Completely Conspicuous

Part 3 of my conversation with guests Mike Piantigini and Brad Searles as we discuss the new music we're looking forward to in 2013. I've also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from The XX, The Thermals, Redd Kross and !!!

Show notes:

- Recorded at Piantigini Place, Somerville, Mass.

- Mike: New Big Dipper album is great

- Bettie Serveert is back with a new release

- Brad: The Neats reunion is happening

- Shockingly, Brad's never been to SXSW

- SXSW has grown into a huge spectacle

- Thumbs up to The Sinclair

- Def Leppard's Vegas residency

- Bob Mould can't play acoustic shows quietly

- Sting's "Back to Bass" tour

- Bands going out on a bad note

- Guitar Hero/Rock Band games flamed out quickly

- Do not taunt the Zoo TV

- Brad and Mike reminisce about the Merge Records 20th anniv. show

- Wilco's Solid Sound Festival is always good

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:The XX - Reconsider

The Thermals - Born to Kill

Redd Kross - Stay Away from Downtown

!!! - Slyd

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

The XX song is on the album Coexist on XL Recordings. Download it for free at Chromewaves.

The Thermals song is on the album Desperate Ground on Saddle Creek. Download the song for free (in exchange for your email address) at Soundcloud.

The Redd Kross song is on the album Researching the Blues on Merge Records. Download the song for free at Chromewaves.

The !!! song is on the album Thri!!!er on Warp Records. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.

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 2 of my conversation with guests Mike Piantigini and Brad Searles as we discuss the new music we're looking forward to in 2013. I've also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Low, Thee Oh Sees, Mikal Cronin and Ken Stringfellow.

Show notes:

- Recorded at Piantigini Place, Somerville, Mass.

- The Who's Live at Hull sounds a lot like Live at Leeds

- Hearing bands play old favorites vs. new material

- Selling your music for commercial use

- Pete Townshend was a major solo artist in the '80s

- '80s recording techniques have not aged well

- Debating McCartney's solo work

- Kids these days...

- YouTube as music delivery mechanism

- Not just videos, but full albums and lyric videos

- The sad tale of Myspace

- Bandcamp's fan pages

- Brad: Psyched about new LP from Kid Canaveral

- The death of Lovejoy's, a great Austin dive bar

- Alamo Drafthouse rules

- Brad: Upcoming Mark Kozelek and Album Leaf collaboration

- Indie bands love covering the Misfits

- Bands keep touring without original members (Misfits, Dead Kennedys)

- Violent Femmes are reuniting with original lineup at Coachella

- Prog is coming back

- Brad dug Genesis in the Duke/Abacab era

- "Illegal Alien" is a horrible song

- Long-awaited albums that may never come: Dylan at the Movies, The Wrens

- Brad bets My Bloody Valentine won't release new album by time this airs (he loses bet)

- Mike can't stop talking about his trip to SXSW

- The power of chocolate chip cookies

- Labels are running out of classic rock to reissue, turning to alt-rock

- To be continued

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:Low - Just Make It Stop

Thee Oh Sees - Minotaur

Mikal Cronin - Apathy

Ken Stringfellow - Doesn't It Remind You of Something

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

The Low song is on the forthcoming album The Invisible Way on Sub Pop. Download it for free at SoundCloud.

The Thee Oh Sees song is on the forthcoming album Floating Coffin on the Castle Face label. Download the song for free at Stereogum.

The Mikal Cronin song is on his self-titled album on Trouble in Mind Records. Download the song for free from SoundSpike.

The Ken Stringfellow song is on the album Danzig in the Moonlight on Spark and Shine Records. Download the song for free at Chromewaves.

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 guests Mike Piantigini and Brad Searles as we discuss what we're looking forward to in 2013, musically speaking. I've also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from The Spinto Band, FIDLAR, King Tuff and The Maccabees.

Show notes:

- Recorded at Piantigini Place, Somerville, Mass.

