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Part 1 of my conversation with Phil Stacey about our favorite non-album tracks Show notes: Back after a few months away The definition of "B-side" has changed over the decades Now a more accurate term is "non-album tracks" Sometimes B-sides were more popular than the A-side Got more airplay back when FM stations were new and adventurous You had to hunt them down because they weren't on the proper albums Some bands like U2 would regularly put non-album tracks on B-sides singles Sometimes covers, sometimes original songs that didn't make the album When CDs became popular, you had longer albums and more of those songs would be included Eventually bands released B-side collections; the Who was one of the first with Odds and Sods in the '70s So many Beatles classics weren't included on albums Phil's honorable mentions: Beatles, Who, Grateful Dead, Matthew Sweet, Phish, R.E.M., The Cure, Smashing Pumpkins, Pavement, U2, Goose, Prince, Pearl Jam, Talking Heads, Neil Young, Nirvana Pavement's "Harness Your Hopes" became their most-streamed song courtesy of Tik Tok Jay's HMs: Who, Motorhead, Chris Cornell, Rolling Stones, Dylan, Nirvana, Bowie, Zeppelin, Pearl Jam, Sloan, Tragically Hip, Radiohead, Simple Minds, Beatles, Iron Maiden, Gang of Four, Mission of Burma, Beck, Beach Boys, Police, New Order, Cure, Clash, Soundgarden, AIC, Sugar, Joe Jackson, Hendrix, PJ Harvey, Robert Plant, Iggy Pop Prince vs. Neil Young for most unreleased material Phil's #10 Jay's #10 Phil's #9 Jay's #9 U2 just announced a stadium tour of South America Probably couldn't do that in North America anymore Phil's #8 Jay's #8 YouTube comments are the worst Completely Conspicuous is available wherever you find 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 Phil Stacey about choosing 10 artists to listen to for the rest of your life if you were stranded on a desert island.  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.

Celebrating TWENTY YEARS of podcasting with part 1 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.  Show notes: Started this show in August 2006! Instead of Desert Island Discs, we each chose 10 artists that we'd be limited to hearing on a desert island Mixing up genres Jay: I ruled out a lot of classic rock acts that I've listened to all my life Limiting artists to music that came out under their name, not in other groups This magical island has killer WiFi Phil's honorable mentions: Bowie, Phish, Ella Fitzgerald, Drive-By Truckers, Tom Petty, Pearl Jam, Billie Holliday, Talking Heads, The Who, Joni Mitchell, Kinks, Pretenders, Nirvana, Sleater-Kinney Jay's HMs: Kinks, Pavement, Pixies, QOTSA, Afghan Whigs, Peter Gabriel, XTC, James Brown, PJ, Spoon, Superchunk, Tragically Hip, Yo La Tengo, Sloan, Elvis Costello Island picks Jay and Phil: Neil Young So much NY material out there Neil has a varied catalog of styles  Phil: The Beatles, naturally Incredibly influential and wide-ranging catalog in a handful of years Jay: Going outside the box with Fugazi Total DIY operation, only charged $5 per concert and album Only played non-traditional venues like school gyms and small clubs Phil: Not a jazz aficionado, but John Coltrane makes the cut Drugs are bad, mmkay? Jay: Drive-By Truckers have close to 30 years of hard-driving rock, alt-country and everything in between Not much in the way of popular attention Phil: He loves the modern jam band stylings of Goose Jay and Phil: The massive legacy of Prince The best Super Bowl halftime performance Prince could do everything well Phil: The Grateful Dead built a huge following under the radar Survived decades of trends and change They're still popular 30 years after they stopped making music Jay: The collected works of Parliament-Funkadelic They were two different bands with a rotating roster that eventually merged Combined rock with funk and soul George Clinton and a cast of thousands Phil: The mighty Led Zeppelin Embraced different sounds There are still Zep albums that are underplayed Jay: Bowie's chameleonic career Is Madonna the most successful female artist of all time? Incredible string of great albums from the '70s to the '80s 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 3 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite American artists. Show notes: Our favorite American artists since 2000 Phil's honorable mentions: Black Keys, Dead & Co., Gary Clark Jr., Jack White, Kurt Vile, MJ Lenderman, My Morning Jacket, Parquet Courts, Raconteurs, Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, St. Vincent, Them Crooked Vultures, Vampire Weekend, Waxahatchee, Yeah Yeah Yeahs Jay's honorable mentions: Walkmen, Neko Case, LCD Soundsystem, At the Drive-In, Stephen Malkmus, Speedy Ortiz, Jeff Rosenstock, Protomartyr, Outkast, the Strokes, Interpol, Titus Andronicus, Run the Jewels, Jason Isbell, Ty Segall, The Hold Steady Phil's #5: Billy Strings is bringing bluegrass to the mainstream Mixes in