Wed, 19 April 2023
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1999. Show notes:
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. |
Wed, 12 April 2023
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1999. Show notes:
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. |
Wed, 15 March 2023
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1998. Show notes:
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. |
Wed, 8 March 2023
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1998. Show notes:
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, 14 February 2023
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1997. Show notes:
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, 7 February 2023
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1997. Show notes:
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. |
Wed, 25 January 2023
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. |
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, 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. |
Tue, 26 July 2022
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1993. Show notes: - Jay's non-top 5s: Urge Overkill, Living Colour, Matthew Sweet, The Pursuit of Happiness, Paw, Fugazi - Some good comps and soundtracks: No Alternative, Sweet Relief, Judgment Night - Phil's #5: Belly with a strong debut - Jay's #5: Dinosaur Jr. straddles the line between alt- and classic rock - Jay's #4 and Phil's #3: Smashing Pumpkins break through on sophomore effort - Jay's #3: Electrifying, raw second album from PJ Harvey - Phil's #2: U2 takes an interesting left turn with Zooropa - Jay's #2 and Phil's #4: Nirvana's abrasive followup to Nevermind - Phil's #1: Liz Phair with an audacious debut out of nowhere - Jay's #1: A dark look at modern romance from the Afghan Whigs - Favorite songs: "Mesmerize" (Phil), "Debonair" (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, 12 July 2022
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1993. Show notes: - In 1993, Jay turned 26, Phil turned 24 - Jay moved to Middleton, Mass. - Phil saw the Breeders, Belly, Lenny Kravitz - Jay saw Nirvana and the Breeders, Midnight Oil, Lollapalooza - Big year for hip hop - Hair metal was dead - Phil's non-top 5s: Pearl Jam, Lenny Kravitz, Breeders, PJ Harvey, Radiohead, Afghan Whigs, Uncle Tupelo, Frank Black, Juliana Hatfield, Morphine, Velvet Underground, Bjork, Cracker, Mazzy Star, Dinosaur Jr., Big Head Todd and the Monsters - 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, 5 July 2022
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the first half of 2022. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ - Breitling's #5: Papercuts with a solid effort featuring gratuitious Mellotron - Kumar's #5: Spoon serves up a quality dollop of Spoon - Breitling's #4: Elvis Costello in his occasional rock mode - Kumar's #4: The Smile fills the gap between Radiohead albums with a pretty damn good album - Kumar's #3: Oceanator brings the heat with revved-up guitar attack and a Doofenshmirtzian name - Kumar with the prog-rock contacts - Breitling's #3: WEMA is a London-based Tanzanian electronic act playing hypnotic worldbeat - Kumar's #2: Superchunk with a strong but restrained effort looking at life during a pandemic - Breitling's #2: Debut EP from SF act Neutrals that pushes shorter indie rock songs into long songs - Kumar's #1: Toronto punk-pop act PUP with a great concept album about a band named PUP breaking up - Breitling's #1: Debut album from Chicago's Horsegirl is full of "wall-to-wall bangasauruses" - Looking forward to new releases from Kiwi Jr., Built to Spill, Ty Segall, Sloan, Afghan Whigs Completely Conspicuous is available through the Apple Podcasts directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 21 June 2022
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the first half of 2022. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ - Breitling's laptop is acting up - Concerts are mostly back - Kate Bush sees a resurgence in popularity - R.I.P., the iPod - RL Mathews discovers the new stuff - Breitling's honorable mentions: Graveyard Club, David West, Big Cream, Peaness, Golden Apples, Stomptalk Modstone, Pillow Queens, Pinchpoints, Flash Hits - Kumar's HMs: Papercuts, Kurt Vile, Savak, Sasami, Kids on a Crime Spree, Yard Act, Adulkt Life, Mister Goblin, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Elvis Costello - Good reissues from Pavement and the Flashing Lights - Kumar's #10: Pink Mountaintops bring the psych/sludge/synth pop - Breitling's #10: Lo Fi Legs, a musical band with a terrible name and good indie rock - Kumar's #9: Dan Bejar brings a little more danceability to the latest Destroyer joint - Kumar's #8: Jon Spencer's back with a fun record - Breitling's #8: Spiritualized is worth repeat listening - Kumar's #7: Wet Leg proves they're not a one-trick pony - Breitling's #7: Tremendous release from Pet Fox, featuring doods from Ovlov and Palehound - Breitling's #6: Yawners with the Spanish indie rock - Kumar's #6: Moody change of pace from Fontaines D.C. - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through the Apple Podcasts directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 31 May 2022
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. |
Tue, 24 May 2022
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1992. Show notes: - In 1992, Jay turned 25, Phil turned 23 - We both worked at local newspapers - The so-called grunge explosion kicked into full gear - Jay: Saw lots of great shows, including Lollapallooza, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Mudhoney - "Bohemian Rhapsody" was back on the singles chart thanks to Wayne's World - Metal was phasing out - Keeping the band brand going - Jay's non-top 5s: Afghan Whigs, Sloan, Rollins Band, Black Crowes - Phil's non-top 5s: Luscious Jackson, Phish, Lemonheads, Cracker, PJ Harvey, Nirvana, Alice In Chains, Lou Reed, Sonic Youth, Bettie Serveert, Mudhoney - 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. |
Wed, 18 May 2022
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1991. 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. |
Tue, 10 May 2022
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1991. Show notes: - In '91, Phil graduated from college; Jay worked at the Peabody Times newspaper - A big year for rock, although a lot of the impact wasn't felt until the following year - Seeds for alt-rock explosion had been sown in the previous few years - Still a lot of classic rock, hair metal and pop on the charts - Freddie Mercury died, Lollapallooza tour started - Bryan Adams was in full balladeer mode - The evolution of Marky Mark - Clapton still sucks - Neither of us was a fan of the Use Your Illusion albums - Albums were way too long in the CD era - Phil's non-top 5 albums: Temple of the Dog, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Mudhoney, Dinosaur Jr., Pixies, A Tribe Called Quest, My Bloody Valentine, Tragically Hip, Neil Young, Massive Attack, Primal Scream, R.E.M., Red Hot Chili Peppers - Jay's non-top 5s: Elvis Costello, Nation of Ulysses, Fishbone - Rockit Records, R.I.P. - 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, 12 April 2022
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1990. Show notes: - Our top 5 albums of '90 - Phil's #5: Jane's Addiction with a sprawling classic - Jay's #5: Sophomore release from Living Colour explored a lot of different styles - Phil's #4: Sinead O'Connor blows up with her second album - Her SNL appearance in '92 caused serious controversy - Sinead is alive and well - Jay's #4: Kim Deal goes out on her own with the Breeders - Phil's #3: Phish comes into their own with second album - The jammier acts played the Northeast college scene in the late '80s/early '90s - Jay's #3: Public Enemy blasts through with a strident, political album - Phil's #2: Sonic Youth streamlines their sound on their major label debut - Jay's #1: Fugazi continues sticking it to The Man on their first full-length album - Phil's #1 and Jay's #2: Neil Young and Crazy Horse crank up the amps and embrace feedback - Phil saw this tour with Sonic Youth and Social Distortion opening - He might be making the best current music of his peers - Favorite songs: "Fuckin' Up" (Phil), "Merchandise" (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, 29 March 2022
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. |
Tue, 8 February 2022
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1989. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom during a blizzard - Our top 5 albums of '89 - Phil's #5: Tom Petty finds renewed success with a solo album -Jay's #5 and Phil's #4: Nirvana's sludgy debut hints at future success - Jay's #4: The Beasties go sample crazy and blow up the sophomore slump - Phil's #3: Phish with an auspicious debut - Jay had a run-in with a pre-fame Trey Anastasio at the UNH newspaper - Jay's #2: Bob Mould shifts gears in his solo debut and launches new phase in his career - Phil's #2 and Jay's #1: Pixies follow up a stone cold classic with another one - Phil's #1 and Jay's #3: Neil Young triumphs after a rough decade - Favorite songs: "Hangin' on a Limb" (Phil), "Wave of Mutilation" (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, 1 February 2022
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1989. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom during a blizzard - In '89, Jay turned 22 and graduated from college, Phil turned 20 - Early seeds of Seattle and Manchester sound - GNR became huge - Milli Vanilli was enjoying some short-lived success -Big year for pop - Phil's non-top 5 albums: Bob Mould, The Cure, B-52s, Stone Roses, The Ocean Blue, XTC, De La Soul, Replacements, Joe Jackson, Galaxie 500, Fugazi, RHCP, Lenny Kravitz, Tragically Hip, Indigo Girls, Bonnie Raitt, Tin Machine, Lou Reed, Dylan, McCartney, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Stones, Grateful Dead - George Jefferson, prog fan - Phil saw Stones, Who, McCartney, the Dead, the Cure, B-52s; Jay saw R.E.M., Elvis Costello - Jay: Faith No More, Soundgarden, Elvis Costello, Cult, Mudhoney, Buffalo Tom, Nine Inch Nails - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 11 January 2022
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1988. Show notes: - Recorded while driving home from Trillium Brewing in Canton, Mass. - Phil's #5: Sonic Youth focuses their sound - Jay's #5: J. Mascis and Dino Jr. get more melodic while still delivering a heavy sound - Phil's #4: U2's first controversial album still provides a lot of memorable moments, overshadowed by the movie - Jay's #4 and Phil's #3: Living Colour's debut showed off their many talents - Jay's #3: Debut from Toronto's The Pursuit of Happiness combined hard rock, neurotic singer and girl group backing vocals - Phil's #2: R.E.M.'s last album before they became superstars - Jay's #2: Public Enemy at the peak of their powers - Phil's and Jay's #1: Los Pixies creates the template for the '90s alt-rock explosion - Favorite songs: "Gigantic" (Phil), "Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos" (Jay) Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Mon, 3 January 2022
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1988. Show notes: - Recorded while driving to Trillium Brewing in Canton, Mass. - In 1988, Jay turned 21 and Phil turned 19 - Jay: 21st birthday was pretty rough - Phil tells tales of good decision-making - Jay's long, strange trip to the Monsters of Rock show: Long drive, short show - Big year for pop artists on the charts - Phil's Whitesnake story - Big soundtracks: Cocktail, Dirty Dancing - Phil's non-top 5 albums: Keith Richards, Mudhoney, Jerry Harrison, Jane's Addiction, Cowboy Junkies, Brian Wilson, Smithereens, Smiths, Pogues, Waterboys, Dinosaur Jr., Tracy Chapman, Public Enemy, Traveling Wilburys - Jay's non-top 5s: Fishbone, Bobby Brown, Iron Maiden, Robert Plant, The Church, Metallica - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 21 December 2021
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our top albums of 2021. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ - On to the top 10 - Breitling's #10: The Reds, Pinks and Purples with an ephemeral pop release on Slumberland - Kumar's #10: Raw collection of rippers from Juliana Hatfield - Breitling's #9 and Kumar's #8: Instant classic from Ovlov - Kumar's #9: IDLES shifts gears with some stylistic changes - Breitling's #8: Chime School with a quality jangle-rock album - Breitling's #7: More Slumberland goodness from the Umbrellas - Kumar's #7: St. Vincent digs into a late '70s vibe - Breitling's #6: Toronto's Ducks Ltd. with an excellent Feelies-esque record - Kumar's #5: Baltimore hardcore screamers Turnstile explores different sounds - Breitling's #4 and Kumar's #2: Dino Jr. continues to kick ass - Kumar's #4: Kiwi Jr. is another Toronto act working the '90s slacker rock vibe - Breitling's #3: MBV-esque shoegaze from Fleeting Joys - Kumar's #3: Parquet Courts moves into danceable Talking Heads territory - Breitling's #2 and Kumar's #6: The War on Drugs fully embraces a mid-80s FM radio sound - Breitling's #1: Blue Ocean with a shoegaze/post punk compilation of two EPs - Kumar's #1 and Breitling's #5: More Bay Area-based slack-rock awesomeness with Pardoner Completely Conspicuous is available through the Apple Podcasts directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Mon, 13 December 2021
