Completely Conspicuous

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Quality podcastification since 2006.

  1. 4 DAYS AGO

    Fight the Good Fight

    Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2025. Show notes: The 17th annual year in music review AI-generated music is lame Especially fake music that purports to be by real artists Spotify is a juggernaut that still sucks Checking out other services (Qobuz, Amazon) You don't get to own downloads via streaming services The kids love the K-pop Only a handful of artists make any money these days Oh yay, LIve Nation is going to get richer Ticketmaster is now a ticket reseller as well We're still seeing the live rock Breitling: Thumbs up for the Aimee Mann/Ted Leo Christmas show Saw Oasis in Mexico City We both saw Hallelujah the Hills  Kumar: Saw Frank Black, Narducy/Shannon do R.E.M., Gang of Four with Ted Leo, Bob Mould, Greg Norton, Ducks Ltd., Pixies, the Who, Buffalo Tom Breitling's bubbling under music picks: Ava Luna, Lifeguard, Winter, Frankie Cosmos, Golden Apples, Lemonheads, Sister Ray Davies, Jeff Tweedy, Glimmer, Tiberius, Telephone Numbers Kumar's honorable mentions: Tweedy, The Convenience, Snocaps, Turnstile, The Hives, Viagra Boys, Pulp, Car Seat Headrest, Charm School, Horsegirl, Superchunk, Pile, The Beths, Tony Molina, Sharp Pins, They Are Gutting a Body of Water, Militarie Gun, Kestrels, Destroyer, Dean Wareham, Kinski, Ty Segall, Stereolab, Lunchbox, Cam Keiber, Husker Du and Replacements box sets Breitling's #10: Autocamper's debut asks a valid question  Kumar's #10: Debut solo release from TV On the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe  Breitling's #9: Energetic indie rock from Chicago's OK Cool  Kumar's #9: Ripper out of nowhere from The Men Breitling's #8: Urgent EP about ancient Greece by Strange Passage Reunion tours with strange combinations Triumph is coming around next year 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.

    53 min

  2. 15 DEC

    Hate to Say I Told You So

    Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we pick our favorite songs released in the 21st century.  Show notes: Phil's #6: Frenetic assault from Parquet Courts Definite late '70s post-punk influences Jay's #6: A bold move into electronic sounds by Radiohead Phil still doesn't get Radiohead Phil's #5: Slacker guitar hero vibes from Kurt Vile Stream-of-consciousness lyrical approach Jay's #5: Garage rock anthem that introduced the Hives to the world Punchy and super catchy, it took two years to hit in the U.S. The battle for car music supremacy Phil's #4: New Orleans vibe from Tedeschi Trucks Band Phil's intro to the band Jay's #4: A first single that will never be topped by Franz Ferdinand Catchy, danceable stomper comparing love to a sniper's duel Phil's #3: Goose brings jam band versatility to the masses Blew up since the pandemic and are now selling out Madison Square Garden Jay's #3: Queens of the Stone Age craft a perfect hard rock song The magic of the killer riff plus Dave Grohl's drumming Phil's #2: Ripper from Aussie Courtney Barnett Lyrics focus on everyday life Jay's #2: Indie rock classic from the Walkmen Emerged from the early '00s NYC scene Tension keeps building throughout The greatness of Joe Jackson Phil's #1: Epic and creepy classic from Death Cab for Cutie Song builds for 4 1/2 minutes before the vocals kick in Menacing bassline underlines the lyrics about obsession Jay's #1: TV On the Radio with a killer song from a killer album Intensity driven by Tunde Adebimpe's vocal delivery Also came up in NYC in the early '00s Completely Conspicuous is available through wherever you get 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.

