic on Matador Records. Download the song for free at Matador.

The War on Drugs song is on the album Slave Ambient on Secretly Canadian. Download the song for free at Clicky Clicky.

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 160: Cold as Ice

This week on the podcast, it's another installment of Driving With Kumar as I discuss life during winter. Listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Or you can listen to it here:



The show notes...

Topics:

- Already more snow in Boston area than entire last winter

- Temps dropping into single digits to subzero

- Tough running weather

- People like to complain about winter

- Lack of daylight leads to depression

- Why do people choose to live in cold-weather climates?

- In Washington state, I dealt with the occasional sandstorm

- Extreme weather in Texas

- Seasonal Affect Disorder

- Bad drivers + snow = A mess

- Fall is the perfect season

- Local media drives snow hysteria

- Bonehead of the Week (HT: The Smoking Gun)

Music:

Buffalo Tom - Guilty Girls

Mike Watt - Arrow-Pierced-Egg-Man

Mogwai - San Pedro

Tapes 'N Tapes - Badaboom

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 Buffalo Tom song is on the forthcoming album Skins on Scrawny Records. Download the song for free (in exchange for your e-mail address) at Spin.

The Mike Watt song is on the album Hyphenated-Man on clenchedwrench Records. Download the song for free at Stereogum.

The Mogwai song is on the album Hardcore Will Never Die, but You Will on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at Stereogum.

The Tapes 'N Tapes song is on the album Outside on Ibid Records. Download the song for free at KEXP.

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. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous 152: The Year in Rock, Part 3

Special guest Jay Breitling joins me on the podcast for part 3 of our discussion about the best music of 2010. Listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Or you can listen to it here:



The show notes...

Topics:

- Breitling's #1

- Kumar's #1

- Disappointments

- Most anticipated releases of 2011: Destroyer, Dears, Twilight Singers, Johnny Foreigner, Yuck

- Breitling laments the demise of Run DMC

- New Radiohead album?

- Yuck makes a Scorpions video

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Even Heroes Have to Die

Los Campesinos - The Sea is a Good Place to Think of the Future

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Bottled in Cork

Destroyer - Chinatown

Buffalo Tom - Arise, Watch

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 Ted Leo and the Pharmacists songs are on the album The Brutalist Bricks on Matador Records, where you can download the songs for free.

The Los Campesinos song is on the band's album Romance is Boring on Arts and Crafts. The song is courtesy of IODA Promonet:

Los Campesinos!
"The Sea Is A Good Place To Think Of The Future" (mp3)
from "Romance Is Boring"
(Arts & Crafts)

Buy at Napster
Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album



The Destroyer song is on the forthcoming album Kaputt on Merge Records, where you can download the song for free (right click and "save as").

The Buffalo Tom song is on the forthcoming album Skins on Scrawny Records. Download the song for free at Stereogum.

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. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.