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of 2021. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky World HQ - Fully boostered podcast - We've been to concerts - Some shows have been postponed or canceled - Physical media is disappearing - Vinyl shortage - We're still doing our Internet radio shows (Parcheesi Radio, Stuck In Thee Garage) - Tiktok is becoming a way to break music - What the f are NFTs? - Our favorite music, starting with the ones that didn't make our top 5 - Breitling: Mogwai, Lilys reissue, Fievel Is Glauque, Spirit of the Beehive - Kumar: Ducks Ltd., Courtney Barnett, Jeff Rosenstock, Black Country New Road, Dry Cleaning, Fiddlehead - Breitling: Stomp Talk Modstone, Floating Points/Pharoah Sanders/London Sympathy Orchestra, Palberta, Kiwi Jr., Colleen, Fog Lake - Kumar: Chubby and the Nuts, Mdou Moctar, The Bevis Frond, Sleaford Mods, Colleen Green, TV Priest, Bachelor, Shame - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through the Apple Podcasts directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 2 November 2021
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss rock stars and retirement. Show notes: - Recorded recently via Skype - Will we see KISS JR.? - Will bands bring in replacements after the original members are all retired/dead? - Plenty of good cover bands out there who can probably outperform the originals - The "officially licensed cover band" - Hologram concerts are still trying to get off the ground - Fan base is also getting older - The big money these days is in hip hop, pop and country - Meanwhile, revered indie artists like Lou Barlow are playing living room/backyard shows - Who's going to stadium shows? - We don't like large venues - Bands like VH should release archival live shows like Neil Young - Sammy Hagar's living the good life - Bands that are outstaying their welcome - When bands you like are disappointing - Checking out Canadian classic rock radio - Nobody in 1991 would have predicted Dave Grohl would be the face of rock n' roll 30 years later - Will rock ever make a comeback? - Might end up like jazz, blues, bluegrass - Lots of interesting new rock coming out all the time - Commercial rock radio is pointless - It's easy to release albums, but tough to find an audience - Brian: Spotify's new music algorithm works well - Singers have a tougher time replicating their heyday - Iggy Pop has aged gracefully, believe it or not - We should take better care of artists - So hard to make a living as a musician these days - Jay: As a journalism major, I feel their pain - The band Sloan has carved out a nice niche in Canada Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 26 October 2021
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss rock stars and retirement. Show notes: - Recorded recently via Skype - David Lee Roth recently announced his retirement - Should more aging rock stars retire? - Robert Plant isn't trying to be the Golden God anymore - Bruce Dickinson and Rob Halford can still deliver high-energy metal performances - Shut it down, Clapton - Ozzy's been doing retirement tours for 30 years - KISS keeps playing "final" tours - DLR actually predicted his retirement in a 1991 video - Jay: Never saw Dave play with VH - VH changed the hard rock game - Dave and Sammy are different kinds of clowns - Dave only did a few solo albums after 1991 - DLR's image radically changed as his looks did - Bands keep touring into their 70s and 80s - Grant Hart looked pretty rough toward the end of his life, but kept touring - Similar to athletes who don't know when to hang it up - Ringo Starr has the right idea: Let the young guys do the heavy lifting - Ozzy and Sharon have issues with writing credits - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Wed, 13 October 2021
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1987. Show notes: - Recorded in the backyard of CompCon HQ - Jay's non-top 5 albums: Terence Trent D'Arby, Pixies, The Cure, Prince (The Black Album), Sonic Youth, Def Leppard, Guns N' Roses - It's easier to listen to bro-country or classic rock than look for new music these days - Phil's #5: GNR's debut took a few years to really take off - Jay's #5: The Cult goes for a hard rock sound - Jay's #4 and Phil's #1: U2 with a massive mainstream breakthrough - Phil's #3: The Cure with a killer double album - Jay's #3: R.E.M.'s last album on IRS, embracing a big rock sound - Phil's #2: The Grateful Dead go mainstream - Jay's #2: The Replacements' last great album - Jay's #1 and Phil's #4: Prince tries out many styles, makes social commentary - Favorite songs: "One Tree Hill" (Phil), "Sign O' the Times" (Jay) Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.
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Tue, 5 October 2021
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1987. Show notes: - Recorded in the backyard of CompCon HQ - In '87, Phil was 17 going on 18, Jay was 19 going on 20 - The Bangles had the #1 single of the year with "Walk Like An Egyptian" - Another big year for movie soundtracks - A lot of female pop artists hit big - Jay: Concerts I saw included Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Motley Crue, Jon Butcher Axis and U2 - Phil: Saw INXS, U2 twice, Sting, Smithereens - Bruce Willis released an album - Starship churns out the crap - Many bands changed their sound in the '80s to stay "relevant" - Phil's non-top 5 albums: INXS, Hoodoo Gurus, the Smiths, Husker Du, Dinosaur Jr., Jane's Addiction, Midnight Oil, 10,000 Maniacs, George Harrison, Sinead O'Connor, Bowie, The Tragically Hip - The meteoric rise and quick decline of INXS - That time Husker Du went on the Joan Rivers Show - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 21 September 2021
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1986. Show notes: - Recorded in the backyard of CompCon HQ - Phil's #5: Solid effort from the Pretenders, which was basically just Chrissie Hynde at this point - Jay's #5: Metallica hits their high point - Neighborhood dogs start chiming in - Phil is a big fan of Ratt n' Roll - Phil's #4: The debut of the Van Hagar era - Eddie fully embraces synths, poppier sound - Didn't realize until recently that the riff of "Best of Both Worlds" is identical to Kool and the Gang's "Celebration" - Jay's #4: David Lee Roth's out VH's VH - The best Dave solo album - Phil's #3 and Jay's #2: R.E.M. starts embracing power chords - Jay's #3: John Lydon teams up with studio musicians to create a classic - Steve Vai, Ginger Baker and others show up - Phil's #1: The Smiths in the middle of a strong run of albums - Johnny Marr elevates this album - Phil's #2 and Jay's #1: Husker Du's last great record - First major label album featured more pop hooks - Grant Hart and Bob Mould each bringing in great songs - Favorite songs: "Bigmouth Strikes Again" (Phil), "Don't Want to Know If You Are Lonely" (Jay) - Check out my Spotify playlist "Hits of the Year," which collects all the favorite songs we picked from 1970 onward Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 14 September 2021
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1986. Show notes: - Recorded in the backyard of CompCon HQ - Jay was 18 going on 19 in '86, Phil was 16 going on 17 - Nine of the top 10 selling albums of '86 came out the year before - Older artists make comebacks - Pop and hair metal were big - Boston finally released its third album - Phil's non-top 5s: Talking Heads, Smithereens, Prince, Run DMC, Beastie Boys, XTC, Bad Brains, Gene Loves Jezebel, Love and Rockets, World Party, Dead Milkmen, B-52s, Luka Bloom, Feelies, Joe Jackson, Pet Shop Boys, Sonic Youth, Rolling Stones, Dylan, Steve Earle, DLR - Jay's non-top 5s: David & David, Peter Gabriel, Iron Maiden - 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, 3 August 2021
Celebrating the show's 15th birthday with a look back at some key moments over the years. Show notes: - Going the clip show route - Episode 2: The early days - Episode 72: The first guest, featuring Jay Breitling - Episode 141: Talking about mixtapes, including recordings I made when I was 13-14 - Episode 146: Talking to Amanda Guest about college radio - Episode 186: My visit to Seattle, which got off to a strange start - Episode 253: Ric Dube and I break down "Smokin' In the Boys Room" - Episode 315: Brian Salvatore and I torture ourselves by listening to Van Halen III - Episode 494: Talking about drug-related concert experiences with Phil Stacey. 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, 27 July 2021
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about growing up as sports fans. Show notes: - Recorded on the way home from Tree House Brewing - We still don't get esports - Bands who sing songs about sports - Weezer at the Winter Classic - Short attention spans and sports - Sports gambling is big business - Super Bowl prop bets are popular - Shohei Ohtani is the greatest baseball player we've seen in a long time - Luck is a big factor in fantasy baseball - The occasional Toronto championships - Some people don't like sports - Getting blown off by Rickey Henderson - Jay: Both daughters played competitive sports - Roped younger daughter into becoming a Leafs fan - Watching your team lose sucks, but it's not the end of the world 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, 20 July 2021
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about growing up as sports fans. Show notes: - Recorded on the way to Tree House Brewing - Phil: Grew up watching sports with his dad, playing sports with his brothers - Watched a lot of tennis in the late '70s/early /80s - Both read the sports page of the local paper - Collecting sports cards was a big hobby - Jay: Began watching hockey with dad, quickly became obsessed - Played street hockey with the neighborhood kids - Phil: We played outside with no supervision all day - Now we don't let our kids go anywhere on their own - Imagining you're a pro athlete - Memories of church league hoops - Jay: We played "foot hockey" (aka soccer with a tennis ball) every day at recess - Street hockey got serious, playing teams from across town - No fun playing sports against your boss - Jay: Parents wouldn't let me play organized youth hockey - Didn't play sports the first two years of high school because of multiple moves - Good way to make friends - Jay: Played a lot of sports after college - Played soccer, hockey, golf, tennis - It's no fun when people start acting like jerks - Started getting involved with coaching youth sports when kids started playing - Some parents take their kids' sports way too seriously - Let your kids enjoy themselves - Sports fans can be really dumb - Going to games as a kid - Baseball is a major sport, but it's getting tough to watch a whole game on TV - The kids love the e-sports - 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, 6 July 2021
Part 3 of my in-person conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of 2021 so far. Show notes: - Recorded at CompCon World HQ - Still with the fan noise - Kumar's #7: Sleaford Mods with perennially pissed off minimalist post-punk - Breitling's #6: Multi-instrumentalist Colleen with hypnotic ambient album - Kumar's #6: More IDLES-y post-punk from across the pond with TV Priest - Breitling's #4: More Slumberland bedroom pop goodness from the Reds, Pinks and Purples - Kumar's #5: St. Vincent goes for a late '70s Bowie vibe - Kumar's #4: Jeff Rosenstock revisits his ska-punk roots with a remake of his 2020 album No Dream - Breitling's #3: Blue Ocean with release combining two EPs of shoegaze - Kumar's #3: Excellent guitar-heavy ripper from Juliana Hatfield - Breitling's #2: Pardoner with a hot rock release reminiscent of Pavement and Parquet Courts - Kumar's #1 and Breitling's #5: Kiwi Jr.'s second release of sardonic slacker rock - Breitling's #1 and Kumar's #2: Dinosaur Jr. with a great collection of songs - Let's go see rock shows! Completely Conspicuous is available through the Apple Podcasts directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 29 June 2021
It's part 2 of my in-person conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of 2021 so far. Show notes: - Recorded at CompCon World HQ - Still with the fan noise - Kumar's bubbling under picks (aka "Bubblahs"): Lots of cool UK post-punk (Black Country, New Road; Squid; Yard Act; Sleaford Mods; TV Priest,; Dry Cleaning), The Hold Steady, Mdou Moctar, Guardian Singles,Nick Cave & Warren Ellis, Teenage Fanclub, Iceage, McCartney, Ex-Hyena, Fridge Poetry, Glitterer, The Dirty Nil - Breitling: We're living in Blade Runner/cyberpunk times - Regional lingo - Minor sax resurgence - Difference of opinions on The Weeknd - Breitling's #10: Stomp Talk Modstone with a collection of Chinese shoegaze - Kumar's #10: An EP of lost songs from The Tragically Hip's 1991 Road Apples sessions - Breitling's #9: Floating Points/Pharoah Sanders/London Symphony Orchestra with a cool collab - Kumar's #9: Shame's second release is full of fun, fiery post-punk - Breitling's #8: Fog Lake with a droning take on isolation - Kumar's #8: Striking collab between Ellen Kempner of Palehound and Melina Duterte of Jay Som - Breitling's #7: Palberta puts it all together - 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, 23 June 2021
