Tue, 17 January 2023
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1996. Show notes: - Phil's #5: Cowboy Junkies score with their first album of originals - Jay's #5: Sebadoh with a sprawling collection of rockers and ballads - Phil's #4: Soundgarden's last album of the '90s turned away from their big hit - Jay's #4: Frank Black with another album of quirky greatness - Phil's #3: Phish with a fan-friendly studio release - Jay's #3: Cinematic-sounding crime saga from the Afghan Whigs - Phil's #2: Double album that was the breakthrough for Wilco - Jay's #2: After a brief breakup, Sloan comes back with a power pop classic - Phil's and Jay's #1: Beck blows up with a spectacular album that explores multiple genres - Favorite songs: "New Pollution" (Phil), "G Turns to D" (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. |
Tue, 10 January 2023
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1996. Show notes: - In '96, Jay turned 29, Phil turned 27 - Days of little to no responsibility other than work - Adventures in sports gambling - Tougher year to come up with top 5 - The Macarena was all the rage - Phil's non-top 5s: Rage Against the Machine, Fiona Apple, Sleater-Kinney, Tragically Hip, Dave Matthews Band, R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Moe, Tracy Bonham, Luscious Jackson, Sublime, Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, Tom Petty, Tori Amos, Cake, Silver Jews - Rolling Stone lists are sheer clickbait - Jay's non-top 5s: Soundgarden, Superdrag, Posies, D Generation, Weezer, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - 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. |
Mon, 2 January 2023
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we count down our favorite music of 2022. Show notes: - On to our top 10 - Breitling's #10: Archers of Loaf returns with a different sounding release - Kumar's #10: Fontaines D.C. evolves its sound - Breitling's and Kumar's #9: Radiohead offshoot The Smile with an interesting return to early '00s sound - Breitling's #8: Pleasant surprise album from Palm - Breitling's #7: First Sub Pop album from Frankie Cosmos - Bernice taking over the couch - Breitling's #6: Shimmering pop brilliance from The Beths - Kumar's #6: A nostalgic rocker from Oceanator - Breitling's #5 and Kumar's #7: Horsegirl bursts out of nowhere with a lo-fi banger of a debut - Kumar's #5: Another strong release from Toronto's Kiwi Jr. - Breitling's #4 and Kumar's #8: Harking back to '85, band full of DC punk vets lands a massive post-hardcore statement - Kumar's #4: Triumphant return by Titus Andronicus overcoming setbacks - Breitling's #3: METZ side project Weird Nightmare is "peak Jay (Breitling)" - Kumar's #3: Afghan Whigs combines old collaborations with new sounds - Breitling's #2: A "modern shoegaze classic" from Helens - Kumar's #2: Sloan delivers another classic power pop album that they developed during the pandemic - Breitling's #1: Side project from Johnny Foreigner principals as Yr Poetry - Kumar's #1: Smart-ass and cynical look at being in an band from PUP
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, 26 December 2022
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of 2022. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky/Parcheesi Redux East HQ - We've been doing this for 13 years! - Kumar: Went to some more shows this year - Breitling went to zero shows in 2022 - Things to look forward to in '23: The Cure returns, Drop Nineteens, Hallelujah the Hills' DECK project, Johnny Foreigner, Fucked Up, Blue Ocean, Peter Gabriel - Kate Hudson is supposed to be releasing an album - The varied talents of Fred Armisen - In '22, the music industry continued to struggle - Fewer revenue streams, fragmented audiences, content glut - Diaper payola - Even established acts can't sell new albums anymore - Artists are selling directly to their audiences through Patreon, etc. - Breitling's honorable mentions: Photon Band, Flyying Colours, Bitchin' Bajas, Kal Marks, Sun Airway, S.C.A.B., They Are Gutting a Body of Water, Kiwi Jr. - Kumar's HMs: Kal Marks, Built to Spill, Wet Leg, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Alvvays, Superchunk, Spoon, Jon Spencer and the HitMakers, Archers of Loaf, Black Angels, OFF! - Albums that came out early in the year feel like they came out much longer ago - 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. |
Wed, 21 December 2022
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1995. Show notes: - Jay's non-top 5s: Mike Watt, Bjork, Guided By Voices, Boss Hog, Rancid, The Amps - Phil's #5: Bjork's second album embraces the quirkiness - Jay's #4: Jawbreaker's major label debut was a total bust, but it's really good - "Selling out" was a big deal back then - Phil's #3: The debut of Elastica was fully formed, but band disappeared a few years later - Jay's #3: Pavement's followup to their big break was dismissed as too weird, but now is considered a classic - Phil's #2: Neil Young teams up with Pearl Jam for strong release at the peak of PJ's fame - Jay's #2: Horn-powered kickass blast of an album from Rocket From the Crypt - Phil's #1 and Jay's #5: Dave Grohl emerges from Nirvana's shadow with first Foo Fighters album - Jay's #1 and Phil's #4: PJ Harvey changes up her sound and goes theatrical and atmospheric - Favorite songs: "Meet Ze Monsta" (Jay), "Alone + Easy Target" (Jay) - Next: Best of 2022 with Jay Breitling
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, 13 December 2022
