Completely Conspicuous 190: Turn the Page

Part 3 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: Gina Arnold's "Route 666: The Road to Nirvana" was annoying, but had good Replacements info

- Tendency for writers to document bands in terms of their own experiences

- Dube: "On the Road with the Ramones," oral history by road manager Monte Melnick had great inside info

- Using quotes to tell a story

- Dube met the Ramones when they came through record store where he worked
- Michael Azerrad's "Our Band Could Be Your Life" was hugely influential

- Dube was behind the scenes when Mission of Burma reunited

- Azerrad's book got people interested in Burma again

- Band has bigger career now than it did before

- Dube helped Azerrad with his fanzine research

- Kumar: Rob Sheffield's "Love Is a Mixtape"

- Breitling: Steven Blush's "American Hardcore"

- Was made into a movie that didn't capture spirit of book

- Kumar: Our buddy Dave Brigham's book "(C)Rock Stories: Milion-Dollar Tales of Music, Mayhem and Immaturity"

- Dube wants to produce the movie version

- Dube: B. George and Martha Defoe's "The International Discography of the New Wave"

- Dube has second edition from 1982; copy is well-worn and marked up

- Dube: "Rolling Stone's Alt-Rock-a-Rama" is "phenomenal by accident"

- Another one from the pile: Kim Cooper and David Smay's "Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth"

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

Crooked Fingers - Typhoon

Charles Bradley and the Menahan Street Band - Stay Away

Arcade Fire - We Used to Wait

Mini Mansions - The Room Outside

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 Crooked Fingers song is on the forthcoming album Breaks in the Armor on Merge Records. Download the song for free at Stereogum.

The Charles Bradley and the Menahan Street Band song is on Newermind: A Tribute Album. Download the album for free by "liking" SPIN magazine's Facebook page.

The Arcade Fire song is on the album The Suburbs on Merge Records. Download the song for free at Insound.

The Mini Mansions song is on the band's self-titled, self-released EP. 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. 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.

Fall On Me

Hurricane, I mean Tropical Storm Irene has come and gone and we made out about as well as we could have hoped. For us, located right on the coast, it was a lot of wind and rain but no flooded basement and no damage to the house. Others weren't so lucky, especially in western Mass. and New York and New Jersey. One of the families we vacationed with in Florida last week saw their house flooded, not just the basement but the first floor as well, because of overflowing river banks and a burst dam. Their house may be a lost cause. Absolutely devastating.

As for us, I spent most of the day hanging by the computer and watching out the window as a huge 40+ foot high tree in front of our neighbor's house swayed back and forth in the wind. It was leaning over the street and I was convinced it would fall, possibly hitting the house across the street and a vehicle parked in the driveway. But nothing happened, the winds died down and we sat down to dinner. We were just finishing up when we heard a loud crack and a BOOM! We ran to the window and sure enough, the damn tree fell. Actually, it was the heavier part of the tree's branches; the main trunk and skinnier branch is still standing. Amazingly, the tree managed to miss the parked car by inches and hit nothing but street. I was so excited, I ran outside barefoot to document the carnage. As I type this, a removal crew is finishing the cleanup, but here's some shots of the fallen tree.

Soak the Sin

I've always been a big believer in the phrase "timing is everything." Had we been on vacation this week instead of last, we would have been driving home in the middle of Hurricane Irene and probably sitting in horrendous traffic to boot. So instead we're here at home, just waiting for the beeyatch to arrive. At this writing on Saturday afternoon, it's raining steadily here. The winds and real nasty stuff is supposed to arrive overnight or tomorrow morning.

Of course, the media's going into overdrive on this one, although the forecasts have admittedly been calling for a massive storm to hit the East Coast. It's making its way through the Carolinas right now. As we all know, these storms can change direction fairly quickly. We could get slammed, we could just get some rain and wind.

We've had some nasty storms whip through here in the past. In September 1985, I had just started my freshman year at UNH when Hurricane Gloria paid a visit. It was a Category 1 hurricane and the worst to hit the area in 25 years. In my dorm, we had to tape "X"'s on our windows and were told that we had to huddle in one wing of the dorm without windows during the height of the storm. I ended up going over to the all-girls dorm across the quad to hang out with a friend of mine from high school (and all of her cute friends). As it turned out, we got some high winds and rain, but no damage to speak of.

