Completely Conspicuous 660: When Schlitz Rocked America

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2008. 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.

3 Apr 20241h 12min

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2007. 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.

7 Mars 202446min

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2007. Show notes: In 2007, Jay had a kid starting kindergarten; that kids graduates from college soon Zeppelin played two reunion shows Separating the music from artists' bad behavior Daughtry had the #1 selling album of '07 Phil's non-top 5s: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, the National, St. Vincent, Jason Isbell, Okkervil River, Buffalo Tom, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Arctic Monkeys Let's hear it for Dad Rock On Madonna's career Discovering music through commercials or movies Music services Jay's non-top 5s: LCD Soundsystem, the Dears, Tim Armstrong, Black Francis, Thurston Moore, Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, Ray Davies, Beastie Boys 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.

29 Feb 20241h 37min

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 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.

23 Jan 20241h 5min

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.

17 Jan 20241h 5min

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 sounds from the last 50 years to their latest slack masterpiece The '90s sound (and look) is still thriving Breitling's #4: More of the Philly goodness with Purling Hiss with the lo-fi hooky guitar rock Kumar's #4: Indie power-pop supergroup Eyelids delivers the super-catchy goods Breilting's #3: Bay Area shoegaze concern Blue Ocean returns with a weird and rewarding album Kumar's #3: Sharp, concise indie post-punk from Kansas-via-Boston act Sweeping Promises Breitling's #2: Ohio-based indie act Connections connects with melodic rockers; RIYL GBV, Feelies Kumar's #2: New Zealand post-punk that smashes through with punchy, catchy rippers Breitling's #1: Long-awaited reunion album from American shoegaze icons Drop Nineteens does not disappoint Kumar's #1: Going into Hellmode with Jeff Rosenstock, who has been consistently releasing excellent albums for the last several years; additional layers of maturity and depth make this release all the more satisfying 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.

26 Dec 20231h 4min

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 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.

19 Dec 20231h 2min

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 work is courtesy of James Gralian.

8 Nov 202336min