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1995. Show notes: - First show in quite a while - In '95, Phil turned 26, Jay turned 28 - We both saw a lot of concerts that year - Big deaths: Jerry Garcia, Eazy E, Shannon Hoon - Musings on Cleveland, where the Rock Hall of Fame opened in '95 - Jay saw a doubleheader of a Bruins game and a Chris Whitley show - Singles charts were leaning toward pop and lighter fare - Is band loyalty still a thing? - It's okay to not listen to every album in a band's catalog - Phil's non-top 5 albums: Belly, Garbage, Alice in Chains, Mad Season, Phish, Elliott Smith, Radiohead, RHCP, Sonic Youth, Matthew Sweet, Pavement, Ben Folds Five, Morphine, No Doubt, Throwing Muses, Green Day, Natalie Merchant, Son Volt, Smashing Pumpkins - It's a rare double album that can't be cut down to a single album - 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, 1 November 2022
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1994. Show notes: - Jay's non-top 5s: Superchunk, Jeff Buckley, Drive Like Jehu, Rollins Band, Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails, Helmet, Pulp Fiction soundtrack, Mark Lanegan, Nirvana - Phil's #5: Pearl Jam's third album gets a little adventurous and rough-edged - Jay's #5: The Tragically Hip gets more atmospheric after more straight-ahead rockers - Phil's #4: Debut album from Jeff Buckley showcases his vocal range and a flair for different styles - Jay's #4: The super-prolific Guided By Voices brings lo-fi rock into the forefront - Phil's #3: Nirvana reinvented the Unplugged format in a historic recording - Jay's #3: No sophomore jinx for Pavement, who broke through in an indie rock way - Phil's #2: Soundgarden breaks through to the mainstream - Jay's #2: Frank Black does a Bob Pollard impression with a lot of short bursts of awesomeness on his second solo album - Phil's #1: Green Day explodes into popular culture with a classic blast of snotty pop-punk - Jay's #1: An abrupt shift in sound from Sloan that led to them getting dumped by Geffen and briefly breaking up...but it's amazing - This was the peak of the '90s indie rock scene - Favorite songs: "Longview" (Phil), "Coax Me" (Sloan)
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. |
Fri, 21 October 2022
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1994. Show notes: - Back after a two-month summer break - In 1994, Jay turned 27, Phil turned 25 - Steely Dan was touring again - Jay: Life improved in '94 on job and home front - Jay: Saw a ton of shows including Pearl Jam, Afghan Whigs, Rollins Band, Cracker, Soundgarden, Buffalo Tom, Blues Explosion, Tragically Hip, Sugar - Debating the merits of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones - Phil's kids love the pop music - Phil went to the infamous Green Day show at the Hatch Shell - Top singles were all pop and hip hop, lots of ballads - Big year for indie rock - Grunge peaked and major labels started signing bands from non-Seattle locations like Chicago, San Diego, etc. - Pearl Jam sued TicketMaster and tried to do a tour of non-TM venues, but it fizzled - Cobain's death was a pivotal moment - Woodstock '94 didn't get as much press as '99 - Other newsy events: Baseball strike, OJ Simpson chase, Eagles started charging $100 for concert tickets - Phil's non-top 5 albums: Alice in Chains, R.E.M., Hole, Beastie Boys, Weezer, Phish, Sonic Youth, Meat Puppets, Sugar, Dinosaur Jr., Luscious Jackson, Beck, Liz Phair, Veruca Salt, Stone Roses, Jesus and Mary Chain, Portishead, Stone Temple Pilots, Dave Matthews Band, Tom Petty, Neil Young & Crazy Horse - What is emo? Also, what is internet? - Weezer started out strong, but now they're a parody of themselves - 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, 23 August 2022
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about movie fandom. Show notes: - Recorded while driving to Tree House Brewery - Watching scary movies as a kid - The Shining still holds up - Favorite directors: Kubrick, Scorsese, Tarantino - Jay: After Hours is a fun movie; similar plot to Into the Night, which came out around the same time - The current state of prestige TV is giving movies a run for their money - Better Call Saul is the latest great show - The early days of the pandemic led to watching lots of movies - Great time to catch up on old favorites and things you missed - The greatness of The Decline of Western Civilization, Part 2 - U2 was riding high until they released the movie Rattle and Hum - Lots of movies filmed in our area - Jay: After we had kids, didn't go to an adult movie in the theater for years - Movie dates used to be a big deal when we were younger - Don't do it that much anymore - The movie viewing experience at home is much better than it used to be - Phil hasn't been to a movie in a theater since the pandemic started - Watching edited versions of movies on network TV - We interact differently with movies today - Movie recommendations: Jay recommends Prey, The Limey, Burn After Reading, No Country For Old Men, Something Wild, After Hours - Phil recommends Bernie, I'm Thinking of Ending Things 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, 16 August 2022
Celebrating the show's 16th birthday with part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our love of movies. Show notes: - Recorded while driving to Tree House Brewery - Phil remembers seeing "Bambi" in the theater and "Halloween" a little early - The interesting career beginnings of Kurt Russell - Jay: Watched a lot of Disney movies as a kid - Drive-in theaters were fun - Getting into James Bond movies - Jay's early favorites: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Close Encounters - Getting scolded during E.T. - Date movies: Titanic was a weepy scene - In recent years, Jay takes his daughters to MCU movies - Sandler movies run the gamut - Seeing an R-rated movie with a friend's family - Watching adult content with your parents is seriously awkward - Jay became a Mel Brooks fan as a pre-teen - Watching old movies during the early days of the pandemic - Eddie Murphy's '80s standup wouldn't fly today - 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. |
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