Completely Conspicuous

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we dissect a classic mid-1970s song from a Canadian music legend. I've also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Sloan and Stars. Show notes: - Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ - Dissecting Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" - Song's a total downer, no pun intended - Based on a true life incident in 1975 - Sounds like Lightfoot put the Wikipedia entry to music - Checking out the early '70s Canadian band Lighthouse - Sounds like the Guess Who or Blood, Sweat and Tears - Lightfoot's "Sundown" is a much better song - Ric: A little like Velvet Underground's "Loaded" - Frank Chacksfield, the king of elevator music - Making slow '70s songs even slower - Pat Boone and Paul Anka later made entire albums covering hard rock songs - Anne Murray dominated Canadian radio in the '70s - Canadian content rule meant a third of music on the radio had to be Canadian - A random song from The Randoms to wash the MOR crap away - Teenage Head was an O

Part 2 of my conversation with guest James Gralian about the post-lockout NHL. I've also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from The Hush Now, Guided By Voices, Iceage and Game Theory. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - NHL surprises this season include talented teams struggling: Detroit, Philly, Nashville, Tampa - Philadelphia's long stretch of bad goaltending - Gotta love Ilya Bryzgalov - Toronto-Detroit will be in Winter Classic next year - Chicago's been the best team in the league by far - The long, strange journey of Ray Emery - Jay: Making the case for the Leafs - Pittsburgh messes with success, keeps winning - Realignment kicks in next season - Playoff hockey is the best - James picks a team to root for when the Avs don't make it - Jay: Just happy to see Leafs in playoffs - Players rarely stay on same team for entire career - Rooting for dirty teams - NHL has come back strong from lockout - Fighting in hockey at most levels - Bonehead of the Week Music:The Hush Now - Marathon Monday Guide

Part 1 of my conversation with guest James Gralian about the post-lockout NHL. I've also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Beck, Buffalo Tom, Dinosaur Jr. and Titus Andronicus. Show notes: - Recorded last weekend via Skype - Last spoke in October before NHL lockout began - Season relaunched in mid-January and is wrapping up in next few weeks - Definitely some bitterness when the NHL came back - James' many online efforts - JG: Playing hockey has deepened my appreciation for the sport - NHL teams sign plenty of undrafted college players - Georges Vezina was known as the Chicoutimi Cucumber - Jack Falla wrote some great hockey books - JK: I was mad at both sides after the lockout - Ended up getting satellite package and following the Leafs anyway - Greed is a given in pro sports - The Leafs fired their GM right before season started - Now they're on the verge of making playoffs for first time in 9 years - JK remembers the Leafs' 1993 playoff run - JK: Not a fan of the shootout - Rough year for

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion about our narcissistic society. I've also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Thee Oh Sees, Fidlar, The Kills and Drive Like Jehu. Show notes: - Anybody can have a show or self-publish a book - Everybody's a photojournalist now - Online commenters are the worst - Talk radio callers are moving online - Onion AV Club comment sections can be great - Matt: Arguing on the Internet makes everyone dumber - So easy to hit "send" - Begging for RTs from celebs on Twitter is pathetic - The ridiculousness of Google Glass - How much information do you really need? - Can you watch a movie or TV show without checking your phone? - Staying off social media to avoid spoilers - The need to live tweet TV shows - The moviegoing experience sucks - Matt can go entire days without dealing with a live human - Bonehead of the Week Music:Thee Oh Sees - Toe Cutter - Thumb Buster Fidlar - Gimme Something The Kills - Future Starts Slow Drive Like Jehu - Caress Completely C

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion about our narcissistic society. I've also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from JEFF the Brotherhood, Le Butcherettes, Sleater-Kinney and Ty Segall. Show notes: - Narcissism is on the rise - Recent study looks at the Internet "narcissism epidemic" - We are part of the problem - We're more likely to take photos of injustice than actually help out - Matt works from home, posts on Facebook to get social interaction - Some people need to post status updates of their every move - Gay marriage debate has been ubiquitous on social media - Linked In endorsements: What's the point? - Matt's creepy clown photo - Creating a false impression through upbeat self-promotion - Selfies are everywhere - People will do anything to get on TV - Reality TV has never been more popular - MySpace was a mess - Googling yourself is a common activity - Matt's IMDB page - To be continued - Bonehead of the Week Music:JEFF the Brotherhood - Shredder Le Butcherettes - Henry Don'

