Completely Conspicuous 98: The Decade in Rock, Part 3

The podcast is back with part 3 of my look at the decade in rock with special guest Jay Breitling. Click here to listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly here (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

Topics:

- Breitling's 2005 picks: A-Sides, Meneguar, The Hold Steady, Wolf Parade, Logh, Mazarin

- Big ups to Philly indie rock

- Was the Hold Steady influential?

- Kumar's 2005 picks: Bloc Party, Spoon, New Pornographers, Death From Above 1979

- 2006: Ringtones were big business

- Bands selling out in commercials

- Breitling's 2006 picks: Fields, Snowden, Armalite, Lemonheads, The Hold Steady, Okay Paddy, Up Up Down Down etc., McLusky, Haywood

- Kumar's 2006 picks: Mission of Burma, Drive-By Truckers, Arctic Monkeys, TVOTR, Destroyer, Sloan, Mastodon

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

- Wolf Parade - You Are a Runner and I Am My Father's Son

- Bloc Party - Helicopter

- The Lemonheads - No Backbone

- Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start - Janet Bateman

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

The Wolf Parade song is on the 2005 album Apologies to the Queen Mary on Sub Pop Records, where you can download the track.

The Bloc Party song is on their 2005 debut Silent Alarm on Dim Mak Records. The song is courtesy of Mevio's Music Alley.

The Lemonheads song is on their 2006 self-titled album on Vagrant Records, where you can download the song.

The Up Up Down Down song is on the 2006 self-released EP Girls Names. Find out more and download the song here.

The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com, a leading supplier of athletic footwear, apparel and sports equipment. Find gear from top brands such as Nike, Adidas, Asics, Reebok, New Balance, Converse and Saucony. The promo code AFCOMP15 will get you 15% off any order at Eastbay and the code AFCOMP20 will get you 20% off any order of $75 or more at Eastbay. And the code AFCOMPFL will get you 15% off any order at Footlocker.com. 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.

Completely Conspicuous 97: The Decade in Rock, Part 2

Jay Breitling joins me again on the podcast to continue our discussion of the decade in rock music. This time around, we review 2002-2004. Click here to listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly here (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

Topics:

- 2002: MP3 blogs come to the fore

- Indie rock re-release craze starts with Pavement's "Slanted and Enchanted"

- Nirvana box set disappointed

- Breitling's 2002 picks: Spoon, Wilco, Interpol, Notwist, Destroyer, Manitoba

- Breitling laments his journalism degree

- Postal Service, Bigger Lovers had big songs

- Kumar's 2002 picks: Broken Social Scene, Trail of Dead, Ted Leo, QOTSA

- Breitling's 2003 picks: Moonbabies, Shins, Pernice Bros., Stars, Strokes, Belle and Sebastian, Lefty's Deceiver, Ted Leo, Dresden Dolls, Clown Down

- Kumar's 2003 picks: Radiohead, Malkmus, Black Keys, Twilight Singers

- The Darkness: Joke band?

- American Idol albums started coming out: Clay Aiken, Ruben Studdard, et al

- iTunes store took off

- New Metallica album overshadowed by documentary

- The power of video (case in point: Billy Squier's "Rock Me Tonite")

- 2004: Bands reuniting (Pixies, Mission of Burma, Dinosaur Jr.)

- Breitling's 2004 picks: MIA, Lali Puna, Walkmen, !!!, Jon Brion, Dirty on Purpose

- Kumar's 2004 picks: Arcade Fire, Hold Steady, Green Day, Burma, Lanegan, Wilco

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

- The Postal Service - Such Great Heights

- Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?

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

The Postal Service song is on the 2002 album Give Up on Sub Pop Records, where you can download the track.

The Ted Leo and the Pharmacists song is on the 2003 album Hearts of Oak on Lookout Records. You can download the song at Insound.

The show is sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com, a leading supplier of athletic footwear, apparel and sports equipment. Find gear from top brands such as Nike, Adidas, Asics, Reebok, New Balance, Converse and Saucony. The promo code AFCOMP15 will get you 15% off any order and the code AFCOMP20 will get you 20% off any order of $75 or more at Eastbay. And the code AFCOMPFL will get you 15% off any order at Footlocker.com. Help out the show by patronizing my sponsors, willya?

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.

Completely Conspicuous 96: The Decade in Rock, Part 1

I'm joined on the podcast by special guest Jay Breitling as we discuss the decade in rock music. In this episode we look back at 2000-2001. Click here to hear the show in streaming audio or download it directly here (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

Topics:

- In the year 2000

- Y2K mania was a dud

- Working @ Webnoize

- Napster was all the rage, MP3 players were out

- Breitling's picks: Mendoza Line, Pedro the Lion, Radiohead

- Kid A was huge; leaked early on Napster

- White Stripes emerge

- Gratuitious CompCon testimonial

- JB: Yo La Tengo release a classic

- Heavy rock: At the Drive-In and Fu Manchu bring the noize

- "Who Let the Dogs Out" came out; still lives on in football stadiums

- 2001: Dotcom economy collapsed

- Rap-rock was big: Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, et al

- Napster shut down, iPod rolls out

- Breitling: Destroyer, Death Cab for Cutie

- Kumar: Radiohead, White Stripes, The Strokes, Spoon

- Webnoize bites the dust

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

- Destroyer - The Sublimation Hour

- Pedro the Lion - A Mind of Her Own

- Spoon - This Book is a Movie

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

The Destroyer song is on the 2001 album Streethawk: A Seduction on Misra Records, where you can download the track.

