Completely Conspicuous

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss our uncertain world.

Show notes:

- Check out Matt's book Echo and the Sea

- Escapism is tempting

- Shopping by alcohol content

- Is ignorance bliss?

- Dumb and happy

- Cynical about politics at all levels

- Corruption is rampant

- Appearances count

- Politics have never been this divisive...or have they?

- Internet comments are the worst

- Social media enables morons to spout off

- Journalism burnout

- Shooting a guy in the face is quaint now

- Does uncertainty = depression?

- We haven't given up yet

- We solved nothing

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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss our uncertain world.

Show notes:

- Check out Matt's book Echo and the Sea

- Recorded before the Las Vegas incident and Trump's visit to PR

- Everything's uncertain

- Don't know what to expect from the news

- Trump: Savvy or master of chaos?

- Twitter as distraction

- Social media amps up the anxiety

- FB as the center of vitriol over every conceivable public issue

- The weather is slamming us with unpredictable events

- Selling the BS

- Clickbait's gonna get ya

- Much ado about kneeling

- Scandal recovery

- Controversy du jour

- Punisher fans can be scary

- Twitter roulette

- Ah, the threat of impending nuclear war

- The relentless news cycle

- The difficulty of just enjoying life

- To be continued

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.

This week, Brian Salvatore and I discuss more musical blindspots. Brian will learn about Iron Maiden while I dig into Frank Zappa.

Show notes:

- Brian listened to Number of the Beast, Jay listened to Apostrophe

- Brian: No surprises on Number of the Beast

- Familiar with half the album

- Liked the fast and heavy stuff, not the slower songs

- Jay: This was my introduction to Maiden

- The transition to more epic material

- Ozzy transcended the metal downturn of the '90s

- The power of album covers, good and bad

- The beginning of Maiden's prime

- Jay: Apostrophe was Zappa's 18th album

- "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" was a hit

- More straightahead rock than jazz fusion

- Memorable songs: Cosmik Debris, Uncle Remus, St. Alfonzo's Pancake Breakfast

- Zappa live albums are different experiences

- High-level playing countered by sometimes dumb lyrics

- Zappa pioneered sampling and recording techniques

- Next up: Sheik Yerbouti for Jay, Somewhere in Time for Brian

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. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

This week, Brian Salvatore and I discuss more musical blindspots. Brian will learn about Iron Maiden while I dig into Frank Zappa.

Show notes:

- Jay: Somewhat familiar with Zappa's hits and guitar work

- Intimidating catalog; more than 100 albums released

- Brian: Knew a few Maiden songs but never a fan

- Listened to 1980 self-titled debut

- Liked the faster songs and Paul Di'Anno's vocals

- Enjoyed punk-inspired energy and Steve Harris' bass

- Production sounds good

- Maiden's sound has evolved over the years

- Jay listened to Zappa's 1969 album Hot Rats

- Only one song with vocals, and those are by Captain Beefheart

- Ian Underwood is major contributor, playing all keyboards and horns

- Very different sound than Zappa had in mid- to late- '70s

- Next up: Apostrophe for Jay, The Number of the Beast for Brian

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. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Another installment of Driving With Kumar as I discuss my recent European vacation.

Show notes:

- Spent over two weeks in London, Paris, Belfast and Dublin

- Went to London in '96

- Less drinking on a family vacation

- Elderly passenger in distress

- Hotel room in London was tiny

- Walked nearly 100 miles the entire trip

- Ran along rivers in the four cities we visited

- Ate a lot of pub food

- London has a lot of great history and architecture

- Paris was beautiful

- Hit the Eiffel Tower on the first night

- Major military/police presence at tourist attractions

- Several terrorist incidents before we went, but nothing happened while we were there

- Only three days of sun the whole vacation

- More daylight

- Out of the U.S. news cycle

- Being aware of your surroundings

- Wary while running in Paris and Dublin

- Missed American beer

- Visited my brother in Belfast

- Explored Northern Ireland scenic sites

- Saw several Game of Thrones filming locations

- Went to the Guinness brewery

- Wifi was at a premium

- Good to be back home

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. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the year so far.

