Completely Conspicuous 328: Shooting from the Hip

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss hipsters. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Matt recently became a published author
- Check out his YA superhero novel The Indestructibles
- Matt: The definition of cool is not trying too hard
- Shopping is simple if you don't care about trends
- WTF is up with skinny jeans?
- Changing office dress codes
- Matt's office phobia
- Hippies turned into yuppies
- Aging well
- Bronies are hipsters who have gone too far
- The life cycle of a hipster
- Matt lived in Hipster Ground Zero for a while
- Saw early signs of the hipster look a decade ago
- The seamy underside of politics
- You need a lack of self-awareness to run for office
- Some employers seem to want mindless worker drones
- Conclusion: We're not hipsters

Music:
Twin Peaks - Flavor
Feral Jenny - Tearless Creep
Ancient Babes - What Mean Expendable?

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

The Twin Peaks song is on the album Sunken. Download the album for free from Noisetrade.
The Feral Jenny song is on the EP Sylvia Songs. Download the EP for free from Bandcamp.
The Ancient Babes song is available for free download on Soundcloud.

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 322: Reeling in the Years, 1984 (Part 2)

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1984. 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
- Brian's #5
- Pretenders are very underrated
- Chrissie Hynde got a late start in rock
- Jay's #5
- Saw R.E.M.'s first national TV appearance on Letterman
- Brian's #4
- Minutemen covered a wide range of styles
- Mike Watt's interesting career
- Scott Asheton, R.I.P.
- James Williamson went from playing with Iggy to become a Silicon Valley exec
- Jay's #4
- Van Halen inadvertently helped create hair metal
- Brian's #3
- Meat Puppets created a unique sound
- Most people became aware of them a decade later
- Jay's #3
- Replacements' sound evolved from punk to more mature rock
- Brian's #2 was his #1 when we started talking
- Jay's #2
- Husker Du was coming into its own in '84
- So much good music on SST in the early to mid-'80s
- Brian's #1
- Gordon Gano wrote first two Violent Femmes albums while in high school
- Serious gospel undertones
- Jay's #1
- Purple Rain was a masterpiece
- Jay chronicled 1984 in a diary reprinted on Kumar's Blizznog
- Next up: 1986

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

Music:
Hallelujah the Hills - Pick Up an Old Phone
Feral Jenny - Law & Order
Red Sea - Down with the Crown

The Hallelujah the Hills song is on the album Have You Ever Done Something Evil? on Discrete Pageantry. Download the song for free at Stereogum.
The Feral Jenny song is on the EP Bedrooms. Download the song for free at Bandcamp.
The Red Sea song is on the EP Yardsticks for Human Intelligence. Download the song for free 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 blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.