Show notes:

• On to our top 10
• Phil's #10: Reaching back to the '50s with the Phillies
• Jay's #10: Mid-90s Mariners 
• Good use of seafoam green
• '90s uniforms had a lot of bold colors: Teal, purple
• Phil's #9: The simplicity of the SF Giants hat
• Hat designs got pretty weird over the years
• Corduroy hats were a thing for a while
• Jay's #9: Classic A's green and yellow look
• Phil's #8: Dodgers' classic blue and white is another look that hasn't changed
• Bandwagon jumpers are inevitable
• Jay's #8: St. Louis Cardinals navy blue with red logo
• Had one that got ruined at Lollapallooza '93
• Phil's #7: The mid-70s Angels hat with the halo
• Lots of different looks for the Angels over the years
• Jay's #7: Phillies' hat from late '70s/early '80s
• Phil's #6: Sticking with Philly with the A's from the '30s
• Some hats are instant conversation pieces for middle-aged guys
• Jay's #6 and Phil's #4: Another classic look with the Tigers
• Ruining hats by working out in them
• Phil's #5: Kansas City A's with the kelly green
• Jay's #5: Brooklyn Dodgers with the classic B
• Jackie Robinson era
• Jay's #4: Can't go wrong with the Cubs "C" hat
• Some cool Cubs hats over the years
• Phil's #3: Iconic Red Sox blue hat
• Jay's #3: White Orioles hat with the cartoon bird
• Tried a more realistic bird in the '90s
• Phil's #2: The Braves' 70s hat with the lower case A
• Jay's #2: The Blue Jays' all-blue hat introduced in the late '80s
• Are middle-aged guys more likely to wear hats?
• Phil's #1: Orioles' mid-60s to mid-70s black hat with orange bill
• Jay's #1: Original Expos hat
• In Canada, Toronto fans hate the Canadiens but love the Expos
• Defunct but beloved team

Completely Conspicuous is available through wherever 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.

Show notes:

• We've both purchased many hats over the years
• Back in the '70s and '80s, you didn't have a lot of viewing choices for baseball games
• Baseball cards were a big factor in figuring out the hats and logos you liked
• Hats can fade, especially the dark blue ones
• When you just can't wear a Yankees hat
• Now there are so many alternate jerseys, hats, logos
• You can get hats in different colors and styles
• Old guys like us don't like flat-bill caps
• Other sports don't wear hats as part of the uniform, but you can get hats for their teams
• We often get hats of teams we have no affinity for
• Phil's honorable mentions: Black Sox-era White Sox, Boston/Milwaukee Braves, Cardinals from the '40s, Pirates pillbox hat from the '70s, Cleveland Chief Wahoo hat from the '50s
• Jay's honorable mentions: Reds, Brewers '70s hat with the glove logo, Royals, Expos all-blue hats in the '90s, Mariners '70s hat, Blue Jays original hat
• Phil: Seattle Pilots had a bad hat, with a touch of stolen valor    
• To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through wherever 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.

Show notes:

• First episode of the year!
• Recorded right after the gold medal men's hockey game
• What is underrated?
• A well-known artist's less popular release or lesser-known artists
• Phil: Neil Young has a few underrated albums among his vast catalog
• Other Phil honorable mentions: Big Star, Bob Mould, Best Coast, Kaiser Chiefs, Bettie Serveert, Built to Spill, Keith Richards, N. Mississippi All-Stars, Ben Folds Five, Until the End of the World soundtrack, Til Tuesday, Neko Case, Passengers, Big Head Todd, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Fela Kuti, Dead Milkmen, Shuggie Otis, Uncle Tupelo, Waterboys
• Jay's honorable mentions: Trail of Dead, Material Issue, Peter Gabriel, The Church, PiL, Afghan Whigs, QOTSA, Smashing Pumpkins, Blind Melon, Elliot Easton, Pearl Jam, Elvis Costello, Matthew Sweet
• Phil's #10: Cracker's debut album
• Lowery's first post-Camper Van Beethoven release
• Jay's #10: Keith Richards releases a stripped-down solo album
• Was pissed at Jagger, created the antithesis to his flashy style
• Phil's #9: Prince creates a new band in the early '90s
• No more Revolution, going for more of a hip hop sound
• Jay's #9: Only release from David + David
• Studio musicians who teamed up to release atmospheric story songs
• Phil's #8: Indie supergroup comprised of members of Sleater-Kinney and Helium
• Only released one album
• Jay's #8: Living Colour's third album was criminally overlooked
• Introduced industrial elements but was lost in the wave of grunge
• Phil's #7: Jerry Harrison goes solo
• More pop than what Talking Heads were doing
• Jay's #7: Sebadoh unleashes ripping indie rock masterpiece
• Contributions from two songwriters
• Phil's #6: Self-assured debut from Elastica
• Waited too long to release their next album
• To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through wherever 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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2025.

Show notes:

• The 17th annual year in music review
• AI-generated music is lame
• Especially fake music that purports to be by real artists
• Spotify is a juggernaut that still sucks
• Checking out other services (Qobuz, Amazon)
• You don't get to own downloads via streaming services
• The kids love the K-pop
• Only a handful of artists make any money these days
• Oh yay, LIve Nation is going to get richer
• Ticketmaster is now a ticket reseller as well
• We're still seeing the live rock
• Breitling: Thumbs up for the Aimee Mann/Ted Leo Christmas show
• Saw Oasis in Mexico City
• We both saw Hallelujah the Hills 
• Kumar: Saw Frank Black, Narducy/Shannon do R.E.M., Gang of Four with Ted Leo, Bob Mould, Greg Norton, Ducks Ltd., Pixies, the Who, Buffalo Tom
• Breitling's bubbling under music picks: Ava Luna, Lifeguard, Winter, Frankie Cosmos, Golden Apples, Lemonheads, Sister Ray Davies, Jeff Tweedy, Glimmer, Tiberius, Telephone Numbers
• Kumar's honorable mentions: Tweedy, The Convenience, Snocaps, Turnstile, The Hives, Viagra Boys, Pulp, Car Seat Headrest, Charm School, Horsegirl, Superchunk, Pile, The Beths, Tony Molina, Sharp Pins, They Are Gutting a Body of Water, Militarie Gun, Kestrels, Destroyer, Dean Wareham, Kinski, Ty Segall, Stereolab, Lunchbox, Cam Keiber, Husker Du and Replacements box sets
• Breitling's #10: Autocamper's debut asks a valid question 
• Kumar's #10: Debut solo release from TV On the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe 
• Breitling's #9: Energetic indie rock from Chicago's OK Cool 
• Kumar's #9: Ripper out of nowhere from The Men
• Breitling's #8: Urgent EP about ancient Greece by Strange Passage
• Reunion tours with strange combinations
• Triumph is coming around next year
• 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.

Show notes:

• Phil's #6: Frenetic assault from Parquet Courts
• Definite late '70s post-punk influences
• Jay's #6: A bold move into electronic sounds by Radiohead
• Phil still doesn't get Radiohead
• Phil's #5: Slacker guitar hero vibes from Kurt Vile
• Stream-of-consciousness lyrical approach
• Jay's #5: Garage rock anthem that introduced the Hives to the world
• Punchy and super catchy, it took two years to hit in the U.S.
• The battle for car music supremacy
• Phil's #4: New Orleans vibe from Tedeschi Trucks Band
• Phil's intro to the band
• Jay's #4: A first single that will never be topped by Franz Ferdinand
• Catchy, danceable stomper comparing love to a sniper's duel
• Phil's #3: Goose brings jam band versatility to the masses
• Blew up since the pandemic and are now selling out Madison Square Garden
• Jay's #3: Queens of the Stone Age craft a perfect hard rock song
• The magic of the killer riff plus Dave Grohl's drumming
• Phil's #2: Ripper from Aussie Courtney Barnett
• Lyrics focus on everyday life
• Jay's #2: Indie rock classic from the Walkmen
• Emerged from the early '00s NYC scene
• Tension keeps building throughout
• The greatness of Joe Jackson
• Phil's #1: Epic and creepy classic from Death Cab for Cutie
• Song builds for 4 1/2 minutes before the vocals kick in
• Menacing bassline underlines the lyrics about obsession
• Jay's #1: TV On the Radio with a killer song from a killer album
• Intensity driven by Tunde Adebimpe's vocal delivery
• Also came up in NYC in the early '00s

Completely Conspicuous is available through wherever 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.