The Pedro the Lion song is on the 2000 album Winners Never Quit on Jade Tree Records, where you can download the song.

The Spoon song is on the 2001 album Girls Can Tell on Merge Records, where you can download the song.

The show is sponsored by Budget, the country's premier car rental service with 900 locations. Go to http://budget.com/compcon and save 10% off any reservation or $30 off a weekly rental. Help out the show patronizing my sponsors, willya?

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 skillz here.

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.

Completely Conspicuous 94: It's a Little Pitchy, Dawg

The podcast's back with part 2 of my conversation with special guest 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:

- Will Howard Stern retire after Sirius-XM folds?

- Stern was a game-changer

- Songs are more censored now on radio

- Dark '70s pop songs were complex

- The pioneer card

- The power of language

- The secret of the guilty pleasure

- Rediscovering songs through TV commercials

- Questioning Randy Jackson's credentials

- Spoof movies

- Dube pitches a guilty pleasure movie: Trophy Dad

- Another Shia Labeouf vehicle

- Green Card meets Mr. Mom

- The return of Jonathan Lipnicki

- From Russian to French

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

- Sunny Day Real Estate - Seven

- Dear Leader - Barbarians

- Patterson Hood - Pride of the Yankees

- The Apples in Stereo - The Bird That You Can't See

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

The Sunny Day Real Estate song is on the reissue of the album Diary on Sub Pop Records, where you can find out more and download the track.

The Dear Leader song is on the album Stay Epic on Lunch Records; find out more and download the song here.

The Patterson Hood song is on the album Murdering Oscar (and other love songs) on Ruth St. Records. Find out more and download the song here.

The Apples in Stereo song is on the band's self-released album #1 Hits Explosion. The song is courtesy of IODA Promonet:

The Apples in stereo
"The Bird That You Can't See" (mp3)
from "#1 Hits Explosion"
(The Apples in stereo)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Rhapsody
Stream from Rhapsody
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 at his fine 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.

Completely Conspicuous 93: We're All Guilty

I'm joined by special guest Ric Dube on the podcast in part 1 of our wide-ranging discussion of 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:

- What is a guilty pleasure?

- American Idol as a presumed guilty pleasure

- No stigma attached to liking old unfashionable music

- Now mainstream pop culture can be guilty pleasures

- Time makes formerly unhip bands cool

- Guilty pleasures are completely subjective

- Rush fans have a serious inferiority complex

- The denial phase

- We don't listen to music closely anymore

- Guilty displeasures

- It's hip to like bad movies

- Going to see Loverboy for the opening act

- Small doses

- Transitioning from the Bee Gees to Zeppelin

- Disco Demolition Night was the turning point

- Nevermind demolished hair metal

- Dube was at ground zero of the Seattle scene

- Identifying artists as "that song"

- Indie rock snobs

- Satellite radio fizzles out

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

- The Raveonettes - Last Dance

- Joel Plaskett - Down, Down, Down

- The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Come Saturday

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

The Raveonettes song is on the band's forthcoming album In and Out of Control on Vice Records. You can download the track here.

The Joel Plaskett song is on the album Three on Maple Music. You can download the song here.

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart song is on the band's self-titled album on Slumberland Records. The song is courtesy of IODA Promonet:

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
"Come Saturday" (mp3)
from "Come Saturday"
(Slumberland)

Buy at Rhapsody
Stream from Rhapsody
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 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.

Completely Conspicuous 92: A World of Fantasy

The latest episode of the podcast features another installment of Driving with Kumar, as I discuss my fantasy football draft. Click here to listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly here (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

Topics:

- Fantasy football draft preparation

- In fantasy sports leagues since '91

- No longer just for nerds

- Haven't gone overboard on research

- Listening to fantasy football podcasts

- Draft strategy

- Football picks pools

- First baseball league was pre-Internet

- Stats were faxed to us

- Now you get real-time stats online

- It's a crap shoot

- Draft post-mortem

- Pinhead of the Week

Music:

- Black Francis - All in My Mind

- The King Khan and BBQ Show - Invisible Girl

- Dear Leader - The Blue Print

- Julian Plenti - Games for Days

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

The Black Francis song is on New Tales to Tell: A Tribute to Love and Rockets on Justice Records. Download the track at Insound.

The King Khan and BBQ Show song is on the forthcoming album Invisible Girl on In the Red Records. You can download the song at Pitchfork.

The Dear Leader song is on the forthcoming album The Blue Print on Lunch Records. Find out more and download the song at Dear Leader's site.

The Julian Plenti song is on the album Julian Plenti is...Skyscraper on Matador Records, where you can 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 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 sponsored by Eastbay/Footlocker.com. Use the following promo codes to save money on top-name athletic gear and footwear: AFCOMP15 will get you 15% off any order at Eastbay; AFCOMP20 will get you 20% off any order of $75 or more at Eastbay; and AFCOMPFL will get you 15% off any order at Footlocker.com.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.