Completely Conspicuous 300: Fear Factor

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss Halloween and horror flicks. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Salem, Mass., is Halloween Central
- Just a straight-out fun holiday
- Can be frustrating for those who live in Salem
- Old-school newspaper pro-tip: Keep booze in yer desk
- "Write drunk, edit sober"
- As a kid, Matt was excited to dress up on Halloween
- Jay: All about the candy
- In NH, rural location meant we didn't have trick-or-treaters
- Don't get that many now
- Matt's costumes over the years: Robin, Julius Caesar
- Jay: Moses, Don King, Bootsy Collins
- Matt has a Batman mask this year
- When kids are scared of your costume
- Enjoyed Halloween more as an adult
- The Lunchlady and the Flasher
- Scary movies are fun
- Matt: Blair Witch had a great gimmick, not a great story
- So much more scary watching movies by yourself
- Matt: The Saw movies are terrible, but creepy
- Zombie movies are everywhere
- Allegory for fear of disease
- Real-life face-eating is scarier
- Horror movie remakes are coming out all the time
- Jay: Still remember the trailer for the late '70s flick It's Alive
- Horror films are good investments
- Jay: Loved the film version of The Shining
- To be continued
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
Dead Meadow - Yesterday's Blowin' Back
The Cloud Room - Mrs. Marquis de Sade

The Beatings - How Many Times Can You Say Goodbye to the Same Person?

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

The Dead Meadow song is on the album Warble Womb on Xemu Records. Download the song for free at RollingStone.com.
The Cloud Room song is on the compilation You Be My Heart. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.

The Beatings song is on the album Italiano on Midriff Records. Download the song for free at 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.

Mixology: Smarch Rocks

Mixology is a recurring feature in which I take a look at one of the many mix tapes (or CDs) I made over the years. Some are better than others, but all of them are fun to revisit.

Smarch Rocks: A spring-loaded mix (3/24/06)

Ah, the spring of aught-6. Twas a magical time, what with the MP3 blogs and what not. This is a fun mix to reflect upon. Hard to believe it was almost five years ago that I made it.

About half of the 20 songs were discovered through the various music blogs I was following at the time, including the songs from Runner and the Thermodynamics, Thunderbirds are Now, We are Scientists, Wolf Parade and Tom Vek. The song by The Cloud Room had already achieved some notoriety for the Internet popularity it achieved while actually generating not much in the way of actual sales.

At the time, I was training for the Vermont City Marathon, which was two months later. Lily had just turned the ripe age of 2. I can't even remember her being so little. Weird.

Probably the best thing about this mix and the time period was the diversity of stuff I was listening to. A lot of new stuff, some old, some heavy, some wussy. It was all good. I mean, how nuts is following up My Morning Jacket with Scissorfight? You won't hear that on some lame-ass commercial rock station.

Steady as She Goes - The Raconteurs

Hey Now Now - The Cloud Room

Fire Eye'd Boy - Broken Social Scene

Ramblin' Man - Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan

Rise Up With Fists! - Jenny Campbell with the Watson Twins

It Beats 4U - My Morning Jacket

Granite State Destroyer - Scissorfight

Powerlines - Runner and the Thermodynamics

It's All in My Mind - Teenage Fanclub

Eat This City - Thunderbirds are Now!

Goodbye to Guyville - Urge Overkill

The Rat - The Walkmen

Mothra vs. We Are Scientists - We Are Scientists

Instinct Blues - White Stripes

The People That Life Forgot - The Wildhearts

You are a Runner and I am My Father's Son - Wolf Parade

Instant Karma - Yo La Tengo

Lay It On the Line - Triumph

Nothing But Green Lights - Tom Vek

No Threat - The Tragically Hip

Hey now now:


The Rat: