Completely Conspicuous

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss friendship in the digital age. I've also got music from Stag, Cult of Youth and Young Adults. Show notes: - Check out Matt's new book, The Indestructibles: Breakout - How friendship has changed over the years - Rarely have long conversations with people anymore - Jay: Have closer relationships with podcast guests than anyone else - Matt: Internet has helped save friendships - Letter writing is a lost art - Email replaced letters for a while - Fewer phone calls with friends - Jay: Still stay in touch with certain groups of friends - Seems like people at work go out less anymore - Friends you've never met - Making friends on the Interwebs - Matt meets people through book publishing world - Reconnecting with people from childhood can be awkward - Losing touch with friends who aren't on social media - Friends from different interests, jobs - To be continued   Music: Stag - She Plus Me Cult of Youth - God's Garden Young Adults - Void   Complete

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1988. I've also got music from Restorations, The Shivas and Nai Harvest. Show notes: - Recorded before Thanksgiving via Skype - Check out Brian's radio show Unsolicited Mixtape - Jay's #4 - The Pursuit of Happiness combined hard rock crunch with girl group harmonies - Brian's #3 - Skipping a day of college to see TMBG in Cleveland - Jay's #3 - Public Enemy scared white people - Brian's #2 - The Lounge Lizards were punk rockers who played weird jazz - Jay's #2 and Brian's #1 - First full-length from the Pixies - Jay's #1 - Jane's Addiction straddled the line between hard rock and alternative - Brian: Able to look back at these years without emotion - Next up: 1993   Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!   Music: Restorations - Separate Songs The Shivas - Stalking Legs Nai Harvest - Buttercups   The Restorations song is on the album LP3

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1988. I've also got music from Flake Music, Wanted Man and My Goodness. Show notes: - Recorded before Thanksgiving via Skype - Check out Brian's radio show Unsolicited Mixtape - Elton John had another crappy comeback - Bands formed in '88: Bad English, Breeders, GVSB, NIN, Jawbreaker, Mudhoney - Bands that broke up: The Cars, Grim Reaper, Loverboy, Plasmatics - Our honorable mentions - Brian: Talking Heads' Naked featured Johnny Marr on guitar - Jay: First got into Camper Van Beethoven with Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart - Prince had Lovesexy out, taking the place of the Black Album - Cowboy Junkies scored a big hit with cover of "Sweet Jane" - Jay: HMs include Smithereens, Soundgarden, Keith Richards, B.A.D., Run DMC, Waterboys, Sonic Youth, Living Colour, Metallica, Plant, Church - Brian had a substitute teacher who sang the praises of Queensryche - Brian's #5 - CDs led to longer album run ti

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1988. I've also got music from JEFF the Brotherhood, Hookworms and Murder Vibes. Show notes: - Recorded before Thanksgiving via Skype - Check out Brian's radio show Unsolicited Mixtape - JK: Hard drive issues - Brian was 6 in '88, Jay was 20 - George Harrison's comeback - Big year for George Michael and pop in general - INXS was huge in '88 - MTV ruled the roost - Videos resurrected a lot of dormant careers - James Brown's car chase - Zeppelin worship - Ill-fated trip to Monsters of Rock festival - John Lydon's iPad app addiction - The strange end of the Clash - Zeppelin reformed to play Atlantic Records' 40th anniversary bash - Where's Mike Johnson? - '70s nostalgia peaked in '88 - GNR broke through in '88 - Power ballads were the big ticket for hard rock bands - BS: Dylan's album had a diverse collection of guests - Tori Amos' pop debut, Y Kant Tori Read - Ted Nugent released If You Can't Lick 'Em,

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss the year in music. I've also got music from Protomartyr, The Afghan Whigs and Johnny Foreigner. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ - JB's #5 - Perfect Pussy marks the return of political punk - JK's #5 - Protomartyr came out of nowhere - An unlikely combo - JB's #4 - Krill's EP packs a punch - Jonah Furman is a serious thinker - Boston rock scene has been tremendous the last few years - R.I.P., Soccer Mom, Young Adults, The Hush Now - JK's #4 - Ty Segall was less prolific but released an incredible album - JB's #3 - Cookies is latest side project from Mobius Band's Ben Sterling - JK's #3 - Yet another great album from Sloan - Each member contributes an album side - JB's #2 - Lubec released a strong album under the radar - JK's #2 - First Afghan Whigs album in 16 years - Greg Dulli keeps delivering at a high level - JB's #1 - Johnny Foreigner digs deep - JK's #1 - Parquet Courts released two albums in 2014 - Harki

