Completely Conspicuous 607: My Poor Brain

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1997. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Jay's non-top 5 albums: Cornershop, Yo La Tengo, Elliott Smith, Chris Whitley, Portishead, Ween
• Phil's #5 and Jay's #4: Ben Folds Five's breakthrough with piano-driven snark
• Phil's #4: Third album from Sleater-Kinney features Janet Weiss' debut on drums
• Phil's #3: Elliott Smith's lo-fi folk got a boost from Good Will Hunting
• Jay's #3: Built to Spill with another of their epic '90s releases
• Phil's #2: Dylan makes a triumphant return
• When artists stop writing new material 
• Jay's #2: A masterful release from Pavement
• Phil's #1 and Jay's #5; Second Foo Fighters album establishes Grohl and his band as a musical force
• Jay's #1: Radiohead reaches new heights on its third album
• How Jay learned to love Radiohead
• Favorite songs: "My Poor Brain" (Phil), "Karma Police" (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 606: Brighten the Corners

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1997. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• In '97, Jay hit the big 3-0, Phil turned 28
• Big year for partying
  
• Alt-rock one-hit wonders abounded: Marcy Playground, Third Eye Blind, Smash Mouth
  
• Boy bands, hip hop, female singer-songwriters
• Phil's "bubbling under" albums: U2, Led Zeppelin, Bjork, Bowie, Dinosaur Jr., Pavement, Guided By Voices, Whiskeytown, Steve Earle, Prodigy, Radiohead, David Byrne 
  
• U2 lost the plot with "Pop"
• The interesting career of David Byrne
• 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 385: Reeling in the Years, 1997 (Part 3)

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1997. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").
 
Show notes:
- Jay and Brian's #4
- Pavement continues a strong run of records
- Brian's coffee shop
- Jay's #3
- Ben Folds Five breaks through
- Brian's #3 to be discussed later
- Jay's #2
- Built to Spill's guitar pop excellence
- Brian's #2
- Foo Fighters' sophomore album is chock full o' good songs
- Backbeat soundtrack is great
- Jay gets confused
- Jay's #1 and Brian's #3
- Radiohead steps up their game
- Brian's #1
- Ween shows off its chops on The Mollusk
- Next up: 1994

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 384: Reeling in the Years, 1997 (Part 2)

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1997. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").
 
Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- Bubbling under albums
- Brian: Flaming Lips' Zaireeka was designed to have its 4 CDs listened to simultaneously
- Sweet 75 was Krist Novoselic's side project
- Brian gives thumbs down to Eyes Adrift, which had a song about Jonbenet Ramsey
- Jay: Totally missed Superchunk's Indoor Living at the time
- Different sounds from Cornershop, Portishead
- Return to form for Cheap Trick
- Brian: Aerosmith's Nine Lives had a few good songs
- Brian: Deftones were the most interesting of the metal acts
- McCartney's Flaming Pie is one of his last great albums
- Jay: Decent but not great albums from Matthew Sweet, Rollins Band, Dino Jr.
- GBV's Mag Earwhig was a strong release
- BS: Dylan's current comeback started with Time Out of Mind
- To a certain generation, pop punk is classic rock
- Sleater-Kinney hasn't made a bad album
- Jay's #5 will come up later
- Brian's #5
- Primus has more of a straight-ahead rock sound on The Brown Album
- 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 383: Reeling in the Years, 1997 (Part 1)

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1997. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").
 
Show notes:
- Recorded via Skype
- 1997 was first year Brian was aware of popular and cool music
- Brian was 15, Jay was 29-30
- Both of us had our first dates with our future wives in '97
- Some quintessential '90s hits: Mmm Bop, Wannabe, I Believe I Can Fly
- Jay: Saw a lot of great shows that year
- Big year for chick rock
- Brian: Spawn soundtrack combined hard rock with trip hop
- Industrial/electronic music became prominent
- Bowie's 50th birthday concert
- Tail end of swing music era
- Ska-rock was hot
- Rap rock was taking root
- Adult alternative radio format was big
- Green Day's "Good Riddance" blew up
- Brian defends Third Eye Blind
- Big deaths: Hutchence, Jeff Buckley, Tim Taylor of Brainiac, Notorious B.I.G., John Denver
- Chris Farley died
- Rainbow broke up in '97
- 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.