Completely Conspicuous 440: Radio Daze

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Wardlaw as we discuss the decline of rock radio. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Matt's podcast Lost Together
- Van Cherone: Matt defends Van Halen III
- Eddie VH's lack of new material
- Buy Greg Renoff's great book Van Halen Rising
- Eddie sounds good again
- Age is becoming a factor
- Jay: Saw both DLR and VH in 1986
- The MTV effect
- Early '80s video production values
- Videos pushed songs to greater success
- In defense of "We Built This City"
- Videos boosted careers of artists like ZZ Top, the Cars and Huey Lewis
- Rock stations added non-music programming
- Satellite radio is nice, but not a must-have
- Matt uses Apple Music
- Bands aren't making much money from streaming
- The money is in touring and merch, not albums
- Home taping didn't kill the music industry

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.

Free and Easy

Thursday night, I got home after hockey and sat down with my laptop to enjoy a cold beverage and relax a little. As I am wont to do, I went on Facebook to see what was going on and noticed that a few friends had posted about a new Wilco album that had dropped within the last hour or so. The album, cleverly entitled Star Wars and featuring cover art of a kitten to maximize Internet search traction, was a free download for anyone who signed up for Wilco's mailing list.

Coincidentally, I had already planned to download new releases from Ava Luna and Hard Left, two relatively new acts who had made the albums available on Bandcamp for "Name Your Price," meaning you can get them for free or choose to pay whatever you wish. So I spent the next 20 minutes or so downloading three new albums for free.

Such is the nature of the recording industry nowadays. Wilco, a revered veteran act, now releases records on its own label and can afford to just release a surprise album for free because it seemed like a fun thing to do. Ava Luna's release, Takamatsu Station, is an odds-and-sods collection that follows on the heels of its April studio album Infinite House, and Hard Left is a band comprised of punk veterans playing old-school music and giving their new album away because they don't give a shit about the music industry.

It's an interesting time to be a rock recording artist. Record labels are in a shambles; why any band would sign to a major label is beyond me. Top 40 pop and hip hop are all the rage, so rock acts aren't selling anywhere near what they used to. Major label distribution doesn't mean shit if nobody's buying anything anymore. Radio's no help because there aren't many commercial stations left that play modern rock; every market still has one or two classic rock stations, but that's of no use to bands like Ava Luna or Hard Left, or even Wilco. There's still college and online radio stations that champion these acts, but obviously they're not exactly reaching a huge audience.

A band like Wilco at least has a large and loyal audience that will buy whatever the band releases and then go see them live. And Ava Luna and Hard Left hope to develop similar legions of fans through touring and word of mouth, and indeed, they make money by selling CDs, vinyl, shirts and other merch directly to fans at their shows. I saw Lubec and Havania Whaal, two bands from Portland, Oregon, last week in Allston as they were kicking off an East Coast tour. I bought a record from Lubec and a t-shirt from Havania Whaal, providing an additional $10 to each band. It's not a lot, but it goes toward basic expenses as the groups travel down the coast to various stops. They have to hope each night that fans in attendance will buy merch and keep them going.

I have to think bands that get into the rock game these days must be doing it for the love of playing music. They certainly can't get into it expecting to be rich and famous. Gone are the days when a band like Cheap Trick can release four excellent but under-the-radar albums for a major label before hitting it big with a song from a live album recorded in Japan. They would have been dropped after the first or second album stiffed, and they certainly wouldn't have received the radio airplay required to make "I Want You to Want Me" a monster hit. It's interesting to watch a band like Speedy Ortiz emerge, releasing excellent records, touring non-stop, getting great reviews and press, and still probably not selling 1/10th of the units that Walk the Moon will with that annoying hit song they've got this summer. Twenty years ago, Speedy Ortiz would have been HUGE. Now, folks like me are content to say we saw them pack cool little rock clubs. And that's just the way it is.

Completely Conspicuous 238: Generation Gap

Another installment of Driving With Kumar as I discuss the generation gap that exists in pop culture. Listen to the episode below or download it directly.

Show notes:
- Recorded on the way to WFNX Boston Accents farewell show in Allston
- WFNX has been replaced by The Harbor, a "Variety Hits" station
- FNX lasted 29 years
- Driving through another torrential rainstorm
- Generation gap in music fandom driven by a couple of NPR blog posts
- Intern wrote about how she never pays for recorded music
- Ignited industry debate, including a battle of blog posts between David Lowery and Dave Allen

- Another post had an intern reviewing Public Enemy's It Takes a Nation of Millions...
- Kid wasn't born when the album came out in 1988
- His love of hip-hop is defined by current artists like Drake
- Couldn't relate to PE's intensity

- I was struck by the lack of knowledge or interest in older music
- Get off my lawn
- As a kid, I was fascinated by music that came out in the previous few decades
- Much easier now to hear music at a moment's notice
- I blame it on sensory overload
- You're going to listen to what your friends dig
- Can't blame kids for not knowing about older acts
- I'm not trying to get my own kids to listen to my music
- Enjoy the rhythmic sounds of nature pounding on my car roof
- The world is much faster
- Technology is advancing at amazing speeds
- Rain stops right as I get into the city
- Remembering the early MP3 players
- Some kids are getting into vinyl and cassettes
- Many old pop cultural references are lost on the young
- It's not too late for kids to learn about older music
- Plenty of great new music out there, too
- Bonehead of the Week