It's part 1 of my in-person conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of 2021 so far. Show notes: - Recorded at CompCon World HQ - Apologies for the loudness of the fan! Pretend you're skydiving! - First time together since December 2019 - Kumar: Check out Mdou Moctar, West African guitarist on Matador - Rollins and his listening habits - Breitling: Watching a lot of rock docs - Concerts are coming back and we're going to some - Oh great, the Eagles are touring again - Plenty of reissues out; gotta make money somehow - Streaming continues to be the main way to listen to music - Remembering the days of the Walkman and then later MP3 players that held 8 songs - Breitling's still producing a weekly radio show called Parcheesi Redux - Internet radio shows and podcasts are filling the gap left by commercial radio's stagnancy - I'm still doing my radio show Stuck In Thee Garage on BFF.fm - Breitling's bubbling under picks: Lilys reissues, Mogwai, Fievel Is Glauque, Spirit of the Beehive - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through the Apple Podcasts directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 8 June 2021
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we count down our favorite albums of 1985. Show notes: - Recorded IN PERSON at CompCon world HQ for the first time since February 2020 - Phil and Jay's #5: R.E.M. follows up two classic albums with a quirky effort - Band gradually grew in popularity - Phil and Jay's #4: The Cult hits the right combination of goth and hard rock - Ian Astbury's lyrics were appropriately cryptic - Phil's #3: An out-of-left-field pick with the Dead Milkmen's debut - "Bitchin' Camaro" was the "hit" - Jay's #3: Pete Townshend's solo peak - He's mainly focused on Who tours since then - Phil's #2: Talking Heads delve into Americana - Surprisingly, their best-selling studio album - Jay's #2: Husker Du continues their hot streak - First of two releases in '85 - Robert Palmer covered "New Day Rising" - Phil's #1: Conflicted about picking the Smiths thanks to Moz being a d-bag - Phil was an early fan, at least among his peers - Jay's #1: The Replacements keep getting better with each album - The band kept self-sabotaging through their entire career - Favorite songs: "Bastards of Young" (Jay), "Barbarism Begins at Home" (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. |
Tue, 1 June 2021
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the music of 1985. Show notes: - Recorded IN PERSON at CompCon world HQ for the first time since February 2020 - We were scheduled to record a podcast the weekend that everything shut down last year - In '85, Jay was 17 going on 18 and Phil was 15 going on 16 - Jay: Finished high school, started college - The year of rock charity - We are the World featured a disinterested Dylan - Dylan starred in the movie Hearts of Fire a few years later - Live Aid was a huge event on both sides of the Atlantic - Also, Farm Aid, Sun City and Hear 'N Aid - DLR left Van Halen - The PMRC hearings led to those Parental Advisory stickers that told kids where the good stuff was - Lots of pop on the singles chart - Phil belted out "Easy Lover" under hypnosis - Phil's favorite non-top 5 albums: Hoodoo Gurus, INXS, Tears For Fears, Dire Straits, Jesus and Mary Chain, Tom Waits, The Cure, Husker Du, The Pogues, U2, Prince, Sting, Tom Petty, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Del Fuegos, Til Tuesday, Waterboys, Meat Puppets, The Indestructible Beat of Soweto - Jay's non-top 5s: Robert Palmer, Fine Young Cannibals, Camper Van Beethoven, Big Audio Dynamite, Rush, 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. |
Tue, 27 April 2021
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the music of 1984. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Phil's #5: A strong return for the Pretenders - Half the band died after the previous album - Jay's #5 and Phil's #3: An interesting new direction for U2 - Moody, atmospheric production from Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois - Phil's #4: Audacious debut by the Smiths - Another influential college rock act - Phil as the edgy alt-rock kid at freshman orientation - When bands split up into two versions and keep touring - Jay's #4: Another great record from the Replacements - Paul Westerberg's songwriting continued to mature - Jay's #3: An epic double concept album from Husker Du - No fancy reissues for SST releases - Phil's #2: A classic live album from a band that released a great one only a few years earlier - The expanded version's better than the original - Jay's #2: R.E.M. continues building their legacy with a second standout album - A lot of fans jumped off the bandwagon after the next album - Phil and Jay's #1: A tour de force from Prince - All killer, no filler - Favorite songs: "Life During Wartime" (Phil), "Purple Rain" (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, 20 April 2021
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the music of 1984. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Phil was 14 going on 15, Jay was 16 going on 17 in '84 - Phil: Watched a lot of MTV - "College rock" was emerging - Music was drenched in synths - Jay: Saw my first concerts - Hair metal was making a splash - Thrash metal was new and exciting - Billy Squier's tough year - Phil's non-top 5 albums: Bowie, Kinks, Deep Purple, Dio, Van Halen, Ratt, Springsteen, Los Lobos, Sade, Meat Puppets, Husker Du, Minutemen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Replacements, R.E.M., Run DMC - Phil loves him some Ratt - Jay's non-top 5s: Rush, Iron Maiden, The Cars, INXS - Saw INXS a few years later at Radio City Music Hall - 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, 6 April 2021
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the music of 1983. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Phil's #5: U2's second release of '83 - Captured the band's fiery live show - Jay's #5: Iron Maiden continues its U.S. breakthrough - Part of the mainstream acceptance of metal - Phil's #4: The solo debut of Stevie Ray Vaughan - SRV got a lot of comparisons to Hendrix - Jay's #4 and Phil's #3: Talking Heads' highest-charting album - Several songs were overshadowed by Stop Making Sense versions -Jay's #2: Replacements start hitting their stride - The start of a great run of albums - Jay's #3 and Phil's #1: U2 busts out in the U.S. - Phil: Still disappointed to miss them on this tour - Phil's #2 and Jay's #1: R.E.M.'s studio debut was massively influential - Jay: Saw them on Letterman making their network TV debut - Favorite songs: "Surrender" (Phil), "Talk About the Passion" (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, 30 March 2021
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the music of 1983. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Jay was 15, Phil was 13 in '83 - Jay: Moved to NH from WA halfway through the year - Was pleasantly surprised by the variety of radio stations in Boston area - First year CDs went on sale in the U.S. - The U.S. Festival made a splash that summer - KISS took off their makeup - The Police had the #1 song of the year - Some good pop songs among the top 100 singles - Phil's non-top 5 albums: Quiet Riot, Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Billy Idol, Dio, Bowie, Huey Lewis, Yes, Neil Young, Madonna, the Fixx, the Police, ZZ Top, Rolling Stones, B-52s, Genesis - Jay's extremely brief time in a band - Jay's non-top 5s: Robert Plant, Metallica, Kinks, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ozzy Osbourne 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 March 2021
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Eric Green as we pay tribute to the cassette tape. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Eric with the Mr. Belvedere reference - You had to be sneaky to tape record a concert - Physical media holds its allure for fans of a certain age - Never got into 8-track tapes - Jay: Have a bunch of blank tapes, but haven't made a mixtape since 2000 - Eric: As a kid, made a mini-audio documentary about Van Halen on cassette - Metallica started tapers' pit at their concerts - Then a few years later, they led the charge against Napster - Eric: Still purchase music on vinyl or CD, some MP3 - Don't listen to cassettes as often anymore, but will pop one in when the mood hits - Bootlegs are the big thing he goes back to - Jay: Wrote on my blog about the various mixtapes I made over the years - Tapes definitely transport you to a different time - Do greatest hits albums matter anymore? - Reissues of great albums are popular - Some bands like the Who or the Stones have a ridiculous number of hits comps and live albums - Fond memories of the cutout bins - Various cassette storage methods - Jay: Got rid of the jewel cases for most of my CDs - Sometimes vinyl and cassettes can sound bad - Cassettes were great for comedy albums - Jay: Had to get Eddie Murphy's Comedian album on tape so my mom wouldn't hear it 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. |
Wed, 17 March 2021
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Eric Green as we pay tribute to the cassette tape. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Eric's first time on the show since '15 - R.I.P. to Lou Ottens, inventor of the cassette tape - Eric: Got into music via cassettes in the '80s - You could make your own mixes - Jay: Would tape songs off the radio in late '70s/early '80s - Jay: Currently have hundreds of tapes but nothing to play them on - Tapes were cheaper than vinyl or CDs - Fun memories of browsing in record stores - Tapes were big for bootlegs - Huge in the early days of hip hop (The Get Down is on Netflix) - Home taping didn't ruin the music industry, MP3s did - Guardians of the Galaxy helped popularize cassettes - CDs were initially marketed as indestructible and perfect sounding - Jay: Spent hours listening to tapes in the car or on a Walkman - 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, 9 March 2021
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1982. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Phil's #5: Steely Dan singer goes solo - Jazzy feel is a logical extension from Gaucho - Jay's #5 and Phil's #3: R.E.M. makes its debut with iconic EP - Influential on many bands who followed - Different sounds coming out of the underground - Phil's #4: His image has been tarnished, but Michael Jackson released a monster album - Videos from this album broke a lot of ground - Being mistaken from MJ - Jay's #4: Peter Gabriel stays weird but starts breaking through in the U.S. - Dark subject matter and interesting sonics - Set himself up for huge commercial breakthrough in a few years - Jay's #3: Mission of Burma's first full-length album - Wasn't well-known, but very influential on alt-rock artists - Played with U2 in Boston - Jay's #2: Another influential debut release, this time from Bad Brains - Ferocious live performers - One of the great album covers of all time - Phil's #1: A jazz-influenced masterpiece from Joe Jackson - No guitar to be found - Very cosmopolitan feel - Phil's #2 and Jay's #1: Prince breaks through to the mainstream - Prince didn't care what anybody thought about him - In the middle of an incredible run of great albums - When mixtape songs are taken too literally - Favorite songs: "Breaking Us In Two" (Phil), "Delirious" (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, 2 March 2021
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite music of 1982. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Callback to the CompCon eps looking at '82-2000 with Brian Salvatore a while back - My lists changed since then - In '82, Jay turned 15, Phil turned 13 - Jay: The only full year I spent in Washington state - Jay: Was big into hard rock and metal, which I listened to on my Walkman - John Belushi died; the woman who sold him the drugs had ties to the Band and Gordon Lightfoot - Top single of the year was Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" - Phil's non-top 5 picks: Pete Townshend, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, Jerry Garcia, Lou Reed, The Who, Tom Petty, XTC, Talking Heads, Billy Squier, Genesis, Duran Duran, Rush, Dire Straits, Elvis Costello, Robert Plant, English Beat, The Clash, Men at Work, Stray Cats - Senses Working Overtime was almost the name of this podcast - The power of MTV to make or break artists back in the '80s - Phil had a connection to Lee Rocker of the Stray Cats - Jay's non-top 5's: Iron Maiden, Van Halen, Judas Priest, Misfits, Scorpions, Phil Collins, The Cure - 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 February 2021
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss life after close to a year in pandemic lockdown. Show notes: - Tough to not see friends - Matt runs Dungeons & Dragons games via Zoom - Surprising number of people are into D&D - It's a good escape from the world - Like a weekly therapy session - Companies use D&D for corporate retreats - Games have grown in popularity during the pandemic - Jay: We started playing a family dominoes game every Saturday - Jay: Played the board game Pandemic years ago - The CDC's zombie announcement - People will run toward the zombies - Going to movies seems so far away - Jay: Like going to concerts, don't love going to movies - Tough time to be a theater actor - Miss going to bars - Will masks stick around after the pandemic ends? - Toilet paper hoarders - Matt ordered TP last April; it arrived in October - Waiting for normalcy - Matt: Look forward to seeing nieces and nephews again - Want to do activities involving other humans - We miss traveling - Jay: Wasn't overly disappointed to not go to a June work conference in Phoenix - Matt hated getting ready to go places, but liked it once he got there - When you can't find parking during a pandemic - Some people don't care about doing the right thing Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 16 February 2021