    1h 14m

  3. 2 DEC

    Everything In Its Right Place

    Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we pick our favorite songs released in the 21st century. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as"). Show notes: We're a quarter through this century Phil: Thought this would be easy but came up with a long list What about a song grabs you? Jay: Original top 10 list was all songs from the 00s Songs that didn't make our top 10 Phil: Tribe Called Quest, Vampire Weekend, Meatbodies, Wilco, Ryan Adams and the Cardinals, TV On the Radio, Wet Leg, Franz Ferdinand, Michael Kiwanuka, MJ Lenderman, U2, Frances Forever, Patrick Sweeney, Mudcrutch, Sufjan Stevens, Shearwater, Jason Isbell, Songs: Ohia Jay: Radiohead, Bowie, At the Drive-In, Drive-By Truckers, Sloan, Sleater-Kinney, Death from Above 1979, Jay-Z, Hold Steady, Gord Downie, Tragically Hip, Living Colour, Outkast, Wild Flag, White Stripes, PJ Harvey, Parquet Courts, Spoon, M.I.A., Kaiser Chiefs Jay: Found out about a lot of new music from MP3 blogs in the early 00s Phil's #10: Spoon breaks through Song was a cover of a song by The Natural History Jay's #10: Last song from Bowie's iconic farewell album Love the album but it's hard to listen to because of the sadness Phil's #9: Mournful ballad from Mark Lanegan Jay: My favorite Lanegan song Mixing bubblegum and chewing tobacco is a bad idea A duet with Chris Goss of Masters of Reality Jay's #9: A fiery hip hop blast from Run the Jewels and Zach de la Rocha Waiting for their next album; last one was in 2020 Phil's #7: Bluegrass turn from Billy Strings Strings is winning over a lot of fans of other genres Phil's #8: Protest song from Drive-By Truckers Band chronicles a lot of real-life injustices Jay's #8: Angry ripper from Superchunk Commentary on the political climate of 2018 Sometimes fans don't like the message Jay's #7: White Stripes hit the mainstream Took a year for their third album to become a hit To be continued Completely Conspicuous is available through wherever you get 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.

    1h 2m

  4. 10 NOV

    Playing Favorites

    Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we pick our favorite songs by randomly selected artists. Show notes: More of our favorites from artists picked out of a hat Phil: Pretenders Overcoming the deaths of half the band Jay: James Brown Love the '70s funk era Prince was able to replicate JB's dance moves in concert Phil: Parquet Courts Built a great catalog over the last 13 years or so Influenced by the late '70s NYC CBGB sound Jay: Beatles How do you pick a single Beatles song? Phil: Sleater-Kinney Powerful band Janet Weiss is a powerhouse drummer Jay: Led Zeppelin Favorite song depends on the day Phil: Prince He could play any style Jay: Hoodoo Gurus Saw them for the first time last year Caught the mid-80s college rock wave Phil: The Police Ghost in the Machine was one of the first albums Phil ever bought Early Police is untouchable Jay: The Clash Political rock that still holds true today Covered a lot of musical ground Phil: R.E.M. Was introduced to the band by his uncle People who jumped off the bandwagon after they went to a major are missing out Jay: Elvis Costello EC has been all over the map musically, but his lyrics are always on point Phil: Squeeze Difford and Tilbrook were great songwriters Amazing string of classic songs Jay: Joe Jackson Easy choice  The first few albums were outstanding Musical chameleon Completely Conspicuous is available wherever you get 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.

    56 min

  5. 3 NOV

    Choose Your Fighter

    Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we pick our favorite songs by randomly selected artists. Show notes: Phil's idea: Blind rankings We each pick 10 artist names out of a hat and name a favorite song for each Phil picks names from N-Z, Jay gets A-M No prep time for our answers Phil: Velvet Underground Plenty to choose from Trying not to choose popular songs Jay: B-52s They made the "no play list" at Jay's wedding Great catalog of bangers Phil: Talking Heads Band had different phases Mixed Afro rhythms, funk and skronky guitar from Adrian Belew New David Byrne album is good Jay: Living Colour Band played many different styles well They still bring the heat Phil: Neil Young A musical chameleon Amazing solo or with Crazy Horse (or other backing bands) Jay: Grateful Dead Easy choice Always had a favorite song by them 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.

    31 min

  6. 7 OCT

    Time Stand Still

    This week, I'm joined by fellow podcast pioneer Brian Salvatore as we discuss the first 20 years of podcasting.  Show notes: Brian: First heard about podcasts in 2004 Started making the FrankBlack.net Podcast in 2006 Jay: Got my first iPod in 2004 and then learned about podcasts Brian: The internet was so much better 20 years ago Great for digging into niche interests Jay and Brian met through the Frank Black podcast in 2010 and realized that Brian lived near Jay's brother-in-law Jay: The start of CompCon in 2006 Always loved radio but never worked at the college station First few years were just me talking about pop culture Eventually started bringing on guests after a few years Podcasting got an early boost when Apple started a podcast directory Early podcasts I listened to were by Adam Curry, Ricky Gervais Marc Maron started his podcast in 2009 and is airing his last episode next week Now everybody's got a podcast Brian: Before podcasts, blogging was a thing Brian produces podcasts for other people in addition to his own Podcasting never became a career for us, just a hobby But some people have made lots of money from them Brian: Not much innovation in the podcast space lately Music podcasts were hampered by copyright issues Podcast networks started popping up Conan O'Brien created a great podcast after his TV talk show went away Podcasting is much more interesting than commercial radio these days Brian: Grew up loving radio, especially WFMU Jay: College radio is still good, but commercial radio blows DJs used to be dependable arbiters of taste Now everything's heavily formatted Jay: Been doing my own radio show on BFF.fm for the last 12 years Brian co-owns a sports podcast company People have trouble committing to a show once they start it Listening habits have changed Jay: Currently listen to WTF, The Best Show, sports shows about Toronto teams, The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Brian: Election Profitmakers, Song Exploder, Never Not Funny, Conan, Indiecast, Who Cares About the Rock Hall?, Mets podcasts So much content to wade through Just like with music; it's much easier to release an album now but there's so much out there Tough to make it as a musician now Podcasts have gone beyond a niche thing Jay: I love listening to audio The value of playing songs people haven't heard a zillion times Every celebrity has a podcast Will podcasts go back to the indie days at some point? Jay: I do two podcasts for work The bubble will burst at some point AI could have a strange, negative effect Connections formed via podcasting Brian: Start a podcast, people 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.