Hurricane Bob in August 1991 was much worse in terms of damage. I was a reporter for the Peabody Times and drove around during the storm, witnessing fallen power lines and the like. The so-called Perfect Storm that October did even more damage locally, killing the crew of the Andrea Gail off the coast of Gloucester (as documented in the crappy George Clooney movie) but also ripping up trees and blasting the hell out of the coastline.

We tend to get hurricanes after they've already expended most of their energy on the southern part of the East Coast. With any luck, we'll just get a little wet and wild around here tomorrow. In New York City, they're not taking any chances. The storm is being predicted to slam the city, so they've already shut down all mass transit, canceled ballgames, evacuated folks and are prepared for whatever apocalyptic hellscape may transpire. Here, we're just chilling and hoping the power doesn't go out.

Completely Conspicuous 189: No New Tale to Tell

The podcast returns this week with part 2 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:

- Rock memoirs

- Kumar: Jen Trynin's Everything I'm Cracked Up to Be

- Dube: Dave Simpson's The Fallen talks to the many former members of The Fall

- The Fall's being going for 35 years

- Steven Tyler's memoir was out this year

- Breitling can't stop yawning

- Falling off the wagon

- One-upping each other with Aerosmith rehab connections

- Joey Kramer has a memoir out, too

- Kumar: Motley Crue's The Dirt is a great rock bio

- Dube recalls defiling the memory of Hanoi Rocks drummer Razzle

- Dube: Jim Derogatis bio of legendary rock writer Lester Bangs, Let It Blurt

- Hollywood music biopics (Walk the Line, Ray) follow the same formula: Triumph, downfall, comeback

- More Bangs: Main Lines, Blood Feasts and Bad Taste

- No more big names in rock journalism

- Kumar goes on "people don't read anymore" rant

- Dube: Ugly Things, a book-length periodical out of California

- Breitling learns about some band called the Beatles

- Plenty of books about Elvis, Dylan

- Kumar: Shakey, bio about Neil Young by Jimmy McDonough

- Massive tome, kinda messy, very interesting

- Our friend Marc is smart

- Dube: Best oral history book is Fool the World, about the Pixies

- When done right, oral histories use quotes to tell the story

- Breitling: Replacements' oral history suffers because most band members weren't quoted

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

Matthew Sweet - She Walks the Night

Deer Tick - Miss K

Don Fleming - My Little Lamb

Screaming Trees - Ash Gray Sunday

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 Matthew Sweet song is on the forthcoming album Modern Art on Missing Piece Records. Find out more and download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at his website.

The Deer Tick song is on the album Divine Providence on Partisan Records. Find out more and download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at the band's website.

The Don Fleming song is on the EP Don Fleming 4 on Instant Mayhem. Find out more at Instant Mayhem and download the song for free at IODA Promonet:

Don Fleming
"My Little Lamb � EP (Feat. R. Stevie Moore) " (mp3)
from "Don Fleming 4"
(Instant Mayhem)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album



The Screaming Trees song is on the album Last Words: The Final Recordings on Sunyata Records. Download the song for free at IODA Promonet:

Screaming Trees
"Ash Gray Sunday" (mp3)
from "Last Words: The Final Recordings"
(Sunyata Records)

Buy at iTunes Music Store
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 http://clickyclickymusic.com and http://www.keepingsomedarksecrets.net. 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 http://www.myspace.com/meandboristhebull. Thanks to Bob Durling for the album art; find out more about his photography at http://bobdurling.blogspot.com/. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site http://www.podgeek.com.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.

