Completely Conspicuous

Categories

moving
rock talk
Nick Lorenzen
Fucked Up
Footlocker discount code
Soccer Mom
Heartless Bastards
Damien Jurado
Gross Magic
hockey
fandom
rock and/or roll
Budget
Twerps
Screaming Trees
Delta Spirit
five years
unsung albums
Stephen Malkmus
Robert Pollard
Roadside Graves
The Church
online privacy
career shifts
journalism
The Dirtbombs
The Kills
PJ Harvey
Mogwai
Wire
East River Pipe
Destroyer
Walter Schreifels
No Age
Teenage Fanclub
Mixology
Mondo Generator
athletic gear
LCD Soundsystem
Silversun Pickups
ChkChkChk
The Dead Weather
Everyone Everywhere
Midlake
The Whigs
Quasi
Dinosaur Jr.
Elliott Smith
Jason Collett
The Apples in Stereo
guilty pleasures
The King Khan and BBQ Show
Great Northern
Deer Tick
Canada
Metric
Spiral Stairs
Almighty Defenders
Completely Conspicuous
Rick Johnson
Warrior Soul
Andrew Bird
movies
Sunset Rubdown
The Dears
Sonic Youth
Jarvis Cocker
The Pink Mountaintops
Eric Convey
Shearwater
Pavement
Swan Lake
RCRD LBL
The Secret Machines
Frightened Rabbit
Volcano Suns
Deltron 3030
Juliana Hatfield
IODA Promonet
Ladyhawk
Podsafe Music Network
The Zambonis
Sub Pop Records
Joseph Arthur
The Constantines
Panthers
British Sea Power
Ween
Flight of the Conchords
Controller.Controller
El-P
Stars
The Shods
Frank Black
The Nice Device
Dios Malos
Riverboat Gamblers
TV On the Radio
general

Archives

2023
March
February
January

2022
December
November
October
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2021
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
April
March
February
January

2020
December
November
October
September
July
June
May
April
March
February

2019
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
March
February
January

2018
December
November
October
August
July
June
March
February
January

2017
December
November
October
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2016
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2015
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2014
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2013
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2012
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2011
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2010
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2009
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2008
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March
February
January

2007
December
November
October
September
August
July
June
May
April
March

March 2023
S M T W T F S
     
      1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30 31

Syndication

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1998.

Show notes:

  • More of Phil's non-top 5s: Monster Magnet, R.E.M., Hole, Dave Matthews Band
  • Jay's non-top 5s: Tragically Hip, Monster Magnet, Jerry Cantrell, Frank Black and the Catholics, Beastie Boys, Rocket From the Crypt, Rancid, Cat Power
  • Phil tells of a magical mixtape service
  • Phil's #5: Moe with a jazzy jam band album
  • Phil says he's not a "Moe-ron"
  • Not hating on Steely Dan
  • Jay's #5: Silver Jews with downbeat indie rock classic
  • Phil's #4 and Jay's #2: The debut from Queens of the Stone Age kicks serious ass, combining stoner rock with robotic grooves
  • Jay's #4: Followed up Odelay with the experimental Mutations
  • Phil's #3: A fun release from the Beastie Boys
  • Jay's #3: R&B-influenced album from Afghan Whigs was last before they broke up
  • Phil's #2: Phish's 7th album featured a "cow funk" sound
  • Phil's #1: Big breakthrough from Fatboy Slim paved the way for DJ as frontman
  • Jay's #1: Sloan with a '70s vibe, from arena rockers to sunny AM pop
  • Favorite songs: "Praise You" (Phil), "She Says What She Means" (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_609_031523.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 5:43pm EDT

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1998.

Show notes:

  • 1998 was 25 years ago!
  • Jay turned 31, Phil turned 29
  • The one-hit wonders were abundant
  • Alt-rock was fading in popularity
  • MTV was predominantly airing programming that wasn't videos
  • MP3s became another way to share/steal music
  • Paved the way for Napster and eventually the near-collapse of the music industry
  • Pop was taking over: Britney, Backstreet Boys, N Sync
  • Artists who started out great and then just sold out/sucked
  • Phil's non-top 5's: PJ Harvey, Mercury Rev, Drive-By Truckers, Pearl Jam, Government Mule, Mark Lanegan, Jerry Cantrell, Tragically Hip, Neutral Milk Hotel 
  • The Hip played at Woodstock '99 (correction: it was the weekend after JFK Jr.'s plane crash)
  • 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_608_030823.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 7:36pm EDT

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1997.