some rock touches Jay's #5: Indie rock stalwart Ted Leo and the Pharmacists Has also worked with Aimee Mann and Gang of Four Phil's #4: Young guitar hero turned Americana icon Jason Isbell Started with Drive-By Truckers and now is playing big theaters Jay's #4: The indie rock greatness of TV on the Radio Big emphasis on falsetto harmonies Phil's #3 and Jay's #2: The prolific and epic catalog of Drive-By Truckers Provided a different voice for Southern rock fans Jay's #3: The White Stripes provided a jolt for the rock scene in the early '00s Jack White has continued on after the Stripes split up "Seven Nation Army" might be the biggest song of the 2000s Phil's #2:  The bluesy versatility of the Tedeschi Trucks Band Led by a married couple Phil's #1: Goose is the premier jam band going right now They incorporate a lot of diverse covers Jay's #1: The sinister hard rock excellence of Queens of the Stone Age The Josh Homme-led band has had many incarnations over the years 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 as we discuss our favorite American artists. Show notes: Jay's take after seeing Goose Took us a while to get into the show Phil's #6: Phish took over the jam band crown from the Dead Jay briefly met Trey Anastasio at UNH before they got famous Goose hasn't been accepted by the entire jam band audience Jay's #6: Originally had Van Halen ranked higher, but dropped them because of the Hagar years Combined Eddie VH's revolutionary guitar work with DLR's showmanship Eddie inspired a generation of guitarists and Dave inspired a generation of hard rock singers Phil's #5: Steely Dan spits in the face of being called "yacht rock" Went from a live act to a studio perfectionist act to a live act again Fagen and Becker were demanding taskmasters Jay's #5: The imperfect perfection of the Replacements They self-sabotaged whenever things were about to break for them Never got to see them live Phil's #4 and Jay's #3: The singular genius of Jimi Hendrix Hugely influential guitarist and performer Must have blown a lot of minds when he was around Jay's #4: Pixies were a major influence on the alternative rock sound that shaped the '90s The band's first stint (1986-93) was epic Introduced weirdness into indie rock Still touring behind their classic material but making new music as well Phil's #3 and Jay's #10: Talking Heads were art school kids who became big Part of the CBGB scene of the '70s that went in a lot of different directions Explored a lot of sounds and influences Phil's #2: The Allman Brothers Band invented and transcended Southern rock Persevered through deaths and changing trends Jay's #2: No arguing with the greatness of Prince Hundreds of hours of unreleased music Was super talented at multiple instruments Was Prince the best all-around musician of the 20th century? Phil's #1: Duh, it's the Dead Inspired an entire subculture There are literally hundreds of Dead cover bands Jay's #1: The pride of Athens, GA, R.E.M. Helped create the "college rock" scene that grew into alternative rock Blew up in the early '90s Distinct career phases Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy have been covering R.E.M. albums in their entirety the last three years 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 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite American artists. Show notes: Recorded in the CompCon HQ backyard studio America's 250th birthday  Looking at our favorite American singers and bands, pre-2000 and post-2000 Starting off with our top 10 of bands who debuted pre-millennium Sticking to rock artists for the most part Phil's honorable mentions include: B-52s (toughest omission from top 10), Beach Boys, Beasties, Beck, JB, Cars, early Chicago, Doors, early Foos, Little Feat, Nirvana, Pixies, Linda Ronstadt, Seger, Sleater-Kinney, SRV, Stevie Wonder, VU, VH, Wilco Jay's HMs: Living Colour, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Run DMC, Beasties, Public Enemy, Dino Jr., the Cars, JB, Fugazi  "Love Shack" overstayed its welcome  "Good Vibrations" could be a perfect pop song Seger was obsessed with a certain topic Billy Joel's metal roots with Attila Mutt Lange's production methods were tedious Fugazi refused all offers to reunite Phil's # 9: Pearl Jam formed almost by accident after another band broke up Still doing their thing all these years later Jay's #9: Were only together for about 8 years, but Husker Du amassed a legendary catalog Sound evolved from speedy hardcore punk to more melodic sounds Phil's #8: Tom Petty was a late bloomer who was hard to categorize at first Took advantage of the advent of MTV with plenty of iconic videos Jay's #8: The Afghan Whigs were the first non-Seattle band signed by Sub Pop Quickly distinguished themselves from their peers by combining soul and R&B influences with indie rock Jay's #7: Nirvana was only around for a short time, but they had a seismic impact Nirvana merch is now a lifestyle brand Saw them a week before they