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we wrap up the CompCon Awards. I've also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Magnolia Electric Co., Dinosaur Jr., Kurt Vile and Dump. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Worst Album by Best Band - Mid-'90s Van Halen was really bad - George Harrison had some questionable releases in early '80s - The Clash's Cut the Crap was like a parody of the band - Best Album by Worst Band - The Strokes: One-hit-album wonder? - Jay: Give the band Live credit for somehow having a career - Best Non-Guitar Solo - Jay: Looked at instruments other than drums - Plenty of great bass solos over the years - Best Live Album - Stones played faster on Get Yer Ya-Ya's Out - J. Geils Band were an amazing live act - Sore Thumb Award for song that doesn't fit on album it's on - What's the deal with skits on hip-hop albums? - Best Moustache in Rock - Jeff "Skunk" Baxter had a classic 'stache - Zappa was defined by his 'stache - Bonehead of the Week Music:Magnolia Electric

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we continue handing out the CompCon Awards. I've also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Wire, Mikal Cronin, Parquet Courts and Ten Kens. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Best Concept Album - Brian: Not a fan of concept albums - Jay: Afghan Whigs' Black Love is an underrated classic - Townshend's book is a good read - Best Album That Deviates From Band's Sound - Brian: Prefers later Pavement to earlier stuff - Tin Machine was welcome change after substandard Bowie albums - Praising (or not hating) R.E.M.'s Monster - Paul's Boutique was a masterpiece of sampling - Best Song by Band Member Who Wasn't Main Songwriter - Brian: George Harrison rules - Best Rhythm Guitarist - Post classic rock era, line between rhythm and lead has blurred - Lee Ving and Dave Mustaine teamed up - Bill Ward: Sabbath should give the drummer some - Best Album Packaging - Vinyl was the heyday of great packaging - Zep's In Through the Out Door had several covers - Mu

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we present the first edition of the CompCon Awards. I've also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Mudhoney, Frightened Rabbit, Marnie Stern and Telekinesis. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype while the Oscars telecast was on - Jay: Picking top albums of the 1970s was tough - The CompCon Awards are an alternative to the Grammys looking at different categories - First category: Best Band Name - Brian saw Trail of Dead back in the day - Best Sophomore Album - Bands like The Strokes have struggled to follow up strong debut - Nirvana's success both killed and launched a lot of terrible bands - Dave Grohl backlash - Pondering Weezer's decline - Graham Maby rules - Best Side 1 - Harking back to the heyday of vinyl - First Van Halen album had killer side 1 and 2 - Bowie had an incredible run of albums in the '70s - Best Side 2 - Other outstanding album sides - The Chili Peppers haven't aged well - To be continued - Bonehead of the Week Music:Mudhoney -

Part 2 of my conversation with guests Ric Dube and Jay Breitling as we dissect a classic episode of the 1970s sitcom What's Happening. I've also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Patrick Stickles and Me & Stupid. Show notes: - Recorded at More Lost Time world HQ; check out the 50th episode of MLT (with cameos from Mr. Breitling and myself) - Inspired by MST3K and Rifftrax, we're commenting while watching video - Watch the episode along with us at the CompCon YouTube channel - Breitling joins the fray - Haywood Nelson was the inspiration for indie rock band Haywood - JB: The satin jacket died with Rainbow's "All Night Long" video (featuring Graham Bonnet on vocals, not Joe Lynn Turner) - Enter Big Al Dunbar - Rerun wore his pants old-man high - The original discomfort comedy - Were the Doobies big anti-bootleg advocates? - Jeff "Skunk" Baxter is a defense industry consultant now - Baxter's wearing a Warner Bros. jersey - Rocking out while seated - Flaming gongs kick

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Ric Dube as we dissect a classic episode of the 1970s sitcom What's Happening. I've also got the Bonehead of the Week and music from They Might Be Giants and The Thalia Zedek Band. 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 - What's Happening!! had all the sitcom archetypes - Formula elements at play - This was a Very Special Episode - No continuity in the '70s on TV shows - The evils of bootlegging - Check out CompCon episodes 218 and 219 about bootlegs - Ric: Wonder if there's a bootleg of the Doobies' performance in this show - Show inspired by the movie Cooley High - Ric's a fan of Dee - Did inner city kids really listen to the Doobie Brothers? - Jay: I rocked the velour shirts back in the day - Rerun gets roped into the bootlegging world - All the parodies have been parodied now - Ric's heard the "Which Doobie You Be?" line a

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

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 (Mi

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 -

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

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

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" - Bonehe

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 t

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 iTune

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 Annivers

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 Pe