Completely Conspicuous 600: Meet Ze Monsta

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1995. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Jay's non-top 5s: Mike Watt, Bjork, Guided By Voices, Boss Hog, Rancid, The Amps

- Phil's #5: Bjork's second album embraces the quirkiness

- Jay's #4: Jawbreaker's major label debut was a total bust, but it's really good

- "Selling out" was a big deal back then

- Phil's #3: The debut of Elastica was fully formed, but band disappeared a few years later

- Jay's #3: Pavement's followup to their big break was dismissed as too weird, but now is considered a classic

- Phil's #2: Neil Young teams up with Pearl Jam for strong release at the peak of PJ's fame

- Jay's #2: Horn-powered kickass blast of an album from Rocket From the Crypt

- Phil's #1 and Jay's #5: Dave Grohl emerges from Nirvana's shadow with first Foo Fighters album

- Jay's #1 and Phil's #4: PJ Harvey changes up her sound and goes theatrical and atmospheric

- Favorite songs: "Meet Ze Monsta" (Jay), "Alone + Easy Target" (Jay)

- Next: Best of 2022 with Jay Breitling

 

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. 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 290: Just Play Music

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Amanda Guest as we discuss the new online radio station she's launching. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Launching her own radio station, BFF.fm
- Taking back real radio
- Hope to bring back the college radio experience
- KUSF is trying to stay alive
- Amanda: College radio had a huge impact
- Amanda lives within walking distance of rock clubs in SF
- Already had discussions with venues about sponsoring shows
- Starting with seven DJs
- One DJ in Massachusetts pre-recording shows
- Even before launch, BFF.fm has generated a lot of enthusiasm
- Amanda: Work full-time gig so she can do this during her spare time
- Bonehead of the Week


Music:
PJ Harvey - Shaker Aamer
The Moondoggies - Red Eye
Wavves - Hippies is Punks
King Tuff - Anthem

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

The PJ Harvey song was recorded in support of Shaker Aamer, the last British prisoner being held in Guantanamo Bay prison. The song is available for free download at Soundcloud.
The Moondoggies song is on the album Adios I'm a Ghost on Hardly Art. Download the song for free at HardlyArt.
The Wavves song is a bonus track on the album Afraid of Heights on Warner Bros. Download the song for free at Epitonic.
The King Tuff song is on his self-titled album on Sub Pop. 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.

Completely Conspicuous 209: Physical Graffiti

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



The show notes:

- Mike hosts Clicky Clicky Radio on Boston Free Radio every Thursday

- Physical media is disappearing from store shelves

- Rarely buy CDs anymore

- Digital music sales overtook CD sales in 2011

- Minor resurgence in vinyl

- Listening to music has become "a solitary engagement"

- It's rare to listen to music now without doing anything else

- Many more distractions while watching movies or TV

- Glut of media; so many more albums available now

- N-Lo is no Geddy Lee

- With digital music, it's rare you get liner notes

- Looking back at metal mags of the '80s: Hit Parader, Circus

- Labels are trying to cash in with reissues and box sets

- Pink Floyd box sets come with plenty of extras

- Mike is miffed at the Quadrophenia box set

- Pete Townshend loves a narrative

- Mike: The Who's Endless Wire is pretty good

- N-Lo's not a big fan of rock stars with hankies

- Mike: CD's not dead yet, but it's close

- N-Lo remembers his Discman fondly

- Reissuing albums a year after the original comes out

- In the '90s, we'd go digging for singles with bonus tracks

- The Columbia House Record Club: 12 for a penny

- Packaging and pressing quality sucked for record club albums

- Next episode: We complain about Ticketmaster

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:
The Kominas - Doomsday

PJ Harvey - The Last Living Rose

Le Butcherettes - New York

Mclusky - To Hell With Good Intentions

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 Kominas song is on the band's self-released, self-titled album. You can downlaod the entire album for free at TheKominas.com.

The PJ Harvey song is on the album Let England Shake on Vagrant Records. Download the song for free at Epitonic.

The Le Butcherettes song is on the album Sin Sin Sin on Rodriguez Lopez Productions. Download the song for free at Epitonic.

The Mclusky song is on the album Mclusky Do Dallas on Too Pure 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 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 163: We Call Upon the Author

Special guest Christian Douglass joins me on the podcast as we discuss the story behind his new novel. Listen to the show below or download it directly (right click and "save as").



The show notes...

Topics:

- Christian started writing the book in May 2010

- Nearly done; "just checking the verbs"

- Spent three years working for oil industry consulting company

- Collected cost of living info around the world

- Company founder was involved in early research into the Internet

- Company needed to figure out cost of living allowances for oil engineers

- Christian took the job for book material

- Studied journalism in grad school at BU

- On the road six months of the year for three years

- Went to more than 80 countries

- "Talking about spoiled white people abroad"

- Book is like "Catch-22" for global petroleum world

- One protagonist is "diabetic, drug-addicted 40-year-old doing my job"

- Inspired by former co-worker who doesn't know about this book

- Revisit places once or twice a year

- Story opens in Dubai, moves to Lagos, then to Turkmenistan

- "Glands Across America"

- Female character is narrator

- "Absurdist immigration story" about lies

- Christian quit his job to write novel

- Debating the value of journalism school

- Putting yourself in debt to get a low-paying job

- Life got in the way of Christian becoming a reporter

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:

PJ Harvey - Written on the Forehead

J. Mascis - Is It Done

Telekinesis - Car Crash

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 PJ Harvey song is on the album Let England Shake on Island Records. Download the song for free at Chromewaves.

The J. Mascis song is on the forthcoming album Several Shades of Why on Sub Pop Records, where you can download the song for free.

The Telekinesis song is on the album 12 Desperate Straight Lines on Merge Records. Download the song for free at Spin.com (right click and "save as").

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.

Completely Conspicuous is a Tan God Production. Word.