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss life after close to a year in pandemic lockdown. Show notes: - Haven't talked for the show since November 2019 - Coming up on the first anniversary of everything getting locked down - Matt was already used to working from home - Matt writes YA superhero/fantasy books including The Indestructibles series - Hasn't been able to go to fantasy or comics conventions - Jay: Miss the interaction of being in the office - Now used to the WFH life - Strange to spend all day at home with your family - Matt has been working remotely for over a decade - Companies will probably do away with full offices at some point - Matt: Working in an office forces you to plan for inefficiency - WFH requires self-discipline - Definitely tougher for folks with small kids - Matt dealt with the challenges of ancient Wifi technology in 2010 in Ireland - Employers will have to adjust post-COVID - Commuting sucks and people aren't going to want to do it as much - The lockdown wasn't good for Matt's writing focus - Too much going on in the world - Last March, we all assumed things would be back to normal soon - Matt: Lost the full-time gig, now juggling multiple freelance jobs - Doing photography shoots exposes you to lots of germs - Masks let you be more anonymous than you once were - Running with a mask is a little challenging - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 9 February 2021
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1981. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Jay's #5 and Phil's #4: The Stones have a massive hit with a collection of outtakes - Followed up with a massive stadium tour - Jay's #4: Prince keeps getting better but not yet breaking through to the mainstream - Pushing the envelope with explicit content - Phil's #3: J. Geils Band's pop breakthrough - Was "Centerfold" banned by WCOZ? - Jay's #3: Fair Warning was my favorite Van Halen album - Darker tone than other VH albums - Phil's #5 and Jay's #2: Rush hits the sweet spot with Moving Pictures - Side 1 is flawless - Phil's #2: An underrated U2 record, even by U2 fanatics - Got into it when it came out - Phil's #1: The Police reach commercial success - Hit their pop potential while maintaining their unique sound - Jay's #1: Going out there with Mission of Burma's debut EP - Hugely influential on scores of alt-rock bands who came later - Favorite songs: "Demolition Man" (Phil), "That's When I Reach For My Revolver" (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, 2 February 2021
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1981. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Jay turned 14, Phil turned 12 in '81 - Jay started the year in Canada, finished it in the U.S. - No good radio station, listened to a lot of my own stuff - Phil: Started buying my own music in '81 - Listened to a lot of Casey Kasem's American Top 40 - "Bette Davis Eyes" was the #1 single of the year - REO Speedwagon had a big year - K-Tel used to make big hits compilations - Ozzy bit the head off a dove (and later a bat), horrifying moms across America - MTV went on the air in August '81 (Jay didn't have it until '85) - Stones' massive tour was sponsored by Jovan Musk - When Jon Anderson of Yes teamed up with Vangelis - Phil's not-top-5 albums: Foreigner, Loverboy, The Cars, The Who, Grateful Dead, Tom Petty, Go-Gos, The Kinks, ZZ Top, X, Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Genesis, Phil Collins, Tom Tom Club, David Byrne, Grace Jones, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, Pretenders, Duran Duran, The Cure, Black Flag, Billy Squier, Prince, AC/DC - Jay's not-top-5s: The Gun Club, Iron Maiden, Ozzy, Def Leppard, Sabbath, April Wine, Triumph, Rush's live album, Motley Crue, Rick James - Anthony Michael Hall IS Mutt Lange (in a crappy Def Lep biopic) - To be continued: Our top 5 albums 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, 26 January 2021
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1980. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Jay turned 13, Phil turned 11 in '80 - Phil's #5: The (English) Beat with a fun release - Jay's #5: Ozzy comes back from the dead (career-wise, anyway) - Album was later re-recorded to replace rhythm section's parts to avoid paying royalties; original version was restored - Jay reps for the NWOBHM - Phil's #4: Rush tempers its prog leanings with newer influences - Jay's #4: Bowie wraps up a brilliant decade with another classic - Phil's #3 and Jay's #2: Talking Heads embrace African sounds - Adrian Belew boosts the sound with sick guitar work - Jay's #3: Peter Gabriel continues with his impressive solo career - Phil Collins debuts his gated drum sound on this album - Phil's #1: U2's debut is filled with youthful exuberance, mistakes and great songs - Immersing yourself in albums with your Walkman - Jay's #1 and Phil's #2: Pretenders debut with a perfect combination of pop, punk and attitude - Chrissie Hynde was a veteran of multiple scenes over decades before the Pretenders - Pretenders peaked early - Favorite songs: "A Day Without Me" (Phil), "Mystery Achievement" (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, 19 January 2021
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1980. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Jay turned 13, Phil turned 11 in '80 - U.S. boycotted the Summer Olympics - Major deaths: Lennon, Bonham, Bon Scott, Ian Curtis, Darby Crash - Sony Walkman went on sale in the U.S. - Solid Gold made its debut - Blondie had the #1 single of the year with "Call Me" - Disco was fading, new wave and hard rock was gaining prominence - The never-opened Christopher Cross album - A lot of good albums came out this year - Phil's favorite non-top 5 albums: The Feelies, The Jam, Soft Boys, Elvis Costello, X, B-52s, The Clash, Joe Jackson, Devo, Dire Straits, Blondie, Loverboy (!), UB40, Genesis, Prince, Pete Townshend, J. Geils Band, Steely Dan, Bowie, VH, - Jay was out of the music loop for 6 weeks in early '80 while in India - "Have you seen Kumar's grades?" - Jay's favorite non-top 5 albums: The Police, VH, X, Prince, Townshend, Feelies, Joy Division, Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Rush, Black Sabbath, Motorhead, The Beat, Squeeze, The Cure, Teenage Head, The Cars, John Lennon - 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, 28 December 2020
I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1979. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Jay turned 12, Phil turned 10 in '79 - "My Sharona" was the top song on the Billboard Hot 100, lots of disco - Rod Stewart hit it big with "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" - New wave was getting attention - A wealth of great albums - Jay's favorite non-top 5 albums: The Knack, Graham Parker and the Rumour, Supertramp, AC/DC, Joe Jackson with two classic albums - Phil's non-top 5 faves: Bob Marley, Blondie, Joy Division, Pink Floyd, Gang of Four, XTC, Michael Jackson, Neil Young, The Cars, The Police, The Kinks, Van Halen, Elvis Costello, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Prince, Talking Heads - Phil's #5: Joe Jackson's killer debut is just packed with great, punchy songs - Jay's #5: Pink Floyd with an epic concept album, their last great record - Phil's #4 and Jay's #2: Neil Young ends an amazing run of albums with a killer (and heavy) record - Jay's #4: Van Halen with a powerful sophomore album that expands their sound - Phil's #3: Tom Petty's breakthrough record - Jay's #3: Joe Jackson's second amazing record of '79 - Phil's #2 and Jay's #1: The Clash mixed a lot of styles on their masterpiece - Phil's #1: Phil loves the B-52s, who exploded on the scene with an amazing debut - Favorite songs: "The Guns of Brixton" (Jay), "Dance This Mess Around" (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. |
Mon, 21 December 2020
I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1978. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Jay turned 11, Phil turned 9 in '78 - Big festivals, including Texxas Jam - Lots of disco on the singles chart - Phil's favorite non-top 5 albums: Ramones, Blondie, The Who, The Clash, Elvis Costello, Jerry Garcia Band, Bob Marley, Rolling Stones, The Jam, Devo, Bob Seger, AC/DC, Tom Petty, Little Feat, Big Star, Marvin Gaye, Springsteen, Warren Zevon, Cheap Trick - WKRP in Cincinnati on DVD and music licensing (UPDATE: Turns out a bunch of the music was restored on a recent DVD set) - Cheap Trick At Budokan is one of the greatest live albums ever - Jay's favorite bubbling under albums: The Police, Rush, Dire Straits, The Who, Peter Gabriel - Phil's #5: Neil Young revisits the laid-back sound of Harvest - Phil's #4 and Jay's #4: Talking Heads explore a more danceable sound - Phil's #3: Debut from The Police made a big splash - The long journey of Andy Summers - Jay's #3: Contrasting opinions on Some Girls, but has some great Stones songs - Jay's #2: Elvis Costello and the Attractions with an angry classic - Phil's #1 and Jay's #5: Debut from The Cars has no bad songs - Phil's #2 and Jay's #1: A revolutionary debut from Van Halen - Favorite songs: "You're All I've Got Tonight" (Phil), "Running With the Devil" (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, 15 December 2020
It's part 2 of my Zoomtastic conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of 2020. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - On to our top 10 - Kumar's #10: Dan Bejar with another great cinematic Destroyer album - Breitling's #9: A hooky rock record from Bully - Kumar's #9: METZ with an accessible yet pummeling record - Breitling's #8: Spectres with a disconcerting release - Kumar's #8: Jeff Rosenstock has become a reliably excellent indie rock stalwart - Breitling's #7: Hop Along's Frances Quinlan goes solo - Reppin' for the new movie Sound of Metal - Kumar's #7: Boston act Eldridge Rodriguez with a sweeping, epic album - Dog walkin' time - Breitling's #6: The Psychedelic Furs with the superb comeback album nobody expected - Kumar's #6 and Breitling's #4: Sadie Dupuis (aka Sad13) branches out with a pop-driven release - Breitling's #5: A true banger from IDLES - Kumar's #5: The Coriky album is as close to a Fugazi reunion as we're gonna get - Kumar's #4: Greg Dulli delivers a compelling solo release - Breitling's #3: Fiona Apple unleashes a bold and uncompromising record - Kumar's #3: A pissed-off Bob Mould with a timely blast of angry anthems - Breitling's #2: Happyness with a quirky collection that echoes an Elliott Smith-Teenage Fanclub mashup - Kumar's #2: Protomartyr predicts everything and continues to get better - Breitling's #1: Phoebe Bridgers hits the big time with a masterpiece - Kumar's #1 and Breitling's #10: Run the Jewels with a vicious, vital hip-hop record that captures the desperate vibe of 2020 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, 7 December 2020
It's part 1 of my Zoomified conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of 2020. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - This podcast is not affiliated in any with MovieFone. - The first time in nine years that we're not talking the year in rock in the same room - No live shows after early March - Breitling last saw Hallelujah the Hills at Great Scott last November, Kumar saw Drive-By Truckers at Somerville Theater in March - Devastating economic impact on all the non-musicians who work to put concerts together - If approved, Save Our Stages act would aid live venues - Many independent Boston-area venues have already closed - Great Scott may reopen in a new location - No touring means no income for many smaller artists - Streaming royalties need to be updated and increased - The Breitlings enjoyed Strange Brew recently - Plenty of livestreams, free, for charity and for profit - Bandcamp Friday has been a good way to help out artists - Online radio has been fun - Breitling is doing a show with a couple of fellow Wesleyan DJs called Parcheesi Redux - Parcheesi Redux Thursday (along with the other shows) is on Mixcloud - Kumar's show, Stuck In Thee Garage, is in its 7th year on BFF.fm - Great way to discover new music - Our favorite music - Breitling's picks from the midyear that didn't make his top 10: Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Soft Pink Truth, Gigi Masin, Peel Dream Magazine, Mandarina Duck, Destroyer - Kumar's midyear picks that didn't make final top 10: Flat Worms, Dogleg, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever, Drakulas, Car Seat Headrest - More Breitling on-the-bubble picks: Susie Derkins, Hum, Coriky, Mountain Goats, Milky Wimpshake, Somerset Thrower, Nothing, METZ, Bob Mould, The Brother Kite, Paper Birch - More Kumar honorable mention picks: Psychedelic Furs, Kestrels, Fontaines D.C., Pearl Jam, Lo Tom, Disheveled Cuss, Emerald Comets/Ex-Hyena - Next week: We count down our top 10 albums Completely Conspicuous is available through the Apple Podcasts directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 24 November 2020
