Wed, 27 September 2023
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2004. Show notes: - Phil's #5: Arcade Fire with a rousing debut about suburbia
- Jay's #5: First album from Mission of Burma in 19 years kicks serious butt
- Phil's #4: The last U2 album Phil enjoyed
- Zebra once opened for their Zeppelin cover band
- Jay's #4 and Phil's #3: Drive-By Truckers unleash another powerful concept album about the South
- Phil's #2: Brian WIlson finally releases unreleased epic album Smile
- The Beach Boys went from "America's Beatles" to an oldies joke band
- Jay's #2: Another excellent album from Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
- Jay's #1: Debut from the Hold Steady combines '70s riffs with indie rock
- Phil's #1 and Jay's #3: Mark Lanegan with a world-weary masterpiece with a little help from his friends
- Favorite songs: "Hit the City" (Phil), "Positive Jam" (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.
Direct download: CompCon_624_092723.mp3
Category: Completely Conspicuous
-- posted at: 6:00pm EDT
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Tue, 19 September 2023
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2004. Show notes: - In 2004, Jay became a father for the second time, was a diaper-changing machine
- Phil got married, saw the Red Sox and Patriots become champions
- Jay: Got an iPod, downloaded a ton of music
- Pixies reunited, Phish broke up
- Many bands take hiatuses
- The tale of Mr. Jimmy
- William Hung becomes famous
- Phil's non-top 5s: Wilco, Black Keys, Beastie Boys, Patterson Hood, Umphrey's McGee, the Killers, Green Day, Twilight Singers, Eagles of Death Metal, PJ Harvey, Franz Ferdinand, TV On the Radio, Tragically Hip
- Phil invents new words
- Green Day rejuvenates itself
- Jay's non-top 5s: The Walkmen, Death From Above 1979
- 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.
Direct download: CompCon_623_091923.mp3
Category: Completely Conspicuous
-- posted at: 7:28pm EDT
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Tue, 12 September 2023
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2003.
Show notes: - Phil's #5: Raucous debut from NYC's Yeah Yeah Yeahs, featuring the electric Karen O
- Jay's #5: Radiohead combined electronic and guitar-driven sounds
- Radiohead albums kept leaking early on file-sharing networks
- Phil's #4: The Shins hone their super catchy pop sound
- Jay's #4: An indie rock gem from the Wrens that still awaits a follow-up
- 20 years of starts, stops, indecision and disagreements
- Phil's #3: My Morning Jacket combined indie rock, Southern rock, folk and jam band sounds
- MP3 blog bands abound
- Jay's #3: Another kickass release from Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
- Leo is one of the great unsung artists of our generation
- Is Springsteen overrated?
- Phil's #2: Drive-By Truckers add Jason Isbell and step up their game
- Jay's #2: A departure for Sloan, but one jam-packed with great songs
- The only Sloan album without an Andrew Scott song
- Phil's #1: The White Stripes expand their sound and totally blow up
- The Stripes made a lot of noise with minimal instrumentation
- Jay's #1: Greg Dulli's Twilight Singers unleash a classic album as a tribute to late friend
- Favorite songs: "The Hardest Button to Button" (Phil), "Teenage Wristband" (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.
Direct download: CompCon_622_091223.mp3
Category: Completely Conspicuous
-- posted at: 7:04pm EDT
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Tue, 5 September 2023
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2003.
Show notes: - In 2003, Jay had a toddler and found out another kid was on the way
- Started downloading a lot of music via blogs
- Jay saw Pat DiNizio, Gord Downie, Radiohead, Guster
- Phil got engaged, saw a lot of Red Sox games
- Coed softball struggles
- 50 Cent had the #1 song of the year
- A lot of number bands on the charts
- What's the deal with Kid Rock?
- Phil's non-top 5s: TV On the Radio, Warren Zevon, Jason Molina, Black Keys, Jet, Outkast, Ween, Lucinda Williams, Bowie
- Jay's non-top 5s: Gord Downie, Electric Six, Dizzee Rascal, Stephen Malkmus, Zeppelin
- 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.
