Completely Conspicuous 516: Tally It Up

It's part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the past decade. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Recorded at CompCon world HQ
- Breitling's top 10 aren't ranked in order
- JB's #10: 2014 compilation of singles by Cookies
- Experimental stuff, hooks galore
- JK's #10: Magnum opus by Titus Andronicus (2010)
- Sprawling album with lots of guest stars, loosely based on Civil War
- JB's #9: Breakout 2013 album from Speedy Ortiz
- Hot '90s indie rock sound
- JK's #9: Double album from Toronto's Fucked Up (2011)
- Sound of hardcore singer fronting Velocity Girl
- JB's #8: Dan Bejar brings the heat in 2011 with Destroyer
- Catchy '80s yacht rock vibe
- JK's 8: Jeff Rosenstock's post-election response (2018)
- Deals with disappointment and hitting your 30s
- JB's #7: Snowball II with an early '90s homage (2017)
- Produced by Kurt Heasley of Lilys
- JK's 7: Epic 2013 release from Queens of the Stone Age
- Near-death experience led to different lyrical approach
- JB's #6: The only War On Drugs worth fighting (2014)
- Adam Granduciel's mainstream breakthrough, attracting scorn from Mark Kozelek
- JK's #6: Arctic Monkeys continue evolving their sound (2013)
- Incorporated funk and hip hop beats into their indie rock
- JB's #5: Infinity Girl's debut for Topshelf (2015)
- Underappreciated shoegaze masterpiece
- JK's #5: Bob Mould's first album with Narducy and Wurster (2012)
- First of a strong stretch of ass-kickers, on par with his work with Sugar
- JB's #4: She Sir's 2014 release is painstakingly crafted
- Shimmering shoegaze
- JK's #4 and JB's #3: Courtney Barnett burst on the scene with strong 2015 debut
- Interesting lyrics combined with hot rock guitar
- To be continued: Our top picks

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast 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.

Stuck In Thee Garage #292: October 25, 2019

These are damaging times. We all deal with damage on a daily basis: Physical, mental and emotional. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I played songs about damage in hour 2. It's more devastating than the EM-50 Urban Assault Vehicle at the Czech border.

This playlist rules. That's the fact, Jack:

Hour 1
Artist - Song/Album
IDLES - I Dream Guillotine/Single
Bodega - Shiny New Model/Shiny New Model
Kim Gordon - Air BnB/No Home Record
White Reaper - Headwind/You Deserve Love
Cuffed Up - Small Town Kid/Single
Bombay Bicycle Club - Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You)/Everything Else Has Gone Wrong
Magnapop - Dog on the Door/The Circle Is Round
Empty Country - Jets/Single
Wilco - Everyone Hides/Single
Seratones - Over You/Power
Dan Luke and the Raid - Fool/Out of the Blue
The New Pornographers - Opening Ceremony/In the Morse Code of Brake Lights
Twin Peaks - Caseys Groove/Lookout Low
The Menzingers - Strain Your Memory/Hello Exile
B Boys - Another Anthem/Dudu
DIIV - The Spark/Deceiver
Ty Segall - When I Met My Parents Pt 3/First Taste

Hour 2: Damage
Nine Inch Nails - Somewhat Damaged/The Fragile
Yo La Tengo - Damage/I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One
Colleen Green - Maybe I'll Get Hit By a Car Tonight/Casey's Tape - Harmontown Loops
Blues Explosion - Damage/Damage
Patterson Hood - After the Damage/Heat Lightning Rumbles in the Distance
Neil Young - The Needle and the Damage Done/Harvest
Rips - Damaged/Rips
Beach Slang - Art Damage/A Loud Bash of Teenage Feelings
Jeff Rosenstock - Blast Damage Days/WORRY.
Motorhead - Damage Case/Overkill
Soundgarden - New Damage/Badmotorfinger
Autumn - Damage/Chandelier
John Vanderslice - Exodus Damage/Pixel Revolt
Gang of Four - Damaged Goods/Entertainment!
Black Flag - Damaged I/Damaged
The Last Throes - Damaged Goods/Pure Egyptian
The Sons of Hercules - Damaged Goods/The Sons of Hercules

Completely Conspicuous 515: Be Kind and Rewind

It's part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the past decade. Listen to the episode below or download directly.