Music:
Chelsea Light Moving - Frank O'Hara Hit
The XX - Angels
Blur - The Puritan
Mean Creek - Young & Wild

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The Chelsea Light Moving song is available for free download from Matador Records.
The XX song is on the forthcoming album Coexist on Young Turks. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The Blur song is the B-side of the band's self-released 12-inch Under the Westway. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The Mean Creek song is from the forthcoming album Youth Companion on Old Flame Records. Download the song for free as part of the Boston Accents Funeral Party Soundtrack 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; check out his site PodGeek.

For All to See

Amid all the hue and cry in these parts about the demise of WFNX-FM as the area's pioneering alternative rock station, life goes on. The station has been replaced at 101.7 on your FM dial with WHBA, aka The Harbor, a "Variety Hits" station. It's a DJ-less shuffle station that plays any manner of top 40 detritus. It's become a morbid curiosity of mine to tune in quickly just to see what's playing: in the last week since it launched, I've heard Marky Mark's "Good Vibrations," Bon Jovi's "Runaway," a few Madonna songs, Donnie Iris' "Ah Leah" and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit. So...time to change that FM preset in my car.

In the meantime, one last farewell to FNX was delivered last week in the form of the three-night Boston Accents Funeral Party at Great Scott in Allston, hosted by Boston Phoenix writer Michael Marotta (who hosted the Boston Accents local artists' show on Sunday nights on FNX). I attended night 2 last Tuesday, which featured the bands Mean Creek, Mellow Bravo, Soccer Mom and Dirty Virgins, as well as DJ sets from none other than my friends Jay Breitling and Brad Searles. I had to leave around 12:15 so I was only able to see two songs from Mean Creek, but the rest of the night was a blast. Soccer Mom was at its ear-shredding best, Dirty Virgins rocked hard with a Flying V-wielding bassist, and Mellow Bravo bringing a schticky-but-fun vibe to the room that was highlighted by a cover of the J. Geils Band classic "House Party." It was tough to hear everything that Jay and Brad played because of the general audience noise in the club, but it was cool to hang out with them, drink beer and hear songs from the likes of Orbit, Dinosaur Jr., Young Adults and the Swirlies, among others.


Sadly, local bands have one less way to get their music heard on the radio, but for three nights, that didn't matter. And the rock shows will forge on, so at least Boston's still got that going for it.

Let's Go to Bed

Even though the sale of WFNX-FM was announced two months ago, the station didn't actually cease operations until about 17 minutes ago. It's not totally going away; the station is already streaming online at WFNX.com but it's no longer a broadcast station. And it has also spawned another streaming station featuring some of the FNX crew that will be launching soon. But the broadcast frequency itself, 101.7, has been sold to Clear Channel and rumor is it could turn into a conservative talk station.

I'm not going to go in depth about the death of WFNX and rock radio in general here because I've already done that at length on the podcast with Mike Piantigini and Nick Lorenzen (listen to parts 1 and 2). But suffice it to say WFNX was a big part of my music education in the late '80s and early '90s. In the station's heyday, it played tons of so-called alternative rock that changed my perceptions about music. Sadly, radio is going the way of the dinosaur, but it was fun today to listen to the last few hours of WFNX on the broadcast dial.

Fittingly, FNX ended the way it began in 1983, by playing The Cure's "Let's Go to Bed." R.I.P.

Completely Conspicuous 230: The Spirit of Radio

Part 2 of my conversation with special guests Nick Lorenzen and Mike Piantigini as we discuss the death of rock radio. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").





Show notes:
- Radio now competes with iPods, digital radio, Spotify
- The anticipation factor with new music is gone
- Cell phone video has changed the live experience
- Music has become background noise
- We don't pay attention as closely to new music
- As people get older, some lose that connection to music
- Mike: Music education came from hanging out at college radio station
- Remembering the old Boston rock station WCOZ
- In praise of WFMU
- Nick: Listened to a lot of classic rock on stations like WAAF

- Satellite radio is a factor
- Jay: First listened to CHUM-AM in Toronto, then got into the FM rock stations
- Canadian Content Rule was in effect: Lots of April Wine, Chilliwack, Triumph
- Nick and Mike played in the great rock band Lump
- College radio is still great, especially WMBR, the MIT station
- Only Boston rock stations left are WZLX, WAAF, The River (WXRV)
- Jay: Pretty much listened to WFNX all the time during the '90s
- Younger music fans may not feel the loss of FNX
- Used to be fun to listen to radio in other parts of country
- Bonehead of the Week

Music:
The Henry Clay People - Hide
Archers of Loaf - Dead Red Eyes
Codeine - Median (Peel session)
Los Campesinos - Tiptoe Through the True Bits
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!
The Henry Clay People song is from the band's forthcoming album Twenty-Five for the Rest of Our Lives on TBD Records. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.