Direct download: CC_621_090523.mp3
Category: Completely Conspicuous
-- posted at: 8:22pm EDT
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Tue, 15 August 2023
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2002.
Show notes: - Phil's #5: Coldplay's second album turned them into superstars
- Jay's #5: Spoon returns to an indie and begins a long stretch of excellence
- Phil's and Jay's #4: Strong release from the Tragically Hip highlights their varied strengths
- Phil's #2: The last great Foo Fighters album caused a lot of turmoil for the band
- Jay's #3 and Phil's #1: Beck with another sad bastard folk-rock masterpiece
- Jay's #2: Killer debut from Interpol was part of the hot NYC scene of the early '00s
- It's hard for some bands to live up to a great first album
- Phil's #3 and Jay's #1: Queens of the Stone Age reaches new heights with help from Dave Grohl on drums
- Favorite songs: "No One Knows" (Jay), "End of the Day" (Phil)
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.
Direct download: CompCon_620_081523.mp3
Category: Completely Conspicuous
-- posted at: 7:10pm EDT
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Tue, 8 August 2023
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2002.
Show notes: - In 2002, Jay became a first-time dad and didn't get much sleep
- Jay turned 35, Phil turned 33
- Phil was newly single, met his current wife
- John Entwistle died the classic rock star death
- Napster officially called it quits after lawsuits
- Owning music is an outdated concept now
- Nickelback had the top song of the year
- Charts had a mixture of nu metal, hip hop and pop
- Phil's non-top 5 albums: Doves, Sleater-Kinney, Flaming Lips, Spoon, Trey Anastasio, Dave Matthews Band, Interpol, Black Keys, Sonic Youth, GBV, Tom Petty, Bowie
- Jay's non-top 5s: McLusky, Hot Snakes, Trail of Dead, Elvis Costello, Broken Social Scene
- We never saw a lot of the rock videos of this era
- This was the age of the MP3 blog
- 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.
Direct download: CompCon_619_080823.mp3
Category: Completely Conspicuous
-- posted at: 5:20pm EDT
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Tue, 1 August 2023
Celebrating the podcast's 17th birthday by talking to Amanda Guest about the 10th birthday of the radio station she founded, BFF.fm.
Show notes: - Amanda was last on the podcast 10 years ago talking about moving to SF and launching BFF.fm
- Plenty of surprises along the way
- She was a DJ at the Salem State College (now University) station for 18 years
- Commercial radio was already being automated in the mid-'90s
- Built a studio in the Secret Alley in SF
- A lot of the DJs at BFF now weren't alive when Amanda was DJing in the '90s
- Shorter attention spans: Newer DJs are doing one-hour shows
- Jay has been doing a show for BFF since the station started
- "Where's Koomdogg?"
- Building exposure through a crazy boat DJing gig
- Became a nonprofit in 2015
- Amanda was hired as the GM of the station, now doing it full-time
- Went from dues-based organization to nonprofit
- Allows BFF to fundraise and get grants
- Celebrating the station's 10th birthday with events throughout the city
- Amanda plans to stay involved but wants to retire at some point
- SF went into COVID lockdown early and stayed in it the longest
- Studio had to shut down so BFF enabled DJs to broadcast from home
- Found free space in the SF Ferry Building so were able to broadcast from there
- The future of radio won't get less corporate
- Not a lot of commercial stations for indie music, except for college stations
- Amanda: Big electronic music movement happening in SF
- Looking for new music
- The DJ as curator
- BFF has 120 shows on the schedule, most done live in the studio
- Different approaches to show construction
- Great achievements in song segues
- Jay: Coming up on 500 episodes of the radio show
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.
Direct download: CompCon_618_080123.mp3
Category: Completely Conspicuous
-- posted at: 12:54pm EDT
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Mon, 24 July 2023
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2001.
Show notes: - Jay's non-top 5 albums: Von Bondies, Radiohead, Sloan, Frank Black & the Catholics, Guided By Voices, Fugazi
- The joy of shopping for imports
- Phil's #5: Great distillation of classic rock from Sweden's The Soundtrack of Our Lives
- Jay's #5: Indie folk-rock on first solo effort from Gord Downie includes spoken word
- Phil's #4 and Jay's #3: Breakthrough album from the White Stripes blew up several months after it came out
- Jay's #4: The Strokes led the return of guitar rock with a NYC-centric sound
- Highlighted in the book and documentary Meet Me in the Bathroom
- Phil's #3: Spoon with a strong release after getting dropped from a major
- Phil's #2: Another great album after getting dropped came from Wilco
- Phil's #1 and Jay's #2: A masterful double album about the duality of the Southern thang by Drive-By Truckers
- Jay's #1: Impressive release from Ted Leo & the Pharmacists showcased a melding of diverse rock styles
- Favorite songs: "Timorous Me" (Jay), "Ronnie and Neil" (Phil)
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.
Direct download: CompCon_617_072423.mp3
Category: Completely Conspicuous
-- posted at: 6:49pm EDT
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Tue, 18 July 2023
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2001.
Show notes: - In 2001, Jay found out he was going to be a dad and also went back to his old employer
- Jay turned 34, Phil turned 32
- Phil got divorced
- 9/11 was a defining generational moment
- Jay: Saw concerts by Radiohead, Gord Downie, Tragically Hip, PJ Harvey, Built to Spill, Buddy Guy
- Apple launched iTunes music store and the iPod
- Napster got sued into oblivion
- Pop was big but garage rock started getting popular
- Lifehouse had the #1 single of the year?
- Scott Stapp wrote a pump-up song for the Marlins
- Phil got recruited by a Scientologist
- Phil's non-top 5 albums: Gorillaz, R.E.M., DMB, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Fugazi, Stephen Malkmus, Pete Yorn, Ryan Adams, Bob Dylan
- 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.
Direct download: CompCon_616_071823.mp3
Category: Completely Conspicuous
-- posted at: 6:56pm EDT
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Tue, 11 July 2023
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the first half of 2023.
Show notes: - Running down our favorite albums of the year so far
- Kumar's #10: Pile diversifies its sound
- Breitling's #9 and Kumar's #8: Yo La Tengo keeps on Yo La Tengoing
- Kumar's #9: Dangerous sounding debut from Model/Actriz
- Breitling's #8: Continued excellence from Protomartyr
- Kumar's #7: Excellent third release from Washer, giving off Meat Puppets vibe
- Another great act on Exploding In Sound
- Breitling's #7: Fog Lake returns with a compelling slowcore release; may or may not be Shady Canadians
- Breitling's #10 and Kumar's #6: Perennially pissed off hip hop from UK Grim
- Breitling's #6: Lo-fi folk rock stalwarts Hands and Knees return with a strong release
- Kumar's #5: Yves Tumor mixes shoegaze, alt-rock and funk into a powerful concoction
- Breitling's #5 and Kumar's #4: Legit supergroup Boygenius delivers the goods
- Breitling's #4: Bully with another excellent rock album
- Tom Cavanaugh tangent time
- Kumar's #3: Catchy hardcore from Fucked Up represents a more spontaneous recording process
- Breitling's #3: Quick collection of rippers from New Zealand's Guardian Singles
- Kumar's #2: UK act Shame pushes out of their post-punk comfort zone
- Breitling's #2: Going back to Philly with Purling Hiss, bringing hooks and attitude to the party
- Kumar's #1: Power pop awesomeness from the indie all-star band that is Eyelids
- Breitling's #1: Jangly indie pop straight outta Columbus with Connections
- Kurt Loder tangent
- Anticipated/newer albums: Drop Nineteens, Speedy Ortiz, Palehound, PJ Harvey, Queens of the Stone Age, Jason Isbell, Jeff Rosenstock, OSees, Blur
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.
Direct download: CompCon_615_071123.mp3
Category: Completely Conspicuous
-- posted at: 5:28pm EDT
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