Song of the South

Another summer, another vacation in the books. Our return trip began yesterday morning at 9:15, when we left Orlando under sunny skies. We got through Georgia unscathed and in good spirits, but inevitably ran into a string of vicious thunderstorms through South and North Carolina. We were able to make good time until around 8:30 p.m. when we got to Virginia, where we hit bumper-to-bumper traffic for much of the state. Deb and I had been trading off the driving duties until 10:30, when I took over with about 20 miles to go in VA. The roads were relatively clear and dry the rest of the way, as I drove through Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey until we arrived at Casa Siegel at 3:20 a.m. The Siegels left after we did and arrived home around 7. We got up at 9:30 and hit the road around 10, getting home at 3 p.m.

It was a long and fun week. Here are a few highlights:

• We were a combined three families with nine kids at the various Disney parks. It was hot and humid as you can imagine Florida to be in August, but we didn't get overly scorched. On Wednesday after getting wet on Splash Mountain, we promptly were faced with a deluge of a storm. The term "soaked to the bone" doesn't even cover it. Florida storms are quick and nasty.


• We did a ton of walking. I can't remember my feet being achier, and that includes all the marathons I've run.


• I enjoyed the rollercoasters the most: Expedition Everest, Space Mountain, the Rock n' Roller Coaster. Hannah enjoyed them, too, but Lily was a little scared of them. I love the thrill-seeking rides, but I will admit to being a little queasy after going on the Mission: Space ride at Epcot, which includes a G-force simulator. Basically, the thing's spinning like a mofo to simulate a trip to Mars. I don't usually feel the effects of rollercoasters and similar rides, but on that one, I didn't feel right for about 20 minutes afterward. There's actually a difficult version and an easier one; I went on the difficult one. Of course, it was only now that I read that Disney was sued five years ago after a kid died on the ride. Although I'm not sure what the family was thinking letting a 4-year-old go on it.


• Driving down and back, we noticed a lot of folks down South putting their hazard lights on during heavy rainstorms. This struck me as curious and kind of wussy; I always thought you only used hazards for when you're having vehicular problems. Not because it's raining hard. As soon as the rain lets up a little, folks turn off the hazards.


• I noticed that some of the rest stops frequented by truckers actually had showers to allow the long haulers to clean up. Pretty good idea that I had never seen on previous trips. They even have a number system like a deli to let truckers know when a shower's ready.


• Long ago, I became sick of commercial radio for various reasons, so we had a bunch of CDs (can't listen to my iPod in the minivan). But from time to time, I'd turn the radio on and I was surprised at how much it must suck to be a rock fan in Orlando. I could only find two stations that played rock, and one of them seemingly changed to an all-talk format a few days ago. The other played a lot of mook rock (Nickelback, etc.) and literally played commercials every two minutes. Just awful.


• On the drive home, at first I thought I was hallucinating but Deb confirmed that we passed a truck full of live chickens as we were going through Maryland. Feathers everywhere. Truly bizarre.


• Is there an easier job anywhere than Florida meteorologist? Every day in the summer is mid-90s with a chance of thunderstorms. I suppose things get more challenging as hurricane season starts (which is basically now), but even those are fairly unpredictable.


• I was glad we broke up the driving on this trip. I didn't have any moments where I was scared I'd fall asleep, even at 3 a.m. today. Can't say the same about the last Disney trip when we drove right through.

I created a new mix CD for the trip and ended up listening to it a few times. Pretty kickass, if I do say so myself:

YYZ - Rush

The Rover - Led Zeppelin

Lonely is the Night - Billy Squier

Do Anything You Want to Do - Thin Lizzy

Search and Destroy - Iggy and the Stooges

I am One - Smashing Pumpkins

Unsung - Helmet

Little Guitars intro/Little Guitars - Van Halen

9 Fingers on You - Shudder to Think

Constructive Summer - The Hold Steady

The Kids Are Insane - Urge Overkill

Spinnin' - Soul Asylum

Rebound - Sebadoh

Change Has Come - Screaming Trees

Ill Placed Trust - Sloan

Entertain - Sleater-Kinney

Wolf Like Me - TV On the Radio

Gimme the Wire - Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

Got Nuffin - Spoon

Mind Eraser, No Chaser - Them Crooked Vultures

Stormy Weather

Filing this post from lovely Orlando, where we're spending the next week on vacation. Much as we did four years ago, we drove down, although thankfully we didn't try to drive straight through this time. Friday, we drove down to northern NJ to hang with Matt and the gang and stayed over. We and the Siegels hit the road at 5:20 a.m. Saturday to go to St. Augustine, where we'd stay at a hotel and get lunch with Matt and Deb's cousin Jen.

