Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Completely Conspicuous 478: The Soundtrack of Our Lives

This week, it's part 2 of my discussion with Phil Stacey about albums that changed our lives. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Jay: Was a nerdy kid who listened to music all the time
- Phil liked college rock, but never got the Violent Femmes
- Jay: Loved Red Hot Chili Peppers back in the day, but can't stand them now
- Back and forth on the Eagles and Doors
- Of Linda Ronstadt and Barney Gumbel
- Grunge makes an impact
- Alt-rock: Peter Gabriel, R.E.M., U2
- Phil: Big Smiths fan
- The first Pretenders album is a classic
- Neil Young's '80s odyssey
- Phil loves the Dead
- Jay: Got into funk and jazz in late '90s (P-Funk, James Brown, Miles Davis, Coltrane)
- Phil: Listened to Beck's Sea Change a lot after getting divorced
 
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.

Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Completely Conspicuous 477: The Early Days

This week, it's part 1 of my discussion with Phil Stacey about albums that changed our lives. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Phil: At age 6-7, hearing older kids listening to Aerosmith
- Heard a lot of easy listening music
- Had a music-loving uncle who introduced him to the Who, Hendrix, Talking Heads
- Jay: Listened to AM rock station in Toronto
- Bought 45s of Queen, Cheap Trick, Joe Jackson
- Phil: U2's Boy was a huge album for me
- Jay: Got Glen Campbell's Rhinestone Cowboy
- Zeppelin got me into rock
- B-52s were revolutionary
- You can't make your kids love your music
- Jay: First rock album I bought was Supertramp's Breakfast in America
- Phil: Revolver was a pivotal Beatles album
- Jay: Got into early '80s hard rock
- Rush's Moving Pictures was a big one
- 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.

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Completely Conspicuous 476: Dig for Fire (Maiden-Zappa, Part 3)

This week, it's part 3 of my discussion with Brian Salvatore about musical blindspots. Brian will learn about Iron Maiden while I dig into Frank Zappa. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Brian listened to Somewhere in Time, Jay listened to Sheik Yerbouti
- Deja vu all over again
- Brian: Somewhere in Time is the most dated, least raw of the three albums I listened to
- Band didn't play to its strengths
- Victim of mid-'80s production
- Dickinson vs. Di'anno
- The disappearance of metal in the '90s
- Bon Jovi has thrived over the decades
- Not their best, but some Maiden classics
- Jay: Saw Maiden live a few months ago
- Zappa's Sheik Yerbouti finds him exploring the wackier subject matter in depth
- Released three albums in '79 alone
- Musicianship is incredible, feat. Adrian Belew on rhythm guitar
- Zappa released a ridiculous number of albums
- Xenochrony technique took parts from different songs and spliced them together
- Brian: Not in his top 10 albums, but close
- Went even more off the rails on Joe's Garage
- Next, Brian will listen to Living Colour while Jay will explore solo Beatle 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.

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Completely Conspicuous 475: Ignorance is Bliss

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss our uncertain world. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Check out Matt's book Echo and the Sea
- Escapism is tempting
- Shopping by alcohol content
- Is ignorance bliss?
- Dumb and happy
- Cynical about politics at all levels
- Corruption is rampant
- Appearances count
- Politics have never been this divisive...or have they?
- Internet comments are the worst
- Social media enables morons to spout off
- Journalism burnout
- Shooting a guy in the face is quaint now
- Does uncertainty = depression?
- We haven't given up yet
- We solved nothing
 
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. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

Tuesday, October 3, 2017

Completely Conspicuous 474: Age of Uncertainty

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Matt Phillion as we discuss our uncertain world. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Check out Matt's book Echo and the Sea
- Recorded before the Las Vegas incident and Trump's visit to PR
- Everything's uncertain
- Don't know what to expect from the news
- Trump: Savvy or master of chaos?
- Twitter as distraction
- Social media amps up the anxiety
- FB as the center of vitriol over every conceivable public issue
- The weather is slamming us with unpredictable events
- Selling the BS
- Clickbait's gonna get ya
- Much ado about kneeling
- Scandal recovery
- Controversy du jour
- Punisher fans can be scary
- Twitter roulette
- Ah, the threat of impending nuclear war
- The relentless news cycle
- The difficulty of just enjoying life
- 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. Find out more about Senor Breitling at his fine music blog Clicky Clicky. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.