I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1977. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - A startling number of great releases in '77; a lot of terrific debuts - Singles chart was topped by disco and pop: Rod Stewart, Andy Gibb, Streisand, KC and the Sunshine Band, Engelbert Humperdinck - Jay's non-top 5 faves: Ramones had two albums, Sex Pistols, Johnny Thunders, the Damned, Richard Hell, Iggy Pop, Cheap Trick had two, Bowie had two, Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, Rush, Neil Young, The Clash, Wire, Max Webster - Jay: My dad had disco mixtapes, - This was recorded before Johnny Lydon said he had flea bites on his dong - Phil's non-top 5 favorites: Grateful Dead, Television, Jackson Browne, Billy Joel, Elvis Costello, the Kinks, AC/DC, Dead Boys, Queen, Linda Ronstadt, Wire, Clapton - The cover of Queen's News of the World scared young Phil; Kmart had a cleaned-up alternate cover - Jay's #5: Peter Gabriel's solo debut went in new directions, combining art rock and new wave - Phil's #5: A fiery, concise debut from the Clash (UK only) - Jay's #4: Guitar rock meets post punk from Television - Phil's #4: Bob Marley breaks through in the U.S. - Jay's and Phil's #3: Talking Heads' debut didn't sound like anything else - Jay's #2: Iggy Pop worked with Bowie in Berlin to produce an electronic-influenced sound - Phil's #2: The ubiquitous Fleetwood Mac album is getting popular again - Remains vital despite massive overplaying of certain songs - Jay's #1: Elvis Costello burst on the scene with biting lyrics, catchy classics - Phil's #1: The controversial Steely Dan with a jazzy, meticulous opus - Favorite songs: "Watching the Detectives" (Jay), "Josie" (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. |
Tue, 17 November 2020
I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1976. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - America was all about the Bicentennial in 1976 - Disco was picking up steam - Arena rock and MOR was huge - Phil's non-top 5 favorites: Eagles, Zeppelin, Steely Dan, Bowie, Zevon, J. Geils Band, Rolling Stones, Boz Scaggs, Joni Mitchell, Bob Marley, Burning Spear, Peter Tosh, Wings, AC/DC, Aerosmith, Seger, Modern Lovers - Like a lot of '76 records, don't love a lot of them - AC/DC re-released Dirty Deeds five years later in the U.S. - Bob Seger liked the double entendres - Jay's non-top 5 faves: Max Webster, Blondie, Judas Priest, Thin Lizzy, Blue Oyster Cult, Queen, Stevie Wonder, Tom Petty - Phil's #5: Jerry Garcia solo release spawned some Dead staples - Jay's #5: Aerosmith continues their strong mid-70s run - Phil's #4: Petty's stellar debut - Jay's #4: Zeppelin releases a sprawling, epic album - Phil's #3: Dylan's last great album for a while - Jay's #3: Bowie releases yet another masterpiece - Jay's #2: Rush doubles down with a sci-fi classic - Phil's #2 and Jay's #1: The Ramones burst on the scene with an influential debut - Phil's #1: Stevie Wonder with an epic double LP - Favorite songs: "Beat on the Brat" (Jay), "Sir Duke" (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. |
Tue, 20 October 2020
I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1975. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - RIP to EVH - We both saw VH in 1986 - In '75, Phil turned 6, Jay turned 8 - "Love Will Keep Us Together" was the #1 song of the year - Disco was starting to emerge - The S.N.A.C.K. concert - Phil's non-top 5: Parliament, Burning Spear, Patti Smith, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan, Fleetwood Mac, Neil Young, Dylan and the Band - Jay's non-top 5: AC/DC, Rush, The Who, Supertramp, Springsteen, McCartney/Wings - Phil's #5: The Who tries some different sounds - Jay's #5: Pink Floyd follows up a classic with another classic - Phil's #4 and Jay's #3: Bowie moves into another phase - Jay's #4: Queen breaks through with "Bohemian Rhapsody" - Phil's #3 and Jay's #2: A gut-wrenching release from Neil Young - Phil's 2: Dylan's 15th album is one of his best - Phil and Jay's #1: A double album that highlights all the different facets of Zeppelin's sound - Favorite songs: "Tonight's the Night" (Jay), "In the Light" (Phil) - Things were happening 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 October 2020
I'm joined by guest Brian Salvatore as we remember the greatness of Eddie Van Halen. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Last spoke in late March but feels a lot longer ago - We've been fascinated by Van Halen's career, the good and the bad - Eddie had dealt with cancer before - Death still came as a shock - Plenty of musician deaths this year: Neil Peart, Andy Gill, David Roback, Kenny Rogers, Bill Rieflin, Bill Withers, Adam Schlesinger, John Prine, Florian Schneider, Pete Way, Peter Green - Eddie was iconic and eternally youthful - Brian: First video I remember seeing was "Jump" - Played on Letterman a few times - Jay: Stopped listening to VH in '91 and didn't again for almost a decade - The "Right Now" video was surprising - Dropoff in quality after Roth left - 2012's A Different Kind of Truth was a decent way to go out - Hopefully there will finally be some archival VH releases - Who buys greatest hits albums? - Eddie's guest appearances - Jay: First became aware of VH in 1980 when Women and Children First came out - Eddie had been quiet for several years - Roth was doing a Vegas residency and opening for KISS just before the pandemic shutdown - Missing live music - Plenty of livestreams to check out Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 6 October 2020
I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1974. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Phil finally got a haircut - In '74, Phil turned 5, I turned 7 - Capt. and Tennille got married, Sonny and Cher got divorced - "The Streak" was a big hit - Phil: Looking back, liked more songs than albums in '74 - Not a long list of albums we liked - Radio was the main source of how people discovered music at that time - Phil's likes: Linda Ronstadt, Little Feat, Bob Marley, Lou Reed, Gram Parsons, Big Star, Van Morrison, Clapton - Jay's likes: Rush's debut album, Genesis, The Who, Queen, Steely Dan, Aerosmith, Zappa - The various, very different, phases of Genesis' sound - Queen is more popular than ever - Jay's #5: Supertramp's breakthrough - Phil's #5: Another great Stevie Wonder album - Jay's and Phil's #4: Neil Young with a mellow classic, powered by "honey slides" - Jay's #3: Big Star with an underrated power pop gem - Phil's #3 and Jay's #1: Bowie closing out his glam period with a bang - Phil's #2: Steely Dan featured a ton of guest musicians - Jay's #2: Lou Reed releases a killer live show - Phil's #1: Joni Mitchell hits it big with a jazzier sound, with help from Cheech & Chong - Backed by Tom Scott, who later was bandleader on both the Pat Sajak and Chevy Chase late night shows - Favorite songs: "Raised on Robbery" (Phil), "Diamond Dogs" (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. |
Thu, 10 September 2020
I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1973. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" was big in '73 - Dark Side of the Moon spent 741 weeks on the Billboard albums chart - Big singles from Jim Croce, Paul Simon, Roberta Flack, Stories, Joe Walsh, Stealers Wheel - Jay's bubbling under albums: Wings, Queen, Lou Reed, Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, John Lennon, Sabbath - Marvin Gaye: Not a subtle man - Phil's bubbling under: Bob Marley and the Wailers, ZZ Top, Grateful Dead, Gram Parsons, Rolling Stones, ELP, Iggy and the Stooges - Jay's top albums: NY Dolls, Bowie, Pink Floyd, The Who, Led Zep - Dark Side of the Moon has been so overplayed over the years, but still a great album - Phil's top albums: Allman Brothers, Elton John, Bowie, The Who, Led Zep - The ridiculous coincidences of HBO's Vinyl - Quadrophenia is the last great Who album - The underrated John Paul Jones - Jay's favorite: Iggy and the Stooges with a blistering comeback - Full of snarl and punk attitude - Phil's favorite: Pink Floyd - Favorite songs: Jay - "Search and Destroy"; Phil - "The Great Gig in the Sky" - R.I.P., Chadwick Boseman, who was amazing in Get On Up, a 2014 biopic about James Brown 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 September 2020
I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1972. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Re-recording because of audio issues - Missed the podcast's 14th birthday - In '72, Phil turned 3, Jay turned 5 - Big tours going on: Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, McCartney - Different concept of band longevity back then - A lot of soft rock on the singles chart - Phil's faves: Neil Young, Bowie, Elton, Stones, Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead, War, Jackson Browne, Van Morrison, Lou Reed, Big Star, Stevie Wonder, Little Feat - Pete Townshend's solo debut - Jay's faves: Sabbath, Steely Dan, Stones, NY, Lou Reed, Big Star, T. Rex, Alice Cooper, Roxy Music, Bowie - Favorite song from favorite album: "Jack Straw (live)" (Phil) and "Moonage Daydream" (Jay) - Did audiences appreciate what they were seeing back then? - Sometimes people have too much fun at shows - Next time: 1973 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, 14 July 2020
It's part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the year so far. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Breitling's #10 and Kumar's #8 - Jangly indie pop sounds from Australia - The lack of touring is really hurting bands and fans - Breitling's #9 - A Matmos side project, "a niche of a niche" - Kumar's #10 - All-star post-punk act out of LA - Kumar's #9 - The loud/loud dynamic - Breitling's #8 - Solo album from singer of Hop Along - Breitling's #7 - Ambient electronic from an Italian musician in his 60s - Bandcamp Friday has been a big hit this year - Kumar's #7 - New band from Ian MacKaye, Amy Farina and Joe Lally - Harking back to Fugazi's sound - Kumar's #6 - Texas-based act with members from the Riverboat Gamblers and Rise Against - Breitling's #6 - Another great Slumberland release - Breitling's #5 - Dream pop from the Ukraine - Kumar's #5 - Indie rock stalwart continues evolving his sound - Kumar's and Breitling's #4 - Another cinematic effort from Canuck genius - Breitling's #3 - Powerful release overshadowed by the pandemic - Breitling's #2 and Kumar's #1 - Political hip hop as an art form - Never more timely - Kumar's #3 - Atmospheric new release from an alt-rock OG - Kumar's #2 - Striking record from Boston-based indie rock act - Breitling's #1 - UK indie act "like Elliot Smith making a Teenage Fanclub record" - Looking forward to new releases from Sam Prekop, Katie Day, Bob Mould, IDLES, Fontaines DC, Psychedelic Furs - When will concerts happen again? - Probably dependent on a vaccine - Liability is a big factor in whether shows come back Completely Conspicuous is available through the Apple Podcasts directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 7 July 2020
It's part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the year so far. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - R.I.P., Great Scott - Big blow to Boston rock scene - Venues, bars, restaurants are going out of business all over the country - Breitling and college friends have resurrected their old radio shows on Mixcloud - Parcheesi Redux is on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays - Now 17 weeks in - Music industry is at a standstill - Touring has ceased altogether - RATT's back, baby (thanks to Geico) - Livestreams have become a thing - There's no money in album sales anymore - Breitling: Have been listening to more music this year - Breitling's faves outside the top 10: Jesse Gallagher, Hum, Phoebe Bridgers, Katie Day - Kumar's on the bubble picks: EOB, Jeff Rosenstock, Peel Dream Magazine, Porridge Radio, Savak - Next time: On to our top 10 Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 30 June 2020
I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1971. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - The disappointing ZZ Top Sixpack box set - Early Bob Seger is good - Started seeing more solo albums - The rollercoaster ride of Doors fandom - Jay's faves (not #1): Rolling Stones, McCartney, Marvin Gaye, Funkadelic, Sabbath, Lennon, Bowie, the Who - When you've heard songs you love too many times - Jay's #1 - Zeppelin's pinnacle - Don't need to listen to it anymore - Licensing songs to death - Don't understand people who listen to the same music they did 30 years ago - Country music is the new pop - Phil's faves: Allman Brothers, Sly Stone, John Prine, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Joplin, CSNY, Elton, Traffic, Nick Drake - Phil's been listening to a new album every day during quarantine - Phil's #1 - The Stones were in the middle of a killer run - A band that was greater than the sum of its parts - A few more from Jay: T. Rex, Kinks, Yes - Yes really stretched out in concert - Genres are too restrictive - You like what you like - Duran Duran's great - Discovering music through videogames - Favorite song from favorite album: "Can't You Hear Me Knockin'" (Phil) and "When the Levee Breaks" (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, 23 June 2020
