Completely Conspicuous

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 Pants" by Jay Breitling. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

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 made a lot of noise with minimal instrumentation
• Jay's #1: Greg Dulli's Twilight Singers unleash a classic album as a tribute to late friend
• Favorite songs: "The Hardest Button to Button" (Phil), "Teenage Wristband" (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.

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 of James Gralian.

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. Voiceover work is courtesy of James Gralian.

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 retire at some point
• SF went into COVID lockdown early and stayed in it the longest
• Studio had to shut down so BFF enabled DJs to broadcast from home
• Found free space in the SF Ferry Building so were able to broadcast from there
• The future of radio won't get less corporate
• Not a lot of commercial stations for indie music, except for college stations
• Amanda: Big electronic music movement happening in SF
• Looking for new music
• The DJ as curator
• BFF has 120 shows on the schedule, most done live in the studio
• Different approaches to show construction
• Great achievements in song segues
• Jay: Coming up on 500 episodes of the radio show

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 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 styles
• Favorite songs: "Timorous Me" (Jay), "Ronnie and Neil" (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.

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.