Show notes:

• We're a quarter through this century
• Phil: Thought this would be easy but came up with a long list
• What about a song grabs you?
• Jay: Original top 10 list was all songs from the 00s
• Songs that didn't make our top 10
• Phil: Tribe Called Quest, Vampire Weekend, Meatbodies, Wilco, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, TV On the Radio, Wet Leg, Franz Ferdinand, Michael Kiwanuka, MJ Lenderman, U2, Frances Forever, Patrick Sweeney, Mudcrutch, Sufjan Stevens, Shearwater, Jason Isbell, Songs: Ohia
• Jay: Radiohead, Bowie, At the Drive-In, Drive-By Truckers, Sloan, Sleater-Kinney, Death from Above 1979, Jay-Z, Hold Steady, Gord Downie, Tragically Hip, Living Colour, Outkast, Wild Flag, White Stripes, PJ Harvey, Parquet Courts, Spoon, M.I.A., Kaiser Chiefs
• Jay: Found out about a lot of new music from MP3 blogs in the early 00s
• Phil's #10: Spoon breaks through
• Song was a cover of a song by The Natural History
• Jay's #10: Last song from Bowie's iconic farewell album
• Love the album but it's hard to listen to because of the sadness
• Phil's #9: Mournful ballad from Mark Lanegan
• Jay: My favorite Lanegan song
• Mixing bubblegum and chewing tobacco is a bad idea
• A duet with Chris Goss of Masters of Reality
• Jay's #9: A fiery hip hop blast from Run the Jewels and Zach de la Rocha
• Waiting for their next album; last one was in 2020
• Phil's #7: Bluegrass turn from Billy Strings
• Strings is winning over a lot of fans of other genres
• Phil's #8: Protest song from Drive-By Truckers
• Band chronicles a lot of real-life injustices
• Jay's #8: Angry ripper from Superchunk
• Commentary on the political climate of 2018
• Sometimes fans don't like the message
• Jay's #7: White Stripes hit the mainstream
• Took a year for their third album to become a hit
• To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through wherever 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.

Show notes:

• More of our favorites from artists picked out of a hat
• Phil: Pretenders
• Overcoming the deaths of half the band
• Jay: James Brown
• Love the '70s funk era
• Prince was able to replicate JB's dance moves in concert
• Phil: Parquet Courts
• Built a great catalog over the last 13 years or so
• Influenced by the late '70s NYC CBGB sound
• Jay: Beatles
• How do you pick a single Beatles song?
• Phil: Sleater-Kinney
• Powerful band
• Janet Weiss is a powerhouse drummer
• Jay: Led Zeppelin
• Favorite song depends on the day
• Phil: Prince
• He could play any style
• Jay: Hoodoo Gurus
• Saw them for the first time last year
• Caught the mid-80s college rock wave
• Phil: The Police
• Ghost in the Machine was one of the first albums Phil ever bought
• Early Police is untouchable
• Jay: The Clash
• Political rock that still holds true today
• Covered a lot of musical ground
• Phil: R.E.M.
• Was introduced to the band by his uncle
• People who jumped off the bandwagon after they went to a major are missing out
• Jay: Elvis Costello
• EC has been all over the map musically, but his lyrics are always on point
• Phil: Squeeze
• Difford and Tilbrook were great songwriters
• Amazing string of classic songs
• Jay: Joe Jackson
• Easy choice 
• The first few albums were outstanding
• Musical chameleon

Completely Conspicuous is available wherever 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.

Show notes:

• Phil's idea: Blind rankings
• We each pick 10 artist names out of a hat and name a favorite song for each
• Phil picks names from N-Z, Jay gets A-M
• No prep time for our answers
• Phil: Velvet Underground
• Plenty to choose from
• Trying not to choose popular songs
• Jay: B-52s
• They made the "no play list" at Jay's wedding
• Great catalog of bangers
• Phil: Talking Heads
• Band had different phases
• Mixed Afro rhythms, funk and skronky guitar from Adrian Belew
• New David Byrne album is good
• Jay: Living Colour
• Band played many different styles well
• They still bring the heat
• Phil: Neil Young
• A musical chameleon
• Amazing solo or with Crazy Horse (or other backing bands)
• Jay: Grateful Dead
• Easy choice
• Always had a favorite song by them
• 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.

Show notes:

• Brian: First heard about podcasts in 2004
• Started making the FrankBlack.net Podcast in 2006
• Jay: Got my first iPod in 2004 and then learned about podcasts
• Brian: The internet was so much better 20 years ago
• Great for digging into niche interests
• Jay and Brian met through the Frank Black podcast in 2010 and realized that Brian lived near Jay's brother-in-law
• Jay: The start of CompCon in 2006
• Always loved radio but never worked at the college station
• First few years were just me talking about pop culture
• Eventually started bringing on guests after a few years
• Podcasting got an early boost when Apple started a podcast directory
• Early podcasts I listened to were by Adam Curry, Ricky Gervais
• Marc Maron started his podcast in 2009 and is airing his last episode next week
• Now everybody's got a podcast
• Brian: Before podcasts, blogging was a thing
• Brian produces podcasts for other people in addition to his own
• Podcasting never became a career for us, just a hobby
• But some people have made lots of money from them
• Brian: Not much innovation in the podcast space lately
• Music podcasts were hampered by copyright issues
• Podcast networks started popping up
• Conan O'Brien created a great podcast after his TV talk show went away
• Podcasting is much more interesting than commercial radio these days
• Brian: Grew up loving radio, especially WFMU
• Jay: College radio is still good, but commercial radio blows
• DJs used to be dependable arbiters of taste
• Now everything's heavily formatted
• Jay: Been doing my own radio show on BFF.fm for the last 12 years
• Brian co-owns a sports podcast company
• People have trouble committing to a show once they start it
• Listening habits have changed
• Jay: Currently listen to WTF, The Best Show, sports shows about Toronto teams, The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers
• Brian: Election Profitmakers, Song Exploder, Never Not Funny, Conan, Indiecast, Who Cares About the Rock Hall?, Mets podcasts
• So much content to wade through
• Just like with music; it's much easier to release an album now but there's so much out there
• Tough to make it as a musician now
• Podcasts have gone beyond a niche thing
• Jay: I love listening to audio
• The value of playing songs people haven't heard a zillion times
• Every celebrity has a podcast
• Will podcasts go back to the indie days at some point?
• Jay: I do two podcasts for work
• The bubble will burst at some point
• AI could have a strange, negative effect
• Connections formed via podcasting
• Brian: Start a podcast, people

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.

