Completely Conspicuous

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2001. Show notes: In 2001, Jay found out he was going to be a dad and also went back to his old employer Jay turned 34, Phil turned 32 Phil got divorced 9/11 was a defining generational moment Jay: Saw concerts by Radiohead, Gord Downie, Tragically Hip, PJ Harvey, Built to Spill, Buddy Guy Apple launched iTunes music store and the iPod Napster got sued into oblivion Pop was big but garage rock started getting popular Lifehouse had the #1 single of the year? Scott Stapp wrote a pump-up song for the Marlins Phil got recruited by a Scientologist Phil's non-top 5 albums: Gorillaz, R.E.M., DMB, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Fugazi, Stephen Malkmus, Pete Yorn, Ryan Adams, Bob Dylan  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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the first half of 2023. Show notes: Running down our favorite albums of the year so far Kumar's #10: Pile diversifies its sound Breitling's #9 and Kumar's #8: Yo La Tengo keeps on Yo La Tengoing  Kumar's #9: Dangerous sounding debut from Model/Actriz Breitling's #8: Continued excellence from Protomartyr Kumar's #7: Excellent third release from Washer, giving off Meat Puppets vibe Another great act on Exploding In Sound Breitling's #7: Fog Lake returns with a compelling slowcore release; may or may not be Shady Canadians Breitling's #10 and Kumar's #6: Perennially pissed off hip hop from UK Grim Breitling's #6: Lo-fi folk rock stalwarts Hands and Knees return with a strong release Kumar's #5: Yves Tumor mixes shoegaze, alt-rock and funk into a powerful concoction Breitling's #5 and Kumar's #4: Legit supergroup Boygenius delivers the goods Brei

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the first half of 2023. Show notes: Recorded at CompCon HQ Concerts are back TicketMaster is still a mess Nobody's buying CDs The Beatles and AI Parcheesi Redux is in its third year Talking about the band Toronto and their hit "Your Daddy Don't Know," covered by the New Pornographers The kids are alright Rock music is still around, although it's a minor part of the music business Breitling's bubbling under albums: Everything But the Girl; Depeche Mode; Sharp Pins; OK Cool; Reds, Pinks and Purples; Pile; Squitch; Mui Zyu Jay's bubbling unders: The Hold Steady; The New Pornographers; Ron Gallo; Quasi; Mudhoney To be continued 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 wor

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2000. Show notes: Jay's non-top 5 picks: Hot Snakes, Rollins Band, Fu Manchu, Pearl Jam Phil's and Jay's #5: Diverse offering from the Tragically Hip Phil's and Jay's #4: More accessible effort about living in NYC by PJ Harvey Phil's #3: Bluesy debut album from North Mississippi All-Stars Jay's #3: Electrifying major-label debut from At the Drive-In Featured in Dan Ozzi's book Sellout about indie acts who sign with majors Phil's #2: Phish blends some different styles into their jam band formula Jay's #2: Queens of the Stone Age's second album takes a big leap onto the rock scene Phil's #1: U2 bounces back with a back-to-basics release Phil: Feeling down about what was once his favorite band How bands age  The last really good U2 album Jay's #1: Radiohead totally reinvents their sound, embracing electronics Phil's not feeling it Favorite songs: "Optimistic" (Jay), "Stuck In a Moment You Can't Get Out Of" (Phil)    Completely Consp

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2000. Show notes: In 2000, Jay got married Jay turned 33, Phil turned 31 Jay: Went to SXSW, saw Modest Mouse, Fu Manchu, Bevis Frond Pivotal year for the dotcom boom Albums were leaking on Napster before they came out A better year than '99 in terms of stuff we liked Top 100 songs were predominantly pop Phil's non-top 5s: Ween, Sleater-Kinney, Outkast, White Stripes, Rage Against the Machine, Ryan Adams, New Pornographers, Doves, Neil Young, Steely Dan, the Hives  Phil's out on runs scaring old ladies  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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1999. Show notes: Jay's non-top 5s: Frank Black and the Catholics, Sebadoh, Matthew Sweet, Piebald, Fu Manchu, Superchunk, Songs: Ohia, GBV Phil's #5: Third release from Rage Against the Machine continues their anti-capitalist bent Jay's #5: Flaming Lips complete their transformation into a different sound Phil's #4: Dave Grohl continues to fight Foo and get more commercial-sounding Jay's #4 and Phil's #3: Built to Spill with the triumphant peak of their terrific '90s run  Jay's #3: The final Pavement album has only gotten better with age Phil's #2: Debut of Rilo Kiley was financed by Dave Foley of Kids in the Hall Jay's #2: Beck gets funky, continuing extreme genre shifts from album to album Phil's #1: Widespread Panic melds a lot of styles in a listener-friendly jam album Jay's #1: Back-to-back #1s from Sloan with a semi-autobiographical masterpiece Favorite songs: "Climb to Safety" (Phil); "Friendship" (Jay) Completely Conspicuo

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1999. Show notes: In '99, Jay turned 32, Phil turned 30 Y2K was looming Phil got married, Jay got engaged Ireland on New Year's Eve Pop was on the upswing Nu metal and Woodstock 99 Music sales were high, but MP3s were about to take a big bite Santana made a huge comeback Phil's non top 5 albums: Magnolia soundtrack, Sleater-Kinney, White Stripes, Wilco, Sheila Divine, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Moby, Red Hot Chili Peppers,  The pickings were slim overall in '99 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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1998. Show notes: More of Phil's non-top 5s: Monster Magnet, R.E.M., Hole, Dave Matthews Band Jay's non-top 5s: Tragically Hip, Monster Magnet, Jerry Cantrell, Frank Black and the Catholics, Beastie Boys, Rocket From the Crypt, Rancid, Cat Power Phil tells of a magical mixtape service Phil's #5: Moe with a jazzy jam band album Phil says he's not a "Moe-ron" Not hating on Steely Dan Jay's #5: Silver Jews with downbeat indie rock classic Phil's #4 and Jay's #2: The debut from Queens of the Stone Age kicks serious ass, combining stoner rock with robotic grooves Jay's #4: Followed up Odelay with the experimental Mutations Phil's #3: A fun release from the Beastie Boys Jay's #3: R&B-influenced album from Afghan Whigs was last before they broke up Phil's #2: Phish's 7th album featured a "cow funk" sound Phil's #1: Big breakthrough from Fatboy Slim paved the way for DJ as frontman Jay's #1: Sloan with a '70s vibe, from arena rockers to s

