Completely Conspicuous 309: Top of the Rock

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of 2013. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



Show notes:
- Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ
- JB's #1
- Speedy Ortiz jumped to Carpark Records
- Sadie Dupuis is an actual poet
- JK's #1
- Queens of the Stone Age went to interesting places on ...Like Clockwork
- Matador's first #1 record
- Favorite live shows
- JB saw Lilys in a tiny venue
- Whirr and Nothing at Great Scott made Breitling's brain shake
- Krill, Speedy Ortiz record release shows
- Saw Soccer Mom several times
- JK: Golden Gurls, Soccer Mom and Reports at TT's
- Clicky Clicky benefit was great
- Saw Titus Andronicus twice
- Obits and Pile at TT's
- Just got ticket for Rocket From the Crypt reunion show in April
- Mission of Burma and Reports at the Sinclair
- JK: Vinyl continued to make comeback
- JB: The reality of YouTube as a legit streaming music service
- No sympathy for the record industry
- We're in a pop-driven era
- Novelty songs, bubblegum were huge
- Rock bands have no staying power on the charts
- Anticipated albums for '14
- JB: Johnny Foreigner, Lubec, Soccer Mom, Golden Gurls, White Laces
- JK: Titus Andronicus, Malkmus, Speedy Ortiz EP, Soccer Mom
- Many '80s bands will release new albums

Music:
Speedy Ortiz - No Below (live)
Mudhoney - I Like It Small

METZ - Can't Understand

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

The Speedy Ortiz song is on the band's Epitonic Saki Session. Download the song for free at Epitonic.

The Mudhoney song is on the album Vanishing Point on Sub Pop. Download it for free from Sub Pop.
The METZ song is part of the Adult Swim Singles Series. Download the song for free at Stereogum.

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 151: The Year in Rock, Part 2

Special guest Jay Breitling joins me on the podcast for part 2 of our discussion of the best music of 2010. Listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Or you can listen to it here:



The show notes...

Topics:

- Breitling's #6

- Breitling schools us on the videogames and such

- Kumar's #6

- Breitling's #5

- eMusic's changing again

- Kumar's #5

- What's the deal with Mumford & Sons?

- Breitling's #4

- Kumar's #4

- Breitling's #3

- Kumar's #3

- Breitling's #2

- Kumar's #2

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

Superchunk - Digging for Something

Everyone Everywhere - Obama House, Fukui Prefecture

Walter Schreifels - Arthur Lee's Lullabye

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 Superchunk song is on the album Majesty Shredding on Merge Records, where you can download it for free (right click and "save as").

The Everyone Everywhere song is on the band's self-titled album on Tiny Engines. Download it for free courtesy of Clicky Clicky.

The Walter Schreifels song is on the album An Open Letter to the Scene on Dine Alone Records. Download it for free courtesy of Clicky Clicky.

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.

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Completely Conspicuous 207: Add It Up

Part 2 of my conversation with special guest Jay Breitling as we look back at the best rock music of 2011. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



The show notes:

- Breitling's #7: The Hush Now

- Clicky Clicky and Ash Gray Proclamation co-present live show on 1/14 with Hallelujah the Hills and The Blue Dress

- Breitling: Yuck is so-so live

- Kumar's #7: Buffalo Tom

- BT recently celebrated 25th anniversary

- Breitling's #6: Algernon Cadwallader

- Tough to make money as a band

- Kumar's #6: Malkmus

- Breitling's #5: War on Drugs

- Kumar's #4: Twilight Singers

- Afghan Whigs are reuniting in 2012

- Breitling's #4: Destroyer

- Album threw off some longtime fans

- Kumar's #4: Wild Flag

- Breitling's #3: Age Rings

- Kumar's #3: Deer Tick

- Breitling's #2: Benjamin Shaw

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:
The Hush Now - Clouds

Buffalo Tom - Guilty Girls

Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks - Senator

The War on Drugs - Baby Missiles

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 Hush Now song is on the self-released album Memos. You can download the entire album for free at Bandcamp.

The Buffalo Tom song is on the album Skins on Scrawny Records. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at Spin.

The Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks song is on the album Mirror Traffic on Matador Records. Download the song for free at Matador.

The War on Drugs song is on the album Slave Ambient on Secretly Canadian. Download the song for free at Clicky Clicky.

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 334: Half Right

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the first half of the year. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ
- A farewell to Moviefone
- JB: Forced to listen to lite rock radio at work
- Frozen vs. High School Musical
- Rock stations play the same old catalog stuff
- Regional radio leanings
- JK's radio show Stuck In Thee Garage is almost a year old
- The debut of Clicky Clicky Live
- JB's honorable mentions: New Mendicants, Steiner, The Collected Fictions, The Wrong Shapes
- Ovlov's breakup/reunion
- JK's honorable mentions: Hallelujah the Hills, The Hold Steady, Krill, Speedy Ortiz, Mastodon
- JB: La Ligas Menores makes good indie pop out of Argentina
- JK: The War on Drugs' Lost in the Dream has an '80s feel
- JB: Krill has best song imagining oneself as poop
- JK: F'd Up combines gruff vocals with intricate arrangements
- JB: She Sir is a two-piece from Austin that takes its time
- JK: New Cloud Nothings record continues a winning formula
- JB: Speedy Ortiz continues to impress
- Touring non-stop despite loss of guitarist
- JK: Gord Downie and the Sadies recorded album over several years
- Punk-influenced sound from roots rock artists
- To be continued

Music:
Hallelujah the Hills - Pick Up an Old Phone
She Sir - Condensedindents

The Collected Fictions - Talk

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

The Hallelujah the Hills song is on the album Have You Ever Done Something Evil? on Discrete Pageantry. Download the song for free at Stereogum.

The She Sir song is on the album Go Guitars on Shelflife Records. Download the song for free at Largehearted Boy.
The song by The Collected Fictions is on the band's self-titled EP. Download the EP for free (in exchange for your email address) at 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 279: Now That's What I Call a Compilation

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss the new Lilys tribute compilation he curated. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ
- JB's writing for new music site Vanyaland
- Breitling's second compilation; first one came out a year ago
- Comp's called And I Forgot a Long Time Ago How You Feel
- Covers of early period Lilys songs
- Found bands from Boston and beyond who were Lilys fans
- Would have liked to do this comp first
- Great response to Nofuckingwhere, the first comp
- Ride's management contacted JB
- Future .38 Special comp?
- Shout out to our good friend Mike Piantigini
- Why aren't we getting free beer?
- JB also organized a great benefit show last November
- Starting to plan next benefit for Community Servings
- JB's doing some promo for the comp
- Hasn't talked to Lilys leader Kurt Heasley about the comp
- Last four songs come from album Eccsome the Photon Band
- Would have liked to include some rare tracks
- Get it at Clicky Clicky
- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Pet Milk - February Fourteenth
Infinity Girl - Claire Hates Me
The Weaks - Elsa

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

The songs from Pet Milk, Infinity Girl and The Weaks are available on the compilation And I Forgot a Long Time Ago How You Feel. Download the comp exclusively at ClickyClickyMusic.
 
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 280: All Together Now

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

Show notes:
- Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ
- Drinkin' beer and talking rock
- Check out JB's new comp, And I Forgot a Long Time Ago How You Feel
- Covers of early period Lilys songs
- JK: Three basic types of comps, not including soundtracks
- Tribute, genre and benefit comps
- No Alternative came out in '93
- We learn more about Lance Diamond
- During the Goo Goo Dolls' last days of non-suckage
- Part of Red Hot series
- JB: Red Hot and Bothered was the indie rock version
- JK: Deadicated was a Grateful Dead tribute featuring the likes of Jane's Addiction, Elvis Costello, Lyle Lovett
- Taping songs off the radio
- JK: The Bridge was a great Neil Young tribute featuring alt-rock artists like Pixies and Sonic Youth
- Lots of tribute comps came out in early '90s
- Now there are string quartet and bluegrass tributes to just about everyone
- Label comps are fun, like What's Up Matador?
- Safe and Sound comp featured Boston bands from mid-'90s
- JB: Simple Machines comp featured great DC acts
- JK: Twisted Willie paid tribute to Willie Nelson
- JB: Darla 100 may have been too long
- JB: Ten Cent Fix was a good one
- JB: Why Do You Think They Call It Pop? was collected by Pop Narcotic
- First SPINart release was One Last Kiss, featuring Swirlies, Small Factory, Velocity Girl
- JB: This is Harrisburg, Not Topeka featured the mighty Torgo, with one Jay Breitling on guitar
- A takeoff of the great This is Boston, Not LA
- Get Jay's comp at Clicky Clicky
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Speedy Ortiz - The Hermit Crab
Thee Oh Sees - Devil Again
Mikal Cronin - Better Man
The Melvins - Dr. Mule

