Completely Conspicuous 634: Stay Positive

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2008. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Phil's #5: My Morning Jacket changes things up
• Jay's #5: Big space rock ripper from Black Mountain
• Phil's #4: Springsteen-inspired indie rock from the Gaslight Anthem
• Jay's #4: Stephen Malkmus gets jammy 
• Phil's #3: Tom Petty's early band Mudcrutch gets back together
• Jay's #3: Sloan with an economical power pop release
• Phil's and Jay's #2: Dark, inspired record from the Gutter Twins
• Phil's #1: Brooding classic from Death Cab for Cutie 
• Jay's #1: The Hold Steady hits an anthemic peak 
• Craig Finn is an atypical yet terrific frontman
• Favorite songs: "Stay Positive" (Jay), "I Will Possess Your Heart" (Phil)

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 626: Entertain

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2005. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Jay's #5 and Phil's #4: New Pornographers with another all-star power pop classic
• Phil's #5: Early '70s singer-songwriter jams from Ryan Adams and the Cardinals
• Still in the era of artists putting out overlong albums
• Jay's #3: Spoon expands their sound, grows their popularity
• Phil's #3: A powerful R&B belter from Sharon Jones
• Jay's #2: Queens of the Stone Age with a punchy follow-up to a monster hit
• Phil's #2: Beck with an Odelay-esque release with a nod to Latin music
• Phil's #1 and Jay's #4: Sleater-Kinney drops a monster rock album 
• Jay's #1: Another winner from The Hold Steady, blending big riffs and nerdy scenester tales
• Jay makes a Rush joke
• Favorite songs: "Jumpers" (Phil), "Your Little Hoodrat Friend" (Jay)

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. 

Completely Conspicuous 624: Positive Jam

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2004. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Phil's #5: Arcade Fire with a rousing debut about suburbia
• Jay's #5: First album from Mission of Burma in 19 years kicks serious butt
• Phil's #4: The last U2 album Phil enjoyed
• Zebra once opened for their Zeppelin cover band
• Jay's #4 and Phil's #3: Drive-By Truckers unleash another powerful concept album about the South
• Phil's #2: Brian WIlson finally releases unreleased epic album Smile
• The Beach Boys went from "America's Beatles" to an oldies joke band
• Jay's #2: Another excellent album from Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
• Jay's #1: Debut from the Hold Steady combines '70s riffs with indie rock
• Phil's #1 and Jay's #3: Mark Lanegan with a world-weary masterpiece with a little help from his friends
• Favorite songs: "Hit the City" (Phil), "Positive Jam" (Jay)

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. 

Completely Conspicuous 327: Artificial Hip

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the scourge of hipsterism. 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
- Vin Diesel, businessman
- The brilliance of True Detective
- Hipsters: Is there a cutoff age?
- '90s hipsters were into the grunge look
- The mysterious allure of Mumford and Sons
- Hipsters love shitty beer
- Going to an effort to not look attractive
- Of beards and men
- Tattoos are trendy
- The Beatles set the trends of their day
- Where does it go from here?
- For a few years in the late '90s, it was nu metal and baggy pants
- We're all about the low-maintenance wardrobe
- Hair today, gone tomorrow
- To be continued

Music:
Bob Mould - Hey Mr. Grey
The Hold Steady - Spinners
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - She's On It/Jack the Ripper (live)

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

The Bob Mould song is on the forthcoming album Beauty & Ruin on Merge Records. Download the song for free from KEXP.
The Hold Steady song is on the album Teeth Dreams on Washington Square/Razor and Tie. Download the song for free from KEXP.
The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion song is available for free download on 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.

Completely Conspicuous 128: Stranger in a Strange Land

My guest on the podcast this week is Matt Phillion, who discusses his adventures in Ireland. Listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

Topics:

- Matt moved to Ireland in late February

- Followed a girl

- Had never been out of the U.S. before

- Fun with Irish border agents

- Home straightening out his paperwork

- Massive life change

- Culture shock: Lack of water pressure

- Matt's proud to be an American

- Food's fine if you don't eat Irish

- Guinness makes a meal

- Matt ate a lot of lamb, Chinese food

- (Visit from my 6-year-old)

- Saw Hope Sandoval play

- In Ireland, everything requires a conversation

- Picking up different pronunciations

- Tipping differences

- Irish moonshine tastes sweet, smells like turpentine

- Hurling is Matt's new favorite sport: Kill the man with the ball

- Irish follow rugby, soccer, hurling--but not cricket

- Matt confronts Polish bouncer with unintelligible accent

- Never turn down a drink in Ireland

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

The Hold Steady - Hurricane J

The Roots with Jim James - Dear God, 2.0

Wolf Parade - Ghost Pressure

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 Hold Steady song is on the album Heaven is Whenever on Vagrant Records. Download the song for free at Insound.

The Roots song is on the forthcoming album How I Got Over on Island Def Jam Records, where you can download the song for free.

The Wolf Parade song is on the band's album Expo 86 on Sub Pop Records. Download the song for free at 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 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 Episode 75: Future Shock

Back with part 2 of my conversation with Eric Convey, managing editor of the Boston Business Journal, about the death of newspapers and what, if anything, can be done about it. In this episode, we talk about using new media in newsgathering and the future of journalism and share some old tales from our reporting days. Click here to listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly here (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

Topics:
- New media in newsgathering
- The future of journalism
- Tales of old reporters
- Pinhead of the Week

Music:
- The Hold Steady - Chips Ahoy (live)
- The Pink Mountaintops - Vampire
- The Vaselines - Son of a Gun

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes and Podcast Pickle podcast directories. Subscribe and write a review!

The Hold Steady song is on the new live album A Positive Rage on Vagrant Records. Click here to download the song.

The Pink Mountaintops song is on the new album Outside Love on Jagjaguwar Records, where you can find out more and download the song.

The Vaselines song is on the new collection Enter the Vaselines on Sub Pop Records, where you can find out more and download the song.

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 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 Mark Campbell.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous Episode 20: Get the Max for the Minimum

Hola. Battled through congestion to bring you this episode. Download it directly here (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

Topics:
- Raising the minimum wage
- Super Bowl Sunday goes beyond the game
- More rock reunions
- The NHL's struggles in America
- Outstanding Press Release of the Week
- Genius Marketing Move of the Week
- Pinhead of the Week

Music:
- The Hold Steady - Chips Ahoy
- The Wrens - Everyone Choose Sides

Completely Conspicuous is now available through the iTunes and Podcast Pickle podcast directories. Subscribe and write a review!

The Hold Steady's latest album is Boys and Girls in America on Vagrant Records. Find out more about the Podsafe Music Network here.

Download "Everyone Choose Sides" (mp3)
from "The Meadowlands"
by The Wrens
Absolutely Kosher

• Buy at iTunes Music Store
• Buy at eMusic
• Buy at Insound

More On This Album


The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Find out more about Senor Breitling on his music blog. And the incidental music used in the show was "Clibopb (Fosco Groove)" by Me and Boris the Bull. Find out more about Me and Boris the Bull here.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production.