I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1970. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Phil's got some quality hockey hair going - Going to go through our favorite albums of each year from 1970-2020, starting with '70 - We were both under the age of 3 - Pretty varied list of favorites from that year - Popular music was splintering into many different genres - FM radio was pretty freeform - Radio was the main way to discover music back then - Some interesting tour pairings - Altamont was an abrupt end to the hippie era - Big deaths in 1970: Hendrix and Joplin - Phil's favorites (except #1): The Who, CSNY, Neil Young, Led Zep, Van Morrison, Derek & the Dominoes - Jay: Not a Clapton fan - Phil: Kinks, Beatles, George Harrison, McCartney, Miles Davis, Bowie, Joni Mitchell, Chicago, James Taylor, Elton, Stones - Phil's #1 - The Dead's best studio album - Jay: Deep Purple, Hendrix, Funkadelic, Black Sabbath, Stooges - Some bands were releasing two studio albums a year - Jay's #1 - The best live album ever - The Who at their best - In the midst of a great string of albums - Favorite song from favorite album: "Candyman" (Phil) and "Young Man's Blues" (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. |
Wed, 3 June 2020
I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the final Grateful Dead studio album Built to Last. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Built to Last released on Halloween 1989 - Jay had just graduated from college, Phil was a junior - Jay: Don't remember this album even coming out - Phil: It's not memorable - Felt like band was going through the motions - Brent Mydland dominated the album with four songs - He was suffering from depression; died a year later - Maybe Garcia and Weir didn't have enough good material - Fall '89 Dead shows are considered the band's last great run of concerts - Tried the same recording technique as previous album but it didn't work - Garcia said Mydland's songs were better - Final song is really bad - Phil: They had enough material to record another album - You can find version of them online - Garcia started getting into drugs again - Concert performances suffered - Band members started doing other projects - A couple of decent songs on this album - Mydland songs seemed like they'd fit in a different genre - Phil: He was good in concert - The Dead didn't need another hit album - Jay: At the end of this journey, have more of an appreciation for the Dead - Definitely some bad records - Can appreciate the live performances to a point - Jay: I respect the fanaticism of Deadheads; not for me, but that's okay - No more guilty pleasures; you like what you like 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, 26 May 2020
I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead album In the Dark. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - We originally planned to do this in early March, but then something happened - In the Dark was released in July 1987, seven years after the last Dead studio album - Phil had just graduated from high school, Jay was going into junior year of college - The band had been playing the songs in concert for years - Jerry Garcia had gone into a diabetic coma in '86 - Had to re-learn how to walk, talk, play guitar - Band was renewed after his recovery - CDs were just starting to get popular - We both didn't get CD players until 1989 - First CDs: Phil's was 10,000 Maniacs, Jay's were Cult, the Who, Joe Jackson - The Best of Steve Miller was a college staple in the '80s - Recorded live in an empty theater - "Touch of Grey" was all over MTV and rock radio that summer - Very catchy single - Phil: Album was breath of fresh air after two disappointing releases - "Touch of Grey" resonated with Boomers as well as younger listeners - New fans were known as "Touch heads" by veteran fans - People were going to Dead shows for the scene, not the music - Released videos for "Hell in a Bucket" and "Throwing Stones" - The one clunker is sung by keyboardist Brent Mydland - Jay: His vocals didn't seem to fit - They ladled on the synths - Phil: Mydland was good at harmonies - Vocals sounded like Kenny Loggins or Bob Seger - Phil: Listening to at least one album he hasn't heard every day - "West LA Fadeaway" may have been inspired by Belushi - Phil gives it a B+ - The success of "Touch of Grey" was so unexpected - Next up: We talk about the last Dead studio album Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 14 April 2020
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss quarantine life. Show notes: - Recorded recently via Skype - What's the first thing you'd do post-COVID? - All the big movies got pushed back to later in the year or 2021 - Some movies are going straight to streaming - When will we feel comfortable at crowded concerts again? - If touring slows down, how will musicians survive? - Artists may have to go directly to fans for support - Lou Barlow started a subscription service - Artists have done similar things for years: Rundgren, Prince - Might see more music made by artists stuck at home - Suddenly we have a lot of time to listen to records - Jay: Daughter's into the Beatles now - When you know songs you hate by heart - Appreciating '70s-era McCartney - Bad production really stands out on mix playlists - Does anyone remember dynamics? - Self-improvement activities to catch up on - Brian: No time to do any of it so far - Jay: Want to alphabetize my records - No guilty pleasures: Making peace with disco - Brian: Need to organize music room - Jay: Hope to pick up the old guitar - Bill Rieflin, R.I.P. Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 7 April 2020
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss quarantine life. Show notes: - Recorded last week via Skype - Homeschooling is hard work - A month in, the hoarding continues - Brian's second-grader has a lot of schoolwork - Brian was down in Florida to spend a few days at spring training - Had planned to visit family in Arizona in March, but decided not to - Virus moved quickly - Brian saw Jonathan Richman concert in March - Jay: Was supposed to fly to California for a conference in March, but it was canceled - Had tickets to Archers of Loaf concert in mid-March that was canceled - Jay: Working from home full-time - Brian: Trying to find non-screen activities for the kids - We're spending a lot of time with our families, which isn't a bad thing - We've never had a situation like this where everything is shut down - A lot of people are out of work or unable to work right now - No sports to watch during one of the best times of year for sports - Sports may come back without crowds in attendance - When will things go back to normal? - Kids' school sports, activities are on hold - Touring musicians are losing a ton of money - South Korea was able to shut everything down and come out on the other end - One person can do a lot of damage - Spring break idiots - Adam Schlesinger, R.I.P. (this was recorded before he died) - Washing our hands more than ever before - Missing out on draft beer - We're lucky to be able to work from home - How will the economy bounce back? - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 31 March 2020
This week, I'm joined by author Greg Renoff as we discuss the new book he wrote with legendary rock producer Ted Templeman. Show notes: - Greg's first book was 2015's Van Halen Rising - Five years later, people are still discovering it - Wrote about the early years of VH from a fan's perspective - The band filled a void when their debut came out - That book led to Greg's new book, Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life in Music - Templeman came to book signing for Van Halen Rising - Greg later pitched the idea of a book about Templeman - Book looks at his start as a musician and the albums he worked on as a producer - Renoff wanted to add more structure to Templeman's recollections - Book's out on ECW Press on April 21 - Took a few years to put together before the editing process - Did a lot of interviews with Ted, exchanged many emails - He didn't want to dwell on controversy too much - Book starts with his childhood in Santa Cruz through the last album he worked on with the Doobie Brothers in 2010 - Didn't cover every album he worked on - He was a talented musician in his younger days, as a jazz phenom and then a minor pop star - Heavily influenced by Tito Puente - Got into producing with the Doobies in '71, and later Captain Beefheart, Little Feat, Montrose - Not in touch with the VH camp anymore, but appreciative of his work with them - Worked with Van Morrison a few times - Templeman was on TV with his pop group Harpers Bizarre, but he didn't see a future in performing - Was interested in production and moved behind the scenes in 1970 - Nearly got out of the industry - Started at the bottom listening to tape submissions - Found the Doobie Brothers demo - VH already had the harmony vocals, and Ted incorporated those (and provided some) on most of those albums - By the time he got to VH, Ted was intent on finding bands a radio hit - Worked with a wide range of artists from Carly Simon to the Bulletboys - Sometimes he was brought in to finish projects that others had started - Currently interested in streaming and following certain artists - Initial book launch plans have changed because of COVID-19 - Hoping to do joint interviews eventually - Greg plans to do another VH book - Started work on it, but will get back to it once coronavirus restrictions are lifted Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Sat, 21 March 2020
This week on Quarantining With Kumar, I talk about how life has changed drastically in a short period of time because of COVID-19. Show notes: - Recorded while driving around to get some essentials - Day 5 of self-quarantine, working from home - The state of Massachusetts has pretty much closed all non-essential businesses - We haven't experienced anything like this before (in my lifetime) - Life after 9/11 was weird, but got back to normal fairly quickly - Some states have implemented "shelter in place" rules - Social distancing is the big buzzword - Public gatherings are outlawed - Spring breakers defied warnings - Everything's getting canceled: Sports, trips, concerts - We need to stay home to keep virus from spreading - Most people I know are complying with the quarantine - Musicians are doing livestreams instead of concerts - Optimistic this will end soon, but it's hard to tell - Watching out for older folks who are more susceptible to virus - Some people are freaking out with conspiracy theories - Got to ride this thing out - Stay positive Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 3 March 2020
I talk to Phil Stacey and Dave Olson about baseball's cheating scandal while we drive to a rock concert. Show notes: - Recorded on the way to see the Drive-By Truckers in Somerville, MA - Not the first cheating scandal in MLB, but this has a different feel - Houston Astros accused of stealing signs on the way to 2017 World Series - Every team cheats in some way or another - "If you're not cheating, you're not trying" - Corked bats, scuffed pitches - Baseballs were juiced last year to generate interest - The sport is fading in popularity - Too slow for short attention spans of today's society - Steroids in the late '90s were ignored in favor of home run records - Did the punishment fit the crime? - Astros were fined and lost draft picks, but could have been worse - MLB didn't expect this to blow up; former Astro revealed it in an interview - Public reaction has been loud - Two other teams have fired their managers who had connections to Astros that season - Did MLB and the teams coordinate these actions? - MLB wants this to go away and it's not - Other teams and players are upset about it - A pitcher sued because Astros lit him up and he was out of the majors - Astros are going to be booed mercilessly all season on the road - We don't know how much the sign stealing helped them - Houston will get some big TV ratings this season - Brought to you by Google Maps - Altuve was a heroic figure, now tarnished - MMA and pro wrestling are resonating with a younger generation - A lot of baseball teams struggle to fill the seats - Young kids would rather watch eSports, where other people play video games - Easier to cheat in baseball or basketball - Astros intern figured out how to steal signs and convinced management to adopt it - Astros players should expect to get hit by a lot of pitches this season Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 25 February 2020
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss rock stars and aging. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - '90s butt rock is alive and well in New Hampshire - Marlins will soar, according to Scott Stapp - Commercial rock radio is dying - In the mid-80s, rock radio was thriving in the Boston area - Brian has satellite radio - GNR/Smashing Pumpkins touring this summer - The evolution of Sugar Ray's sound - Mark McGrath is always working - The Cameo economy - Talking to musicians - The ubiquity of Henry Rollins - The musician deaths have always been plentiful - 10 years ago, we lost Jay Reatard, Teddy Pendergrass, Doug Fieger, Mark Linkous, Alex Chilton, Malcolm McLaren, Dio - So many big names in rock are getting older - Eagles have continued to tour without Glenn Frey - Surviving members of Nirvana have reunited for charity shows - Rush will never play another show - R.E.M. has never performed together since their breakup - More fun with Cameo - Don't wait to see a band you like - Jay: Trying to see bands I haven't seen before - Making up for lost time with some bands - Some bands sound better than ever: Dino Jr., Ween - Ozzy's looking pretty rough these days - Some artists you don't want to see anymore Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 18 February 2020
