Completely Conspicuous 339: Reeling in the Years, 1989 (Part 3)

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1989. 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's #3
- Neil Young rebounds from a long, strange decade
- Led to a fruitful stretch of albums
- Jay's #2
- Bob Mould moves beyond Husker Du
- Inspired new direction and sound
- Our picks for #1 are the same
- Pixies at their peak
- Doolittle covers all facets of the band's sound
- Brian saw them several times when they toured behind Doolittle in the last decade
- Brian: Latest live incarnation of Pixies is more energized
- Bad choice for first single with "Bagboy"
- Frank Black was prolific, but he can't keep up with Bob Pollard
- Next up: 1996
- Popular music was shifting again

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

Music:
Ty Segall - Susie Thumb
Spoon - Rent I Pay
J. Mascis - Every Morning

The Ty Segall song is on the album Manipulator on Drag City Records. Download the song for free at KEXP.
The Spoon song is on the album They Want My Soul on Loma Vista Recordings. Download the song for free at KEXP.
The J. Mascis song is on the album Tied to a Star on Sub Pop. 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 blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 202: Stuck Between Stations

Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss the current state of television. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



Show notes:

- Watching movies on IFC sucks now because of commercials

- Portlandia is a great show

- Crushing on St. Vincent

- Albini vs. Odd Future

- Is this the greatest era of late night TV?

- Jay: Letterman at 12:30 on NBC was legendary

- Daily Show and Colbert Report are amazing

- Remember Kilborn?

- Reality TV

- Brian likes the cooking shows

- Brian doesn't get 30 Rock

- Jay recommends Parks and Rec and Community

- Five favorite shows

- Jay's favorite is Breaking Bad, Brian's is Mad Men

- America loves its procedurals (NCIS et al)

- Ripped from the headlines

- Growing up with old-school cable access

- Keeping up with media

- A kid can make great media (podcast, movie, music, etc.)

- The podcast battle for earbuds

- Check out Brian's new podcast Expectations about becoming new parents; also, donate to Brian's mustache fundraising campaign

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:
Deer Tick - Main Street
J. Mascis - I've Been Thinking
Wye Oak - Civilian
Gross Magic - Yesterdays

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 Deer Tick song is from the album Divine Providence on Partisan Records. Download the song for free at Insound.

The J. Mascis song is the B-side of the 7-inch single Circle on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at Stereogum.

The Wye Oak song is the title track of the album Civilian on Merge Records. Download the song for free at Insound.

The Gross Magic song is from the EP Teen Jamz on Fat Possum. Download the song for free from RCRDLBL.

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 184: On Top, Rockin' It

Special guest Jay Breitling joins me as we discuss our favorite rock music of the first half of 2011. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



Show notes:

- Breitling: Yuck's self-titled album

- Reminiscent of great '90s acts

- Kumar: Reissue of Queens of the Stone Age's first album

- Originally came out in '98, was out of print

- Breitling: J Mascis--Several Shades of Why

- Mostly acoustic

- Dino Jr.'s Where You Been has been unfairly forgotten

- Kumar: Sloan--The Double Cross

- 20 years of terrific rock and power pop

- Breitling: Rival Schools--Pedal

- NY post-hardcore legends

- Kumar: Twilight Singers--Dynamite Steps

- Greg Dulli's back with yet another great album

- Breitling: Destroyer--Kaputt

- Synth pop detour for Dan Bejar

- Whither Don Felder?

- Kumar: PJ Harvey--Let England Shake

- Polarizing album

- Bjork's selling her new songs as apps

- Breitling: Wartgore Hellsnicker--Moderate Rock

- "The last grunge record"

- Kumar: Buffalo Tom--Skins

- '90 alt-rock heroes still sound great

- Breitling: Also dig Johnny Foreigner, Wye Oak releases

- Kumar: Honorable mention includes Drive-By Truckers, Beastie Boys, Feelies

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

Yuck - The Wall

J. Mascis - Not Enough

Sloan - Follow the Leader

The Twilight Singers - On the Corner

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 Yuck song is on the band's self-titled album on Fat Possum Records. Download the song for free at KEXP.

The J. Mascis song is on the album Several Shades of Why on Sub Pop, where you can download the song for free.

