Monday, August 10, 2026

Completely Conspicuous 683: The Island Life

Part 2 of my conversation with Phil Stacey about choosing 10 artists to listen to for the rest of your life if you were stranded on a desert island. Listen to the episode below or download directly (right click and "save as").

Show notes:

  • Bowie would pivot from one persona to another
  • Phil: The Stones, but leaning heavily on the 1965-1981 period
  • The Stones and the Who have so many compilations out
  • In the Stones vs. Beatles argument, the Stones have the edge as a live band
  • Jay: The Clash are one of the most important bands
  • Not a huge catalog, but there's still plenty there
  • The US Festival was the last gasp for the original lineup
  • Phil: Repping for the Tedeschi Trucks Band
  • Cover a wide range of styles and genres
  • Jay: Another artist with a changing style and persona, PJ Harvey
  • Not afraid to tackle new sounds 
  • Lots of great, interesting stuff to check out
  • Jay: Would enjoy digging further into the Cure's catalog
  • So much to delve into
  • Output has slowed down since the '90s
  • Phil: His one-time favorite band, U2
  • Early material remains strong
  • Hit or miss the last two decades
  • U2's legacy has diminished because they hung around too long
  • It's tough for legacy acts whose new material will always be compared to their classic stuff
  • You won't hear recent music from legendary bands on the radio
  • The fans want the hits
  • Jay: R.E.M. has a lot of parallels to U2, except they stopped
  • They had a dip in quality for a few albums, but stopped performing in 2011
  • Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy have done a great job paying tribute to classic R.E.M. albums
  • Reminding people how great the band was
  • They haven't reformed other than a few impromptu songs 
  • Many bands are playing their classic albums front to back
  • Bands like Sloan and Iron Maiden will alternate touring classic albums and new ones
  • 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.

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Completely Conspicuous 683: The Island Life

Part 2 of my conversation with Phil Stacey about choosing 10 artists to listen to for the rest of your life if you were stranded on a desert...