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss the year in music. I've also got music from Hallelujah the Hills, Soccer Mom and Ex Hex. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ - Dog talk - Honorable mentions - JK: New Pornographers, Spoon are consistently excellent - Bob Mould, Stephen Malkmus, War on Drugs - Mark Kozelek is having fun trolling everybody - Good EPs from Krill and Speedy Ortiz - Run the Jewels released another good album - Ryan Adams released a rockin' singles series EP - JB: High grades for Nai Harvest, White Laces, Nothing, Wrong Shapes, Sneeze, Burning Alms, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Room Runner - JK: Check out the free Exploding in Sound sampler on Bandcamp - JB: New Two Inch Astronaut album is great - JB's #10 - Radiator Hospital has been prolific and good - JK's #10 - Hallelujah the Hills with a quality release - JB's #9 and JK's #7 - The first Soccer Mom album is also their last - JK's #9 - Unlikely release from Gord Downie and the Sadies - JB's #8

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss the year in music. I've also got music from Bob Mould, Dum Dum Girls and Radiator Hospital. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ - Still searching for a beer sponsor - An annual tradition - JB: Post-device lifestyle - Streaming options abound - JK: Still use the iTunes player - Nobody's buying music anymore - Vinyl found a niche with hipsters/indie rock fans - Another big year for pop - Taylor Swift had the only platinum album of 2014 - The spirit of radio is on the ropes - More music out there than ever - Noise for Toys benefit at Great Scott, 12/16 - Missed the Replacements show in Boston - JK: Saw lots of good live shows in 2014 - Parquet Courts, Protomartyr, Ty Segall, Sloan, GBV, Afghan Whigs, Caspian - JB: Hoping for a Ride show in Boston next year - Next week: Our favorite music of the year   Music: Bob Mould - Hey Mr. Grey Dum Dum Girls - Under These Hands Radiator Hospital - Five & Dime   Completely Conspi

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss media-driven hysteria. I've also got music from The Sheila Divine, Meatbodies and Interpol. Show notes: - Check out Matt's new book, The Indestructibles: Breakout - What's the next big media story? - Charlie keeps butting in - It's amazing what gets people upset - Reality TV plays into outrage culture - Internet comments reach new depths - Easy to be cynical about politics - Would you ever run for office? - Vote Beelzebub - We were inundated with New Hampshire political ads for two months - The importance of reading cue cards on SNL - Chris Rock caught some heat for telling jokes about Boston Marathon - Post 9-11, humor became a touchy subject - Everybody's waiting to be offended - Know your audience, like the Duck Dynasty guys - The risk of alienating your audience - We never really fix anything   Music: The Sheila Divine - Watch Out for Us Meatbodies - Mountain Interpol - What is What   Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTun

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss media-driven hysteria. I've also got music from King Tuff, Greylag and Dream Police. Show notes: - Check out Matt's new book, The Indestructibles: Breakout - Reading newspapers was once a thing - Boston was a strong two newspaper town - The Herald used to delight in tweaking the Globe - Election ads go for the blue collar vote - "Like hugging a Chicken McNugget" - When your new boss is an uninspirational leader - Matt: The end user is the product - Pop-up ads are the worst - People don't want to hear bad news - It's entirely possible to avoid anything you disagree with - Nobody wants to find middle ground - News networks try to ratchet up the hysteria - Fragmented workplaces - Friends who aren't on social media are easily forgotten - Jay: I don't talk to anyone on the phone anymore -Another Charlie interruption - To be continued   Music: King Tuff - Eyes of the Muse Greylag - Yours to Shake Dream Police - Hypnotized   Completely Conspicuous

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss media-driven hysteria. I've also got music from Dan Mangan and Blacksmith, GravelRoad and Wimps. Show notes: - Jay and Matt, bitchin' and drinking beer - Enough with the pumpkin beer - We've both worked in the media - There's always a hot topic to get upset about - Ebola's got everybody worked up - It's been around for 40 years, but finally made it here - Ebola response became a political football - Before that, it was terrorism - John Grisham made a controversial comment, which was forgotten after ISIS and Ebola dominated headlines - CNN, Fox News, MSNBC amp up the stupid - Twitter is the go-to source for news these days - Matt was at Rhode Island ComiCon - People love to be outraged - Angry tweet from a low-level celeb can cause a stir - Mixing up your social media accounts - The end user is the product -Dealing with clickbait - To be continued   Music: Dan Mangan + Blacksmith - Vessel GravelRoad - Green Grass Wimps - Stop Having Fun   Comp