The Sloan song is on the album The Double Cross on Yep Roc Records. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) from the band's website.

The Twilight Singers song is on the album Dynamite Steps on Sub Pop, where you can download the song for free.

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; check out his site PodGeek.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous 180: Left Behind

Part 3 of my podcast conversation with special guest Ric Dube as we dissect 1990s movies. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



The show notes:

- Check out Ric's great podcast, More Lost Time

- Ric: Kirk Cameron's "Left Behind" movies were exploitation flicks

- Ric got early copies of the Dysfunctional Family Circus

- Ric offers better artists to replace Smash Mouth's reign of soundtrack terror in '98

- Match the Bond Girl to the movie

- First digitally edited movie soundtrack was in 1996

- Rating the destructive film families

- A cavalcade o' Culkins

- Ill-fated jumps from TV to movies

- Michael Moore reinvents the documentary

- Jay: In '90s, Nicolas Cage went from serious actor to uber nutjob

- Pulp Fiction inspired many knockoffs

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Senator

Sun Airway - Wild Palms

J. Mascis - Alone (live)

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 Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks song is on the forthcoming album Mirror Traffic on Matador Records, where you can download the song for free.

The Sun Airway song is on the 7-inch Wild Palms on Dead Oceans. Download the song for free at Pitchfork.

The J. Mascis song was recorded as part of a live Daytrotter session. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at Daytrotter.

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; check out his site PodGeek.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous 163: We Call Upon the Author

Special guest Christian Douglass joins me on the podcast as we discuss the story behind his new novel. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



The show notes...

Topics:

- Christian started writing the book in May 2010

- Nearly done; "just checking the verbs"

- Spent three years working for oil industry consulting company

- Collected cost of living info around the world

- Company founder was involved in early research into the Internet

- Company needed to figure out cost of living allowances for oil engineers

- Christian took the job for book material

- Studied journalism in grad school at BU

- On the road six months of the year for three years

- Went to more than 80 countries

- "Talking about spoiled white people abroad"

- Book is like "Catch-22" for global petroleum world

- One protagonist is "diabetic, drug-addicted 40-year-old doing my job"

- Inspired by former co-worker who doesn't know about this book

- Revisit places once or twice a year

- Story opens in Dubai, moves to Lagos, then to Turkmenistan

- "Glands Across America"

- Female character is narrator

- "Absurdist immigration story" about lies

- Christian quit his job to write novel

- Debating the value of journalism school

- Putting yourself in debt to get a low-paying job

- Life got in the way of Christian becoming a reporter

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

PJ Harvey - Written on the Forehead

J. Mascis - Is It Done

Telekinesis - Car Crash

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 PJ Harvey song is on the album Let England Shake on Island Records. Download the song for free at Chromewaves.

The J. Mascis song is on the forthcoming album Several Shades of Why on Sub Pop Records, where you can download the song for free.

The Telekinesis song is on the album 12 Desperate Straight Lines on Merge Records. Download the song for free at Spin.com (right click and "save as").

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 154: Word Up!

Special guest Dave Brigham joins me again on the podcast for part 2 of our discussion about his new book, "(C)rock Stories: Million-Dollar Tales of Music, Mayhem and Immaturity." 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:

- One story grew out of trips to see the Butthole Surfers

- Turned into a tale of violence and road-trippin'

- Dave saw the Surfers at the Channel in 1987

- Created (C)rock-related t-shirts for sale

- Slogan is "Rock + Fiction = (C)rock"

- More than 100 bands mentioned in the book

- National Novel Writing Month

- Dave was working on a UFO concept album that started turning into a book

- Gratuitous Humpmuscle Pete reference

- Dave ponders new marketing strategies

- Jay's mom needs to talk to "the Gmail people"

- Look for the book soon: Makes a good Christmas/New Year's/MLK Day present (via Booklocker)

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

The Dears - Blood

The Drive-By Truckers - Used to be a Cop

J. Mascis - Not Enough

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 Dears song is on the forthcoming album Degeneration Street on DangerBird Records, where you can download the song for free.

The Drive-By Truckers song is from the band's forthcoming album Go-Go Boots on ATO Records. Find out more and download the song for free from the band's website.

The J. Mascis song is on his forthcoming album Several Shades of Why on Sub Pop, where you can download the song for free.

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.