Completely Conspicuous 541: The Great Gig in the Sky

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1973. Listen to the episode below or download directly.

Show notes:

- Recorded via Zoom

- "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" was big in '73

- Dark Side of the Moon spent 741 weeks on the Billboard albums chart

- Big singles from Jim Croce, Paul Simon, Roberta Flack, Stories, Joe Walsh, Stealers Wheel

- Jay's bubbling under albums: Wings, Queen, Lou Reed, Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, John Lennon, Sabbath

- Marvin Gaye: Not a subtle man

- Phil's bubbling under: Bob Marley and the Wailers, ZZ Top, Grateful Dead, Gram Parsons, Rolling Stones, ELP, Iggy and the Stooges

- Jay's top albums: NY Dolls, Bowie, Pink Floyd, The Who, Led Zep

- Dark Side of the Moon has been so overplayed over the years, but still a great album

- Phil's top albums: Allman Brothers, Elton John, Bowie, The Who, Led Zep

- The ridiculous coincidences of HBO's Vinyl

- Quadrophenia is the last great Who album

- The underrated John Paul Jones

- Jay's favorite: Iggy and the Stooges with a blistering comeback

- Full of snarl and punk attitude

- Phil's favorite: Pink Floyd

- Favorite songs: Jay - "Search and Destroy"; Phil - "The Great Gig in the Sky"

- R.I.P., Chadwick Boseman, who was amazing in Get On Up, a 2014 biopic about James Brown

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 540: Freak Out in a Moonage Daydream

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1972. Listen to the episode below or download directly.

Show notes:

- Recorded via Zoom

- Re-recording because of audio issues

- Missed the podcast's 14th birthday on Aug. 3

- In '72, Phil turned 3, Jay turned 5

- Big tours going on: Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, McCartney

- Different concept of band longevity back then

- A lot of soft rock on the singles chart

- Phil's faves: Neil Young, Bowie, Elton, Stones, Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead, War, Jackson Browne, Van Morrison, Lou Reed, Big Star, Stevie Wonder, Little Feat

- Pete Townshend's solo debut

- Jay's faves: Sabbath, Steely Dan, Stones, NY, Lou Reed, Big Star, T. Rex, Alice Cooper, Roxy Music, Bowie

- Favorite song from favorite album:  "Jack Straw (live)" (Phil) and "Moonage Daydream" (Jay)

- Did audiences appreciate what they were seeing back then?

- Sometimes people have too much fun at shows

- Next time: 1973

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 539: Half and Half

It's part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the year so far. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Recorded via Zoom
- Breitling's #10 and Kumar's #8
- Jangly indie pop sounds from Australia
- The lack of touring is really hurting bands and fans
- Breitling's #9
- A Matmos side project, "a niche of a niche"
- Kumar's #10
- All-star post-punk act out of LA
- Kumar's #9
- The loud/loud dynamic
- Breitling's #8
- Solo album from singer of Hop Along
- Breitling's #7
- Ambient electronic from an Italian musician in his 60s
- Bandcamp Friday has been a big hit this year
- Kumar's #7
- New band from Ian MacKaye, Amy Farina and Joe Lally
- Harking back to Fugazi's sound
- Kumar's #6
- Texas-based act with members from the Riverboat Gamblers and Rise Against
- Breitling's #6
- Another great Slumberland release
- Breitling's #5
- Dream pop from the Ukraine
- Kumar's #5
- Indie rock stalwart continues evolving his sound
- Kumar's and Breitling's #4
- Another cinematic effort from Canuck genius
- Breitling's #3
- Powerful release overshadowed by the pandemic
- Breitling's #2 and Kumar's #1
- Political hip hop as an art form
- Never more timely
- Kumar's #3
- Atmospheric new release from an alt-rock OG
- Kumar's #2
- Striking record from Boston-based indie rock act
- Breitling's #1
- UK indie act "like Elliot Smith making a Teenage Fanclub record"
- Looking forward to new releases from Sam Prekop, Katie Day, Bob Mould, IDLES, Fontaines DC, Psychedelic Furs
- When will concerts happen again?
- Probably dependent on a vaccine
- Liability is a big factor in whether shows come back

Completely Conspicuous is available through the Apple Podcasts 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 538: The Middle of Nowhere