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

The song from Speedy Ortiz is available on the compilation And I Forgot a Long Time Ago How You Feel. Download the comp exclusively at ClickyClickyMusic.
The songs from Thee Oh Sees and Mikal Cronin are on the compilation Garage Swim. Download the entire compilation for free at AdultSwim.com.
The Melvins song is on the Scion 10 Series Music Release. 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 blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 463: Exit Music (For a Blog)

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about the evolution of the music blog. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Breitling recently shut down his fine music blog Clicky Clicky
- MP3 blogs soon evolved into something less legally risky
- Wrote about music for other online pubs: Splendid EZine, Junkmedia
- Had a personal page and then launched Clicky Clicky in 2006
- Contributors had other commitments, life got busy
- Breitling now writes for Vanyaland
- In their heyday, music blogs presented artists who weren't pushed by major labels or corporate radio
- The "Celestial Jukebox" is here
- Breitling: Listening habits have changed
- Used to frantically search for new music; now digging into albums
- Peak music blog year was 2007
- Blog bands: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Bloc Party, Arcade Fire, Franz Ferdinand
- Many people started music blogs to get free stuff
- Some bloggers have moved on to mainstream gigs
- Podcasting has become commonplace
- YouTube stars are now gaining popularity
- Make way for Jacob Sartorius
- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. 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 287: Halfway There

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the first half of 2013. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ
- Rick Moranis has a new album out
- Rush's only U.S. top 40 hit was 1982's "New World Man"
- Brought to you (not really) by Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Sumpin'
- JK: iTunes crashed, lost all playlists and play counts
- Spotify recently added music recommendations
- Serious signal-to-noise ratio
- YouTube's a great source of cool audio and video
- JB: A lot of great music from Exploding in Sound label
- JB: Ovlov - Am
- JK: Speedy Ortiz - Major Arcana
- Featured on JB's Lilys comp
- Many young bands embracing '90s sounds
- JB: Krill - Lucky Leaves
- Bass-playing singers free up space for guitarists
- JK: Palma Violets - 180
- Catchy Britpop that rocks
- JB: Radiator Hospital - Something Wild
- Album title comes from Jonathan Demme movie
- JK: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Push the Sky Away
- More subdued effort, but still excellent
- JB: Colleen - The Weighing of the Heart
- Former French schoolteacher
- Speedy Ortiz posted a great mixtape on their blog
- JK: David Bowie - The Next Day
- Unexpected but surprisingly good
- JB: Veronica Falls - Waiting for Something to Happen
- Melodic British guitar pop
- JK hasn't purchased any CDs this year; JB's bought fewer than 10
- Vinyl ain't cheap
- JB's listed in liner notes of new Speedy Ortiz album
- JK: Kurt Vile - Wakin' on a Pretty Daze
- Very chill, lots of long jams
- Kurt's brother sells Jell-O shots at festivals
- JB: Light Heat - s/t
- Former Mazarin fronter on his own
- JK: Queens of the Stone Age - ...Like Clockwork
- Expected hard rocker and got something more interesting
- New QOTSA drummer is Jon Theodore, ex of Mars Volta
- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Speedy Ortiz - Tiger Tank
Radiator Hospital - Your Boyfriend
Kurt Vile - Wakin' on a Pretty Day
Light Heat - The Mirror (live)

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

The Speedy Ortiz song is on the album Major Arcana on Carpark Records. Download the song for free at Stereogum.
The Radiator Hospital song is on the album Something Wild. Download the entire album for free at Bandcamp.
The Kurt Vile song is on the album Wakin' on a Pretty Daze on Matador Records. Download the song for free at Matador.
The Light Heat song is on the band's self-titled album on Ribbon Music. Download the live version for free as part of the WXPN/Key Studio Session at The Key.
 
