Completely Conspicuous 146: Hey DJ, Play That Song

I'm joined on the podcast by Amanda Guest as we discuss college radio. Listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

Topics:

- Amanda hosts Radioculars Saturdays from 3-6 p.m. Eastern at Salem State University

- Started working at station in 1994

- Amanda was a top 40 fan when got to college

- Station only played indie rock at the time

- Lots of uptalking at first

- First DJ name was Bob, followed by Cosmic Amanda

- First time slot was Tuesdays noon-3

- Later got the "coveted" Friday 6-9 p.m. time slot

- Online streaming means Amanda now has listeners all over the world

- Stuck with Friday nights for several years

- Left SSC and came back in 2000-2001

- Graduated in 2003, but kept doing a show

- Anyone can do a show, but preference is given to students

- Mid-'90s was a great time for music

- Only played noncommercial music, but had a playlist rotation

- Now WMWM is freeform

- Amanda plays indie rock from artists like Surfer Blood, Wavves, Thermals

- College radio has less influence now

- Feedback comes via Facebook, Twitter, IM

- Studio is all digital now; used to be mix of vinyl and CDs

- For a while, Amanda did a '70s disco show

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

The Twilight Singers (with Ani DiFranco) - The Blackbird and the Fox

The Morning Benders - Outlaw Blues

Gang of Four - Never Pay for the Farm

No Age - Fever Dreaming

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 Twilight Singers song is on the band's forthcoming album on Sub Pop Records. Find out more and download the song for free from the band's Internet home page.

The Morning Benders song is on the album Subterranean Homesick Blues: A Tribute to Bob Dylan's Bringing It All Back Home on Reimagine Records. Download the song for free from the band's site.

The Gang of Four song is on the forthcoming album Content on Yep Roc. Download the song for free at Reverb Nation.

The No Age song is on the album Everything in Between 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.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

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 95: Guilty Pleasure, the Movie

The podcast's back with part 3 of my conversation with Ric Dube about pop culture guilty pleasures. Click here to listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly here (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

Topics:

- Ric's new pitch: Guilty Pleasure, the movie

- Inspired by Pineapple Express

- Starring Shia Laboeuf (again), McLovin and Jonah Hill

- Murder mystery centered around an old sitcom star's murder

- The plot thickens

- The dramaturgical triad...or something like that

- Mila Kunis plays a stripper/comics fan who befriends our heroes

- Murdered played by Peter Stormare, of course

- Ric recommends Fanboys

- Gratuitous plug for Ric's movie review site, MoreLostTime.com

- Reviewed the first Benji movie

- Back in the pre-PETA '70s, horrible things happened to animals

- Benji was baby's first exploitation film

- If the hero is wanted for a crime he didn't commit, you know it'll be good

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

- Sloan - Take It Upon Yourself

- No Age - You're a Target

- The Almighty Defenders - Cone of Silence

- 7 Worlds Collide - Bodisattva Blues

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

The Sloan song is on the band's forthcoming self-released EP. Find out more and download the track here.

The No Age song is on the album Losing Feeling on Sub Pop Records, where you can find out more and download the song.

The Almighty Defenders song is on the band's self-titled album on Vice Records, where you can find out more and download the song.

The 7 Worlds Collide song is on the album The Sun Came Out on EMI. The song is courtesy of RCRD LBL, where you can download it.

The show is sponsored by Budget. Go to Budget.com/CompCon to save 10% off any car reservation or $30 off a weekly rental. Help out the show by patronizing my sponsors!

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.