Show notes:
- Recorded at CompCon world HQ
- We did this 10 years ago, a little differently (starting here)
- Ten years is a long time inside a car
- The shift from downloads to streaming
- Not everything is available from streaming services
- iTunes didn't die, it was just split up
- Music can also disappear from streaming services
- Original MP3 players only held a handful of songs
- The kids like the vinyl
- Concerts business has evolved: Bands are playing smaller venues
- Who the hell are the Chainsmokers?
- Bands we like can't fill hockey rinks
- Nobody's making money off albums
- It's all merch
- Vinyl and box sets are big bucks
- Lots of reissues
- Albums that didn't make our top 10
- Breitling: Releases from Lubec, Funeral Advantage, Hop Along, LCD Soundsystem
- Kumar: LCD Soundsystem, Grinderman, Arcade Fire, Wild Flag, Sloan, Destroyer, METZ, Savages, Speedy Ortiz, Kurt Vile, Ex Hex, Protomartyr, Run the Jewels, Ty Segall, The War on Drugs, Jeff Rosenstock, IDLES, Fucked Up, Sharon Van Etten, PUP
- To be continued: On to the top 10

Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast 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.

Stuck In Thee Garage #291: October 18, 2019

Life is pretty random. There's no rhyme or reason to how things play out. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I picked the playlist at random, and the results were damn enjoyable. It was almost like a collection of celebs from various corners of the entertainment world.

The mismatched yet somehow great playlist:

Hour 1
Artist - Song/Album
Broken Social Scene - 7/4 (Shoreline)/Broken Social Scene
The Raconteurs - Old Enough/Consolers of the Lonely
Mission of Burma - Good, Not Great/The Obliterati
Soundgarden - By Crooked Steps/King Animal
King Tuff - No Man's Land/The Other
Interpol - Untitled/Turn On the Bright Lights
Burning Brides - From You/Leave No Ashes
Elliott Smith - New Monkey/New Moon
Girls Against Boys - Push the Fader/Freak*on*ica
Black Mountain - Sadie/Wilderness Heart
Bad Brains - Stay Close to Me/Pay to Cum
The Afghan Whigs - I Keep Coming Back/Gentlemen
Frank Black & the Catholics - So Hard to Make Things Out/Pistolero
Sleater-Kinney - Jumpers/The Woods
Aerosmith - Nobody's Fault/Rocks

Hour 2: Still random
The Besnard Lakes - Glass Printer/The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night
Liars - Let's Not Wrestle Mt. Attack/Drum's Not Dead
Consilience - Walking Through a Dead Night/Under Our Beds
Expert Alterations - Midnight Garden/Expert Alterations EP
Ween - I'll Miss You/Beautiful Girls soundtrack
Ray Davies - No One Listen/Working Man's Cafe
My Morning Jacket - Victory Dance/Circuital
Mondo Generator - Do the Headright/A Drug Problem That Never Existed
Kal Marks - Heads Been Ringing/Let the Shit House Burn
Living Colour - Time's Up/Time's Up
Big Star - Dony/In Space
Weezer - Undone (The Sweater Song)/Weezer
Phylums - Time Capsule
Ceremony - Presaging the End/In the Spirit World Now
Jonathan Fire*eater - These Little Monkeys/Wolf Songs for Lambs

Stuck In Thee Garage #290: October 11, 2019

As we sit here teetering on the edge of yet another new decade, it's the tendency of nerdy types such as myself to look back at the one that just passed. Or even further. This week on Stuck In Thee Garage, I played songs from 2009 in hour 2, when we were similarly looking back.