I'm joined by guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss rock stars and aging. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Brian's first appearance on the show in two years - The rock deaths keep on hitting us hard - Neil Peart's recent death was surprising and shocking - Brian: Not a big Rush fan, but respected them - A couple of really good documentaries about the band - Rush followed their own path - Andy Gill of Gang of Four kept touring and recording right until he died - Big deaths that impacted us - Jay: Peart, Gord Downie, Bowie, Prince, Tom Petty - As a kid, remember Randy Rhoads, Bonham, Bon Scott, Keith Moon - Later, Cobain and Layne Staley - Tortured artist syndrome - Meanwhile, the Stones keep chugging along - Brian: McCartney is still amazing live into his 70s - Neither of us has seen the Stones live - Brian: Regret not seeing classic acts at least once - Prince played crazy long shows - Getting harder to stay out super late - "Farewell tours" tend to often be false alarms - A little more urgency to see certain artists who are older - A lot of reunion tours these days: Jawbreaker, Hot Snakes, Jawbox, Hoodoo Gurus - Will young artists today have the same longevity as the older artists now? - Touring's the only way to make money these days - Not even worth it for older acts to release new material now - Radio won't play new music from legendary acts - Classic rock fans don't want to hear new music, they just want the hits - You know what you're getting from a new AC/DC record - Many bands continue on after members die - Replacing iconic singers with unknowns - Alice in Chains has recharged their career somewhat post-Staley - Sublime's singer/leader died before their big album came out - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 11 February 2020
I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead album Go to Heaven. Show notes: - Recorded at CompCon world HQ - The Dead transitioning into a new decade, the '80s - Cover may have given fans the wrong idea - Short outing at only 38 minutes - One of the least favorite studio albums among Dead fans - Phil: A real mish-mash - Contractual obligation: Third studio album in four years - AOR was getting big - The Godchauxs were gone - Brent Mydland brings a smooth Michael McDonald vibe that is off-putting - Grateful Dead keyboard players : Spinal Tap drummers - Some Dead classics on this album: Alabama Getaway, Althea - Didn't make another studio album for seven years - Jay might go see Dead & Co. with Phil at some point - Phil: This is their second-worst album - Lost Sailor doesn't work - Three straight Weir/Barlow songs - Saint of Circumstance could be an '80s sitcom theme song - Bob Weir loves the short shorts - Hey, we used to wear them, too - Mickey Hart eventually got into world music - Mydland's Easy to Love You could have been a pop hit - Album ends with a rave-up cover of Don't Ease Me In - Phil: In defense of U2's Zooropa - When we next convene, we'll talk about late '80s Dead Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 4 February 2020
I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead album Shakedown Street. Show notes: - Recorded at CompCon world HQ - First ep of the new decade - Shakedown Street came out in '78 - Lots of musical stuff happening: Disco, punk, new wave, hard rock - Disco wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be - Jay: No guilty pleasures: If you like it, you like it - The Dead were coming off a triumphant '77 - This was a contractually obligated studio album - Lots of influences thrown in: Funk, disco, African jazz, rock - Met with savage reviews - The version of "Good Lovin'" here pales in comparison to the live version, especially when Pigpen sang it - The last album with Donna and Keith Godchaux - Title track gets slagged as bad disco, but we dig it - Shakedown Street is now the name of the merch area at Dead & Co. shows - Pressure was on from Clive Davis for them to have hits - This album was produced by Lowell George of Little Feat - Seen as a disco album, but it's pretty diverse musically - The Dead weren't a great studio band - Mickey Hart stepped up with three songs - Phil: "I Need a Miracle" might be the best song on the album - "Stagger Lee" has an interesting history; versions were covered by many different artists - Jay: The Nick Cave version is the best, and the most profane - Album was scattered because of different influences plus substances - "All New Minglewood Blues" is a pretty rockin' cover - Dead appeared on SNL that year - Ends with a Garcia-Hunter love ballad that works - Jay: Liked about half the songs on the album - Next: 1980's Go to Heaven Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 31 December 2019
It's part 3 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we count down our favorite albums of 2019. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ - Breitling's #4 - Former Boston act now relocated to Nashville - Perfecting her sound - Kumar's #4 - Introspective album that topped my midyear list - Sweeping, synth-driven songs - Breitling's #3 - Worthy follow-up to classic mid-'90s indie pop release - Expansive and experimental - Kumar's #3 - Return to rocking from for NJ punk stalwarts, produced by Bob Mould - Surprisingly succinct from a band known for 8-minute epics - Breitling's #2 and Kumar's #6 - Majestic final release from artist who tragically took his own life right after it came out - Backed by the band Woods - Kumar's #2 - Third release from Toronto punk-pop act - Writing about frustrations of getting older - Breitling's #1 - Recently released instant classic from Boston indie rock act - Frontman Ryan Walsh wrote album after dealing with struggles writing his book about Astral Weeks - Kumar's #1 - Veteran Canadian power pop act with another great release - All-star team of musicians - Darker feel than some of their other albums Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 24 December 2019
It's part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we count down our favorite albums of 2019. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ - The top 10 - Breitling's #10 - A surprising solo debut from a veteran rock legend - Kumar's #9 - Raw shoegaze effort from Brooklyn act changing its sound - Breitling's #9 - Electronic album with an analog feel released late in the year - "Crust ambient" - Kumar's #8 - Power pop-punk album about the aftermath of broken relationship - Great album cover - Breitling's #8 and Kumar's #10 - Strong release from shoegaze pioneers - Trying some different things - Breitling's #7 - Shoegaze duo from California that likes to take its time - All killer, no filler - Berniece's sleep aggression - Kumar's #7 - Second release from indie legend's latest band - Embracing '80s hard rock sound - Breitling's #6 - Used to call this band the Steve Miller of indie rock - Opinion has changed, especially with the latest release - Sound is augmented by female singers - Kumar and Breitling's #5 - Latest in an strong stretch of releases from this punk/alt-rock legend - Sounds as good as he ever has - Unusually upbeat - Next: Our top 4 albums Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 17 December 2019
It's part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of 2019. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ - This program is not affiliated with Moviefone - A decade of talking rock - Near - Breitling: Had time to listen to a lot more music this year - The Billie Eilish vs. VH debate has been raging for a while - Kids don't know or care about music from 10 years ago, let alone 35 - A lot of butthurt older music fans getting worked up for no reason - Most kids have zero interest in classic rock - Listen to what you want - The "OK Boomer" phenomenon - When music becomes something on in the background - Breitling needs to see Idiocracy - The albums that didn't make our top 10 lists - Breitling: Floating Points, Rroxy More, Top Down Dialectic, Katie Dey, Max Richter - Kumar: Mikal Cronin, Ty Segall, Mark Lanegan, Trinary System - Mission of Burma's second act may be done - Breitling: Juana Molina, Bedroom Eyes, Lubec, DIIV, Tullycraft, She Sir, Snowball II - Kumar: Sleater-Kinney with a controversial new album; Janet Weiss pushed out of the band - Breitling: Would have been better received under a different band name like Unicorn Butt - Kumar: Pixies, Palehound, Kim Gordon, Pile, Black Mountain, Sebadoh, Fontaines DC, Telekinesis, Hold Steady, Desert Sessions, GBV, Wilco, Plague Vendor, Oh Sees, Nick Cave - Breitling: Better Oblivion Community Center, Florist, Big Thief - Next: Our top 10 albums Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 3 December 2019
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the decade in TV and movies. Show notes: - Going over some of our favorites of the decade - Jay: Haven't seen a lot of critical faves - Both enjoyed Blackkklansman - Toy Story 3 is the best of that series - Matt: Beasts of the Southern Wild was a stunner - In the Loop is profanely excellent - Jay never saw Inside Out; Matt says it's borderline educational - The traumatic sadness of Disney movies - Don't ban offensive old movies - Stereotypes in older movies stick out - The series 24 was so over the top about torture and terrorists - Writing for women's roles in the '80s was pretty awful - Post-9/11 jingoism - Good Sorkin: The Social Network - Bad Sorkin: The Newsroom - When older celebs are trending on Twitter - Matt: In praise of Monsters - Timothy Olyphant is great - Matt needs to watch Justified - Black Mirror is predicting everything - The Americans is an excellent show - Matt hasn't seen Breaking Bad or Better Call Saul - Orphan Black features an amazing performance by Tatiana Maslany - Bill Hader elevates himself from comic genius to dramatic auteur on Barry - Russian Doll came out of the blue - The People Vs. OJ Simpson was excellent, with a bizarre performance by John Travolta - The sneaky genius of Legends of Tomorrow - Dark on Netflix is a German show that is brilliantly out there - Downton Abbey: Cultural phenomenon that doesn't make sense - The Leftovers got better when it went beyond the book - The Marvel shows on Netflix were surprisingly good (except for Iron Fist) - The fight scenes in Daredevil were intense and creative - So much content out there that it's impossible to see it all Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 26 November 2019
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the decade in TV and movies. Show notes: - This decade has flown by - 10 years ago, Matt was getting ready to move to Ireland - Hard to rank the best movies and TV because there's so much we haven't seen - Recording on the day that Disney+ launched - Some bugs because of the huge demand on day 1 - Biggest change is the move to streaming content - Binge-watching has become a huge trend - Spoilers abound - Jay: Don't read reviews until after I've watched something - HBO's Watchmen series is pretty good - So easy to fall behind on a show - Shows switch to different streaming services - We're so distracted that many people are doing multiple things while watching a show - Short seasons are appealing because you can finish them quickly - Rare to watch shows live - Matt watched final season of LOST from Ireland, live with his family via a laptop - Similarly, there's so much new music being released but a lot of it doesn't get heard - Radio stations play a lot of the same music over and over - More and more original programming on non-traditional outlets: PlayStation, Amazon Prime, Apple+ - So many streaming services available now - The end goal is to replace your $200 cable bill with an equal amount spent on streaming services - Jay: Cut the cord three years ago, went to all streaming - You can't get everything - Takes a long time to decide what to watch sometimes - Sometimes we watch two different things while in the same room - Seeing movies in a theater is great, but dealing with other people isn't - Stay off social media if you don't want spoilers - Jay: 10 years ago, I was watching late night talk shows every day - Now, watch clips online the following day - Jay: Haven't seen a Star Wars movie since 1983 - Something to be said for holding onto hard media - Bringing back dead actors using AI - Deep fakes are freaky and amazing - Superhero movies became big moneymakers in the last decade - The Shining happened because Kubrick was at a low spot and needed a hit - The new Fantasy Island reboot is a horror movie - To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 19 November 2019
I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead bootleg Cornell '77. Show notes: - Recorded at CompCon world HQ - Talking about Dead show recorded on 5/8/77 at Cornell University - Phil: Listened to this hundreds of times - Jay: Very impressed by the bootleg - Phil: The show was so random - Dead had taken some time off from touring from '74 to '76 - By spring of '77, band was firing on all cylinders - Phil's parents wouldn't let 8-year-old Phil see the Dead on that tour - A lot of live albums are unnecessary - But a great live recording is transcendent - Phil: Early Chicago with Terry Kath on guitar was a great live act - The Dylan and the Dead live album was a dud - Phil Lesh: The Heineken Years - Clapton's MTV Unplugged album was awful - Jay: Solo Clapton is terrible - Phil doesn't like Thin Lizzy - The Dead has 36-minute versions of songs on their bootlegs - Phil has around 125 Dead boots - Figuring out which songs flow well into others - Phil: The version of "Morning Dew" on this bootleg is the best - Plenty of snow at that show, inside and outside - Love when bands change up the setlist every night - When you get sick of songs you love - Somehow we start talking about "The Day After" - AC/DC's music is more complicated than you think - Phil would set his time machine to 5/8/77 Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 12 November 2019