Show notes:

• Our top 10 songs we hate to love in no particular order
• Phil: A song from the infamous Great White
• One of the many bands who tried to sound like Zeppelin
• Jay: Rupert Holmes somehow got cheesier than the "Pina Colada Song"
• Classic AM gold shizz
• Phil: A big hit for the Carpenters
• Originally written for a bank commercial
• Jay: Monster disco one-hit wonder from Patrick Hernandez
• Phil: Britney with an earworm
• Jay: Raspy pop smash from Kim Carnes
• Crossed over to MOR stations that our parents listened to
• Phil: Digging into the Jefferson Starship ballads
• Marty Balin got on the wrong side of the Hell's Angels at Altamont
• Jay: Phil Collins did a lot of soundtrack music in the '80s in addition to everything else
• A patented Collins Angry Ballad
• Phil digs that calypso beat in one of Lionel Richie's biggest hits
• Richie was one of the driving forces behind "We Are the World"
• Jay: A synth pop cover of "Lean On Me"
• Phil: Secretly loved the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack as a kid
• Yvonne Elliman sang backups on several Clapton albums
• Jay: Non-English hit by Falco
• Only German-language #1 song in America
• Phil: Frankie Valli's disco song in Grease
• Written by Barry Gibb, who was unstoppable in the late '70s
• Jay: Early '70s soft rock jam from Albert Hammond
• Phil: John Mayer's wuss rock moment
• More familiar with his work in Dead and Co.
• Jay: Rediscovered recently his love of Little River Band
• Australian purveyors of catchy dad rock
• Original members lost the rights to the band name
• Phil: Shout out to the Weather Girls
• Catchy and co-written by Paul Shaffer
• Jay: Another huge hit from the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer
• Phil: An apparently ironic love ballad from the Captain and Tennille
• Jay: Another hit from the Gibb family, this time younger brother Andy
• Too much cocaine, apparently

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.

Show notes:

• Surprised at how good the Who were in concert despite their advanced age
• Songs we hate to love, not necessarily guilty pleasures
• Things we were embarrassed to say we liked when we were in school
• Most of our picks were from when we were kids
• Jay: I liked hard rock and metal and would never admit I liked poppier stuff like Duran Duran
• Jay: In doing research, I discovered there was a "rock" version of the Lord's Prayer that was a minor hit in 1973
• Phil: ABBA wrote some pop classics
• When REO Speedwagon had that one huge album
• AOR was huge in the early '80s
• Jay: I loved KISS's disco song, but never got into the band
• Phil: Listened to a lot of Manilow as a kid
• Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" captured that swinging '60s vibe
• The pop goodness of the Association
• Phil: The band Boston has been played to death in these parts, but they had their moment
• Controversial choice: Phil likes the worst Genesis song
• Dumb song, dumb video
• When Eddie Murphy became a pop star
• Phil also likes Crazytown's hit
• Released at the height of nu metal/rap rock
• Jay: Begrudgingly liked Animotion's big hit
• First album Jay had as a kid was by Glen Campbell
• Campbell wasn't a typical country singer
• Jay: Got into some of Paul Simon's mid-70s solo work
• Getting into early Loverboy deep cuts
• Billy Joel wrote a lot of bad songs, but a few good ones
• Jay: Always a big fan of "Rump Shaker"
• ABC was good at the foppish synth pop
• Jay: I hate everything about Smash Mouth except their first single
• Totally dig one George Michael song above all others
• Late '70s pop blast from M
• Foreigner struck gold with catchy rock jams
• 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.

Show notes:

• Jay: Bowie on the Ziggy Stardust tour in 1973
• Never saw Bowie
• Phil: Grateful Dead's famous Cornell show 5/8/77
• The Holy Grail for Deadheads
• Jay: Canadian art rock weirdos Max Webster in southern Ontario 8/9/79
• Band split up in 1981 as singer-guitarist Kim Mitchell went solo
• Opened for Rush in the U.S. in the mid- to late '70s
• Phil: The Stones at the Boston Garden, 1972
• Jagger and Richards were arrested in Providence and Boston mayor bailed them out in time for the Garden show
• Mick Taylor era was notable
• Jay: Van Halen at Oakland Arena in June 1981
• A few songs were captured on video; VH fans have hoped for more
• Phil: Zeppelin at Berkeley, Calif., September 1971
• Touring before their fourth album was released
• Playing some of their acoustic songs
• Jay: SST legends Husker Du at the Channel in Boston 9/30/84
• In the middle of a killer stretch of albums; this one was for Zen Arcade
• Two classic albums were released the next year
• Phil: Allman Brothers at the Fillmore East in 1971 
• Original lineup including Duane Allman
• Jay and Phil: The Who live at University of Leeds on Valentine's Day 1970
• Played a show at Hull the following night
• We're going to see the Who at Fenway later this month
• Band was at the literal peak of their powers
• First release of Live at Leeds was only six songs
• Longer versions have come out; full set was 33 songs
• No video of this show unfortunately

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.

Celebrating 19 years of podcasting with part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about concerts we'd like to go back in time to see. 

Show notes:

• On to our top 10 shows
• Phil's are in chronological order, Jay's in no particular order
• Phil: Neil Young and Pearl Jam on their short Euro tour, 8/26/95 in Dublin
• PJ standing in for Crazy Horse
• The Velvet Sundown, lame AI band
• Jay: The Clash from June 1980 at Hammersmith Palais
• 31 songs from throughout their career
• The Clash opened for the Who on the Schlitz Rocks America tour
• Apparently Schlitz was once a big name in beer
• Phil: Stevie Ray Vaughan on 9/21/85 at the Capitol Theatre
• Jay: PJ Harvey on the Rid of Me tour in '93
• Saw her on the next tour in '95
• Phil: Talking Heads on the Speaking in Tongues tour in Oct. 1983 in Billerica, Mass.
• Jay: I would've picked the 1980 tour with Adrian Belew on guitar
• Jay: Living Colour at TT the Bears in Cambridge, Mass. in the summer of '88
• Taped the show off the radio simulcast on WBCN
• Killer show before the band blew up the next year
• Phil: U2 on the War tour in March 1983
• Jay: Prince's Purple Rain tour at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse
• Prince was the biggest musician in the world at the time
• Phil: The Pretenders at the Paradise in Boston in 1980
• The band's original lineup was so good
• Jay: Went with a December 1981 Pretenders show in France
• 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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about concerts we'd like to go back in time to see. 

Show notes:

• We're taking advantage of time machine technology
• That time Zebra opened for their own Zep cover band
• We're listing specific shows
• So many great artists to choose from
• YouTube makes it easier to see a lot of shows you missed
• Honorable mentions
• Jay: Surprise show by the Stones at a small Toronto club in '77
• Two shows were turned into a live album decades later
• Phil: Bob Marley and the Wailers in London, Monterey Pop, Bowie on Diamond Dogs tour, Sleater-Kinney in Berkeley, James Brown at the Boston Garden in '68, Beatles in Hamburg or the rooftop set, Prince on Purple Rain tour, Phish in '98, Steely Dan in '74  
• Jay: JB at the Soul Train studios in '73, the Police in '79, Iggy and the Stooges in '73, Zeppelin in '70, Mission of Burma's first farewell in '83, Drive Like Jehu in '94, Black Sabbath in '70, Iron Maiden in '81 with their original singer
• The Police jumped on the new wave bandwagon and brought energy and skill to it
• Sabbath's had interesting line items in their recording budget
• Shout out to CompCon intern Lily
• 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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2025 so far.

Show notes:

• Counting down our favorite albums
• Breitling's #6: Dan Bejar with another well-done Destroyer album
• "Slacker Sinatra" singing about aging
• Kumar's #6: Striking solo effort from Tunde Adebimpe
• Breitling's #5: Shoegaze goodness from NJ's High
• Kumar's #5: Dax Riggs with fuzz-laden goth grunge
• Breitling's #4: Digging the Estonian dream pop from mariin k.
• Kumar's #3: Impressive 15th solo album from Bob Mould plays to his strengths
• Still kicking ass into his mid-60s
• Breitling's #3: Boston trio with a dumb name and a great album, (T-T)b
• Kumar's #2: Mclusky returns after 21 years with a razor-sharp ripper
• Breitling's #2 and Kumar's #4: Surprise return to thunderous form from The Men
• Kumar's #1: PUP's fifth album finds them exploring more mature themes while still kicking ass
• Breitling's #1 and Kumar's #7: The four-album magnum opus from Hallelujah the Hills exceeds expectations
• Many guest appearances among the 54 songs
• Looking forward to new releases from the Lemonheads, Sloan, Superchunk, Pile, Wednesday

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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2025 so far.