Show notes:

- Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ

- JB: The Orb released a remix EP

- JK: The prolific Ty Segall does it again

- JB: Vagabon brings fresh take to indie rock

- JK: Boss Hog's first album in 17 years

- JB: The evolving sound of Spoon

- JK: The consistently excellent New Pornographers back with another winner

- JB: Juana Molina returns with a strong, out there release

- JK: Mark Lanegan incorporates electronic music into his sound

- JB: Snowball II with a release that recalls The Lilys

- JK: Afghan Whigs release their best record since reuniting

- JB: Tommy Stinson brings back Bash & Pop with hooks galore

- JB: Slowdive's reunion album gives the people what they want

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. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the year so far.

Show notes:

- Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ

- Plenty of great rock music, but not on the charts

- It's all about playing live; rock radio exposure is nonexistent

- Billy Squier still gets the airplay

- Nobody's figured out how to make money from streaming music

- Get pumped for Husker Du bootleg box set

- More rock deaths: Berry, Cornell, Allman, Geils

- Rise in musical activism

- Albums we want to hear

- Breitling: Ride, Palehound, Wet Trident

- Kumar: Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett, Ted Leo, Buffalo Tom, Queens of the Stone Age, Deer Tick, LCD Soundsystem

- Bubbling under albums

- Breitling: Tara Jane O'Neil, Opin, The xx

- Lubec's coming to Boston in August

- Kumar: Chastity Belt, Bash and Pop, Cloud Nothings, White Reaper, At the Drive-In, Black Lips

- Our favorite albums so far

- JB: Spirit of the Beehive combines psych and shoegaze

- JK: Run the Jewels keeps on rolling

- Zach de la Rocha's hardcore past

- JB: Yr Poetry is a Johnny Foreigner side project

- JK: Japandroids bring the rock anthems

- JB: Different sound for Pile

- JK: More anthems from Los Campesinos!

- Cello vs. violin

- To be continued

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. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Part 3 of my conversation with Brian Salvatore about musical blindspots. Brian listens to another Sloan album while I check out a third record from Ween.

Show notes:

-Win-win situation

- Brian had Sloan's "The Double Cross" and Jay had Ween's "Quebec"

- Brian: My favorite of the three I listened to

- Beatles comparisons

- Brian will go back and check out rest of Sloan catalog

- No solo albums, but Murphy had TUNS project

- Jay: Really enjoyed Quebec

- Most cohesive of the three Ween albums Jay heard

- Dean and Gene were dealing with some issues

- "If You Could Save Yourself (You'd Save Us All)" is an epic album closer

- Next up: Jay will listen to Frank Zappa and Brian will check out Iron Maiden

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. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Part 2 of my conversation with Brian Salvatore about musical blindspots. Brian listens to another Sloan album while I check out a second record from Ween.

Show notes:

- Brian: Impressed with the progression of Sloan's sound

- Jay: Hadn't heard anything from The Mollusk previously

- Plenty of genre jumping

- Nautical theme

- Elements of prog, psych

- Brian: My favorite Ween record

- Ween varies playlists from show to show

- Brian: Between the Bridges is steeped in the '70s: Big Star, Sweet, T. Rex, Fleetwood Mac

- Interesting sequencing and flow

- Confusing the title with Between the Buttons

- Last Sloan album gave each band member a side's worth of songs

- Brian: Almost exclusively listen to albums in full

- Jay: Will listen to albums, but also use shuffle mode on iPod

- Brian: Also listen to a lot of music on Spotify

- Next up: Quebec for Jay, The Double Cross for Brian

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. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

This week, Brian Salvatore and I talk about delving into the catalog of bands we don't know much about. Brian will learn about Sloan while I dig into Ween.

Show notes:

- Each of us picks a favorite artist of the other that we don't know much about

- Jay listened to Ween's Chocolate and Cheese, Brian listened to Sloan's Twice Removed

- Both 1994 releases

- Both of us had heard a few songs before

- Jay: First heard Ween on Beavis and Butt-head, wrote them off as novelty act

- Brian: Twice Removed starts off strong, flows well

- Big power pop vibe

- The album that got Sloan dropped by Geffen

- Each band member writes and sings

- Were signed as part of the alternative explosion of the early '90s

- Self-release most of their albums now

- No indie rock radio stations anymore

- Jay: Chocolate and Cheese is great fun

- Wide range of styles, from funk to psychedelic to just weird

- Great guitar work from Dean Ween

- First Ween album done in a studio

- Walking the fine line between funny and stupid

- Phish has covered "Roses are Free"

- Ween plays jam band festivals sometimes

- Next up: The Mollusk for Jay, Between the Bridges for Brian

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. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.