- Breitling couldn't make it

- Brad: Unusual collaborations including New Medicants (Joe Pernice and Norman Blake), Kristen Hersh and Pond, Greg Dulli and Steve Kilbey

- Hersh is super busy

- Artists escape from the album-tour-album cycle

- Robert Pollard is a freak of nature

- Mike: Replacements cover EP to benefit Slim Dunlap

- Westerberg should tour again

- Axl Rose soldiers on...at his own pace

- Great artists aren't always great businessmen

- Mike watches "Nashville"

- Breitling's list includes the Come reunion

- Come reissue has live set that Brad had hosted on his blog

- Jay: Bowie's back

- New Marnie Stern album on the way

- To be continued

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:The Spinto Band - Shake It Off

FIDLAR - Got No Money

King Tuff - Keep On Movin'

The Maccabees - Go

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

The Spinto Band song is on the album Cool Cocoon on Spintonic Recordings. Download it for free at Spintonic.

The FIDLAR song is on the EP Don't Try on Mom and Pop Music. Download the song for free at Chromewaves.

The King Tuff song is on the self-titled album on Sub Pop. Download the song for free from Sub Pop.

The Maccabees song is on the album Given to the Wild on Fiction. Download the song for free at Chromewaves.

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 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss our angry society. I've also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from The Joy Formidable, Bad Religion, Screaming Females and Titus Andronicus.

Show notes:

- Recorded at Chez Phillion, Salem, Mass.

- Matt and his siblings got the angry gene

- Be nice to your crazy co-workers

- Copycat wackos

- Blaming the videogames and Hollywood

- Violent movies don't necessarily make you violent

- When you recognize the bank robber

- Matt's been shot at before

- It's unrealistic to think guns are going away

- Who's paranoid? Not us.

- Talk radio is another forum for angry people

- The 2nd Amendment

- Universal healthcare gets people angry

- "People aren't totally shitbags"

- High-powered hunting

- Matt's advocating for an asteroid to wipe us out

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:The Joy Formidable - Wolf's Law

Bad Religion - True North

Screaming Females - Poison Arrow

Titus Andronicus - Upon Viewing Oregon's Landscape with the Flood of Detritus

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

The Joy Formidable song is on the album Wolf's Law on Atlantic. Download it for free at Chromewaves.

The Bad Religion song is on the band's new album True North on Epitaph. Download the song for free at Chromewaves.

The Screaming Females song is on the cassette-only album Chalk Tape on Don Giovanni. Download the song for free from Stereogum.

The Titus Andronicus song is on the album Local Business on XL Recordings. 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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss anger management. I've also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Mudhoney, Camper Van Beethoven, Guided By Voices and Lovestreams.

Show notes:

- Recorded at Chez Phillion, Salem, Mass.

- The joys of home ownership

- We've talked in the past about profanity and politics, which both tie in to anger

- Many forums available for people to vent anger

- Dealing with crazy co-workers

- Matt's an angry man at times

- Running can be therapeutic...or not

- Getting behind the wheel instantly amplifies anger level

- Road rage is scary

- Are we an angrier society than we used to be?

- Like driving a car, social media makes you a lot braver

- Online comments can be particularly vicious

- Putting up with conflicting opinions on Facebook

- The gun debate has stoked anger on both sides

- Matt has a "Spanish face"

- Matt: The rest of the world sees Americans as "overweight, angry and armed"

- Some friends love to troll "the other side" online

- Seagull Facebook: Fly in, make a bunch of noise, crap on everything and fly away

- Anger is stoked at sporting events

- Alcohol doesn't help

- Giants fan beaten at Dodgers Stadium

- Matt wrecked his shoulder venting on a punching bag

- To be continued

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:Mudhoney - The Only Son of the Widow of Nain

Camper Van Beethoven - Someday Our Love Will Sell Us Out

Guided By Voices - She Lives in an Airport

Lovestreams - Shock Corridor

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

The Mudhoney song is on the forthcoming album Vanishing Point on Sub Pop. Download it for free (in exchange for your email address) at SubPop.com.

The Camper Van Beethoven song is on the band's new album La Costa Perdida on 429 Records. Download the song for free at Soundcloud.