Show notes:

• Drinking some Italian beer
• Rock is dead commercially
• Billboard album chart contains nearly no rock
• Fleetwood Mac's Rumours still riding high for some reason
• Festival cancellations: Bonnaroo, Boston Calling next year, Lollapalooza
• Too many festivals, high ticket prices
• Black Sabbath farewell show
• Lots of big rock deaths: Brian Wilson, Sly Stone, David Johansen, Marianne Faithfull, etc.
• We saw Hallelujah the Hills recently and it was glorious
• Kumar saw some shows: Frank Black, Shannon/Narducy, Gang of Four, Bob Mould
• Breitling will see Oasis in Mexico, as one does
• Who's the Who's drummer?
• Breitling's bubbling under albums: Whirr, Winter, Lunchbox, Pink Floyd reissue, Rough Francis, The Get Quick, Autocamper, Viagra Boys, Thalia Zedek Band
• Kumar's list: Kinski, Ty Segall, Civic, Cameron Keiber, Dean Wareham, Pulp, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, The Bug Club, Turnstile, The Tubs, Kestrels, Lifeguard, Hotline TNT
• Breitling's #10: An electronic collab between Mark Pritchard and Thom Yorke
• Kumar's #10: Sophomore release from Horsegirl explores mellower sounds
• So much music to listen to these days
• Breitling's #9: Ambient situation delivered by William Tyler
• Of Bills Frisell and Laswell
• Kumar's #9: Post-punk ripper from Charm School
• Kurt Loder is still with us
• Kumar's #8: Heavy Spoon influence on the new album from The Convenience
• Breitling's #7: Dean Wareham is still bringing it
• 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.

Part 4 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we crown the winner of a March Madness-style tournament featuring our favorite rock artists. 

Show notes:

• Round 3 begins
• The Smiths vs. Led Zeppelin
• James Brown vs. Rush
• Rolling Stones vs. The Cure
• The Clash vs. The Police
• U2 vs. The Replacements
• The Who vs. Talking Heads
• Tom Petty vs. Neil Young
• The Beatles vs. David Bowie
• Round 4
• The Final Four
• The Championship

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.

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we wrap up the second round of a March Madness-style tournament featuring our favorite rock artists. 

Show notes:

• Round 2 forced some difficult choices
• The Smiths vs. Spoon
• Led Zeppelin vs. Prince
• James Brown vs. Queens of the Stone Age
• Rush vs. Allman Brothers Band
• Rolling Stones vs. Beastie Boys
• The Cure vs. The Afghan Whigs
• The Tragically Hip vs. The Clash
• The Police vs. Mark Lanegan
• Stevie Wonder vs. U2
• Sonic Youth vs. The Replacements
• The Who vs. Beck
• Talking Heads vs. Dinosaur Jr.
• Tom Petty vs. Pixies
• Neil Young vs. Steely Dan
• Van Halen vs. Beatles
• Pearl Jam vs. David Bowie
• Next: The final two rounds

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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we wrap up the first round of a March Madness-style tournament featuring our favorite rock artists. 

Show notes:

• Finishing up the rest of round 1
• Stevie Wonder vs. the Pretenders
• Talking Heads vs. U2
• St. Vincent vs. Sonic Youth
• Elvis Costello vs. the Replacements
• R.E.M. vs. the Who
• Beck vs. Dire Straits
• Jimi Hendrix vs. Jason Isbell
• Dinosaur Jr. vs. Foo Fighters
• Drive-By Truckers vs. Tom Petty
• Pixies vs. Fleetwood Mac
• Neil Young vs. Sleater-Kinney
• Steely Dan vs. Husker Du
• Van Halen vs. Blondie
• White Stripes vs. the Beatles
• J. Geils Band vs. Pearl Jam
• Nirvana vs. David Bowie
• Coming soon: Round 2, with more tough decisions

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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we talk our way through a March Madness-style tournament of our favorite rock artists. 

Show notes:

• We left out artists that we both didn't like: Grateful Dead, Black Sabbath, Radiohead, Joni Mitchell, Phish, Iron Maiden
• Also had to leave off a number of artists just for space considerations: Ramones, AC/DC, Feelies, Breeders, Camper Van Beethoven, etc.
• Some tough matchups in round 1 with randomized seeding
• The Smiths vs. PJ Harvey
• Spoon vs. Courtney Barnett
• Led Zeppelin vs. Bob Dylan
• The Cure vs. Prince
• Elton John vs. James Brown
• Pavement vs. Queens of the Stone Age
• Buffalo Tom vs. Rush
• Allman Brothers Band vs. Soundgarden
• The Kinks vs. The Rolling Stones
• Alice in Chains vs. Beastie Boys
• Bob Marley vs. The Cure
• Joe Jackson vs. The Afghan Whigs
• The Tragically Hip vs. Velvet Underground
• The Clash vs. Iggy Pop
• Stevie Ray Vaughan vs. The Police
• Sloan vs. Mark Lanegan
• To be continued with the rest of Round 1

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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about bad songs from good artists. 

Show notes:

• Songs we hate by artists we love
• Phil's #6: U2 makes a misstep
• Bono's talking tough
• Jay's #6: A #1 hit from Cheap Trick featuring outside songwriters
• The power ballad became huge for hard rock bands
• Phil's #5: AC/DC hits it big after losing their singer
• Jay's #5: When the biggest band tries to get weird
• Phil's #4: When GNR decided to cover Dylan
• They had lots of bad covers
• Jay's #4: When Aerosmith hit #1 with a soundtrack ballad
• Late-period Aerosmith is tough to take
• Phil's #3: The Smiths get preachy about animal rights
• Let's hear it for Bovine University
• Morrissey with ham-fisted lyrics about vegetarianism
• Jay's #3: R.E.M. had a couple of stinkers
• A version of the song ended up on Sesame Street
• Phil's #2: Punk rock upstarts go acoustic
• Green Day ended up becoming very mainstream
• Jay's #2: Bowie and Jagger with a very '80s abomination of a cover
• Video premiered during Live Aid
• Phil's #1: A definitive low for the Police at their most successful time
• Andy Summers wrote some bad songs every so often
• Jay's #1: Genesis with an all-timer of an offensive song
• The video alone is brutal
• Blame it on Mike Rutherford  

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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about bad songs from good artists. 

Show notes:

• Songs we hate by artists we love
• Jay: Radiohead's "Fake Plastic Trees" is so whiny it turned me off the band for a few years
• Songs you hate vs. songs you're sick of hearing
• Phil: Nirvana had some dumb songs
• Phil's dishonorable mentions: Songs from Bowie and Jagger, Beck, XTC, Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, the Cars, Bob Seger 
• Phil bashes the Brits 
• Jay's dishonorable mentions: Songs by Soundgarden, Van Hagar, Rush, U2, Lou Reed
• Sammy Hagar's lyrics are...something
• Phil's #10: One of the Stones' bigger hits
• Jay's #10: Zeppelin goes honky tonk with meh results
• Phil's #9: Frat boy antics from the Beastie Boys
• Jay's #9: Andy Summers let his freak flag fly in the Police
• Phil's #8: The Dead goes disco with some rough lyrics
• The late '70s saw lots of rock acts try disco
• Jay's #8: Macca had some missteps, including his first teamup with MJ
• Phil's #7: The Beatles stumbled with an avant garde instrumental
• Maybe it was the drugs 
• Jay's #7: Dee Dee Ramone tries rapping with hilariously bad results
• 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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite concerts. 