Show notes:

  • Jay's non-top 5 albums: Cornershop, Yo La Tengo, Elliott Smith, Chris Whitley, Portishead, Ween
  • Phil's #5 and Jay's #4: Ben Folds Five's breakthrough with piano-driven snark
  • Phil's #4: Third album from Sleater-Kinney features Janet Weiss' debut on drums
  • Phil's #3: Elliott Smith's lo-fi folk got a boost from Good Will Hunting
  • Jay's #3: Built to Spill with another of their epic '90s releases
  • Phil's #2: Dylan makes a triumphant return
  • When artists stop writing new material 
  • Jay's #2: A masterful release from Pavement
  • Phil's #1 and Jay's #5; Second Foo Fighters album establishes Grohl and his band as a musical force
  • Jay's #1: Radiohead reaches new heights on its third album
  • How Jay learned to love Radiohead
  • Favorite songs: "My Poor Brain" (Phil), "Karma Police" (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_607_021423.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 6:50pm EDT

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1997.

Show notes:

  • In '97, Jay hit the big 3-0, Phil turned 28
  • Big year for partying
  • Alt-rock one-hit wonders abounded: Marcy Playground, Third Eye Blind, Smash Mouth
  • Boy bands, hip hop, female singer-songwriters
  • Phil's "bubbling under" albums: U2, Led Zeppelin, Bjork, Bowie, Dinosaur Jr., Pavement, Guided By Voices, Whiskeytown, Steve Earle, Prodigy, Radiohead, David Byrne 
  • U2 lost the plot with "Pop"
  • The interesting career of David Byrne
  • 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_606_020723.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 8:22pm EDT

This week, I'm joined by guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the resurgence of role-playing games.

Show notes:

- Recorded in Salem, Mass.

- Last time we recorded for the show was two years ago

- Time is passing quickly

- Jay: Going into the office once a week now

- Matt: It was an extrovert's world for a long time

- Matt's still writing YA books

- Matt has been running Dungeons & Dragons games since pandemic started

- Unprepared for the number of people who wanted to jump in

- Matt: Didn't have enough friends to play in high school

- Was going to start doing it for corporate retreats when COVID hit

- A legal dispute over licensing with Hasbro

- Jay: Was a total comics nerd in high school

- D&D made a comeback thanks to Stranger Things

- A D&D movie is coming out with Chris Pine

- Tom Hanks starred in Mazes & Monsters, a "Satanic panic" movie about D&D

- Stopped buying comics when there were bills to pay

- Matt: Plenty of non-D&D role-playing games are popular

- Played Vampire: The Masquerade in the '90s

- Matt does a podcast called The Ravenfolly Institute that follows D&D campaigns as they happen

- Matt's super-productive in his spare time

- Working on an "adult" gritty fantasy book

- Book industry is in "dire need of reform"

- The first of Matt's books is getting an audiobook

- Struggling to get through Dune (the book)

- Matt's learning how to play a Dune role-playing game

- Listens to a lot of RPG podcasts; helps you learn the game

- D&D has had peaks and valleys of popularity since the mid-70s

- On its 5th edition; went back to older style but streamlined

- The stigma of being a nerd is gone now

- Board games in general have become popular again

- You get what you put into playing RPGs

- A lot of mystery-themed games

- Matt: Storytelling is storytelling, whether it's books or RPGs or podcasts

- Matt's the D&Dealer

- Gotta have the "math rocks"

- Also does sister podcast Characters & Class

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_605_012423.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 5:30pm EDT

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.

Direct download: CompCon_604_011723.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 9:57pm EDT

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.

Direct download: CompCon_603_011023.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 6:05pm EDT

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.

Direct download: CompCon_602_010223.mp3
Category:Completely Conspicuous -- posted at: 12:33pm EDT

1