Completely Conspicuous 638: Le Noise

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2010. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Black Keys cancel arena tour after way overestimating their popularity
• Phil's #5: Black Keys establish their popularity with poppier blues sound
• Phil's and Jay's #4: Superchunk returns after a nine-year break with an energetic pop-punk ripper
• Phil's #3: Lo-fi psych from Philly duo Reading Rainbow (now called Bleeding Rainbow)
• Jay's #3: Nick Cave returns with his harder rocking Grinderman project
• Phil's #2 and Jay's #5: More rock-oriented album from Drive-By Truckers
• Jay's #2: Politically-driven melodic punk from Ted Leo and the Pharmacists 
• Phil's #1: Neil Young with a solo effort with a lot of guitar effects
• Jay's #1: Titus Andronicus with your typical epic Civil War-meets-modern-day NJ concept album 
• Jay: Titus Andronicus is one of my favorite current bands 
• Favorite songs: "Hitchhiker" (Phil), "Theme from Cheers" (Jay)
• Next time we get together, we'll sum up the decade of the 2010s

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 637: Let's Get Out of Here

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2010. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as"). 

Show notes:

• In 2010, Phil became a dad for the second time
• A little running talk
• Kesha had the #1 song in 2010 with "Tik Tok"
• Phil asking philosophical questions
• Phil's non-top 5s: Darker My Love, Best Coast, LCD Soundsystem, Foals, Ty Segall, Spoon, Wolf People, Vampire Weekend, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
• Jay's non-top 5s: Neil Young, Los Campesinos!, Arcade Fire, Black Mountain, Les Savy Fav
• When artists stop making good albums
• 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 636: Further Complications

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2009. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Jay's non-top 5s: Arctic Monkeys, Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, Patterson Hood, Alice in Chains, Obits, Eels, Tragically Hip, Brendan Benson, Neko Case, Heaven and Hell
• Phil's #5: Yeah Yeah Yeahs make foray into dance rock
• Judas Priest makes good pump-up music
• Jay's #5: Trippy prog-metal from Mastodon
• Phil's #4: Neko Case is a force of nature
• Jay's #4: Art Brut with an entertaining collection of ripping artsy punk  
• Phil's #3: Slow-burning solo excursion from Patterson Hood
• Jay's #3: Anthemic punk/classic rock mix from Japandroids
• Phil's #2: Phish returns after a 5-year break
• Jay's #2: Jarvis Cocker with the kickass Albini-recorded solo ripper 
• Phil's and Jay's #1:  Monster supergroup debut from Them Crooked Vultures
• Jay saw TCV in Boston on their only tour
• Always cool to see someone from Zeppelin play live
• Favorite songs: "Angela" (Jay), "Elephants" (Phil)

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 635: Get Guilty

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2009. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• In 2009, Phil had a newborn and was expecting another
• We had a global pandemic in '09 (H1N1 swine flu)
• Biggest selling album in the world was by Susan Boyle
• Black Eyed Peas had a big year
• U2 had an album out, but didn't make much of an impression on us
• Phil's non-top 5s: The Dead Weather, Son Volt, Wilco, Jason Isbell, Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, A.C. Newman, Titus Andronicus, Deer Tick 
• To smarm or not to smarm
• 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 634: Stay Positive

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2008. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Phil's #5: My Morning Jacket changes things up
• Jay's #5: Big space rock ripper from Black Mountain
• Phil's #4: Springsteen-inspired indie rock from the Gaslight Anthem
• Jay's #4: Stephen Malkmus gets jammy 
• Phil's #3: Tom Petty's early band Mudcrutch gets back together
• Jay's #3: Sloan with an economical power pop release
• Phil's and Jay's #2: Dark, inspired record from the Gutter Twins
• Phil's #1: Brooding classic from Death Cab for Cutie 
• Jay's #1: The Hold Steady hits an anthemic peak 
• Craig Finn is an atypical yet terrific frontman
• Favorite songs: "Stay Positive" (Jay), "I Will Possess Your Heart" (Phil)

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 633: Stop, Drop and Roll

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2008. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• In '08, Phil became a dad
• M.I.A. with the Clash fakeout intro
• Phil's non-top 5s: The Hold Steady, Stephen Malkmus, Vampire Weekend, TV on the Radio, the Raconteurs, Beck, R.E.M., JJ Grey and Mofro, Sloan, Drive-By Truckers, Black Keys
• The Kelly Gruber Effect
• The other Phil Stacey releases his debut album, as did Scarlett Johansson and Bronson Arroyo
• Jay's non-top 5s: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Black Angels, Foxboro Hot Tubs, Destroyer
• Green Day was punk until they weren't
• Phil: Hearing the Kinks for the first time
• 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 632: Don't You Evah

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2007. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

• Phil's #5: Sharp alt-country debut from Deer Tick
• Jay's #5: Nick Cave rocks out with Grinderman
• Phil's #4: Compelling raunch rock from QOTSA
• Jay's #4: Ted Leo and the Pharmacists with another quality ripper
• Phil's #3: Soulful belter Sharon Jones with a great throwback
• Jay's #3: Radiohead's "pay what you want" experiment
• Labels were not happy that they took the risk
• Phil's #2: Dad-rock kings Wilco with a mellower affair
• Jay's #2: The original Dino Jr. lineup with their first album since '88
• Phil's and Jay's #1: Spoon breaks through with a classic
• The decline of rock as a popular genre
• Favorite songs: "Don't You Evah" (Jay), "Impossible Germany" (Phil)

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.