We cranked through the NJ Turnpike quickly and really had no issues until we hit Virginia, where traffic was backed up for miles just because. Once it cleared up, we started to make good progress...and that's when the rain began. It poured on us through Virginia into North Carolina and finally cleared up when we got to
South Carolina. And after an hour or so of nice sunny weather, the rain picked up again. And not just a gentle summer shower, but torrential, can't-see-out-your-damn-windshield rain. We got into Georgia and stopped for dinner and the rain appeared to let up, but as we drove through the state and night fell, heat lightning provided quite a show. Again, the rain started before we got out of Georgia and continued into Florida. But as we got closer to Jacksonville, it finally stopped.

We finally made it to our hotel around 10:30 p.m., and the Siegels and Deb's mom got in at midnight. We got a decent night's sleep and had brunch at a nearby Cracker Barrel before continuing on to Orlando in the afternoon. The rest of the day was pretty relaxing, settling in and hitting the pool later (of course, not before another brief thunderstorm hit). The first of several days at Disney World begins tomorrow. Should be hot, humid and fun.

It's a Long Way to the Top (If You Want to Rock 'n Roll)

I don't usually pay much heed to the music charts these days, but I was taken slightly aback today when I happened to peruse the list of Billboard's current top 20 albums:

1) 21 - Adele
2) Chief - Eric Church
3) Proud to Be Here - Trace Adkins
4) Young Love - Mat Kearney
5) Victorious Cast Album - Victorious Cast
6) My Kinda Party - Jason Aldean
7) Kidz Bop 20 - Kidz Bop Kids
8) 4 - Beyonce
9) Slow Grind - Various Artists
10) Red River Blue - Blake Shelton
11) Born This Way - Lady Gaga
12) King - O.A.R.
13) Here I Am - Kelly Rowland
14) Hell: The Sequel - Bad Meets Evil
15) When the Sun Goes Down - Selena Gomez & The Scene
16) Back to Black - Amy Winehouse
17) Now That’s What I Call Music 38 - Various Artists
18) Sigh No More - Mumford & Sons
19) Teenage Dream - Katy Perry
20) Torches - Foster The People

There isn't one album on that list that I have any interest in owning. I'm primarily (but not exclusively) a rock fan, and there's barely any rock in the top 20. Mumford & Sons and Foster The People have been getting a lot of alternative radio play, but neither band does anything for me. It's not a shocker that there's little rock at the top of the charts; just like the economy, rock music is definitely in a downward spiral. Sure, some bands still do well, like Foo Fighters and Green Day, but kids seem more interested in hip hop and pop these days. Which is okay. I always found it weird during the heyday of grunge in the early '90s when I'd be perusing the same CDs in a record store as an 8-year-old.

A post on the great Popblerd blog compared the current chart with the top 20 in 1975 and the differences were striking: it was littered with albums from the likes of the Isley Brothers, Jefferson Starship, Dylan and The Band, Elton John, Aerosmith, the Ohio Players, ZZ Top and Fleetwood Mac. Pop was well represented by Helen Reddy, the Bee Gees, Melissa Manchester and the Captain and Tennille.

I'm sure we're just going through a cycle and that rock will rebound at some point. And it's not like there isn't great rock music out there nowadays: we've already seen terrific albums released this year by Sloan, Yuck, The Twilight Singers, Beastie Boys, Buffalo Tom, Drive-By Truckers and more. Coming soon are new releases from Mastodon, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Johnny Foreigner and more. I still listen to a ton of new music and don't plan on slowing down any time soon.

The world is very different than it was in 1975, and not just in terms of technology. There are many ways to listen to music; back then, you had the radio or you bought records or cassettes. Albums aren't cherished as complete works as they once were, and bands aren't album to sell out the hockey arenas and stadiums they used to. But that doesn't seem to stem the tide of artists out there making music and touring the country, which is a good thing for those of us who still love rock. Rock n' roll's still vital; you just need to know where to look for it.

