Completely Conspicuous 336: Album vs. Playlist

This week, it's an episode of Driving With Kumar as guests Dave Olson and Phil Stacey join me to discuss whether the album is an endangered species. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded on the way to Fenway Park
- A BBC radio exec proclaimed the album is about to be extinct
- "Playlists are the future"
- Phil: Listen to a lot of albums by new or unfamiliar artists on Spotify
- Much different listening experience when we were kids
- Dave: Worked in restaurants as a kid and brought mix tapes to listen to
- Albums brought more lasting satisfaction
- Phil: Song order is interesting
- Sometimes an album only has 1 or 2 good songs
- Deep cuts
- Hunting for B-sides
- Digging through back catalog
- The vagaries of bubblegum pop
- Kids don't listen to albums as much anymore
- Phil likes the jam bands
- Commercial radio is in rough shape
- Music sales are a fraction of what they once were 20+ years ago
- The power of licensed music in movies and TV
- MTV used to be a huge music influencer
- The vinyl resurgence
- Mixes or playlists can have interesting choices
- Offending people with mixtape selections

Music:
Speedy Ortiz - Bigger Party
Dead Stars - Wasted

Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal

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

The Speedy Ortiz song is part of the Adult Swim Singles Series. Download the song for free at Adult Swim.

The Dead Stars song is on the album Slumber on Old Flame Records. Download the song for free at KEXP.
The Parquet Courts song is on the album Sunbathing Animal on What's Your Rupture? 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 270: A Small Victory

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we continue handing out the CompCon Awards. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Best Concept Album
- Brian: Not a fan of concept albums
- Jay: Afghan Whigs' Black Love is an underrated classic
- Townshend's book is a good read
- Best Album That Deviates From Band's Sound
- Brian: Prefers later Pavement to earlier stuff
- Tin Machine was welcome change after substandard Bowie albums
- Praising (or not hating) R.E.M.'s Monster
- Paul's Boutique was a masterpiece of sampling
- Best Song by Band Member Who Wasn't Main Songwriter
- Brian: George Harrison rules
- Best Rhythm Guitarist
- Post classic rock era, line between rhythm and lead has blurred
- Lee Ving and Dave Mustaine teamed up
- Bill Ward: Sabbath should give the drummer some
- Best Album Packaging
- Vinyl was the heyday of great packaging
- Zep's In Through the Out Door had several covers
- Music listening experience is less immersive now
- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Wire - Love Bends
Mikal Cronin - Shout It Out
Parquet Courts - Stoned and Starving
Ten Kens - When a Door Opens

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

The Wire song is on the album Change Becomes Us on Pink Flag Records. Download it for free at Stereogum.
The Mikal Cronin song is on the album MCII on Merge Records. Download the song for free at NPR.
The Parquet Courts song is on the album Light Up Gold on Dull Tools/What's Your Rupture. Download the song for free at NPR.
The Ten Kens song is on the album Namesake on Fat Cat Records. Download the song for free at NPR.

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 254: History Repeating

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Dave Brigham about our society's neglect for history. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded at the BrigHAAAAM Estates
- Dave's doing a reading of one of his short stories on Dec. 11 in Arlington, MA
- Brigham: Working as a volunteer archivist uncovers interesting finds
- Check out Dave's photo blog, The Backside of America
- You can find lots of hidden historical discoveries when you pay attention
- Kumar: Our culture is so focused inward that we forget about history
- Brigham: Finding old collection of dad's military stuff sparked interest in history
- The 2010s are much more of a "Me Decade" than the 1970s
- Dave's got a dumb phone
- American Girl dolls focus on historical settings
- History shows again and again how nature points out the folly of man
- "Kids these days..."
- The Petraeus scandal: How is it possible to send 30,000 pages of emails?
- Any technological advance tends to get folks distracted: TV, radio, the car- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Interpol - Roland (demo)
Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold
The Bohannons - Goodbye Bill
Titus Andronicus - Ecce Homo

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

The Interpol song is on the Tenth Anniversary Edition reissue of Turn on the Bright Lights on Matador Records. Download the song for free from MatadorRecords.com.
The Parquet Courts song is on the album Light Up Gold on Dull Tools Records. Download it for free at Stereogum.
The Bohannons song is on the album Unaka Rising on This is American Music. Download it for free from Soundcloud.
The Titus Andronicus song is on the album Local Business on XL Recordings. Download it for free from 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 250: Pictures and Sound

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss movie soundtracks. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded at Chez Breitling
- John Hughes championed synth-pop in his movies
- Cameron Crowe's Singles was timed perfectly with the emergence of Seattle scene
- The Repo Man soundtrack featured some classic punk tracks
- Concert soundtracks can be hit or miss
- Pink Floyd's The Wall soundtrack differed a bit from the album
- This is Spinal Tap is a classic
- Floyd's music appeared on some late '60s/early '70s soundtracks
- Wang Chung did the soundtrack for To Live and Die in LA
- Soundtracks can bring out some truly awful songs
- Bryan Adams/Sting/Rod Stewart did "All For Love" from Three Musketeers soundtrack
- Plenty of bad soundtrack songs from Cheap Trick, Seger, ex-Eagles
- Dirty Dancing was a monstrous success
-  Kumar: Reality Bites was annoying
- Breitling recommends Urgh! A Music War

Music:
Parquet Courts - Borrowed Time
Two Gallants - My Love Won't Wait
Lefty's Deceiver - Horizon is Faster
Sonic Youth - Dirty Boots

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

The Parquet Courts song is on the album Light Up Gold on Dull Tools Records. Download it for free at RCRDLBL.
The Two Gallants song is on the album The Bloom and the Blight on ATO Records. Download the song for free as part of the ATO Records 2012 Fall Music Sampler (in exchange for your email address) at ATO Records.
The Lefty's Deceiver song is on the album Process Junior on My Pal God Records. Download the song for free from Epitonic.
The Sonic Youth song is on the album Goo on Geffen Records. Download the song for free from 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 site PodGeek.