It's part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the year so far. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Recorded via Zoom
- R.I.P., Great Scott
- Big blow to Boston rock scene
- Venues, bars, restaurants are going out of business all over the country
- Breitling and college friends have resurrected their old radio shows on Mixcloud
- Parcheesi Redux is on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays
- Now 17 weeks in
- Music industry is at a standstill
- Touring has ceased altogether
- RATT's back, baby (thanks to Geico)
- Livestreams have become a thing
- There's no money in album sales anymore
- Breitling: Have been listening to more music this year
- Breitling's faves outside the top 10: Jesse Gallagher, Hum, Phoebe Bridgers, Katie Day
- Kumar's on the bubble picks: EOB, Jeff Rosenstock, Peel Dream Magazine, Porridge Radio, Savak
- Next time: On to our top 10

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 537: A Bustle In Your Hedgerow

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1971. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Recorded via Zoom
- The disappointing ZZ Top Sixpack box set
- Early Bob Seger is good
- Started seeing more solo albums
- The rollercoaster ride of Doors fandom
- Jay's faves (not #1): Rolling Stones, McCartney, Marvin Gaye, Funkadelic, Sabbath, Lennon, Bowie, the Who
- When you've heard songs you love too many times
- Jay's #1
- Zeppelin's pinnacle
- Don't need to listen to it anymore
- Licensing songs to death
- Don't understand people who listen to the same music they did 30 years ago
- Country music is the new pop
- Phil's faves: Allman Brothers, Sly Stone, John Prine, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Joplin, CSNY, Elton, Traffic, Nick Drake
- Phil's been listening to a new album every day during quarantine
- Phil's #1
- The Stones were in the middle of a killer run
- A band that was greater than the sum of its parts
- A few more from Jay:  T. Rex, Kinks, Yes
- Yes really stretched out in concert
- Genres are too restrictive
- You like what you like
- Duran Duran's great
- Discovering music through videogames
- Favorite song from favorite album:  "Can't You Hear Me Knockin'" (Phil) and "When the Levee Breaks" (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 536: Kicking It Off

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1970. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Recorded via Zoom
- Phil's got some quality hockey hair going
- Now, we're going to go through our favorite albums of each year from 1970-2020, starting with '70
- We were both under the age of 3
- Pretty varied list of favorites from that year
- Popular music was splintering into many different genres
- FM radio was pretty freeform
- Radio was the main way to discover music back then
- Some interesting tour pairings
- Altamont was an abrupt end to the hippie era
- Big deaths in 1970: Hendrix and Joplin
- Phil's favorites (except #1): The Who, CSNY, Neil Young, Led Zep, Van Morrison, Derek & the Dominoes
- Jay: Not a Clapton fan
- Phil: Kinks, Beatles, George Harrison, McCartney, Miles Davis, Bowie, Joni Mitchell, Chicago, James Taylor, Elton, Stones
- Phil's #1
- The Dead's best studio album
- Jay: Deep Purple, Hendrix, Funkadelic, Black Sabbath, Stooges 
- Some bands were releasing two studio albums a year
- Jay's #1
- The best live album ever
- The Who at their best
- In the midst of a great string of albums
- Favorite song from favorite album:  "Candyman" (Phil) and "Young Man's Blues" (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 535: Built to Last

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the final Grateful Dead studio album Built to Last. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Recorded via Zoom
- Built to Last released on Halloween 1989
- Jay had just graduated from college, Phil was a junior
- Jay: Don't remember this album even coming out
- Phil: It's not memorable
- Felt like band was going through the motions
- Brent Mydland dominated the album with four songs
- He was suffering from depression; died a year later
- Maybe Garcia and Weir didn't have enough good material
- Fall '89 Dead shows are considered the band's last great run of concerts
- Tried the same recording technique as previous album but it didn't work
- Garcia said Mydland's songs were better
- Final song is really bad
- Phil: They had enough material to record another album
- You can find version of them online
- Garcia started getting into drugs again
- Concert performances suffered
- Band members started doing other projects
- A couple of decent songs on this album
- Mydland songs seemed like they'd fit in a different genre
- Phil: He was good in concert
- The Dead didn't need another hit album
- Jay: At the end of this journey, have more of an appreciation for the Dead
- Definitely some bad records
- Can appreciate the live performances to a point
- Jay: I respect the fanaticism of Deadheads; not for me, but that's okay
- No more guilty pleasures; you like what you like

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.