Completely Conspicuous 269: Eyes on the Prize

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we present the first edition of the CompCon Awards. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype during the Oscars telecast
- Jay: Picking top albums of the 1970s was tough
- The CompCon Awards are an alternative to the Grammys looking at different categories
- First category: Best Band Name
- Brian saw Trail of Dead back in the day
- Best Sophomore Album
- Bands like The Strokes have struggled to follow up strong debut
- Nirvana's success both killed and launched a lot of terrible bands
- Dave Grohl backlash
- Pondering Weezer's decline
- Graham Maby rules
- Best Side 1
- Harking back to the heyday of vinyl
- First Van Halen album had killer side 1 and 2
- Bowie had an incredible run of albums in the '70s
- Best Side 2
- Other outstanding album sides
- The Chili Peppers haven't aged well
- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Mudhoney - I Like It Small
Frightened Rabbit - State Hospital
Marnie Stern - Year of the Glad
Telekinesis - Ghosts and Creatures

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

The Mudhoney song is on the album Vanishing Point on Sub Pop. Download it for free from Sub Pop.
The Frightened Rabbit song is on the album Pedestrian Verse on Atlantic Records. Download the song for free at NPR.
The Marnie Stern song is on the album Chronicles of Marnia on Kill Rock Stars. Download the song for free at NPR.
The Telekinesis song is on the album Dormarion on Merge 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 251: Let There Be Soft Rock

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we dissect another lost '70s pop hit. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ
- Latest More Lost Time episode features The Good Rats
- "Run Joey Run" was revived by the TV show Glee
- Geddes has a Neil Diamond-esque delivery
- Another story song
- Dube is skeptical of the premise
- The girl in this song could be the same one from "The Leader of the Pack"
- Song hit #4 on singles chart in fall of 1975
- Geddes was in psychedelic band called The Fredric
- Kumar: Title reminds me of the TV show Run Joe Run
- About a German shepherd wanted for a crime he didn't commit
- Dube breaks out a show promo about a guy wanted for a crime he DID commit
- Geddes followed up "Run Joey Run" with a baseball-themed song, "Last Game of the Season"
- Another song with a character who dies
- Geddes also tried a disco song
- Producer also created the song "Disco Spaceship" by Laurie Marshall
- Dube has no use for "singers"
- Geddes' late '60s sound recalls Lee Hazelwood and Nancy Sinatra's "Some Velvet Morning"
- Dube: Watching music videos from that time is difficult
- To be continued

Music:
Telekinesis - Clock Strikes Midnight
Endless Jags - Seen Men
Guided By Voices - I'll Replace You With Machines

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

The Telekinesis song was released for Halloween. Download it for free at SoundCloud.
The Endless Jags song is on the band's self-titled EP, which you can download for free from Bandcamp. 
The Guided By Voices song is on the album Earthquake Glue on Matador 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.

Completely Conspicuous 197: Let's Get Lost

Part 3 of my conversation with special guests Jay Breitling and Ric Dube as we discuss bands that don't know when to call it quits. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



Show notes:

- Dube plays good music on his podcast, More Lost Time

- Remember when John Travolta was in Squeeze?

- Breitling disses NYC

- We explain the Odd Future-Steve Albini beef

- Albini rises above our premise

- Trashing The Eagles

- Everybody's got their so-called guilty pleasure

- In praise of non-formatted FM radio

- Defending the J. Geils Band reunion

- Dube pitches a movie

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:
Male Bonding - Bones
Telekinesis - Please Ask for Help
The Gossip - Standing in the Way of Control
Sleater-Kinney - Dig Me Out

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 Male Bonding song is on the band's album Endless Now on Sub Pop, where you can download the song for free.

The Telekinesis song is on the band's album 12 Desperate Straight Lines on Merge Records. Download the song for free from the Merge Records 2011 Sampler at Amazon.

The Gossip song is on the album Standing in the Way of Control on Kill Rock Stars. Download the song for free from the Kill Rock Stars 20 Year Anniversary Sampler at Amazon.

The Sleater-Kinney song is on the album Dig Me Out on Kill Rock Stars. Download the song for free from the Kill Rock Stars 20 Year Anniversary Sampler at Amazon.

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 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.