The Guided By Voices song is on the self-released album The Bears for Lunch. Download the song for free from Soundcloud.

The Lovestreams song is available for free download from the Lovestreams Tumblr.

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, I'm joined by guest Brian Lewandowski as he discusses navigating the Boston standup comedy scene. I've also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Iceage, Chelsea Light Moving, Pere Ubu and The Figgs.

Show notes:

- Brian's back doing standup for the last few months

- Did it in the early '90s

- Started working townie bars

- Just stopped and began doing humor writing

- Did an early humor blog that he turned into a self-published book

- Recently decided to get back into comedy

- In college, ran the radio station with Ronnie James Dio's son

- Early heroes were Buddy Hackett, Woody Allen, Steve Martin

- Most comedians are loners

- Took comedy class; one week, Janeane Garofalo was guest instructor

- Hosts comedy nights now

- Dealing with cats in the audience

- Storytelling with embellishments

- Brian interviewed Marc Maron for his blog in the '90s

- The genius of SCTV

- Passing on your sense of humor to your kids

- Brian worked at AMC and Bravo in their early days

- "The Spiteful Salad"

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:Iceage - Coalition

Chelsea Light Moving - Empires of Time

Pere Ubu - Free White

The Figgs - Brain Be Gone

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

The Iceage song is on the album You're Nothing on Matador Records. Download it for free at Pitchfork.

The Chelsea Light Moving song is on the band's self-titled album on Matador Records. Download the song for free at MatadorRecords.com.

The Pere Ubu song is on the album Lady from Shanghai on Fire Records. Download the song for free from Soundcloud.

The Figgs song is on the album The Day Gravity Stopped. Download the song (in exchange for your email address) for free at Noisetrade.

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 3 of my conversation with guests Jay Breitling and Mike Piantigini as we review our favorite music of 2012. I've also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Divine Fits, Golden Gurls, Karl Hendricks Trio, Mark Lanegan Band and Paul Westerberg.

Show notes:

- Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ

- Breitling's #3 album of 2012

- Piantigini and Kumar agree on #3

- Stripped down songs

- JB's #2

- Golden Gurls: No relation to Bea Arthur

- MP's #2

- Plenty of Teenage Fanclub activity

- Imagining Breitling as a goth kid

- JK's #2

- The problem with doing covers

- JB's #1

- Piantigini's band Lump once opened for Karl Hendricks Trio

- Metallica owns their own masters

- Bands are now re-recording their classic tracks

- MP's #1 (sort of)

- New Big Dipper album out

- JK's #1

- JB's favorite song of the year

- MP's favorite song

- Westerberg releases material as he records it

- Jason Everman got around

- JK's favorite song

- Breitling's N SYNC sighting

- Trumped by Rock's Destiny's Child sighting

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:Divine Fits - Civilian Stripes

Golden Gurls - I Can See the City

Karl Hendricks Trio - The Men's Room at the Airport

Mark Lanegan Band - The Gravedigger's Song

Paul Westerberg - My Road Now

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

The Divine Fits song is on the album A Thing Called Divine Fits on Merge Records. Download it for free at Epitonic.

The Golden Gurls song is on the self-released album Typo Magic. Download the entire album for free at Bandcamp.

The Karl Hendricks Trio song is on the album The Adult Section on Comedy Minus One Records. Download the song for free from Comedy Minus One.

The Mark Lanegan Band song is on the album Blues Funeral on 4AD. Download the song for free at Epitonic.

The Paul Westerberg song was self-released and is available for free download from Stereogum.

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 2 of my conversation with guests Jay Breitling and Mike Piantigini as we review our favorite music of 2012. I've also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Hospitality, Mission of Burma, METZ, Johnny Foreigner and A.C. Newman.

