Completely Conspicuous 470: First and Foremost

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the year so far. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ
- JB: The Orb released a remix EP
- JK: The prolific Ty Segall does it again
- JB: Vagabon brings fresh take to indie rock
- JK: Boss Hog's first album in 17 years
- JB: The evolving sound of Spoon
- JK: The consistently excellent New Pornographers back with another winner
- JB: Juana Molina returns with a strong, out there release
- JK: Mark Lanegan incorporates electronic music into his sound
- JB: Snowball II with a release that recalls The Lilys
- JK: Afghan Whigs release their best record since reuniting
- JB: Tommy Stinson brings back Bash & Pop with hooks galore
- JB: Slowdive's reunion album gives the people what they want

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.

Completely Conspicuous 469: Listen Up

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of the year so far. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ
- Plenty of great rock music, but not on the charts
- It's all about playing live; rock radio exposure is nonexistent
- Billy Squier still gets the airplay
- Nobody's figured out how to make money from streaming music
- Get pumped for Husker Du bootleg box set
- More rock deaths: Berry, Cornell, Allman, Geils
- Rise in musical activism
- Albums we want to hear
- Breitling: Ride, Palehound, Wet Trident
- Kumar: Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett, Ted Leo, Buffalo Tom, Queens of the Stone Age, Deer Tick, LCD Soundsystem
- Bubbling under albums
- Breitling: Tara Jane O'Neil, Opin, The xx
- Lubec's coming to Boston in August
- Kumar: Chastity Belt, Bash and Pop, Cloud Nothings, White Reaper, At the Drive-In, Black Lips
- Our favorite albums so far
- JB: Spirit of the Beehive combines psych and shoegaze
- JK: Run the Jewels keeps on rolling
- Zach de la Rocha's hardcore past
- JB: Yr Poetry is a Johnny Foreigner side project
- JK: Japandroids bring the rock anthems
- JB: Different sound for Pile
- JK: More anthems from Los Campesinos!
- Cello vs. violin
- To be continued

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.

Completely Conspicuous 468: Dig for Fire (Ween-Sloan, part 3)

Part 3 of my conversation with Brian Salvatore about musical blindspots. Brian listens to another Sloan album while I check out a third record from Ween. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
-Win-win situation
- Brian had Sloan's "The Double Cross" and Jay had Ween's "Quebec"
- Brian: My favorite of the three I listened to
- Beatles comparisons
- Brian will go back and check out rest of Sloan catalog
- No solo albums, but Murphy had TUNS project
- Jay: Really enjoyed Quebec
- Most cohesive of the three Ween albums Jay heard
- Dean and Gene were dealing with some issues
- "If You Could Save Yourself (You'd Save Us All)" is an epic album closer
- Next up: Jay will listen to Frank Zappa and Brian will check out Iron Maiden

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.

Completely Conspicuous 467: Dig for Fire (Ween vs. Sloan, part 2)

Part 2 of my conversation with Brian Salvatore about musical blindspots. Brian listens to another Sloan album while I check out a second record from Ween. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Brian: Impressed with the progression of Sloan's sound
- Jay: Hadn't heard anything from The Mollusk previously
- Plenty of genre jumping
- Nautical theme
- Elements of prog, psych
- Brian: My favorite Ween record
- Ween varies playlists from show to show
- Brian: Between the Bridges is steeped in the '70s: Big Star, Sweet, T. Rex, Fleetwood Mac
- Interesting sequencing and flow
- Confusing the title with Between the Buttons
- Last Sloan album gave each band member a side's worth of songs
- Brian: Almost exclusively listen to albums in full
- Jay: Will listen to albums, but also use shuffle mode on iPod
- Brian: Also listen to a lot of music on Spotify
- Next up: Quebec for Jay, The Double Cross for Brian

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.