Show notes:

• Our top 10 concerts in no particular order
• Phil: Banged up and seeing his first Dead show in Foxborough in 1989
• The show is popular with Dead fans
• Jay: Caught Mike Watt backed by the Foo Fighters in their first Boston appearance in '95
• Phil: 12 days after that Dead show, saw the Who at the same venue
• A 3-hour show for the 20th anniversary of Tommy
• Jay: The one area appearance by Them Crooked Vultures in '09
• Supergroup with Josh Homme, Dave Grohl, John Paul Jones
• Phil: McCartney at Sullivan Stadium in 1990
• The tour book phenomenon
• Jay: Two shows in one night--The Amps followed by Mighty Mighty Bosstones
• Phil: U2 show on St. Patrick's Day '92 in Boston, Achtung Baby tour
• "Put it in H"
• Jay: Also a U2 show; September 1987 at the Boston Garden
• Phil: Dylan at Endicott College in October 1992
• Tickets purchased at a local jewelry store
• Dylan almost didn't play because a heater wasn't working on stage
• Jay: Electric performance from Nick Cave's band Grinderman at House of Blues
• Phil: Pearl Jam at the Orpheum in April 1994
• A few days after Cobain's death
• Jay: Front row at the Orpheum for Sugar, November 1994
• Bob Mould's last tour with Sugar
• Phil: Neil Young at the Wang Center in 2018 with Jay
• Neil was solo, telling stories between songs
• Gotta see some of these older artists while they're around
• Jay: Pearl Jam in April '92 at tiny club Axis
• Just before PJ blew up
• Phil: Dead & Co. at Fenway in summer '23
• $60 cheese pizza 
• Jay: Last month seeing Sloan in Toronto with my daughter
• Played their first album front to back
• Only concert I've ever seen in Toronto
• Phil: Phish playing third show in three nights at Mansfield
• Jay: Ty Segall at the late lamented Great Scott in 2014
• So loud the floor was shaking
• Jay: No issues with seeing shows by myself
• Phil: Goose at MGM Fenway last year
• Played lots of covers, including the odd 36-minute jam
• Jay: First time seeing the Tragically Hip at the Paradise in April '91
• About 25 people there, but the band killed it
• Saw the band many times after that

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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite concerts. 

Show notes:

• Cold weather running tips
• What makes a great concert?
• Small shows vs. stadiums
• Hard to pare down the list
• Limited to one show per artist
• Good idea for a sequel involving a time machine
• Phil leaned toward larger shows
• Didn't include: R.E.M., the Cure, Sleater-Kinney, Drive-By Truckers, Tedeschi Trucks Band 
• Jay: Prefer the intimacy of club shows
• We were at the same shows before we knew each other
• Phil: First concert was Van Halen in 1986
• Setlist.fm is a great resource
• MTV's Saturday Night concerts
• Jay's first show was a festival show in Kingston, NH with Cheap Trick, Ratt, Twisted Sister and Lita Ford in 1984
• Jay: Not a fan of festival shows anymore
• Adventures in seeing Rush
• Jay: Didn't see R.E.M. when they played my college 
• Other favorites: PJ Harvey, Hot Snakes, Lollapalooza '92, Afghan Whigs, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Drive-By Truckers, Alice in Chains/Screaming Trees, Peter Gabriel, White Stripes, Hold Steady, Mission of Burma, Gord Downie
• 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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2024.

Show notes:

• Our top 10 albums of the year
• Shout out to Rock P's top 20 out of 10 countdown
• JB's #10: Triple album tribute album for Jesse Malin, an underrated songwriter
• JK's #10: J Mascis incorporates hot guitar solos into a mostly acoustic album
• JB's #9: Hot collection of bangers from Cloud Nothings
• JK's #9: Farewell set from Toronto noise rockers METZ 
• JK's #8: Angry breakup album from Fake Fruit
• Coming up on the 5th birthday of Parcheesi Redux radio, SITG hit 11 this fall
• JB's #7: Retro '60s sounds from Sharp Pins
• JK's #7:  Philly indie rockers return with in-your-face collection
• JB's #6: More great SF indie bubblegum pop from Lunchbox
• JK's #6: Power pop scorchers courtesy of Daniel Romano's Outfit
• Reminiscing about ER and One Tree Hill
• JB's #5: Peel Dream Magazine delivers peaceful indie pop
• JK's #5: Dublin indie rock act Fontaines D.C. with commercial breakthrough
• JB's #4: Dog Day with economical set of bangers
• JK's #4: Slacker alt-country with hott lead guitar by MJ Lenderman
• JB's #3: Another Slumberland slacker indie pop success with Neutrals
• JK's #3: Indie supergroup the Hard Quartet with Malkmus and Matt Sweeney
• JB's #2: The rare Johnny Foreigner album that isn't #1, but it's still pretty great 
• JK's #2 and JB's #8: Triumphant return from the Cure after 16 years
• JB's #1: Chime School with the peak summer hang soundtrack
• JK's #1: A November release from Kim Deal is a terrific reflection on loss
• First solo album after 37 years in the music biz
• Looking forward to 2025 releases from Hallelujah the Hills, maybe more Johnny Foreigner, Horsegirl, Mogwai

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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2024.

Show notes:

• The 16th annual year in review 
• First one was in 2009
• Cybertrucks are dumb
• Self-driving cars are also dumb
• Taylor Swift just ended a monster tour
• Music is a dead-end business for most
• Spotify sucks
• Country music is huge
• Breitling: There are some good underground country artists
• A good year for Tracy Chapman
• Social media landscape is shifting
• Lots of big music deaths: Quincy Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Steve Albini, Paul Di'Anno, Greg Kihn, Karl Wallinger
• Getting out to some rock shows: Hallelujah the Hills, Nuggets tour, Gang of Four, Hoodoo Gurus, Sloan in Toronto
• Breitling's honorable mentions: The TV show The Bear, Bug Club's song "Quality Pints," Fontaines D.C.'s "Favourite," Tsunami box set, Spectres, Kal Marks
• Kumar's honorable mentions: Dale Crover, Buffalo Tom, Ekko Astral, Jack White, Ducks Ltd., Mary Timony, Los Campesinos 
• 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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite instrumentals. 

Show notes:

• Phil's #8: A jazz-funk classic out of Scotland?
• Jay's #8: Powerful surf rock from the Pixies
• Phil's #7: The Commodores with an early funk workout
• Jay's #7:  Dick Dale hit that was revived decades later in Pulp Fiction
• Song originated in the 1920s
• Phil's #6: Instrumental from Phish that evolved in the live setting
• Jay's #6: A sweeping song from Bowie's Berlin period
• Bowie switched genres and sounds with ease
• Phil's #5 and Jay's #3: A revolutionary moment for guitar heroics
• Edward Van Halen changed the game for rock guitar and hard rock
• Jay's #5: Hendrix blowing minds in the early morning hours at Woodstock
• Turning the national anthem into a protest song
• Phil's #4: Music mogul with a horn-driven dance song
• Sampled by Notorious B.I.G.
• Another horn-based song by Chuck Mangione went to #1 in '79
• Jay's #4:  Iconic full-band instrumental off Zep II
• Killer riff combined with Bonham's monstrous drumming
• Phil's #3: Elton John with the first part of a two-part suite 
• Metallica did a great cover earlier this year
• Phil's #2: Tedeschi-Trunks Band with extended instrumental from experimental project
• Jay's #2: Concise, virtuosic classic from Rush's best album
• Phil's #1: Iconic song released by the Allman Brothers Band after the death of their ace guitarist
• Dickey Betts played song with two fingers as a tribute to Django Reinhardt
• Jay's #1 and Phil's #10: Epic, emotional guitar piece by Eddie Hazel of Funkadelic
• J Mascis did a great cover on Mike Watt's 1995 solo album

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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite instrumentals. 

