Completely Conspicuous

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2006. Show notes: Jay's non-top 5s: The Black Angels, Mission of Burma, Twilight Singers, The Tragically Hip, Girl Talk, Iron Maiden, Lemonheads Phil's #5: Beck's last really good album, especially the first half Jay's #5: First solo release from Pulp's Jarvis Cocker Phil's #4: Last Drive-By Truckers album with Jason Isbell expands their world view Jay's #4: Expansive and excellent outing from TV On the Radio Phil's #3: Droney, psychedelic fuzz from the Black Angels Jay's #3: Yet another great one from the Hold Steady Phil's #2: Sharp debut from Jack White-led Raconteurs Jay's #2: Sweeping double album from Sloan, chock full o' power pop goodness Phil's #1: Guitar greatness from Doug Martsch and Built to Spill Jay's #1: Audacious debut from Arctic Monkeys Arctic Monkeys caught on with a whole new audience Favorite songs: "I Bet You Look Good on the Dance Floor" (Jay), "Goin' Against Your Mind" (Phil) Completely Conspicuous is available thr

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2006. Show notes: First episode of the year In 2006, Jay had two little kids Phil was having fun When you don't know anybody playing the festival Top-selling album of the year was High School Musical soundtrack The Who released an album in 2006 Phil's non-top 5s: Neko Case, Destroyer, the Hold Steady, the Walkmen, Dylan, Heartless Bastards, Tom Petty, Eagles of Death Metal, Black Keys, Yo La Tengo, Sonic Youth, Pearl Jam, Yeah Yeah Yeahs Jay: Check out Jenny Lewis and the Watson Twins 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 2023. Show notes: We're in there like swimwear On to the top 10 lists Breitling's #10: Return to from by Fog Lake Breitling's #9: Frog's new release unexpectedly has received critical praise  Kumar's #9: Another consistenly great album from Protomartyr Breitling's #8: Minimalist excellence from Colleen that tests Jay's French pronunciation skills Kumar's #8: After an 11-year absence, the Hives' formula de rock still kicks ass in 2023 Breitling's #7 and Kumar's #10: Yo La Tengo still bringing the heat, opening the album with 7-minute feedback-laden ripper Kumar's #7 and Breitling's #6: Supergroup is actually super, Voltroning into a monster act Kumar's #6: Return of the rock with Queens of the Stone Age, chock full o' bangers from a super-tight band Breitling's #5: Philly represent with Golden Apples dropping indie pop/rock with the fuzz bass and some wooder ice Kumar's #5: SF's Pardoner brings an assortment of guitar soun

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of 2023. Show notes: Recorded at Clicky Clicky HQ The 14th year of "Year in Music" episodes Taylor Swift is big, but not bigger than Starbucks Breitling making fun of Croz Perfect synergy: The Stones tour sponsored by AARP Hall v. Oates KISS passes the torch to digital avatars of themselves The "new" old Beatles song Check it out on the YouthTube Spotify blows The kids love the streaming and whatnot Check out Parcheesi Redux Tuesday and Thursday on Mixcloud Also check out Brad Searles' show The Almanac on the first Wednesday of every month Shout out to the Rollins Archive Breitling's honorable mentions: Ted Pauly, Everything But the Girl, Cupid and Psyche, Everasting and Zilla, Superchunk Kumar's honorable mentions: Pile, Model/Actriz, Yves Tumor, Fucked Up, Shame, PJ Harvey, Peter Gabriel, Marnie Stern, Replacements' "Tim" reissue, Breeders' Last Splash reissue, Feelies live album of VU covers To be continued Completely Co

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2005. Show notes: Jay's #5 and Phil's #4: New Pornographers with another all-star power pop classic Phil's #5: Early '70s singer-songwriter jams from Ryan Adams and the Cardinals Still in the era of artists putting out overlong albums Jay's #3: Spoon expands their sound, grows their popularity Phil's #3: A powerful R&B belter from Sharon Jones Jay's #2: Queens of the Stone Age with a punchy follow-up to a monster hit Phil's #2: Beck with an Odelay-esque release with a nod to Latin music Phil's #1 and Jay's #4: Sleater-Kinney drops a monster rock album  Jay's #1: Another winner from The Hold Steady, blending big riffs and nerdy scenester tales Jay makes a Rush joke Favorite songs: "Jumpers" (Phil), "Your Little Hoodrat Friend" (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 wo

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2005. Show notes: In 2005, Jay was dealing with tiny children while Phil was newly married Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Pink Floyd briefly reunited Jay: Listened to a lot of songs via MP3 blogs Jay's non-top 5s: White Stripes, Black Mountain, Bloc Party, Kaiser Chiefs, Wolf Parade, Against Me! Phil's non-top 5s: Sufjan Stevens, Son Volt, Bright Eyes, Neil Young, Trey Anastasio, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, Southern Culture on the Skids, North Mississippi All-Stars Random cocaine references  Wilco with a good live 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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2004. Show notes: Phil's #5: Arcade Fire with a rousing debut about suburbia Jay's #5: First album from Mission of Burma in 19 years kicks serious butt Phil's #4: The last U2 album Phil enjoyed Zebra once opened for their Zeppelin cover band Jay's #4 and Phil's #3: Drive-By Truckers unleash another powerful concept album about the South Phil's #2: Brian WIlson finally releases unreleased epic album Smile The Beach Boys went from "America's Beatles" to an oldies joke band Jay's #2: Another excellent album from Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Jay's #1: Debut from the Hold Steady combines '70s riffs with indie rock Phil's #1 and Jay's #3: Mark Lanegan with a world-weary masterpiece with a little help from his friends Favorite songs: "Hit the City" (Phil), "Positive Jam" (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 Pan

