Completely Conspicuous

This week, it's my conversation with Bryan Hamill about how music discovery has evolved over the years. Show notes: - Recorded at a noisy pub in Cambridge, Mass. - Check out Bryan's blog The Ash Gray Proclamation - Pre-gaming prior to Swervedriver show - Bryan used to find out about music from radio (WBCN, WFNX) and magazines - The inevitable teenage metal phase - Older brother introduced him to bands like the Neighborhoods and the Replacements - Record reviews and tips from friends were important - Boston rock scene was pivotal, then and now - Worked in radio for several years - Started blog 9 years ago to champion indie rock scene - Scours Soundcloud, Twitter, Spotify for new music - Major labels are less important now - Nobody plays indie rock on radio other than college stations - Bands make money through playing shows and selling merch - Records sales are no longer a factor - Tips from publicists and bands - Bands don't have to compromise because chances of success are sligh

Part 2 of my conversation with author Greg Renoff about his upcoming book on the early days of Van Halen. Show notes: - Check out Greg's Van Halen Rising page - Book is out Oct. 1 - Getting blurbs, reviews, photo permissions - Publisher ECW Press released Neil Peart's books - Book will feature previously unpublished photos - Backyard parties were how the band grew - New VH tour on the way - Greg: Had an inkling it would happen - Roth's solo career - Greg: Became a VH fan because of "Jump" - Roth stopped focusing on vocals after first few years - New live album's shaky vocals - Modern production techniques - Is there a new studio album on the way? - Next up for Greg: Possible work on unnamed artist's autobiography - VH has a passionate fan base - Afterword talks of the band's legacy   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 Bre

Part 1 of my conversation with author Greg Renoff about his upcoming book about the early days of Van Halen. Show notes: - Check out Greg's Van Halen Rising page - Book is out Oct. 1 - Greg's a college professor - Fan of arena rock and guitar as a kid - In grad school, wrote his disseration and a book about a traveling circus - Many parallels to a rock tour - Wanted to learn more about VH's beginnings - Interviewed people around the scene starting in 2009 - Eventually talked to Michael Anthony, Ted Templeman, Donn Landee - Started at the bottom and worked up - Dug into the myths around VH's major label signing - Eddie's beginnings on guitar - VH hit a lot of dead ends along the way - The first big tour really made the band - The fine art of choosing opening acts - Getting a book publisher isn't easy - Putting together the book proposal - Finished writing in summer 2014 - To be continued   Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a

The latest installment of Driving with Kumar as I discuss the joys and travails of having pets. Show notes: - Driving to Ric Dube's to record for our web series Trust Fund Challenge - We got a puppy almost two years ago - As a kid in Canada, we got a German Shepherd puppy but she got too big for us and was adopted by someone else - Got a smaller dog a year later - Sammy moved with us to Washington state and New Hampshire - We also got a black lab puppy, Caesar - Tough junior prom was followed by bad news the next day - Fighting off marauding pit bulls - Sammy lived for another eight years - I lived with a girlfriend who had a cat - Didn't have any pets for the next 20 years - New puppy, Charlie, lived downstairs for nine months before moving up with us - The Poopsplosion - A Very Charlie Christmas, aka Tree Scares Dog - Getting drenched on walks - Hard to work from home with Charlie here - He sometimes snaps at us if he's cranky   Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTune

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1993. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's radio show Unsolicited Mixtape - Brian's #3 - Frank Black's first solo effort was a sign of greatness to come - Some songs were written for the Pixies - Jay's #3 - PJ Harvey's blistering second album - Brian's #2 - A "pretty perfect album" from the Lemonheads - Reality Bites really does bite - Jay's #2 and Brian's #1 - Nirvana followed up Nevermind with a raw, seething album - Easy to read a lot into Cobain's state of mind at the time - Jay's #1 - Jay's intro to the Afghan Whigs - Already differentiating themselves from their peers - Dulli's lyrics were really in your face - Whither Rick McCollum? - Next up: 1982   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 abo

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1993. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's radio show Unsolicited Mixtape - Brian saw his first concert in '93, Paul McCartney - Sir Paul dropped f-bombs galore on "Big Boys Bickering" - Billy Joel hasn't released a new album since '93 - Jay: Saw Dino Jr., Mudhoney, Nirvana, Tragically Hip, Living Colour, Urge Overkill - Saw Lollapalooza '93 in Rhode Island with Primus, Alice in Chains, Fishbone - Jay: Became aware that 8-year-olds liked the same music I did - Brian helped out at a record store as an 11-year-old - Flaming Lips showed up on Beverly Hills 90210 - Jay: Saw Buffalo Tom on MTV's 120 Minutes - Matthew Sweet's Altered Beast was underrated and depressing - Brian: Got into Tribe Called Quest years later - Morphine had a completely different sound - Cracker had a quintessential '90s song in "Low" - Radiohead's big rock debut - Brian's #5 - Primus hit #7 on the charts with P

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1993. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Check out Brian's radio show Unsolicited Mixtape - In'93, Brian was 10, Jay was 25 - First year Brian was interested in pop culture - Jay was into the first wave of grunge - Brian's failsafe plan involving an Adam Sandler tape - SNL40 was strange because of the live audience of celebs - '93 was a big year for R&B and mainstream hip hop - Pharrell's guest verse on "Rump Shaker" - Not much rock on the year-end Hot 100 - Whoomp and Whoot There It Is - Nary a trace of hair metal to be found anywhere - Formed: At the Drive-In, Backstreet Boys, Wilco, Ben Folds Five, Spoon, Korn - Broke up: Echo and the Bunnymen, New Order, Stryper, Television, Triumph, Venom - Puzzling Rock Hall picks - In '93, Prince changed his name to a symbol - Bill Wyman's adventures in wedded bliss - Michael Jackson's legal troubles - Shaq Diesel and Coverdale-Page made appearances - T

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss friendship in the digital age. Show notes: - Check out Matt's new book, The Indestructibles: Breakout - Matt: I will sell out tomorrow - Matt founded Home For Wayward Geeks to rant about superheroes - A lack of institutional rock knowledge - Sitting next to Jordan Knight on a plane - Friends who overshare online about kids, pets, butts - Matt: I miss hanging out with friends - It's work to get people together - Two levels of interaction - Social media ghosts - Online relationships can be as real as physical ones for some - You'll exist online long after your death - The Digital Cleaner   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 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss friendship in the digital age. I've also got music from Colleen Green, Radical Dads and Boom Said Thunder. Show notes: - Check out Matt's new book, The Indestructibles: Breakout - Matt stopped working in offices several years ago - Used to being alone all day - Going out with friends tends to slow down as you settle down - Less likely to make the effort to organize group outings - House parties can be fun - Young people like Tinder - Matt used OK Cupid - Photos can be deceiving - Blind dates can be rough - When older parents start texting - Mom Guilt never ends - Matt came back to the U.S. because of family - Jay was ready to move far away after college...and didn't - Matt: Watching Dancing With the Stars is a family tradition - "The Fighter" was like "National Geographic: Boston" - To be continued   Music: Colleen Green - TV Radical Dads - Don't Go Boom Said Thunder - Summer Twin   Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes p

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