Show notes:

• We're feeling goooood.
• What makes a good instrumental?
• Jay: I like the musicians in Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Not as many instrumentals made now as there used to be 
• No jazz instrumentals included in our lists
• Phil's bubbling under picks: Booker T and the MGs, Bar-Kays, Meters, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Santana, U2, Rush, Dick Dale, Beatles, Boston, TSOP, Bowie, Pink Floyd 
• Jay's non-top 10 picks: Rush, Van Halen, Focus, ELO, Pink Floyd, the Who, Iron Maiden, Commodores, Fugazi, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet
• Alex VH's new book ignores Sammy Hagar
• Some great instrumentals are TV themes like Barney Miller
• Jay's #10: The Police with a mysterious guitar exercise
• Phil's #9: Majestic song from the Who's first rock opera
• Fans in the '60s didn't know what to expect when bands were melting their faces
• Jay's #9: Beastie Boys break out the funk
• 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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite cover songs. 

Show notes:

• Jay's #7: Ty Segall with a ripper of a Neil Young cover
• Phil's #6: The live version of a Linda Ronstadt classic
• Jay's #6: An indie rock all-star band playing covers the Beatles played in their early days
• Greg Dulli, Thurston Moore, Dave Grohl, Dave Pirner, Mike Mills and Don Fleming
• Phil's #5: Phish covering the Stones
• Phish does tons of covers
• Jay's #5: An unexpected '60s cover from Husker Du
• Phil's #4: Coltrane with a wild twist on a Rodgers and Hammerstein classic
• Jay's #4: Stripped down version of an English Beat hit by Pete Townshend
• Phil's #3: Rage Against the Machine's explosive take on a Springsteen folk song
• Jay: Forgot about Rollins and Bad Brains covering "Kick Out the Jams"
• Jay's #3: Dirtbombs with a smokin' garage punk remake of Stevie Wonder 
• Jay's #2: Nirvana's Unplugged show featured several great covers
• Phil's #1: Epic length cover "Morning Dew" by the Dead
• Watching old videos from the '60s and '70s to guess how old the crowd members are now
• Jay's #1 and Phil's #2: Mind-blowing Who cover of little-know Mose Allison song
• Jay: Live at Leeds is the greatest live album 
• All four members of the Who at the peak of their powers

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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite cover songs. 

Show notes:

• What makes a good cover?
• Be true to the song, but bring something of yourself to it
• Jagger and Bowie's cover of "Dancing in the Streets" is godawful
• In the '80s and '90s, used to get 45s or cassingles (or CD singles) to get B-sides
• Phil's honorable mention covers: U2, Courtney Barnett, Nirvana, Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, Etta James, Beatles, Stones, Bjork, Aretha, Pearl Jam, CSNY, Cowboy Junkies
• Nirvana's MTV Unplugged has several great covers
• Zeppelin covered a lot of songs on their early albums, with or without giving credit
• Jay's honorable mentions: The Clash, Hendrix, Pretenders, U2, Charles Bradley, Thin Lizzy, Bjork, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, Living Colour, Soft Cell, Johnny Cash, PJ, Deep Purple, Urge Overkill, Violent Femmes, Anthrax, Breeders, Cheap Trick, Malkmus and Elastica, Iron Maiden, Queens of the Stone Age
• Phil's #10: Stevie Ray Vaughan takes on a guitar god's classic
• Jay's #10: Dinosaur Jr. makes a Cure song their own
• Phil's #9: Zeppelin's first album features a cover that was previously done by Joan Baez
• Judas Priest also covered a Baez song
• Jay's #9: A signature Blondie song was actually a cover
• Phil's #8: A timeless classic from the late '50s by the Flamingos
• Jay's #8: Sinead O'Connor made the definitive version of a Prince song
• Phil's #7: Faces with a powerful Temptations cover
• 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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of the 2010s. 

Show notes:

• Phil's 2016 #1: Drive-By Truckers with a political statement in a divided year
• Jay's 2016 #1: The final act of Bowie was a masterpiece
• Phil's 2017 #1: Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile join forces
• Jay's 2017: #1: Strong second act from the Afghan Whigs
• Phil's and Jay's 2018 #1: Cathartic blast of political anger from Superchunk
• Phil's 2019 #1: David Berman's final album as Purple Mountains
• Real talk about people dealing with tough issues 
• Shocking deaths over the last decade
• Jay's 2019 #1: Sarcastic pop-punk excellence from Toronto's PUP
• Phil's 2020 #1: Jason Isbell deals with ghosts on his 7th album
• COVID memories
• Jay's 2020 #1: Topical protest hip hop from Run the Jewels

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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of the 2010s. Also, happy 18th birthday to the show!

Show notes:

• Wrapping up our year-by-year look at rock music starting with 1970
• Each of us picking a favorite album for each year from 2011-2020
• Phil's 2011 #1: Bluesy collection from Tedeschi Trucks Band 
• Susan Tedeschi grew up in New England
• Jay's 2011 #1: Concept album by Toronto's Fucked Up
• Phil's 2012 #1: Punchy punk rippers from Parquet Courts
• Neil Young and the art of the 15-minute song
• Jay's 2012 #1: Ty Segall Band with a heavy garage rock/psych sound
• Phil's 2013 #1: Laid-back slacker jams from Philly's Kurt Vile
• Jay's 2013 #1: An epic Queens of the Stone Age album written after a near-death experience
• Phil's 2014 #1: TV On the Radio's last album and first since bass player died
• Jay's 2014 #1: Expansive tour de force from Parquet Courts
• Phil's 2015 #1: Courtney Barnett combines conversational lyrics with hot guitar
• Jay's 2015 #1: Jeff Rosenstock delivers a pop-punk masterpiece
• On being the old guy at rock shows
• Next time: 2016-2020

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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2024 so far.

Show notes:

• JB's #6 and JK's #7: Philly's Mannequin Pussy is a wide-ranging delight
• JK's 6: Excellent jangle rock from Toronto's Ducks Ltd.
• JB's #5 and JK's #3: J Mascis with a laid-back winner of a solo album
• Let us know if you want to be in the studio audience for the year-end wrapup
• JK's #5: A more electronic effort from St. Vincent
• The limited amount of media attention given to albums now
• How do current artists measure success? 
• Remembering weird synth pop from the early '80s
• Fewer barriers to entry, but fewer ways to get your music in front of people
• JB's #4: Another great Slumberland release from Lunchbox, featuring folks from Hard Left
• JK's #4: First release in 14 years from NYC art rockers Les Savy Fav
• JB's #3: NH-based act combines post punk with many different genres
• JB's #2: Johnny Foreigner returns with EP previewing their upcoming album
• JK's #2: METZ adds catchiness to their noise rock 
• JB's #1: Political swipe at gentrification from Neutrals
• Anticipated albums: Fontaines D.C., Sunset Rubdown, Johnny Foreigner, Chime School, Peel Dream Magazine, Jesus Lizard, Horse Jumper of Love, Los Campesinos, Osees
• JK's #1: Hot collection of power pop rippers from Daniel Romano's Outfit

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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2024 so far.

