Tue, 1 February 2022
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1989. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom during a blizzard - In '89, Jay turned 22 and graduated from college, Phil turned 20 - Early seeds of Seattle and Manchester sound - GNR became huge - Milli Vanilli was enjoying some short-lived success -Big year for pop - Phil's non-top 5 albums: Bob Mould, The Cure, B-52s, Stone Roses, The Ocean Blue, XTC, De La Soul, Replacements, Joe Jackson, Galaxie 500, Fugazi, RHCP, Lenny Kravitz, Tragically Hip, Indigo Girls, Bonnie Raitt, Tin Machine, Lou Reed, Dylan, McCartney, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Stones, Grateful Dead - George Jefferson, prog fan - Phil saw Stones, Who, McCartney, the Dead, the Cure, B-52s; Jay saw R.E.M., Elvis Costello - Jay: Faith No More, Soundgarden, Elvis Costello, Cult, Mudhoney, Buffalo Tom, Nine Inch Nails - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. 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. |
Tue, 11 January 2022
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1988. Show notes: - Recorded while driving home from Trillium Brewing in Canton, Mass. - Phil's #5: Sonic Youth focuses their sound - Jay's #5: J. Mascis and Dino Jr. get more melodic while still delivering a heavy sound - Phil's #4: U2's first controversial album still provides a lot of memorable moments, overshadowed by the movie - Jay's #4 and Phil's #3: Living Colour's debut showed off their many talents - Jay's #3: Debut from Toronto's The Pursuit of Happiness combined hard rock, neurotic singer and girl group backing vocals - Phil's #2: R.E.M.'s last album before they became superstars - Jay's #2: Public Enemy at the peak of their powers - Phil's and Jay's #1: Los Pixies creates the template for the '90s alt-rock explosion - Favorite songs: "Gigantic" (Phil), "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" (Jay) Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. 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. |
Mon, 3 January 2022
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1988. Show notes: - Recorded while driving to Trillium Brewing in Canton, Mass. - In 1988, Jay turned 21 and Phil turned 19 - Jay: 21st birthday was pretty rough - Phil tells tales of good decision-making - Jay's long, strange trip to the Monsters of Rock show: Long drive, short show - Big year for pop artists on the charts - Phil's Whitesnake story - Big soundtracks: Cocktail, Dirty Dancing - Phil's non-top 5 albums: Keith Richards, Mudhoney, Jerry Harrison, Jane's Addiction, Cowboy Junkies, Brian Wilson, Smithereens, Smiths, Pogues, Waterboys, Dinosaur Jr., Tracy Chapman, Public Enemy, Traveling Wilburys - Jay's non-top 5s: Fishbone, Bobby Brown, Iron Maiden, Robert Plant, The Church, Metallica - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. 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. |
Tue, 21 December 2021
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our top albums of 2021. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ - On to the top 10 - Breitling's #10: The Reds, Pinks and Purples with an ephemeral pop release on Slumberland - Kumar's #10: Raw collection of rippers from Juliana Hatfield - Breitling's #9 and Kumar's #8: Instant classic from Ovlov - Kumar's #9: IDLES shifts gears with some stylistic changes - Breitling's #8: Chime School with a quality jangle-rock album - Breitling's #7: More Slumberland goodness from the Umbrellas - Kumar's #7: St. Vincent digs into a late '70s vibe - Breitling's #6: Toronto's Ducks Ltd. with an excellent Feelies-esque record - Kumar's #5: Baltimore hardcore screamers Turnstile explores different sounds - Breitling's #4 and Kumar's #2: Dino Jr. continues to kick ass - Kumar's #4: Kiwi Jr. is another Toronto act working the '90s slacker rock vibe - Breitling's #3: MBV-esque shoegaze from Fleeting Joys - Kumar's #3: Parquet Courts moves into danceable Talking Heads territory - Breitling's #2 and Kumar's #6: The War on Drugs fully embraces a mid-80s FM radio sound - Breitling's #1: Blue Ocean with a shoegaze/post punk compilation of two EPs - Kumar's #1 and Breitling's #5: More Bay Area-based slack-rock awesomeness with Pardoner Completely Conspicuous is available through the Apple Podcasts 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. |
Mon, 13 December 2021
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of 2021. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ - Fully boostered podcast - We've been to concerts - Some shows have been postponed or canceled - Physical media is disappearing - Vinyl shortage - We're still doing our Internet radio shows (Parcheesi Radio, Stuck In Thee Garage) - Tiktok is becoming a way to break music - What the f are NFTs? - Our favorite music, starting with the ones that didn't make our top 5 - Breitling: Mogwai, Lilys reissue, Fievel Is Glauque, Spirit of the Beehive - Kumar: Ducks Ltd., Courtney Barnett, Jeff Rosenstock, Black Country New Road, Dry Cleaning, Fiddlehead - Breitling: Stomp Talk Modstone, Floating Points/Pharoah Sanders/London Sympathy Orchestra, Palberta, Kiwi Jr., Colleen, Fog Lake - Kumar: Chubby and the Nuts, Mdou Moctar, The Bevis Frond, Sleaford Mods, Colleen Green, TV Priest, Bachelor, Shame - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through the Apple Podcasts 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. |
Tue, 2 November 2021
