Completely Conspicuous 584: Wave of Mutilation

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1989. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

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.

Completely Conspicuous 583: Fascination Street

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite music of 1989. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

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.

Completely Conspicuous 339: Reeling in the Years, 1989 (Part 3)

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1989. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic
- Jay's #3
- Neil Young rebounds from a long, strange decade
- Led to a fruitful stretch of albums
- Jay's #2
- Bob Mould moves beyond Husker Du
- Inspired new direction and sound
- Our picks for #1 are the same
- Pixies at their peak
- Doolittle covers all facets of the band's sound
- Brian saw them several times when they toured behind Doolittle in the last decade
- Brian: Latest live incarnation of Pixies is more energized
- Bad choice for first single with "Bagboy"
- Frank Black was prolific, but he can't keep up with Bob Pollard
- Next up: 1996
- Popular music was shifting again

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

Music:
Ty Segall - Susie Thumb
Spoon - Rent I Pay
J. Mascis - Every Morning

The Ty Segall song is on the album Manipulator on Drag City Records. Download the song for free at KEXP.
The Spoon song is on the album They Want My Soul on Loma Vista Recordings. Download the song for free at KEXP.
The J. Mascis song is on the album Tied to a Star on Sub Pop. Download the song for free at KEXP.

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.

Completely Conspicuous 338: Reeling in the Years, 1989 (Part 2)

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1989. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").


Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic
- Brian: Pump was the best post-reunion Aerosmith album
- Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever is decent
- Jay's bubbling under picks: The Cure, Smithereens, Tragically Hip, Lou Reed, XTC, Michael Penn, Cult, Faith No More
- Brian's bubbling under picks: Fugazi, Tin Machine, CVB, Elvis Costello, Dylan
- The strange career of Dave Navarro
- Jay: Good releases from Stone Roses, Hoodoo Gurus, Big Audio Dynamite
- Brian: Joe Strummer took a long time to release a good post-Clash album
- Brian's #5
- McCartney's comeback album
- Jay's #5 and Brian's #4
- Nirvana's debut was under the radar
- Jay's #4 and Brian's #2
- Paul's Boutique was a major shift for Beasties
- Brian recommends the Kathleen Hanna doc, The Punk Singer
- Brian's #3
- De La Soul brought a different feel to hip hop
- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

Music:
Stickers - Outlet
Cretin Girls - Walk the City
Ex-Cult - Mister Fantasy

The Stickers song is on the album Swollen on End of Time Records. Download the song for free at Gimme Tinnitus.
The Cretin Girls song is on the band's self-titled EP on Soft Science Records. Download the song for free from Gimme Tinnitus.
The Ex-Cult song is on the 7-inch Mister Fantasy on Goner Records. Download the song for free from Gimme Tinnitus.

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.

Completely Conspicuous 337: Reeling in the Years, 1989 (Part 1)

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1989. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Check out Brian's comics podcast The Hour Cosmic
- In 1989, Brian was 7 and Jay graduated from college
- Jay: Never saw the Indiana Jones sequels
- Brian: A lot of records I liked, few that I loved
- Jay: Seeds of Seattle sound came out in '89--Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney, Screaming Trees with crucial early albums
- Madchester scene: Stone Roses, Happy Mondays
- Jay: Started seeing club shows in Boston 'burbs
- Great local scene now: Speedy Ortiz, Krill, Pile, Soccer Mom
- Waiting for The Best Show to return
- In '89, alt-rock was coming into its own
- R.E.M., B-52's both hit it big
- Brian: Mid-'90s indie rock bands formed, as did swing acts
- First Green Day EP came out
- Classic rock tours started making big bucks: McCartney, Ringo, Stones, Who
- Tin Machine marked Bowie's return to rock
- Kids seem to go through a classic rock phase
- Thank goodness for college radio
- Lots of pop detritus in '89: Milli Vanilli, Paula Abdul, Debbie Gibson
- The power ballad was the last hurrah for hair metal bands
- Ugh: Beach Boys' Still Cruisin'
- Brian: Ramones' Brain Drain was disappointing
- Strange collection of Top 100 singles
- To be continued

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast directory. Subscribe and write a review!

Music:

Radiator Hospital - Five & Dime
Sex Hands - Pivot
Priests - New

The Radiator Hospital song is on the album Torch Song. Download the song and album for free at Bandcamp.
The Sex Hands song is on the album Pleh on Faux Discx and Negative Space. Download the song for free from Gimme Tinnitus.
The Priests song is on the EP Bodies and Control and Power and Money on Don Giovanni Records. Download the song for free from Fluxblog.

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.