Completely Conspicuous
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite concerts. Show notes: Our top 10 concerts in no particular order Phil: Banged up and seeing his first Dead show in Foxborough in 1989 The show is popular with Dead fans Jay: Caught Mike Watt backed by the Foo Fighters in their first Boston appearance in '95 Phil: 12 days after that Dead show, saw the Who at the same venue A 3-hour show for the 20th anniversary of Tommy Jay: The one area appearance by Them Crooked Vultures in '09 Supergroup with Josh Homme, Dave Grohl, John Paul Jones Phil: McCartney at Sullivan Stadium...
info_outline Completely Conspicuous 649: Live Without a NetCompletely Conspicuous
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite concerts. Show notes: Cold weather running tips What makes a great concert? Small shows vs. stadiums Hard to pare down the list Limited to one show per artist Good idea for a sequel involving a time machine Phil leaned toward larger shows Didn't include: R.E.M., the Cure, Sleater-Kinney, Drive-By Truckers, Tedeschi Trucks Band Jay: Prefer the intimacy of club shows We were at the same shows before we knew each other Phil: First concert was Van Halen in 1986 Setlist.fm is a great resource MTV's Saturday Night...
info_outline Completely Conspicuous 648: That Was the Year That WasCompletely Conspicuous
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2024. Show notes: Our top 10 albums of the year Shout out to Rock P's top 20 out of 10 countdown JB's #10: Triple album tribute album for Jesse Malin, an underrated songwriter JK's #10: J Mascis incorporates hot guitar solos into a mostly acoustic album JB's #9: Hot collection of bangers from Cloud Nothings JK's #9: Farewell set from Toronto noise rockers METZ JK's #8: Angry breakup album from Fake Fruit Coming up on the 5th birthday of Parcheesi Redux radio, SITG hit 11 this fall JB's #7: Retro '60s sounds...
info_outline Completely Conspicuous 647: Quality PintsCompletely Conspicuous
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2024. Show notes: The 16th annual year in review First one was in 2009 Cybertrucks are dumb Self-driving cars are also dumb Taylor Swift just ended a monster tour Music is a dead-end business for most Spotify sucks Country music is huge Breitling: There are some good underground country artists A good year for Tracy Chapman Social media landscape is shifting Lots of big music deaths: Quincy Jones, Kris Kristofferson, Steve Albini, Paul Di'Anno, Greg Kihn, Karl Wallinger Getting out to some rock shows:...
info_outline Completely Conspicuous 646: Don't SpeakCompletely Conspicuous
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite instrumentals. Show notes: Phil's #8: A jazz-funk classic out of Scotland? Jay's #8: Powerful surf rock from the Pixies Phil's #7: The Commodores with an early funk workout Jay's #7: Dick Dale hit that was revived decades later in Pulp Fiction Song originated in the 1920s Phil's #6: Instrumental from Phish that evolved in the live setting Jay's #6: A sweeping song from Bowie's Berlin period Bowie switched genres and sounds with ease Phil's #5 and Jay's #3: A revolutionary moment for guitar heroics Edward Van...
info_outline Completely Conspicuous 645: Wordless ChorusCompletely Conspicuous
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite instrumentals. Show notes: We're feeling goooood. What makes a good instrumental? Jay: I like the musicians in Red Hot Chili Peppers Not as many instrumentals made now as there used to be No jazz instrumentals included in our lists Phil's bubbling under picks: Booker T and the MGs, Bar-Kays, Meters, Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Santana, U2, Rush, Dick Dale, Beatles, Boston, TSOP, Bowie, Pink Floyd Jay's non-top 10 picks: Rush, Van Halen, Focus, ELO, Pink Floyd, the...
info_outline Completely Conspicuous 644: Secondhand LoveCompletely Conspicuous
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite cover songs. Show notes: Jay's #7: Ty Segall with a ripper of a Neil Young cover Phil's #6: The live version of a Linda Ronstadt classic Jay's #6: An indie rock all-star band playing covers the Beatles played in their early days Greg Dulli, Thurston Moore, Dave Grohl, Dave Pirner, Mike Mills and Don Fleming Phil's #5: Phish covering the Stones Phish does tons of covers Jay's #5: An unexpected '60s cover from Husker Du Phil's #4: Coltrane with a wild twist on a Rodgers and Hammerstein classic Jay's #4: Stripped down...
info_outline Completely Conspicuous 643: Cover MeCompletely Conspicuous
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about our favorite cover songs. Show notes: What makes a good cover? Be true to the song, but bring something of yourself to it Jagger and Bowie's cover of "Dancing in the Streets" is godawful In the '80s and '90s, used to get 45s or cassingles (or CD singles) to get B-sides Phil's honorable mention covers: U2, Courtney Barnett, Nirvana, Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, Etta James, Beatles, Stones, Bjork, Aretha, Pearl Jam, CSNY, Cowboy Junkies Nirvana's MTV Unplugged has several great covers Zeppelin covered a lot of songs on their early...
info_outline Completely Conspicuous 642: Ooh La LaCompletely Conspicuous
Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of the 2010s. Show notes: Phil's 2016 #1: Drive-By Truckers with a political statement in a divided year Jay's 2016 #1: The final act of Bowie was a masterpiece Phil's 2017 #1: Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile join forces Jay's 2017: #1: Strong second act from the Afghan Whigs Phil's and Jay's 2018 #1: Cathartic blast of political anger from Superchunk Phil's 2019 #1: David Berman's final album as Purple Mountains Real talk about people dealing with tough issues Shocking deaths over the last decade Jay's 2019 #1:...
info_outline Completely Conspicuous 641: The Troubled TeensCompletely Conspicuous
Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of the 2010s. Also, happy 18th birthday to the show! Show notes: Wrapping up our year-by-year look at rock music starting with 1970 Each of us picking a favorite album for each year from 2011-2020 Phil's 2011 #1: Bluesy collection from Tedeschi Trucks Band Susan Tedeschi grew up in New England Jay's 2011 #1: Concept album by Toronto's Fucked Up Phil's 2012 #1: Punchy punk rippers from Parquet Courts Neil Young and the art of the 15-minute song Jay's 2012 #1: Ty Segall Band with a heavy garage rock/psych sound Phil's 2013...
info_outlinePart 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey about the music of 2009.
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
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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.