The Archers of Loaf song is on the reissue of the band's album White Trash Heroes on Merge Records. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.
The Codeine song is a previously unreleased track from a Peel session available on the reissue of Barely Real on Numero Group. Download the song for free from Stereogum.
The Los Campesinos song is a non-album track released by the band for free download from its 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 blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian; check out his site PodGeek.

Completely Conspicuous 229: Around the Dial

Part 1 of my conversation with special guests Nick Lorenzen and Mike Piantigini as we discuss the death of rock radio. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Boston alternative rock station WFNX was sold to Clear Channel recently
- Rock radio has been on life support for quite some time
- Too much radio programming and formats
- WFNX was pioneer of the alternative format
- Nick: Knew of WFNX more by reputation as a kid
- Mike: College radio introduced me to a world beyond classic rock and metal

- Jay: R.E.M. and U2 were first so-called alternative bands I got into
- WBCN was revolutionary back in late '60s and '70s, playing free-form rock
- Eventually became formatted like all the rest
- WBCN switched to alternative format in mid-'90s to compete with FNX
- Eventually, BCN went to more talk: Stern, Opie & Anthony
- FNX went downhill for a while with nu metal
- Nick: FNX had rebounded in last few years
- We old guys don't get newer bands like Mumford and Sons
- FNX wasn't going after geezers like us anymore
- Many more options for listeners now: iPod, streaming audio, Pandora
- The "Mike FM" stations just regurgitate '90s alternacrap
- The much-bigger WBCN went off air in '09, turned into a sports talk station
- The market for rock music has diminished; kids are listening to more hip hop and pop
- Plenty of new rock bands coming out all the time
- Nick: Hard rock is used more in sports arenas and commercials
- To be continued next week
- Bonehead of the Week

Music:
Bob Mould - The Act We Act (live)
Hallelujah the Hills - Get Me in a Room
Zeus - Anything You Want, Dear
The White Stripes - Jimmy the Exploder
Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The Bob Mould song is from Live at Bottom of the Hill, a free EP of three Sugar songs from the album Copper Blue performed live on Feb. 24 in San Francisco. Download the EP for free (in exchange for your email address) at New.Official.Fm.

The Hallelujah the Hills song is on the album No One Knows What Happens Next on Discrete Pageantry. Download the song for free from HallelujahTheHills.com.

The Zeus song is on the album Busting Visions on Arts and Crafts. Download the song for free from IODA Promonet:
Zeus
"Anything You Want Dear" (mp3)
from "Busting Visions"
(Arts & Crafts)

More On This Album

The White Stripes song is from the band's self-titled album on Sympathy for the Record Industry. Download the song for free from 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; check out his site PodGeek.

Broken Radio

Another nail was driven into the coffin of Boston rock radio this week when Phoenix Media announced it was selling its pioneering alt-rock station WFNX (101.7 FM) to Clear Channel. Most of the staff has been laid off already, with longtime DJs like Julie Kramer saying their farewells over the last few days. A skeleton crew will run things until the FCC approves the sale; there are reports that Clear Channel will turn the station into a country and western or Spanish talk station. The station had long trumpeted its independent ownership, but obviously it wasn't bringing in the kind of revenue needed to keep it that way.

The sale follows the abrupt August 2009 end of WBCN (104.1), one of the first and most powerful rock stations in the country, which was converted to a "mix" format of mom rock; it actually swapped spaces on the dial with Mix 98.5 and now exists as The Sports Hub, a sports talk station and home of Bruins and Patriots games. That was especially shocking since WBCN was such a major figure in Boston rock, but it illustrated the transient nature of radio these days.

FNX has been around since 1983, the same year we moved to New Hampshire from Washington state. It started out as "Rock the Boat Radio," playing the college rock sounds of bands like R.E.M., U2 and The Cure. I didn't listen to it right away because I was more into the AOR and hard rock found on stations like WBCN and WAAF, but gradually I became aware of FNX. For me, FNX became must-listening after I graduated from college and got into so-called alternative music, moving away from much of the hard rock and metal I grew up on. I listened to FNX all through the '90s and into the '00s, even as BCN tried to compete by going alternative in the mid-90s. While I was working at Webnoize, I started listening to WMBR, the MIT student station, because we had it on in the newsroom and continued that for a few years after leaving.

But once I got an iPod in 2004, I pretty much stopped listening to radio, partially because I was listening to music and podcasts regularly but also because I was sick of hearing the same songs over and over on all the stations. In recent years, I would only listen to FNX on occasion but had no use for the constant repetition of bands like Mumford and Sons and the Killers.

Still, I have to give FNX credit for introducing me to oodles of great bands over the years and having terrific DJs like Kramer, Morning Guy Tai, Neal Robert and more. Like WBCN, FNX represents a great part of my musical education and will certainly be missed. Who's left? WAAF is still at it, playing hard rock and classic rock; WZLX is the main classic rock station in Boston; WXRV plays mellower rock but is still independent; and 92.9 was converted a few years ago to a DJ-less "Mike FM" format that's heavy on the '90s hits. In other words, I'm sticking with my iPod.

Dig the old FNX commercial poking fun at WBCN's adding the Howard Stern show in the mornings (featuring a young Maria Menounos):