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1998. Show notes: 1998 was 25 years ago! Jay turned 31, Phil turned 29 The one-hit wonders were abundant Alt-rock was fading in popularity MTV was predominantly airing programming that wasn't videos MP3s became another way to share/steal music Paved the way for Napster and eventually the near-collapse of the music industry Pop was taking over: Britney, Backstreet Boys, N Sync Artists who started out great and then just sold out/sucked Phil's non-top 5's: PJ Harvey, Mercury Rev, Drive-By Truckers, Pearl Jam, Government Mule, Mark Lanegan, Jerry Cantrell, Tragically Hip, Neutral Milk Hotel  The Hip played at Woodstock '99 (correction: it was the weekend after JFK Jr.'s plane crash) 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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1997. 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

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1997. 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.

This week, I'm joined by guest Matt Phillion as we discuss the resurgence of role-playing games. Show notes: - Recorded in Salem, Mass. - Last time we recorded for the show was two years ago - Time is passing quickly - Jay: Going into the office once a week now - Matt: It was an extrovert's world for a long time - Matt's still writing YA books - Matt has been running Dungeons & Dragons games since pandemic started - Unprepared for the number of people who wanted to jump in - Matt: Didn't have enough friends to play in high school - Was going to start doing it for corporate retreats when COVID hit - A legal dispute over licensing with Hasbro - Jay: Was a total comics nerd in high school - D&D made a comeback thanks to Stranger Things - A D&D movie is coming out with Chris Pine - Tom Hanks starred in Mazes & Monsters, a "Satanic panic" movie about D&D - Stopped buying comics when there were bills to pay - Matt: Plenty of non-D&D role-playing games are popular - Played Vampire: The M

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1996. Show notes: - Phil's #5: Cowboy Junkies score with their first album of originals - Jay's #5: Sebadoh with a sprawling collection of rockers and ballads - Phil's #4: Soundgarden's last album of the '90s turned away from their big hit - Jay's #4: Frank Black with another album of quirky greatness - Phil's #3: Phish with a fan-friendly studio release - Jay's #3: Cinematic-sounding crime saga from the Afghan Whigs - Phil's #2: Double album that was the breakthrough for Wilco - Jay's #2: After a brief breakup, Sloan comes back with a power pop classic - Phil's and Jay's #1: Beck blows up with a spectacular album that explores multiple genres - Favorite songs: "New Pollution" (Phil), "G Turns to D" (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 Gral

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1996. Show notes: - In '96, Jay turned 29, Phil turned 27 - Days of little to no responsibility other than work - Adventures in sports gambling - Tougher year to come up with top 5 - The Macarena was all the rage - Phil's non-top 5s: Rage Against the Machine, Fiona Apple, Sleater-Kinney, Tragically Hip, Dave Matthews Band, R.E.M., Pearl Jam, Moe, Tracy Bonham, Luscious Jackson, Sublime, Jerry Garcia and David Grisman, Tom Petty, Tori Amos, Cake, Silver Jews - Rolling Stone lists are sheer clickbait - Jay's non-top 5s:  Soundgarden, Superdrag, Posies, D Generation, Weezer, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - 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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we count down our favorite music of 2022. Show notes: - On to our top 10 - Breitling's #10: Archers of Loaf returns with a different sounding release - Kumar's #10: Fontaines D.C. evolves its sound - Breitling's and Kumar's #9: Radiohead offshoot The Smile with an interesting return to early '00s sound - Breitling's #8: Pleasant surprise album from Palm - Breitling's #7: First Sub Pop album from Frankie Cosmos - Bernice taking over the couch - Breitling's #6: Shimmering pop brilliance from The Beths - Kumar's #6: A nostalgic rocker from Oceanator - Breitling's #5 and Kumar's #7: Horsegirl bursts out of nowhere with a lo-fi banger of a debut - Kumar's #5: Another strong release from Toronto's Kiwi Jr. - Breitling's #4 and Kumar's #8: Harking back to '85, band full of DC punk vets lands a massive post-hardcore statement - Kumar's #4: Triumphant return by Titus Andronicus overcom

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of 2022. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky/Parcheesi Redux East HQ - We've been doing this for 13 years! - Kumar: Went to some more shows this year - Breitling went to zero shows in 2022 - Things to look forward to in '23: The Cure returns, Drop Nineteens, Hallelujah the Hills' DECK project, Johnny Foreigner, Fucked Up, Blue Ocean, Peter Gabriel - Kate Hudson is supposed to be releasing an album - The varied talents of Fred Armisen - In '22, the music industry continued to struggle - Fewer revenue streams, fragmented audiences, content glut - Diaper payola - Even established acts can't sell new albums anymore - Artists are selling directly to their audiences through Patreon, etc. - Breitling's honorable mentions: Photon Band, Flyying Colours, Bitchin' Bajas, Kal Marks, Sun Airway, S.C.A.B., They Are Gutting a Body of Water, Kiwi Jr. - Kumar's

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1995. 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 Breitlin

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1995. 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 Conspicu

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1994. 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 snott

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 1994. 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