Completely Conspicuous 598: Basket Case

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1994. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

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.

Completely Conspicuous 597: Ill Communication

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1994. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

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.

Completely Conspicuous 466: Dig for Fire (Ween vs. Sloan, part 1)

This week, Brian Salvatore and I talk about delving into the catalog of bands we don't know much about. Brian will learn about Sloan while I dig into Ween. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Each of us picks a favorite artist of the other that we don't know much about
- Jay listened to Ween's Chocolate and Cheese, Brian listened to Sloan's Twice Removed
- Both 1994 releases
- Both of us had heard a few songs before
- Jay: First heard Ween on Beavis and Butt-head, wrote them off as novelty act
- Brian: Twice Removed starts off strong, flows well
- Big power pop vibe
- The album that got Sloan dropped by Geffen
- Each band member writes and sings
- Were signed as part of the alternative explosion of the early '90s
- Self-release most of their albums now
- No indie rock radio stations anymore
- Jay: Chocolate and Cheese is great fun
- Wide range of styles, from funk to psychedelic to just weird
- Great guitar work from Dean Ween
- First Ween album done in a studio
- Walking the fine line between funny and stupid
- Phish has covered "Roses are Free"
- Ween plays jam band festivals sometimes
- Next up: The Mollusk for Jay, Between the Bridges 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.

Completely Conspicuous 394: Reeling in the Years, 1994 (Part 3)

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1994. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").
 
Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Jay's #4
- Pavement was a shock to the system at the time
- Malkmus continues to be a solo force
- Brian's #3
- Ween's second-best album
- Brian: Ween made 5 perfect albums in a row
- Jay's #3
- Drive Like Jehu delivers scorching rock
- Brian's #2 and Jay's #2
- Jay: Frank Black's Guided by Voices album
- Black had serious writer's block during the making of this record
- Brian's #1
- Weezer's debut features 10 perfect pop songs
- Videos helped the album take off
- Jay's #1
- One of Sloan's greatest albums got them dropped by DGC
- Abrupt shift from first album's sound
- Other '94 notables: Soundgarden, Nas, NIN, Portishead, Neil Young, Helmet, New Bomb Turks, Pearl Jam
- Also: Magnetic Fields, TMBG, R.E.M., Outkast
- Next up: 1992
- Jam bands became popular
- Jay: Covered the best of the 2000s in CompCon episodes 96-99

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.

Completely Conspicuous 393: Reeling in the Years, 1994 (Part 2)

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1994. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").
 
Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Brian:  Enjoyed albums from Tom Petty, Rancid, Sea and Cake
- Beasties were all over the place on Ill Communication--in a good way
- Sunny Day Real Estate's epic album
- Halo Benders teamed Doug Martsch and Calvin Johnson
- The Toadies break through
- Jay: Sebadoh's Bakesale was a good combo of punk and melodic songs
- Jeff Buckley went from hard rock to cabaret on Grace
- Sugar's 2nd full-length was punchy and fun...for Bob Mould
- Green Day's Dookie was a monster hit that nobody needs to hear anymore
- Jay: Foolish was my intro to Superchunk
- Brian's #5
- Nirvana's best album was Unplugged in New York
- Jay saw Nirvana in Springfield, Mass., about a week before the Unplugged show
- Jay's #5
- Bee Thousand is probably the perfect distillation of Guided By Voices
- Brian's #4
- Alice in Chains' Jar of Flies was the first EP to top the album charts
- Jay: "No Excuses" got me through a tough time
- Brian: Jerry Cantrell looks like an uncle now
- 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.

Completely Conspicuous 392: Reeling in the Years, 1994 (Part 1)

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1994. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").
 
Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Rooting for a Jays-Mets World Series
- Brian: 1994 was a big year for me
- Rock radio was all about the alternative
- Big year for Ace of Base with three songs in top 10 of '94
- Lots of pop and hip hop on singles chart
- Aerosmith's foray into downloadable music
- Took hours to download, no way to share it
- Pearl Jam vs. Ticketmaster didn't end well
- Corporate-owned venues are everywhere now
- Woodstock '94 was full of mud
- Sheryl Crow and Jackyl played on the same stage
- Cobain's unsurprising fate
- Brian: Was obsessed with music in '94
- Soundtracks were a big deal: Pulp Fiction, The Crow, Reality Bites
- Older alternative acts turned up the guitars: R.E.M., Meat Puppets
- Bands formed in '94 that loomed large a few years later: Creed, Limp Bizkit, Hoobastank, Maroon 5
- Eagles returned with Hell Freezes Over tour and introduced $100 tickets
- Page and Plant reunited without John Paul Jones
- Mark Lanegan's interesting solo work
- Elvis Costello released a rock record
- Rollins Band scored an unlikely hit
- 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.

Completely Conspicuous 222: Mix It Up

This week, I revisit an old mix tape I made many moons ago. Listen to the episode below or download it directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- In episode 141, I discussed the early mix tapes I made as a kid

- A few years ago, started writing about mix tapes in my blog

- Looking back at Summer of Loud, a tape I recorded in '94

- Previous year was pretty rough, but things were looking up in '94

- Switched jobs and apartments at about the same time

- 1994 was a good year for alt rock

- I still listen to this mix from time to time

- Bonehead of the Week

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; check out his site PodGeek.