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we look at the career of '70s pop star Leo Sayer. I've also got music from Menace Beach, Thee Oh Sees and The Fresh & Onlys. Show notes: - Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ - Check out our new web series Trust Fund Challenge - In '77, Sayer hit it big with "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" - Jumped on disco bandwagon - Hit #1 and was on charts for 17 weeks - Had a song in top 40 from Nov. '76 to Feb. '78 - "When I Need You" also hit #1 - Ric: Skate park memories - Smoothed out all the edges - We listened to a lot of kind of stuff at college newspaper - By the mid-80s, Sayer was a distant memory - "More Than I Can Say" was originally written by guys from The Crickets - Half country, half Fleetwood Mac - Sayer started doing covers in the '80s - Ric loves Anzac biscuits from Australia - "Sheetwood Mac" - Sayer had some UK hits in the '80s - Ric talks up the post - What happened to Beck? - An Australian artist remixed "Thunder in My Heart" in 2006 and it went

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we look at the career of '70s pop star Leo Sayer. I've also got music from Nude Beach, The Vaselines and Happy You. Show notes: - Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ - Check out our new web series Trust Fund Challenge - Just watched the 1969 grindhouse flick The Babysitter - Rated X then, pretty tame by today's standards - Our society's pruder in some ways, more open in others - Leo Sayer was discovered by David Courtney and Adam Faith - Ric: Sayer was less threatening than Elton John or Barry Manilow - Adam Faith was a British teen idol in early '60s - Sayer and Faith had a falling out over money - Sayer struck out at first - Roger Daltrey recorded a Sayer song - Sayer's version of "Giving It All Away" sounds like Elton - Some weird album covers - Dube: Sayer looked like a mime who sings - British guys who sound American and vice versa - To be continued   Music: Nude Beach - For You The Vaselines - Last Half Hour Happy You - Chummy   Completely Conspicuous is

Part 2 of the latest installment of Driving with Kumar as I share some thoughts while driving to and from my 25th college reunion. I've also got music from Ty Segall, Wormburner and The Pharmacy. Show notes: - No regrets about college years - Could have graduated a semester early, but chose to stay for full year - Got a job before I graduated - Worked first few months at newspaper while also working weekends at supermarket - Moved to Massachusetts after a few months - Lived in 10 different places in a decade - One apartment I shared with three women; a year later, it was all guys - Nearly got married in mid-20s - Went to Homecoming in '93 and passed on a party to go home and watch World Series - Toronto won Series on Joe Carter HR that night - Went up to UNH a lot the first few years after college - On drive home - Lots of drunken kids when I arrived at 2:30 - Wandered around through a mass of partying young people - Eventually found class of '89 tent and my old roommate - Saw some f

Part 1 of the latest installment of Driving with Kumar as I share some thoughts while driving to my 25th college reunion. I've also got music from Sleater-Kinney, Coaches and The Cherry Wave. Show notes: - Coached in a youth soccer tournament before driving up to University of New Hampshire - Haven't gone to a college reunion before - Still see many friends from college on occasion - Nearly flunked out freshman year - Switched from engineering to journalism and turned it around - Worked for newspaper for six years after college - Journalism majors use theirs skill in different ways now - College was my first time away from parental discipline - Real partying began when grades improved - Did not drink in high school - First weekend in college, that changed - Freshman year roommate had a tough time - Sophomore year roomie was super busy with activities - Moved off campus junior year - Unlucky in love - Always hung out with both nerds and jocks - Ate a lot of junk food - To be continued

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1996. I've also got music from Ex Hex, Jessica Hernandez and the Deltas, and Mini Dresses. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's new radio show Unsolicited Mixtape - Brian's #5 - Olivia Tremor Control made Brian's favorite Elephant 6 album - Jay's #5 and Brian's #4 - Frank Black had a tough task following up Teenager of the Year - Moved to a rawer sound - In the middle of an excellent stretch of solo music - Jay's #4 - Weezer's underrated (at the time) masterpiece - Brian's #3 - Ween goes to Nashville - Serious musicianship behind silly songs - Jay's #3 - Afghan Whigs' Black Love was a cinematic concept album - Serious Quadrophenia feel on the ballads - Brian's #2 - Fountains of Wayne's debut was also underrated - Jay's #2 - Sloan bounced back from short-lived breakup to put together a brilliant album - Trading a Ween mix for a Sloan mix - Brian's #1 - Pinkerton was the first album Bria