This playlist meets the Ron Swanson Pyramid of Greatness:

Hour 1
Artist - Song/Album
DIIV - Horsehead/Deceiver
Elizabeth the Second - Soho/Two Margaritas on the Fifty Five
The Menzingers - America (You're Freaking Me Out)/Hello Exile
Magnapop - Rip the Wreck/The Circle Is Round
Twin Peaks - Oh Mama/Lookout Low
clipping. - Nothing Is Safe/There Existed An Addiction to Blood
Hater - Four Tries Down/Single
Final Body - Lose Health/Nothyng
Oso Oso - Dig (II)/Single
William DuVall - Til the Light Guides Me Home/One Alone
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds - Waiting For You/Ghosteen
Cream - Tales of Brave Ulysses/Disraeli Gears
Public Image Ltd. - Round/Album
The Muffs - Oh Nina/Blonder and Blonder
The Muffs - Sad Tomorrow/Blonder and Blonder

Hour 2: 2009
Sonic Youth - Sacred Trickster/The Eternal
Obits - Two-Headed Coin/I Blame You
Them Crooked Vultures - Dead End Friends/Them Crooked Vultures
Metric - Gold Guns Girls/Fantasies
The Raveonettes - Suicide/In and Out of Control
St. Vincent - Marrow/Actor
The Von Bondies - Shut Your Mouth/Love, Hate and Then There's You
Pearl Jam - The Fixer/Backspacer
Dinosaur Jr. - I Want You to Know/Farm
Alice In Chains - Check My Brain/Black Gives Way to Blue
Brendan Benson - A Whole Lot Better/My Old, Familiar Friend
Eels - Unhinged/End Times
The Gaslight Anthem - Great Expectations/The '59 Sound
Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit - Soldiers Get Strange/Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit
Dananananaykroyd - Pink Sabbath/Hey Everyone
Arctic Monkeys - My Propeller/Humbug
Art Brut - DC Comics and Chocolate Milkshake/Art Brut Vs. Satan

 

Stuck In Thee Garage #289: October 4, 2019

We may not realize it, but we depend on the sun a whole helluva lot to keep going. This week on Stuck In The Garage, I play songs about the sun in hour 2.

This playlist will have a sequel in nine years:

Hour 1
Artist - Song/Album
The New Pornographers - The Surprise Knock/In the Morse Code of Brake Lights
The Futureheads - Idle Hands/Powers
Ty Segall - I Sing Them/First Taste
Chastity Belt - Elena/Chastity Belt
Rose Dorn - Collar/Days You Were Leaving
Beabadoobee - She Plays Bass/Single
The Growlers - Natural Affair/Single
B Boys - Cognitive Dissonance/Dudu
Elizabeth the Second - No One Cares/Two Margaritas at the Fifty Five
Plague Vendor - Night Sweats/By Night
Little Man - In Between the Lions/In Between the Lions
MIMICO - Common Tar/Hi-Action
Bethlehem Steel - Empty Room/Empty Room
The Black Keys - Go/Let's Rock
Temples - You're Either On Something/Hot Motion
Redd Kross - What's a Boy to Do?/Beyond the Door
Mudhoney - One Bad Actor/Morning in America

Hour 2: Sun
The Posies - Solar Sister/Frosting on the Beater
Fishbone - Everyday Sunshine/The Reality of My Surroundings
TV On the Radio - Staring at the Sun/Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
Gord Downie and the Sadies - The Conquering Sun/...And the Conquering Sun
Destroyer - Cover From the Sun/ken
Wolf Parade - Flies On the Sun/Cry Cry Cry
Swearin' - Glare of the Sun/Surfing Strange
Washer - Got Drunk and Ate the Sun/Here Comes Washer
Faith No More - Sunny Side Up/Sol Invictus
Matthew Sweet - Looking at the Sun/Girlfriend
Gold Muse - Kiss the Sun/Single
Ringo Deathstarr - Stare at the Sun/Pure Mood
Telekinesis - How Do I Get Rid of Sunlight?/Effluxion
The Pink Mountaintops - The Gayest of Sunbeams/Outside Love
Queens of the Stone Age - My God Is the Sun/...Like Clockwork
Parquet Courts - Sunbathing Animal/Sunbathing Animal