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.

C'mon Every Beatbox

Let's face it, nostalgia is powerful. Nowhere is this more evident than in the world of rock, where it seems nearly every band that split up over the last 30 years is getting back together.

Case in point: Big Audio Dynamite, the Mick Jones-led post-Clash outfit that combined punk, funk, dance, samples, reggae and anything else they could think of. After 14 years of inactivity, Jones has reformed the original lineup (including legendary punk scenester/filmmaker Don Letts, bassist Leo Williams and drummer Greg Roberts). After playing a few festivals in the spring, B.A.D. kicked off its North American tour with a show at the House of Blues Tuesday night.



The club was full of rock fans of an older vintage, who obviously remembered B.A.D. from its 1985-89 heyday and then in the early '90s when Jones reformed the band as B.A.D. II with different and scored a few well-timed alt-rock hits. The 85-minute set was heavily weighted toward the first few albums, playing deeper cuts like "Medicine Show," "Sightsee MC!" and "A Party" while carving out a dance-rock groove that had the joint moving. But it wasn't until they broke out the infectious "C'mon Every Beatbox" that the enthusiasm level picked up a notch. Similar appreciation was shown for "Just Play Music," but it was during the encores when the band tore into classics "The Bottom Line," "E=MC2" (which Jones introduced as "here's what you've been waiting to hear all night") and "Rush," which was actually a B.A.D. II song from 1991's "The Globe."

The band also debuted a new song, "Rob Peter to Pay Paul," which had more of a rock feel to it than the rest of the night's material. I was a little surprised B.A.D. didn't play anything from 1989's Megatop Phoenix, but it seemed as though they were emphasizing material from their 1985 debut and the following year's No. 10 Upping St. And there was nothing wrong with that.

Jones was a genial host, looking fit and trim and babbling happily between songs, thanking everyone for turning out. Letts and Williams both sported impressive sets of dreadlocks, with Letts' stretching nearly to his feet. Letts played keyboards and sang backing vocals, occasionally stepping out on the reggae songs to do some toasting.

Jones hinted the band might be back; perhaps the new song was an indication that a new album is in the offing as well. Judging from the energy B.A.D. generated Tuesday night, it appears there's still fuel in the tank.

Completely Conspicuous 187: Five Years

This week, I celebrate the podcast's fifth birthday by discussing the podcast's origins and where it's going. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



Show notes:

- Driving to Boston

- Big 5th birthday of the show

- First started listening to podcasts in the car

- Considered doing show about running

- Started with scripted segments

- Eventually brought guests on

- Recharged show's batteries

- Rain gets heavier, as does traffic

- Not in it for the money because there isn't any]

- First podcasts showed up in 2004

- Addition of podcasts to iTunes store was huge for exposure

- I listen to many shows: Phedippidations, Smodcast, No Agenda, WTF, Nerdist, Rock n' Roll Geek Show

- Podcasting is thriving, but not as a money-making venture necessarily

- Listen to podcasts instead of radio

- It's easy to do a podcast

- Friends are doing shows: Ric Dube's More Lost Time

- I've made friends through podcasting: Steve Runner, James Gralian, Brian Salvatore, Adam Tinkoff

- Stuck in traffic

- Plan to keep doing the show as long as I can

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

St. Vincent - Surgeon

We Were Promised Jetpacks - Act on Impulse

Shonen Knife - Rock n' Roll High School

Algernon Cadwallader - Cruisin'

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 St. Vincent song is on the forthcoming album Strange Mercy on 4AD. Find out more and download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at Strange Mercy.

The We Were Promised Jetpacks song is on the forthcoming album In the Pit of the Stomach on Fat Cat. Find out more and download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at WWPJ.

The Shonen Knife song is on the album Osaka Ramones: Tribute to the Ramones on Good Charamel Records. Download the song for free at Amazon.

The Algernon Cadwallader song is on the album Parrot Flies on Big Scary Monsters. 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. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site PodGeek.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.