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1996. I've also got music from King Tuff, Purling Hiss and Young Adults. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - Brian: Beck's Odelay was just outside my top 5 - New album's okay, but not great - Brian: Cake, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Wrens' Secaucus - The endless wait for the new Wrens album - Brian was supposed to play piano with the Wrens but got sick - Sticking up for Stone Temple Pilots' album - Jay: STP were equal opportunity ripoff artists - The '90s brought new wave of festivals: Lolla, Gathering of the Vibes, HORDE, Ozzfest - Jay: No desire to go to Bonnaroo or Coachella - Nothing better than seeing a band in a club - Jay: Dug albums from D Generation, Sebadoh, Luscious Jackson, Johnny Cash, Chixdiggit, Brainiac, GBV, Maxwell, Westerberg - Singing the praises of Live at Drew's - Brian: Belle and Sebastian, Bill Frisell - Frisell did the soundtrack to a

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1996. I've also got music from Whirr, Withered Hand and Super Medusa. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic - In '96, Jay was 28 going on 29 - Brian: 13 going on 14 - Grunge was fading, pop was back in a big way - Two versions of "The Macarena" were on top 100 singles chart - Brian: At the time, didn't feel like a pop year - Bush made an album with Steve Albini - Lots of unsuccessful followups: Ugly Kid Joe, Kriss Kross - Metallica's Load lived down to its name - Strange year for Van Halen: Twister soundtrack, followed by greatest hits album with two DLR songs - VH went through three singers in a matter of months - Michael Anthony, Everyman - We deconstructed VH III in eps 315 and 316 - Nickelback's first album came out in '96 - KISS reunited with original lineup - Hip hop went mainstream - New acts on the rise, like The Roots, Outkast, Wu Tang Clan - Roots

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion about society's obsession with celebrity. I've also got music from SW/MM/NG, Gold-Bears and Weekend. Show notes: - The Brits love them some Arctic Monkeys - Matt learns how to do Twitter - Getting followed by dead authors and weirdos - Desperate for celeb RTs - Positive Twitter interactions - Jay: Old friend has been writing about celebrities for a few decades now - PR jobs require a different mindset - Meeting your heroes can be problematic - Searching for Jagger - In the presence of Howard - Rock star deaths - Dying young does wonders for an artist's legacy - Brando's death isn't well remembered...by Matt, anyway - How dumb would we be if we had money?   Music: SW/MM/NG - Some Dreams Come True Gold-Bears - From Tallahassee to Gainesville Weekend - Hazel   Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The SW/MM/NG song is on the album Feel Not Bad on Old Flame Records. Download the song for

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion about society's obsession with celebrity. I've also got music from Creepers, Naomi Punk and Hooray for Earth. Show notes: - Scandal rags are still popular - Celebs and social media can lead to trouble - Now everyone's got a camera to catch your every mistake - Michael Richards was beloved until he screwed up - People will turn on celebs in an instant - The strange life of Tom Cruise, Entertainment Robot - Doing interview junkets must be mind-numbing - Supreme Court nominee was rejected in the '80s because of pot smoking - The media mastery of Bill Clinton - Public perception matters - Asking the wrong question - Jay: Meeting Stephen Colbert was pretty cool - Jay: Sat next to Jordan Knight of New Kids on the Block on a flight once - People will stand for hours just to get shown on The Today Show - Suing Naked Dating reality show for...being naked - To be continued   Music: Creepers - Stuck Naomi Punk - Television Man Hooray for Earth - Airs   Completel

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion about society's obsession with celebrity. I've also got music from The Wytches, Aan and Little Racer. Show notes: - Celebrity deaths - Jay: Robin Williams' death hit me hard - We don't have royalty so celebs fill that role - Getting rich doesn't necessarily equal happiness - Americans are surprisingly fascinated by the British royal family - Dealing with fans could get annoying after a while - Matt was at Boston ComiCon hyping his book - Check out his YA superhero novel The Indestructibles - Saw some minor celebs like Jason Momoa and John Barrowman - What do you say to an actor or musician you admire? - Matt met Susan Sarandon while working at Museum of Science - Jay: Met my favorite hockey player and I was a dork - Many movies filmed around here and people flock to watch - People will do anything to get onscreen - Worked with a guy who was on a short-lived reality show - Matt went to college with actor Charlie Day - The lameness of celeb interviews du