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss rock stars and retirement. Show notes: - Recorded recently via Skype - Will we see KISS JR.? - Will bands bring in replacements after the original members are all retired/dead? - Plenty of good cover bands out there who can probably outperform the originals - The "officially licensed cover band" - Hologram concerts are still trying to get off the ground - Fan base is also getting older - The big money these days is in hip hop, pop and country - Meanwhile, revered indie artists like Lou Barlow are playing living room/backyard shows - Who's going to stadium shows? - We don't like large venues - Bands like VH should release archival live shows like Neil Young - Sammy Hagar's living the good life - Bands that are outstaying their welcome - When bands you like are disappointing - Checking out Canadian classic rock radio - Nobody in 1991 would have predicted Dave Grohl would be the face of rock n' roll 30 years later - Will rock ever make a comeback? - Might end up like jazz, blues, bluegrass - Lots of interesting new rock coming out all the time - Commercial rock radio is pointless - It's easy to release albums, but tough to find an audience - Brian: Spotify's new music algorithm works well - Singers have a tougher time replicating their heyday - Iggy Pop has aged gracefully, believe it or not - We should take better care of artists - So hard to make a living as a musician these days - Jay: As a journalism major, I feel their pain - The band Sloan has carved out a nice niche in Canada Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. 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. |
Tue, 26 October 2021
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss rock stars and retirement. Show notes: - Recorded recently via Skype - David Lee Roth recently announced his retirement - Should more aging rock stars retire? - Robert Plant isn't trying to be the Golden God anymore - Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford can still deliver high-energy metal performances - Shut it down, Clapton - Ozzy's been doing retirement tours for 30 years - KISS keeps playing "final" tours - DLR actually predicted his retirement in a 1991 video - Jay: Never saw Dave play with VH - VH changed the hard rock game - Dave and Sammy are different kinds of clowns - Dave only did a few solo albums after 1991 - DLR's image radically changed as his looks did - Bands keep touring into their 70s and 80s - Grant Hart looked pretty rough toward the end of his life, but kept touring - Similar to athletes who don't know when to hang it up - Ringo Starr has the right idea: Let the young guys do the heavy lifting - Ozzy and Sharon have issues with writing credits - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. 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. |
Wed, 13 October 2021
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1987. Show notes: - Recorded in the backyard of CompCon HQ - Jay's non-top 5 albums: Terence Trent D'Arby, Pixies, The Cure, Prince (The Black Album), Sonic Youth, Def Leppard, Guns N' Roses - It's easier to listen to bro-country or classic rock than look for new music these days - Phil's #5: GNR's debut took a few years to really take off - Jay's #5: The Cult goes for a hard rock sound - Jay's #4 and Phil's #1: U2 with a massive mainstream breakthrough - Phil's #3: The Cure with a killer double album - Jay's #3: R.E.M.'s last album on IRS, embracing a big rock sound - Phil's #2: The Grateful Dead go mainstream - Jay's #2: The Replacements' last great album - Jay's #1 and Phil's #4: Prince tries out many styles, makes social commentary - Favorite songs: "One Tree Hill" (Phil), "Sign O' the Times" (Jay) Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. 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.
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Tue, 5 October 2021
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1987. Show notes: - Recorded in the backyard of CompCon HQ - In '87, Phil was 17 going on 18, Jay was 19 going on 20 - The Bangles had the #1 single of the year with "Walk Like An Egyptian" - Another big year for movie soundtracks - A lot of female pop artists hit big - Jay: Concerts I saw included Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Motley Crue, Jon Butcher Axis and U2 - Phil: Saw INXS, U2 twice, Sting, Smithereens - Bruce Willis released an album - Starship churns out the crap - Many bands changed their sound in the '80s to stay "relevant" - Phil's non-top 5 albums: INXS, Hoodoo Gurus, the Smiths, Husker Du, Dinosaur Jr., Jane's Addiction, Midnight Oil, 10,000 Maniacs, George Harrison, Sinead O'Connor, Bowie, The Tragically Hip - The meteoric rise and quick decline of INXS - That time Husker Du went on the Joan Rivers Show - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. 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. |
Tue, 21 September 2021
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1986. Show notes: - Recorded in the backyard of CompCon HQ - Phil's #5: Solid effort from the Pretenders, which was basically just Chrissie Hynde at this point - Jay's #5: Metallica hits their high point - Neighborhood dogs start chiming in - Phil is a big fan of Ratt n' Roll - Phil's #4: The debut of the Van Hagar era - Eddie fully embraces synths, poppier sound - Didn't realize until recently that the riff of "Best of Both Worlds" is identical to Kool and the Gang's "Celebration" - Jay's #4: David Lee Roth's out VH's VH - The best Dave solo album - Phil's #3 and Jay's #2: R.E.M. starts embracing power chords - Jay's #3: John Lydon teams up with studio musicians to create a classic - Steve Vai, Ginger Baker and others show up - Phil's #1: The Smiths in the middle of a strong run of albums - Johnny Marr elevates this album - Phil's #2 and Jay's #1: Husker Du's last great record - First major label album featured more pop hooks - Grant Hart and Bob Mould each bringing in great songs - Favorite songs: "Bigmouth Strikes Again" (Phil), "Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely" (Jay) - Check out my Spotify playlist "Hits of the Year," which collects all the favorite songs we picked from 1970 onward Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. 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. |
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