Completely Conspicuous 600: Meet Ze Monsta

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1995. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- Jay's non-top 5s: Mike Watt, Bjork, Guided By Voices, Boss Hog, Rancid, The Amps

- Phil's #5: Bjork's second album embraces the quirkiness

- Jay's #4: Jawbreaker's major label debut was a total bust, but it's really good

- "Selling out" was a big deal back then

- Phil's #3: The debut of Elastica was fully formed, but band disappeared a few years later

- Jay's #3: Pavement's followup to their big break was dismissed as too weird, but now is considered a classic

- Phil's #2: Neil Young teams up with Pearl Jam for strong release at the peak of PJ's fame

- Jay's #2: Horn-powered kickass blast of an album from Rocket From the Crypt

- Phil's #1 and Jay's #5: Dave Grohl emerges from Nirvana's shadow with first Foo Fighters album

- Jay's #1 and Phil's #4: PJ Harvey changes up her sound and goes theatrical and atmospheric

- Favorite songs: "Meet Ze Monsta" (Jay), "Alone + Easy Target" (Jay)

- Next: Best of 2022 with Jay Breitling

 

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 599: Army of Me

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1995. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

- First show in quite a while

- In '95, Phil turned 26, Jay turned 28

- We both saw a lot of concerts that year

- Big deaths: Jerry Garcia, Eazy E, Shannon Hoon

- Musings on Cleveland, where the Rock Hall of Fame opened in '95

- Jay saw a doubleheader of a Bruins game and a Chris Whitley show

- Singles charts were leaning toward pop and lighter fare

- Is band loyalty still a thing?

- It's okay to not listen to every album in a band's catalog

- Phil's non-top 5 albums: Belly, Garbage, Alice in Chains, Mad Season, Phish, Elliott Smith, Radiohead, RHCP, Sonic Youth, Matthew Sweet, Pavement, Ben Folds Five, Morphine, No Doubt, Throwing Muses, Green Day, Natalie Merchant, Son Volt, Smashing Pumpkins

- It's a rare double album that can't be cut down to a single album

- 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 435: Reeling in the Years, 1995 (Part 3)

Part 3 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1995. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Recorded live from Brian's back porch in Ringwood, NJ
- Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output
- Brian's #2
- Rentals' debut is on par with Weezer's best
- Brian's #3 and Jay's #2
- Jay: Saw Foo Fighters' first tour, opening for Mike Watt
- Foo debut came out of nowhere
- Grohl released a solo album a few years earlier
- First two Foo albums are standouts
- The problem with Audioslave
- Gord Downie goes out doing what he loves
- Radiohead's The Bends just missed both our lists
- Brian's #1 and Jay's #3
- Mike Watt called in every favor he could
- GBV's Alien Lanes dropped out of Jay's top 5
- Chock full o' good songs
- Jay's #1
- PJ Harvey expands her sound beyond guitar rock
- Next up: 1985

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 434: Reeling in the Years, 1995 (Part 2)

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1995. Listen to the episode below or download directly.
 

Show notes:
- Recorded live from Brian's back porch in Ringwood, NJ
- Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output
- Brian's bubbling under albums: ODB, Morphine, Boss Hog, Hum
- Brian Salvatore: Humbuster
- Jay's bubbling under: Rancid, Mad Season, Elastica, Matthew Sweet, Yo La Tengo
- Brian: White Zombie, No Doubt, Oasis, Presidents of the USA, Smashing Pumpkins, Goo Goo Dolls, Flaming Lips, Bowie, Sleater-Kinney
- Jay: Urge Overkill, Chris Whitley, Helium, Garbage, Bjork, Wilco, Neil Young, Jawbreaker
- Brian's #5
- Rancid blasts through an excellent album
- Jay's #5
- One of the two Rocket from the Crypt albums released in '95
- Melding horns with punk guitars
- Brian's #4
- Kim Deal's non-Breeders band
- "The most GBV-sounding Breeders record"
- Josephine Baker was not in the Breeders
- Jay's #4
- Pavement's post-breakthrough record
- The original title didn't cut it
- 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 433: Reeling in the Years, 1995 (Part 1)

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we look back at the music of 1995. Listen to the episode below or download directly.

 

Show notes:
- Recorded live from Brian's back porch in Ringwood, NJ
- Check out Brian's podcast Input/Output
- Baby Ben hanging out
- In 1995, we were on to the second-generation grunge bands
- Bands were copying Bush and Stone Temple Pilots
- Brian was 12-13, Jay was 27-28
- Jerry Garcia died
- More '95 deaths: Eazy E, Shannon Hoon
- Back then, you checked out music based on a review
- Blind Melon's rise and fall
- Beatles released new song
- Bill Berry had a brain aneurysm during an R.E.M. show
- Van Halen released their last Hagar album
- Superhero movies in the '90s
- Singles charts had a lot of R&B, some jam rock
- Jay tells his Trey Anastasio story again
- Cursing Greg Ginn
- Jay: Listened to Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness for first time in 20 years
- Formed in '95: Blonde Redhead, N SYNC, Pedro the Lion, Eels, Sleater-Kinney
- Broke up in '95: Grateful Dead, Bronski Beat, Dire Straits, Drive Like Jehu, Oingo Boingo, Kyuss, Sugar
- 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.