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 381: Half Life

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the year so far. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- JK: Courtney Barnett is blowing up
- JB: Ava Luna released an interesting record
- Funk, psych sound
- JK: Kuroma is a psych pop act fronted by former member of the Whigs, MGMT
- JK: My kids love listening to top 40 radio, hearing same songs over and over
- Classic rock fans are the same way, except they never get sick of their favorites
- JB: Not impressed with new Madonna song
- JB: Beeef is a catchy Boston act fronted by music blogger
- JK: New Krill record is full of quirk and deep philosophical lyrics
- JB wrote terrific review of the album
- Clicky Clicky presents great show July 9 at Great Scott: Infinity Girl, Lubec, Guillermo Sexo and Havania Waal
- JB: Thin Lips is another in a line of great Philly rock acts
- JK: Another excellent release from Thee Oh Sees
- JB: Another Philly band, Hopalong, released good album on Saddle Creek
- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
 
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 335: Halfway Down the Stairs

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the first half of the year. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ
- JB: Ava Luna does not fake the funk
- JK: Johnny Foreigner comes back with another excellent album
- They also dropped a surprise live album recently
- JB: Soccer Mom's full-length debut did not disappoint
- JK: Protomartyr has an interesting back story
- JB: Engineer Jeff Zeigler has worked on most great recent albums out of Philly
- Nothing's Guilty of Everything is exceedingly loud but pretty
- Wear earplugs, kids
- JK: Parquet Courts continues to refine their sound
- The Strokes were another band who came out to much acclaim
- Critical comparisons are often ill-informed
- JB: Perfect Pussy is female-fronted hardcore
- JK: Stephen Malkmus has had an interesting and rewarding solo career
- JK: Bob Mould keeps the rock vibe going
- JK: Afghan Whigs release first album in 16 years, don't miss a beat
- New Spoon album coming out
- JB: Looking forward to new records from Lubec, White Laces, Golden Gurls, Hush Now
- JK: New Mascis and Titus Andronicus due out soon
- Plenty of great stuff out there

Music:
Johnny Foreigner - Le Sigh
Soccer Mom - Orejas

Protomartyr - Come & See

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

The Johnny Foreigner song is on the album You Can Do Better on Alcopop. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.

The Soccer Mom song is on the band's self-titled album 100m Records. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.
The Protomartyr song is on the album Under Color of Official Right on Hardly Art. 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 blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 275: Picking Up the Pieces

Part 2 of my conversation with guest James Gralian about the post-lockout NHL. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- NHL surprises this season include talented teams struggling: Detroit, Philly, Nashville, Tampa
- Philadelphia's long stretch of bad goaltending
- Gotta love Ilya Bryzgalov
- Toronto-Detroit will be in Winter Classic next year
- Chicago's been the best team in the league by far
- The long, strange journey of Ray Emery
- Jay: Making the case for the Leafs
- Pittsburgh messes with success, keeps winning
- Realignment kicks in next season
- Playoff hockey is the best
- James picks a team to root for when the Avs don't make it
- Jay: Just happy to see Leafs in playoffs
- Players rarely stay on same team for entire career
- Rooting for dirty teams
- NHL has come back strong from lockout
- Fighting in hockey at most levels
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
The Hush Now - Marathon Monday
Guided By Voices - Flunky Minnows
Iceage - Morals
Game Theory - Erica's Word

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

The Hush Now song is available for free download at Clicky Clicky.
The Guided By Voices song is on the album English Little League on GBV Records. Download the song for free at Stereogum.
The Iceage song is on the album You're Nothing on Matador. Download the song for free at MatadorRecords.com.
The Game Theory song is on the album The Big Shot Chronicles. In memory of late Game Theory frontman Scott Miller, you can find all the now out-of-print Game Theory albums available for free download at LoudFamily.