I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead's 1977 album Terrapin Station. Show notes: - Recorded at CompCon world HQ - The Dead's 9th studio album - Band had signed with Clive Davis and Arista - Album was produced by Keith Olsen, later known for slick AOR albums by Eddie Money, Rick Springfield, REO Speedwagon, Heart - Phil: Would get a tattoo of the Terrapin cover - Cover of "Dancing in the Streets" is pretty lame - Live, the cover turns into a long jam (duh) - Donna Godchaux was featured a lot on this record - Side 2 is an side-long suite written by Hunter and Garcia - Band didn't tour for this album after Mickey Hart got in a car accident - The tour before this album was legendary for Dead fans - Tried songs out live before they made it to studio recordings - Side 1 closes out with a Donna G. song that sounds nothing like anything else the Dead has done - The Godchaux marriage was splitting up while they were in the band - Olsen erased Hart's drums on one song and replaced them with strings - Lyrics on Terrapin Station are pretty dense - Relatively short album for the Dead at 35 minutes - Phil: These songs got better in the live setting - Jay: A lot of filler on side 2 - Album feels like a contractual obligation - Dead & Co. plays part of the title suite now - Phil: Not a John Mayer fan, but he's a good guitarist - Jay: Not a fan of this album - Next: Cornell 5/8/77 Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts and anywhere else you get podcasts. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Mon, 4 November 2019
It's part 3 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we conclude our countdown of our favorite albums of the decade. Show notes: - Recorded at CompCon world HQ - Kumar's #3 of the decade: Parquet Courts cements their post-punk presence (2014) - Impressive body of work with an art-rock vibe - Breitling's #2: Johnny Foreigner's self-produced magnum opus (2011) - Breitling was running a JF-themed blog for a while - Kumar's #2: A punk explosion of political anger from Superchunk (2018) - Still vital after all these years - Breitling's #1: Post-punk legend Walter Schreifels' debut solo album (2010) - Sincere folk rock with incredible hooks - Kumar's #1: Bowie's final album was a masterpiece (2016) - Recorded in secret with an unknown jazz band - He thought he had more time, but died a few days after the album came out - That's a decade Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast 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, 28 October 2019
It's part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the past decade. Show notes: - Recorded at CompCon world HQ - Breitling's top 10 aren't ranked in order - JB's #10: 2014 compilation of singles by Cookies - Experimental stuff, hooks galore - JK's #10: Magnum opus by Titus Andronicus (2010) - Sprawling album with lots of guest stars, loosely based on Civil War - JB's #9: Breakout 2013 album from Speedy Ortiz - Hot '90s indie rock sound - JK's #9: Double album from Toronto's Fucked Up (2011) - Sound of hardcore singer fronting Velocity Girl - JB's #8: Dan Bejar brings the heat in 2011 with Destroyer - Catchy '80s yacht rock vibe - JK's 8: Jeff Rosenstock's post-election response (2018) - Deals with disappointment and hitting your 30s - JB's #7: Snowball II with an early '90s homage (2017) - Produced by Kurt Heasley of Lilys - JK's 7: Epic 2013 release from Queens of the Stone Age - Near-death experience led to different lyrical approach - JB's #6: The only War On Drugs worth fighting (2014) - Adam Granduciel's mainstream breakthrough, attracting scorn from Mark Kozelek - JK's #6: Arctic Monkeys continue evolving their sound (2013) - Incorporated funk and hip hop beats into their indie rock - JB's #5: Infinity Girl's debut for Topshelf (2015) - Underappreciated shoegaze masterpiece - JK's #5: Bob Mould's first album with Narducy and Wurster (2012) - First of a strong stretch of ass-kickers, on par with his work with Sugar - JB's #4: She Sir's 2014 release is painstakingly crafted - Shimmering shoegaze - JK's #4 and JB's #3: Courtney Barnett burst on the scene with strong 2015 debut - Interesting lyrics combined with hot rock guitar - To be continued: Our top picks Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 22 October 2019
It's part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the past decade. Show notes: - Recorded at CompCon world HQ - We did this 10 years ago, a little differently - Ten years is a long time inside a car - The shift from downloads to streaming - Not everything is available from streaming services - iTunes didn't die, it was just split up - Music can also disappear from streaming services - Original MP3 players only held a handful of songs - The kids like the vinyl - Concerts business has evolved: Bands are playing smaller venues - Who the hell are the Chainsmokers? - Bands we like can't fill hockey rinks - Nobody's making money off albums - It's all merch - Vinyl and box sets are big bucks - Lots of reissues - Albums that didn't make our top 10 - Breitling: Releases from Lubec, Funeral Advantage, Hop Along, LCD Soundsystem - Kumar: LCD Soundsystem, Grinderman, Arcade Fire, Wild Flag, Sloan, Destroyer, METZ, Savages, Speedy Ortiz, Kurt Vile, Ex Hex, Protomartyr, Run the Jewels, Ty Segall, The War on Drugs, Jeff Rosenstock, IDLES, Fucked Up, Sharon Van Etten, PUP - To be continued: On to the top 10 Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast 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. |
Sun, 29 September 2019
I'm joined by guest Steve Zisson as we discuss the new sci-fi short story anthology he compiled, A Punk Rock Future. Show notes: - Recorded at CompCon world HQ - Take 2 of our conversation after the first one didn't record - A Punk Rock Future is available on Oct. 8 - Book mashes up Steve's love of punk rock and science fiction - Inspired by other self-published sci-fi anthologies - Steve and I go back to the late '80s when we were both newspaper reporters - Later worked together at three different companies - Zisson: Love for sci-fi started with the original Star Trek series - Wrote sci-fi in his teens, but then went into journalism - Jay: Realized that chemical engineering wasn't the path for me and decided to go into journalism - Zisson: Got into music in the mid-'70s, including early incarnation of the Cars (R.I.P., Ric Ocasek) - Was going to see bands like Queen, the Kinks, Roxy Music before checking out early punk acts - Saw Ocasek and Ben Orr's pre-Cars band Cap'n Swing at a small club in Nahant, Mass. - Then a year or so later, sees the Cars playing at UMass right before they hit it big - Then would go see the Clash, the Jam, and local Boston punk acts like the Neighborhoods and DMZ - Zisson got back into writing sci-fi around 2012 - Would dedicate time to write in his spare time - Discovered a lot of great young writers - Got a few stories published in well-known sci-fi journals and sites - More ways to get published now, but more competition, too - Used to be primarily U.S. writers, now more international - Came up with the idea for the book after 2016 election - Drew parallel to late '70s and talked to some writers about "a punk rock future" as an anthology idea - Put the call out for stories and got over 400 submissions - Started a Kickstarter to raise $5,000 to pay the authors selected - Enlisted former Webnoize colleagues to help read the submissions - With music now, there's so much out there, it's impossible to keep up - The goal of the project was to get it done and showcase the authors - One of the authors, Sarah Pinsker, has a new book out that's getting good buzz called A Song For a New Day - A Punk Rock Future is available on Amazon and at indie bookstores - Don't confuse Steve Zisson with Steve Zissou - Next up: Get some more writing done - Maybe do an anthology of really short stories, like an album of 2-minute songs Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review! The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian. |
Tue, 27 August 2019
I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead's album Blues for Allah. Show notes: - Recorded at CompCon world HQ - The Dead's 7th studio album, came out in September 1975 - The band's highest-charting album until 1987 - Very non-commercial record - Jay: The best thing about the album is the cover - Moved in a much different direction from previous album - Band had stopped touring after From the Mars Hotel - Mickey Hart was back - Also in 1975, Zeppelin had released Physical Graffiti, Talking Heads and Sex Pistols played their first shows, disco started hitting the charts - Phil: Very sparse, subdued jazz-rock album - Studio songs are blueprint, but they change after repeated live playings - Dead fans were used to changing sounds - The live show was the thing - Commercial success was less important to the band and its fans - Some songs on this album went on to become concert staples - Not a lot of bands that have fans following them around the country: Phish, Afghan Whigs, Pearl Jam, Tragically Hip - Album has a Middle Eastern feel; a few years later, they played in Egypt - Jay: Liked the first few songs, then it started to meander - Next album was live album Steal Your Face, which many fans didn't like - Next we'll listen to Terrapin Station and Cornell '77 - Springsteen's live shows are long, but full of songs (as opposed to long jams) - Phil just saw Apocalypse Now for the first time Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast 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 August 2019
I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead's album From the Mars Hotel. Show notes: - Recorded at CompCon world HQ on the 13th birthday of the podcast - The Dead's 7th studio album, came out in June 1974 - Watergate hearings were the big news story - Beer was a lot cheaper back then - In '74, there was a good variety of rock acts releasing important albums, plus funk - Mars Hotel had some classic Dead songs - Phil Lesh sang two songs, which was rare, and Bob Weir had one - Garcia is in prime form on this record - The Dead was touring with the "Wall of Sound," a massive "distortion-free" speaker setup - Playing larger venues - The cost was so high that they eventually quit touring for a few years - Maybe the last great Dead studio album - The Grateful Dead Movie was taken from the final shows of this tour - Working out new songs in the live setting - Rivalry between lyricists Robert Hunter and John Perry Barlow - The Dead would play with guest musicians from time to time including Pete Townshend, Branford Marsalis, Santana, Huey Lewis - The Dead probably got some airplay on FM rock radio in the '70s - Rock radio has changed a tremendous amount over the years; it's mostly corporate, formatted now - College and online stations have the most freedom - Second-tier album in the discography - Pretty representative of the Dead's sound - Next: Blues for Allah Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast 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, 12 August 2019
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Gary Barth as we discuss the concertgoing experience. Show notes: - Recorded in Gary's car on the way to the show - Driving before and briefly after an Iron Maiden concert at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield, MA - Jay: Big fan of club shows - Like to get up close to the stage - The downside of theater shows - Some shows are made for big venues - Getting your face melted by Ty Segall - Demographics: We're the target market for Maiden, but often among the oldest when seeing newer acts - If you were 30 when you saw Maiden during their early days, you're pushing 70 now - Still weird to be "the old guy" - No institutional knowledge of what came before - Gary: Raised our kids on the Beatles - Jay: My kids love Taylor Swift; at least she writes her own songs - I listen to a lot of pop these days when I drive the girls around - Making the kids listen to your music - Gary: We played Beatles Rock Band a lot as a family - Will we still go to rock shows as senior citizens? - No such thing as guilty pleasures - We both love the Bee Gees - Jay: Traded the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack for a Zeppelin album - Reconciled with my disco-loving childhood - People who watch a show through their smart phones - Making Gary self-conscious about phone use at concerts - Artists who ban cellphone use at shows - After the concert - We paid extra to park in a lot to get out earlier - High energy, over-the-top stage show - Saw some people with toddlers - Fun to go to a big show with friends - Gary's next show: Raconteurs in September - Jay's next show: Sleater-Kinney in October - Gary plays about 20 shows a year Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast 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. |
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