Show notes:

• Crazy stuff going right as we started recording
• Concert tours getting canceled because of poor ticket sales (Black Keys, JLo)
• The phenomenon of Taylor Swift
• Vinyl is selling well, but half the people who buy it don't own a record player
• Another factor in the concert business struggles is the high price of tickets
• Apparently Gen Z loves dream pop
• Spotify accuses Hallelujah the Hills of gaming the system
• The Legend of Doo Doo Brown
• JB's honorable mentions: The Bret Tobias Set, Bug Club, Fontaines D.C., Ducks Ltd., Bedbug, Umbrellas, Torrey, Waxahatchee, Shellac, Buffalo Tom, Les Savy Fav, Pedro the Lion
• JK's honorable mentions: Cloud Nothings, Boeckner, Redd Kross, Mdou Moctar, IDLES, Plus/Minus, Bodega, Kim Gordon, DIIV
• JK's #10: Mary Timony's first solo album in 19 years
• JB's #9: Dope Yeti is the nexus of Beck, Dylan and GBV
• JK's #9: A quieter, more Americana-focused album from Buffalo Tom
• JB's #8: Strong modern shoegaze release from DIIV
• JK's #8: Second album from the Smile is an acceptable Radiohead substitute
• JB's #7: Cloud Nothings keep cranking out great albums
• 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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2010.

Show notes:

• Black Keys cancel arena tour after way overestimating their popularity
• Phil's #5: Black Keys establish their popularity with poppier blues sound
• Phil's and Jay's #4: Superchunk returns after a nine-year break with an energetic pop-punk ripper
• Phil's #3: Lo-fi psych from Philly duo Reading Rainbow (now called Bleeding Rainbow)
• Jay's #3: Nick Cave returns with his harder rocking Grinderman project
• Phil's #2 and Jay's #5: More rock-oriented album from Drive-By Truckers
• Jay's #2: Politically-driven melodic punk from Ted Leo and the Pharmacists 
• Phil's #1: Neil Young with a solo effort with a lot of guitar effects
• Jay's #1: Titus Andronicus with your typical epic Civil War-meets-modern-day NJ concept album 
• Jay: Titus Andronicus is one of my favorite current bands 
• Favorite songs: "Hitchhiker" (Phil), "Theme from Cheers" (Jay)
• Next time we get together, we'll sum up the decade of the 2010s

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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2010.

Show notes:

• In 2010, Phil became a dad for the second time
• A little running talk
• Kesha had the #1 song in 2010 with "Tik Tok"
• Phil asking philosophical questions
• Phil's non-top 5s: Darker My Love, Best Coast, LCD Soundsystem, Foals, Ty Segall, Spoon, Wolf People, Vampire Weekend, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
• Jay's non-top 5s: Neil Young, Los Campesinos!, Arcade Fire, Black Mountain, Les Savy Fav
• When artists stop making good albums
• 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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2009.

Show notes:

• Jay's non-top 5s: Arctic Monkeys, Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, Patterson Hood, Alice in Chains, Obits, Eels, Tragically Hip, Brendan Benson, Neko Case, Heaven and Hell
• Phil's #5: Yeah Yeah Yeahs make foray into dance rock
• Judas Priest makes good pump-up music
• Jay's #5: Trippy prog-metal from Mastodon
• Phil's #4: Neko Case is a force of nature
• Jay's #4: Art Brut with an entertaining collection of ripping artsy punk  
• Phil's #3: Slow-burning solo excursion from Patterson Hood
• Jay's #3: Anthemic punk/classic rock mix from Japandroids
• Phil's #2: Phish returns after a 5-year break
• Jay's #2: Jarvis Cocker with the kickass Albini-recorded solo ripper 
• Phil's and Jay's #1:  Monster supergroup debut from Them Crooked Vultures
• Jay saw TCV in Boston on their only tour
• Always cool to see someone from Zeppelin play live
• Favorite songs: "Angela" (Jay), "Elephants" (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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2009.

Show notes:

• In 2009, Phil had a newborn and was expecting another
• We had a global pandemic in '09 (H1N1 swine flu)
• Biggest selling album in the world was by Susan Boyle
• Black Eyed Peas had a big year
• U2 had an album out, but didn't make much of an impression on us
• Phil's non-top 5s: The Dead Weather, Son Volt, Wilco, Jason Isbell, Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, A.C. Newman, Titus Andronicus, Deer Tick 
• To smarm or not to smarm
• 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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2008.

Show notes:

• Phil's #5: My Morning Jacket changes things up
• Jay's #5: Big space rock ripper from Black Mountain
• Phil's #4: Springsteen-inspired indie rock from the Gaslight Anthem
• Jay's #4: Stephen Malkmus gets jammy 
• Phil's #3: Tom Petty's early band Mudcrutch gets back together
• Jay's #3: Sloan with an economical power pop release
• Phil's and Jay's #2: Dark, inspired record from the Gutter Twins
• Phil's #1: Brooding classic from Death Cab for Cutie 
• Jay's #1: The Hold Steady hits an anthemic peak 
• Craig Finn is an atypical yet terrific frontman
• Favorite songs: "Stay Positive" (Jay), "I Will Possess Your Heart" (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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2008.

Show notes:

• In '08, Phil became a dad
• M.I.A. with the Clash fakeout intro
• Phil's non-top 5s: The Hold Steady, Stephen Malkmus, Vampire Weekend, TV on the Radio, the Raconteurs, Beck, R.E.M., JJ Grey and Mofro, Sloan, Drive-By Truckers, Black Keys
• The Kelly Gruber Effect
• The other Phil Stacey releases his debut album, as did Scarlett Johansson and Bronson Arroyo
• Jay's non-top 5s: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Black Angels, Foxboro Hot Tubs, Destroyer
• Green Day was punk until they weren't
• Phil: Hearing the Kinks for the first time
• 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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2007.

Show notes:

• Phil's #5: Sharp alt-country debut from Deer Tick
• Jay's #5: Nick Cave rocks out with Grinderman
• Phil's #4: Compelling raunch rock from QOTSA
• Jay's #4: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists with another quality ripper
• Phil's #3: Soulful belter Sharon Jones with a great throwback
• Jay's #3: Radiohead's "pay what you want" experiment
• Labels were not happy that they took the risk
• Phil's #2: Dad-rock kings Wilco with a mellower affair
• Jay's #2: The original Dino Jr. lineup with their first album since '88
• Phil's and Jay's #1: Spoon breaks through with a classic
• The decline of rock as a popular genre
• Favorite songs: "Don't You Evah" (Jay), "Impossible Germany" (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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2007.

Show notes:

• In 2007, Jay had a kid starting kindergarten; that kids graduates from college soon
• Zeppelin played two reunion shows
• Separating the music from artists' bad behavior
• Daughtry had the #1 selling album of '07
• Phil's non-top 5s: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, the National, St. Vincent, Jason Isbell, Okkervil River, Buffalo Tom, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Arctic Monkeys 
• Let's hear it for Dad Rock
• On Madonna's career
• Discovering music through commercials or movies
• Music services
• Jay's non-top 5s: LCD Soundsystem, the Dears, Tim Armstrong, Black Francis, Thurston Moore, Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, Ray Davies, Beastie Boys
• 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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2006.

Show notes:

• Jay's non-top 5s: The Black Angels, Mission of Burma, Twilight Singers, The Tragically Hip, Girl Talk, Iron Maiden, Lemonheads
• Phil's #5: Beck's last really good album, especially the first half
• Jay's #5: First solo release from Pulp's Jarvis Cocker
• Phil's #4: Last Drive-By Truckers album with Jason Isbell expands their world view
• Jay's #4: Expansive and excellent outing from TV On the Radio
• Phil's #3: Droney, psychedelic fuzz from the Black Angels
• Jay's #3: Yet another great one from the Hold Steady
• Phil's #2: Sharp debut from Jack White-led Raconteurs
• Jay's #2: Sweeping double album from Sloan, chock full o' power pop goodness
• Phil's #1: Guitar greatness from Doug Martsch and Built to Spill
• Jay's #1: Audacious debut from Arctic Monkeys
• Arctic Monkeys caught on with a whole new audience
• Favorite songs: "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor" (Jay), "Goin' Against Your Mind" (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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2006.