Show notes:

- Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ

- Breitling's #9 album of 2012

- Piantigini's #9

- The long, strange journey of Drivin N' Cryin

- Kumar's #9

- JB's #8

- MP's #8

- Lou Barlow's talkative

- JK's #8

- JB's #7

- The Breeders are reuniting

- MP's #7

- JK's #7

- Nirvana comparisons abound

- JB's #6

- The Clash meets Big Country

- MP's #6

- JK's #6

- JB's #5

- MP's #5

- JK's #5

- JB's #4

- Hipsters love the cassettes

- In praise of VH's Diver Down

- DLR's ill-fated radio show

- MP's #4

- Prolific Canadian geniuses rule

- JK's #4

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:Hospitality - Betty Wang

Mission of Burma - Second Television

METZ - Wet Blanket

Johnny Foreigner - 3 Hearts

A.C. Newman - Encyclopedia of Classic Takedowns

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

The Hospitality song is on the band's self-titled album on Merge Records. Download the song for free at Epitonic.

The Mission of Burma song is on the album Unsound on Fire Records. Download the song for free at Epitonic.

The METZ song is on the band's self-titled album on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at Sub Pop.

The Johnny Foreigner song is on the EP Names. Download the song for free at Bandcamp.

The A.C. Newman song is on the album Shut Down the Streets on Matador Records. Download the song for free at MatadorRecords.com.

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 guests Jay Breitling and Mike Piantigini as we review our favorite music of 2012. I've also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Sloan, Infinity Girl and Guided By Voices.

Show notes:

- Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ

- Brought to you (not really) by Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale

- MP: Saw a lot of older bands this year

- JK: First full album show I saw was Cheap Trick doing "In Color" in '97

- Chloe B. talks about Rudolph

- JB: Most of my favorite albums this year were self-released

- The 12/12/12 benefit had some good performances, especially by The Who

- MP: The Who's Quadrophenia concert was great

- The McCartney-"Nirvana" song was decent

- Praising the Low Times podcast

- JK: "I Want My MTV" is an excellent book

- MP: Favorite live shows included Scud Mountain Boys, New Multitudes, Archers of Loaf

- MP: Also reunions of Small Factory, Human Sexual Response, Fuzzy

- JB: Fave live shows were Johnny Foreigner, Infinity Girl, Autochrome, Midriff Records 10th Anniversary show

- JK: Fave live shows included Afghan Whigs, Bob Mould, Mark Lanegan, Matthew Sweet, Sloan

- The glory days of getting free stuff at college radio stations

- Breitling's #10 album of 2012

- Piantigini's #10

- Kumar's #10

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:Sloan - Merry Xmas Everybody

Infinity Girl - Taking Nothing

Guided By Voices - Class Clown Spots a UFO

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

The Sloan song is available for free download (in return for your email address) from Topspin.

The Infinity Girl song is on the EP Just Like Lovers, which is available for free download at Bandcamp.

The Guided By Voices song is on the album Class Clown Spots a UFO on Guided By Voices/Fire Records. Download the song for free at Stereogum.

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 2 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we climb aboard and dissect an episode of The Love Boat. I've also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Pile and They Might Be Giants.

Show notes:

- Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ

- Inspired by MST3K and Rifftrax, we're commenting while watching video

- Watch the episode along with us at the CompCon YouTube channel

- Jay: Used to watch Love Boat and Fantasy Island back to back

- Both shows featured cameos from so-called stars

- Episode 23 from season 1, 1978

- Featured Paul Williams, Michele Lee, Marcia Wallace

- Gopher went on to be a Congressman

- Romantic hijinks ensue each week

- Cartoonish male chauvinism

- Let the wacky subplots begin

- Love American Style was the predecessor to The Love Boat

- Booked to the gunnels

- The mysterious sexual allure of Bernie Kopell

- Julie just wants to get some

- The show's like bad improv

- Marcia Wallace is comic relief

- Dick Van Patten played Doc in the Love Boat pilot

- Capt. Stubing is the cruise ship Pepe Le Pew

- The third act results in partner switching

- Paul Williams gets the hot chick

- Gopher nailed Mrs. Krabappel

- Bonehead of the Week

Music:Pile - Prom Song

They Might Be Giants - Call You Mom

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

The Pile song is on the album Dripping. Download it for free on Bandcamp.

The They Might Be Giants song is on the album Nanobots on Idlewild Recordings. Download it for free at Soundcloud.

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.