    1h 18m

  7. 1 OCT

    Shadow Dancing

    Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about songs we hate to love.  Show notes: Our top 10 songs we hate to love in no particular order Phil: A song from the infamous Great White One of the many bands who tried to sound like Zeppelin Jay: Rupert Holmes somehow got cheesier than the "Pina Colada Song" Classic AM gold shizz Phil: A big hit for the Carpenters Originally written for a bank commercial Jay: Monster disco one-hit wonder from Patrick Hernandez Phil: Britney with an earworm Jay: Raspy pop smash from Kim Carnes Crossed over to MOR stations that our parents listened to Phil: Digging into the Jefferson Starship ballads Marty Balin got on the wrong side of the Hell's Angels at Altamont Jay: Phil Collins did a lot of soundtrack music in the '80s in addition to everything else A patented Collins Angry Ballad Phil digs that calypso beat in one of Lionel Richie's biggest hits Richie was one of the driving forces behind "We Are the World" Jay: A synth pop cover of "Lean On Me" Phil: Secretly loved the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack as a kid Yvonne Elliman sang backups on several Clapton albums Jay: Non-English hit by Falco Only German-language #1 song in America Phil: Frankie Valli's disco song in Grease Written by Barry Gibb, who was unstoppable in the late '70s Jay: Early '70s soft rock jam from Albert Hammond Phil: John Mayer's wuss rock moment More familiar with his work in Dead and Co. Jay: Rediscovered recently his love of Little River Band Australian purveyors of catchy dad rock Original members lost the rights to the band name Phil: Shout out to the Weather Girls Catchy and co-written by Paul Shaffer Jay: Another huge hit from the Queen of Disco, Donna Summer Phil: An apparently ironic love ballad from the Captain and Tennille Jay: Another hit from the Gibb family, this time younger brother Andy Too much cocaine, apparently 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.

    1h 9m

  8. 22 SEPT

    Songs We Hate to Love

    Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about songs we hate to love.  Show notes: Surprised at how good the Who were in concert despite their advanced age Songs we hate to love, not necessarily guilty pleasures Things we were embarrassed to say we liked when we were in school Most of our picks were from when we were kids Jay: I liked hard rock and metal and would never admit I liked poppier stuff like Duran Duran Jay: In doing research, I discovered there was a "rock" version of the Lord's Prayer that was a minor hit in 1973 Phil: ABBA wrote some pop classics When REO Speedwagon had that one huge album AOR was huge in the early '80s Jay: I loved KISS's disco song, but never got into the band Phil: Listened to a lot of Manilow as a kid Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" captured that swinging '60s vibe The pop goodness of the Association Phil: The band Boston has been played to death in these parts, but they had their moment Controversial choice: Phil likes the worst Genesis song Dumb song, dumb video When Eddie Murphy became a pop star Phil also likes Crazytown's hit Released at the height of nu metal/rap rock Jay: Begrudgingly liked Animotion's big hit First album Jay had as a kid was by Glen Campbell Campbell wasn't a typical country singer Jay: Got into some of Paul Simon's mid-70s solo work Getting into early Loverboy deep cuts Billy Joel wrote a lot of bad songs, but a few good ones Jay: Always a big fan of "Rump Shaker" ABC was good at the foppish synth pop Jay: I hate everything about Smash Mouth except their first single Totally dig one George Michael song above all others Late '70s pop blast from M Foreigner struck gold with catchy rock jams 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.

    1h 6m
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Quality podcastification since 2006.

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