Show notes:

• First episode of the year
• In 2006, Jay had two little kids
• Phil was having fun
• When you don't know anybody playing the festival
• Top-selling album of the year was High School Musical soundtrack
• The Who released an album in 2006
• Phil's non-top 5s: Neko Case, Destroyer, the Hold Steady, the Walkmen, Dylan, Heartless Bastards, Tom Petty, Eagles of Death Metal, Black Keys, Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, Pearl Jam, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
• Jay: Check out Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins
• 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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of 2023.

Show notes:

• We're in there like swimwear
• On to the top 10 lists
• Breitling's #10: Return to from by Fog Lake
• Breitling's #9: Frog's new release unexpectedly has received critical praise 
• Kumar's #9: Another consistenly great album from Protomartyr
• Breitling's #8: Minimalist excellence from Colleen that tests Jay's French pronunciation skills
• Kumar's #8: After an 11-year absence, the Hives' formula de rock still kicks ass in 2023
• Breitling's #7 and Kumar's #10: Yo La Tengo still bringing the heat, opening the album with 7-minute feedback-laden ripper
• Kumar's #7 and Breitling's #6: Supergroup is actually super, Voltroning into a monster act
• Kumar's #6: Return of the rock with Queens of the Stone Age, chock full o' bangers from a super-tight band
• Breitling's #5: Philly represent with Golden Apples dropping indie pop/rock with the fuzz bass and some wooder ice
• Kumar's #5: SF's Pardoner brings an assortment of guitar sounds from the last 50 years to their latest slack masterpiece
• The '90s sound (and look) is still thriving
• Breitling's #4: More of the Philly goodness with Purling Hiss with the lo-fi hooky guitar rock
• Kumar's #4: Indie power-pop supergroup Eyelids delivers the super-catchy goods
• Breilting's #3: Bay Area shoegaze concern Blue Ocean returns with a weird and rewarding album
• Kumar's #3: Sharp, concise indie post-punk from Kansas-via-Boston act Sweeping Promises  
• Breitling's #2: Ohio-based indie act Connections connects with melodic rockers; RIYL GBV, Feelies
• Kumar's #2: New Zealand post-punk that smashes through with punchy, catchy rippers
• Breitling's #1: Long-awaited reunion album from American shoegaze icons Drop Nineteens does not disappoint
• Kumar's #1: Going into Hellmode with Jeff Rosenstock, who has been consistently releasing excellent albums for the last several years; additional layers of maturity and depth make this release all the more satisfying 

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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of 2023.

Show notes:

• Recorded at Clicky Clicky HQ
• The 14th year of "Year in Music" episodes
• Taylor Swift is big, but not bigger than Starbucks
• Breitling making fun of Croz
• Perfect synergy: The Stones tour sponsored by AARP
• Hall v. Oates
• KISS passes the torch to digital avatars of themselves
• The "new" old Beatles song
• Check it out on the YouthTube
• Spotify blows
• The kids love the streaming and whatnot
• Check out Parcheesi Redux Tuesday and Thursday on Mixcloud
• Also check out Brad Searles' show The Almanac on the first Wednesday of every month
• Shout out to the Rollins Archive
• Breitling's honorable mentions: Ted Pauly, Everything But the Girl, Cupid and Psyche, Everasting and Zilla, Superchunk
• Kumar's honorable mentions: Pile, Model/Actriz, Yves Tumor, Fucked Up, Shame, PJ Harvey, Peter Gabriel, Marnie Stern, Replacements' "Tim" reissue, Breeders' Last Splash reissue, Feelies live album of VU covers
• 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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2005.

Show notes:

• Jay's #5 and Phil's #4: New Pornographers with another all-star power pop classic
• Phil's #5: Early '70s singer-songwriter jams from Ryan Adams and the Cardinals
• Still in the era of artists putting out overlong albums
• Jay's #3: Spoon expands their sound, grows their popularity
• Phil's #3: A powerful R&B belter from Sharon Jones
• Jay's #2: Queens of the Stone Age with a punchy follow-up to a monster hit
• Phil's #2: Beck with an Odelay-esque release with a nod to Latin music
• Phil's #1 and Jay's #4: Sleater-Kinney drops a monster rock album 
• Jay's #1: Another winner from The Hold Steady, blending big riffs and nerdy scenester tales
• Jay makes a Rush joke
• Favorite songs: "Jumpers" (Phil), "Your Little Hoodrat Friend" (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. 

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2005.

Show notes:

• In 2005, Jay was dealing with tiny children while Phil was newly married
• Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Pink Floyd briefly reunited
• Jay: Listened to a lot of songs via MP3 blogs
• Jay's non-top 5s: White Stripes, Black Mountain, Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs, Wolf Parade, Against Me!
• Phil's non-top 5s: Sufjan Stevens, Son Volt, Bright Eyes, Neil Young, Trey Anastasio, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, Southern Culture on the Skids, North Mississippi All-Stars
• Random cocaine references 
• Wilco with a good live 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.

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. 

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.

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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1992.

Show notes:

- More of Phil's non top 5s: Soul Asylum, Screaming Trees, Kyuss, Jayhawks, Grateful Dead, Rage Against the Machine

- A few more from Jay: Helmet, Faith No More

- Phil interviewed hockey players who liked RATM

- Jay's #5 and Phil's #4: Buffalo Tom hones their craft with their third album

- Phil's #5: Neil Young turns down after a few years of extreme volume

- Jay's #4: Beastie Boys with a killer album distinguished by more instrumentation from the boys themselves

- Jay's #3: The Tragically Hip's best album gives off a distinctly Canadian vibe

-  Phil's #3: The Singles soundtrack captured the Seattle sound

- Jay's #2: Pavement brings the slacker rock on their debut

- Phil's #2: R.E.M. at the peak of their commercial powers

- Jay's and Phil's #1: Bob Mould starts a new chapter with Sugar

- Favorite songs: "Hoover Dam" (Phil), "Summer Babe" (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.

Show notes:

- Phil's #5: The debut of an unknown band called Pearl Jam

- Album had a slow build, didn't really get big until spring '92

- Jay's #5: Smashing Pumpkins' debut is a guitar feast

- Phil's #4: Prince's last great album, according to Phil

- Jay's #4: Under-the-radar power pop genius from Scotland

- Gene Simmons sued over the album cover

- That time Simmons covered "Firestarter"

- Phil's #3: Lenny Kravitz peaks on this second album

- Phil's #2: U2 changes their image and sound

- Shifted from Americana to German electronic sounds

- Jay's #2: Soundgarden blasts into the stratosphere

- Pissing off old people

- Jay's #1: Matthew Sweet breaks through with a power pop classic

- Great guitarists guesting, including Robert Quine and Richard Lloyd

- Phil's #1 and Jay's #3: Nirvana's revolutionary sophomore effort

- Suffers from overexposure on classic rock stations now

- Favorite songs: "Divine Intervention" (Jay), "Breed" (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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1990. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Recorded in person at CompCon World HQ

- In '90, Jay turned 23 and Phil turned 21

- Phil's short career in foodservice

- Jay was a newspaper reporter in Peabody, Mass.

- Controversies over 2 Live Crew, Milli Vanilli and Madonna

- Lots of scenes happening: Alternative, New Jack Swing, Madchester, Seattle

- The era of the Jock Jam

- Albums that didn't make Phil's top 5: Uncle Tupelo, Allman Brothers, Pretenders, Living Colour, Breeders, Alice in Chains, Mother Love Bone, Pixies, World Party, Happy Mondays, Ride, Mazzy Star, Sundays, Cowboy Junkies, Replacements, INXS, Social Distortion, Bob Mould, Black Crowes

- Questions around the November Rain video (which came out in '91)

- Jay's non-top 5s: Afghan Whigs, Flaming Lips, Midnight Oil, Mark Lanegan, Robert Plant

- 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.