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2004. Show notes: In 2004, Jay became a father for the second time, was a diaper-changing machine Phil got married, saw the Red Sox and Patriots become champions Jay: Got an iPod, downloaded a ton of music Pixies reunited, Phish broke up Many bands take hiatuses The tale of Mr. Jimmy William Hung becomes famous Phil's non-top 5s: Wilco, Black Keys, Beastie Boys, Patterson Hood, Umphrey's McGee, the Killers, Green Day, Twilight Singers, Eagles of Death Metal, PJ Harvey, Franz Ferdinand, TV On the Radio, Tragically Hip  Phil invents new words Green Day rejuvenates itself Jay's non-top 5s: The Walkmen, Death From Above 1979 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 2003. Show notes: Phil's #5: Raucous debut from NYC's Yeah Yeah Yeahs, featuring the electric Karen O Jay's #5: Radiohead combined electronic and guitar-driven sounds Radiohead albums kept leaking early on file-sharing networks Phil's #4: The Shins hone their super catchy pop sound Jay's #4: An indie rock gem from the Wrens that still awaits a follow-up 20 years of starts, stops, indecision and disagreements Phil's #3: My Morning Jacket combined indie rock, Southern rock, folk and jam band sounds MP3 blog bands abound Jay's #3: Another kickass release from Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Leo is one of the great unsung artists of our generation Is Springsteen overrated? Phil's #2: Drive-By Truckers add Jason Isbell and step up their game Jay's #2: A departure for Sloan, but one jam-packed with great songs The only Sloan album without an Andrew Scott song Phil's #1: The White Stripes expand their sound and totally blow up The Stripes

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2003. Show notes: In 2003, Jay had a toddler and found out another kid was on the way Started downloading a lot of music via blogs Jay saw Pat DiNizio, Gord Downie, Radiohead, Guster Phil got engaged, saw a lot of Red Sox games Coed softball struggles 50 Cent had the #1 song of the year A lot of number bands on the charts What's the deal with Kid Rock? Phil's non-top 5s: TV On the Radio, Warren Zevon, Jason Molina, Black Keys, Jet, Outkast, Ween, Lucinda Williams, Bowie Jay's non-top 5s: Gord Downie, Electric Six, Dizzee Rascal, Stephen Malkmus, Zeppelin 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 2002. Show notes: Phil's #5: Coldplay's second album turned them into superstars Jay's #5: Spoon returns to an indie and begins a long stretch of excellence Phil's and Jay's #4: Strong release from the Tragically Hip highlights their varied strengths Phil's #2: The last great Foo Fighters album caused a lot of turmoil for the band Jay's #3 and Phil's #1: Beck with another sad bastard folk-rock masterpiece Jay's #2: Killer debut from Interpol was part of the hot NYC scene of the early '00s It's hard for some bands to live up to a great first album Phil's #3 and Jay's #1: Queens of the Stone Age reaches new heights with help from Dave Grohl on drums Favorite songs: "No One Knows" (Jay), "End of the Day" (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 o

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2002. Show notes: In 2002, Jay became a first-time dad and didn't get much sleep Jay turned 35, Phil turned 33 Phil was newly single, met his current wife John Entwistle died the classic rock star death Napster officially called it quits after lawsuits Owning music is an outdated concept now Nickelback had the top song of the year Charts had a mixture of nu metal, hip hop and pop Phil's non-top 5 albums: Doves, Sleater-Kinney, Flaming Lips, Spoon, Trey Anastasio, Dave Matthews Band, Interpol, Black Keys, Sonic Youth, GBV, Tom Petty, Bowie Jay's non-top 5s: McLusky, Hot Snakes, Trail of Dead, Elvis Costello, Broken Social Scene   We never saw a lot of the rock videos of this era This was the age of the MP3 blog     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. Voiceov

Celebrating the podcast's 17th birthday by talking to Amanda Guest about the 10th birthday of the radio station she founded, BFF.fm. Show notes: Amanda was last on the podcast 10 years ago talking about moving to SF and launching BFF.fm Plenty of surprises along the way She was a DJ at the Salem State College (now University) station for 18 years Commercial radio was already being automated in the mid-'90s Built a studio in the Secret Alley in SF A lot of the DJs at BFF now weren't alive when Amanda was DJing in the '90s Shorter attention spans: Newer DJs are doing one-hour shows Jay has been doing a show for BFF since the station started "Where's Koomdogg?" Building exposure through a crazy boat DJing gig Became a nonprofit in 2015 Amanda was hired as the GM of the station, now doing it full-time Went from dues-based organization to nonprofit Allows BFF to fundraise and get grants Celebrating the station's 10th birthday with events throughout the city Amanda plans to stay involved but wants to

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2001. Show notes: Jay's non-top 5 albums: Von Bondies, Radiohead, Sloan, Frank Black & the Catholics, Guided By Voices, Fugazi The joy of shopping for imports Phil's #5: Great distillation of classic rock from Sweden's The Soundtrack of Our Lives Jay's #5: Indie folk-rock on first solo effort from Gord Downie includes spoken word Phil's #4 and Jay's #3: Breakthrough album from the White Stripes blew up several months after it came out Jay's #4: The Strokes led the return of guitar rock with a NYC-centric sound Highlighted in the book and documentary Meet Me in the Bathroom Phil's #3: Spoon with a strong release after getting dropped from a major  Phil's #2: Another great album after getting dropped came from Wilco Phil's #1 and Jay's #2: A masterful double album about the duality of the Southern thang by Drive-By Truckers Jay's #1: Impressive release from Ted Leo & the Pharmacists showcased a melding of diverse rock style

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