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 145: Comedy is Not Pretty

Guest Ric Dube joins me on the podcast as we conclude our discussion about comedy. Listen to the show in streaming audio or download it directly (right click and "save as").

The show notes...

Topics:

- Appearing on The Tonight Show doesn't have same impact it once did

- Three categories of comedy

- 1) Comics who came up as standups and leave it behind for acting

- 2) Comics who both act and do standup

- 3) New comics who are like indie rockers

- Comedians are getting the word out online, through podcasts, live shows

- The Dane Cook conundrum: his fans aren't necessarily comedy fans

- Howard Stern: Going to satellite meant too much of the dwarves and strippers

- YouTube is a goldmine for comedy fans

- The Onion News Network keeps National Lampoon aesthetic alive

- Ric liked The Onion Movie

- Comedy album is not what it once was

- Dube just bought new Doug Benson album directly from his site

- Adam Carolla does free podcast, sells downloadable live shows

- Sponsored podcasts are similar to 1950s television

- Comedians use online marketing to build their audiences

- Dube: Comedy is still very healthy

- Check out Dube's special comedy episode of More Lost Time

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

Eternal Summers - A Salty Salute

Johnny Foreigner - The Most Beautiful Widow

The Thermals - Never Listen to Me

Teenage Fanclub - What You Do to Me

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 Eternal Summers song is on the band's new album Silver on Kanine Records. Download the song for free at RCRDLBL.

The Johnny Foreigner song is a Sparklehorse cover the band's label Alcopop! is giving away at Clicky Clicky.

The Thermals song is on the album Personal Life on Kill Rock Stars. Download the song for free at Pitchfork.

The Teenage Fanclub song is on the album Bandwagonesque and the compilation Four Thousand Seven Hundred and Sixty-Six Seconds. Download the song for free at Insound.

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; find out more at . 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 188: Words and Guitar

This week on the podcast, I've got part 1 of my conversation with special guests Jay Breitling and Ric Dube as we discuss the world of rock books. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



Show notes:

- Dube (check out the More Lost Time podcast) prepared well for topic

- Good time for rock books: Keith Richards, Bob Mould

- Breaking down types of rock books: Memoirs, biographies, oral histories, indexes

- Pete Townshend could do something weird with his memoir

- Air quote alert

- Objective biographies can be better than memoirs

- Police bio was very critical of the band

- SPIN magazine used to do good oral histories about bands

- Every old issue of SPIN is up on Google Books

- Mixed reviews for Klosterman

- Azerrad's Our Band Could Be Your Life was momentous

- Got his big break with Nirvana bio in early '90s

- Breitling: I want to read only one book about a particular band

- Dube introduces us to the work of Vernon Joynson

- Trouser Press guides

- Bootlegs are much more accessible online

- Kumar: Keith Richards memoir is excellent

- Breitling: Rollins' Get in the Van is a great memoir of the Black Flag years

- Dube: Jim Greer's book about Guided By Voices is good; Greer used to play in band

- Juliana Hatfield's memoir wasn't interesting enough

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

Boston Spaceships - Christmas Girl

Archers of Loaf - Wrong

Okkervil River - Your Past Life as a Blast

The Delta Spirit - She's Not There

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 Boston Spaceships song is on the album Let It Beard on Guided by Voices Records. Download the song for free at The Ash Gray Proclamation.

The Archers of Loaf song is on the deluxe reissue of the album Icky Mettle on Merge Records. Download the song for free at Amazon.

The Okkervil River song is on the album I Am Very Far on Jagjaguwar Records. Download the song for free at Amazon.

The Delta Spirit song is available as a free download (in exchange for your email address) at the band's website.

