Completely Conspicuous 634: Stay Positive

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2008. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

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

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 633: Stop, Drop and Roll

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2008. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

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

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 632: Don't You Evah

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2007. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

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

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 631: Into Action

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2007. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

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

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 630: Goin' Against Your Mind

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2006. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

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

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 629: Star Witness

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2006. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

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

Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Completely Conspicuous 628: 2023 and Me

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of 2023. Listen to the episode below (or download directly).

Show notes:

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

Completely Conspicuous is available through the Apple Podcasts directory. Subscribe and write a review!

The opening and closing theme of Completely Conspicuous is "Theme to Big F'in Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.