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. Also, check out Clicky Clicky Radio Thursdays from 8 to 10 p.m. on Boston Free Radio. 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; check out his site PodGeek.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Completely Conspicuous 258: The Year in Rock Music, Part 1

Part 1 of my conversation with guests Jay Breitling and Mike Piantigini as we review our favorite music of 2012. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").
Show notes:
- Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ
- Brought to you (not really) by Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale
- MP: Saw a lot of older bands this year
- JK: First full album show I saw was Cheap Trick doing "In Color" in '97
- Chloe B. talks about Rudolph
- JB: Most of my favorite albums this year were self-released
- The 12/12/12 benefit had some good performances, especially by The Who
- MP: The Who's Quadrophenia concert was great
- The McCartney-"Nirvana" song was decent
- Praising the Low Times podcast
- JK: "I Want My MTV" is an excellent book
- MP: Favorite live shows included Scud Mountain Boys, New Multitudes, Archers of Loaf
- MP: Also reunions of Small Factory, Human Sexual Response, Fuzzy
- JB: Fave live shows were Johnny Foreigner, Infinity Girl, Autochrome, Midriff Records 10th Anniversary show
- JK: Fave live shows included Afghan Whigs, Bob Mould, Mark Lanegan, Matthew Sweet, Sloan
- The glory days of getting free stuff at college radio stations
- Breitling's #10 album
- Piantigini's #10
- Kumar's #10
- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Sloan - Merry Xmas Everybody
Infinity Girl - Taking Nothing
Guided By Voices - Class Clown Spots a UFO

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

The Sloan song is available for free download (in return for your email address) from Topspin.
The Infinity Girl song is on the EP Just Like Lovers, which is available for free download at Bandcamp. 
The Guided By Voices song is on the album Class Clown Spots a UFO on Guided By Voices/Fire Records. Download the song for free at Stereogum.
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 452: The Honor Roll

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2016. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- We are not Moviefone
- Rough year for musician deaths
- Trump's top 3 albums
- The return of protest music?
- Clicky Clicky HQ is fully Alexa-ized
- The kids love the vinyl (well, the hipsters do, anyway)
- Albums are back, sort of
- Crowdfunding albums is becoming more prevalent
- Breitling's bubbling under albums: A Giant Dog, Thin Lips, Bent Shapes, Yr Poetry, Pinegrove, Horse Jumper of Love, Guillermo Sexo, California Snow Story
- Kumar's: Used Cassettes, Savages, Dino Jr., Radiohead, Split Single, Preoccupations, Descendents, Johnny Foreigner, Terry Malts, Hallelujah the Hills, Kristin Hersh, I Don't Cares, Nick Cave, Gord Downie, PJ Harvey
- Downie teamed with comics artist Jeff Lemire on combo album/graphic novel
- Breitling's #10
- Cold Pumas back with a hot new release
- Kumar's #10
- Possibly the last Tragically Hip album
- Different sound courtesy of producers Kevin Drew and Dave Hamelin
- Breitling's #9
- Boston's Strange Passage reminds of early Ride
- To be continued

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

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 308: Your Favorite Thing

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of 2013. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ
- JK's #6
- New Bowie album was kept secret until it came out
- Cover art's either brilliant or lazy...or both
- JB's #5
- Los Campesinos! perseveres through lineup changes
- JK's #5
- The Chunk keeps bringing the rock
- Jon Wurster's the busiest guy in rock
- R.I.P., The Best Show on WFMU
- JB's #4
- The long-awaited MBV album
- Getting the album was a chore
- Kevin Shields took his time
- JK's #4
- Strong leap forward for Speedy Ortiz
- New EP on the way
- Memories of Epitonic
- JB's #3
- Veronica Falls' album sounds like a singles comp
- JK's #3
- Back to Philly with Kurt Vile
- Vile was a frequent guest on The Best Show
- JK's #2
- Krill first released album on USB stick in ball of mozzarella
- JB: My default setting is to hate everything
- JK's #2
- Arctic Monkeys' sound has evolved
- Went from punk to stoner rock to catchier R&B feel
- Very English band
- To be continued

Music:
Los Campesinos! - What Death Leaves Behind
Superchunk - FOH

Krill - Never a Joke

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

The Los Campesinos song is on the album No Blues on Wichita Recordings. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.

The Superchunk song is on the  I Hate Music on Merge Records. Download the song for free as part of the Merge Records Summer Sampler 2013 on Amazon.

The Krill song is on the band's self-released album Lucky Leaves. Download the song for free at Gimme Tinnitus.

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.