taped MTV Unplugged in NYC Packed a lot into a brief period 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 Jay Breitling as we count down our favorite music of 2026 so far. Show notes: Breitling's #6: Kurt Vile's love letter to Philly KV writes songs about nothing and they're great Kumar's #6: Great album from Chicago's Ratboys Leading the wave of bands with sweet female vocals and rocking instrumentation Breitling's #5: 17-track compilation from the Laughing Chimes It's like a typewriter, retro and satisfying Kumar's #5: Hot indie rock from Philly's Gladie Led by former singer of Cayetana Breitling's #4: First new LP from Broken Social Scene in a decade Reembracing the combustible Freakin' Fanelli Bootlegs became readily available in the early '00s Kumar's #4: Montreal post-punk trio with an excellent release Political lyrics Breitling's #3: The Notwist returns with a sound that combines their different phases Back to basics Documentary captures their weirdness Kumar's #3: Austin synth-punk weirdos Drakulas return with gloriously fun release Featuring members of the Riverboat Gamblers and Rise Against Breitling's and Kumar's #2: We did it! Courtney Barnett with a triumphant album recorded in California Sings about everyday issues in her life Breitling's and Kumar's #1: We did it again! Alex Edkins of METZ with his second Weird Nightmare album Not as dark and heavy as METZ, but exciting and exhilarating Very hooky and uplifting Looking forward to new stuff from Kiwi Jr., Strange Pains, Johnny Foreigner, Afghan Whigs, The Cramps (archival release), The Fall, Eddy Current Suppression Ring, Evil Island   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 Jay Breitling about the best music of 2026 so far. Show notes: AI music is apparently a thing on streaming services Saxophone Colossus, mfer (RIP) Blue dot syndrome: Tours getting canceled because of poor ticket sales Who woulda thunk Kiefer Sutherland couldn't sell out concerts? Many artists are trying to fill venues that are too big We're going to a lot of concerts Why is beer so expensive at music venues? What is a walking class? The Osbourne family has licensed an Ozzy hologram for use in ads ABBA does a hologram show of them in their prime Maybe older bands should be replaced by holograms Car Seat Headrest remade their 2016 album, removed swear words and drug references Books are being updated with current references AI is used a lot to make pop and R&B music Young H-Dawg is into grunge now Breitling's honorable mentions: Crooked Fingers, Sleaford Mods, Stomptalk Modstone, Softjaw, Reds Pinks and Purples, Mclusky, Fugazi, Hedge Kumar's HMs: King Tuff, Bevis Frond, New Pornographers, Gord Downie and the Sadies, Damaged Bug, Sub*T, Ecca Vandal, Broken Social Scene Breitling's #10: Philly's Nothing with a different sound Influenced by the singer's neurological disorder Kumar's #10: Mclusky returns with a killer mini-album Recent spate of touring has made the band even better Breitling's #9: Lofi Legs may or may not have released an album this year The time is right for a slacker revolution Kumar's #9: Joyce Manor sings about getting older LA trio makes with the emo pop-punk Breitling's #8: Reunited original lineup of the Grownup Noise Band deserves more props Kumar's #8: Pure pop magic from the Lemon Twigs Reminiscent of Sharp Pins and Redd Kross Breitling's #7: Pittsburgh's Feeble Little Horse persevere without Ryan All killer, no filler Kumar's #7: Canadian artist Daniel Romano continues to bring the heat Split up songwriting duties for this 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 as we discuss our favorite guitar solos. Show notes: Continuing our top 10 Phil's #9: Trey Anastasio of Phish stretches out No studio version of the song Jay's #9: The concise awesomeness of Alex Lifeson A virtuoso in a band of virtuosos Phil's #8: Back to the jam with RIck Mitarotonda of Goose Another band that saves their best for the live setting Jay's #8: Another Matthew Sweet song, this time featuring Richard Lloyd on lead guitar Features a fake ending with even more soloing Phil's #7: Square dancing in gym class led Phil to this Beatles song George Harrison with a beautiful, heartfeld solo Great video, too Jay's #7: A ripping solo from J. Mascis from '93 Video wasn't directed by Matt Dillon; he did the "Get Me" video Mascis has recorded a ton of great solos over the years Phil's #6: Eddie VH's magnum opus The instrumental that changed the face of hard rock Wasn't meant to be recorded at first Jay's #6: Less overplayed solo from Jimmy Page A lesser-known album from Zeppelin Phil's #5: Mick Taylor shines for the Stones The band started jamming at the end of the song and they kept recording Jay's #5: Robert Fripp with a ripper of a solo for Brian Eno Eno's first solo album after Roxy Music Phil's #4: The Allman Brothers' tribute to Django Reinhardt Three different solos Jay's #4: More Richard Lloyd along with Tom Verlaine on a 10-minute art-rock classic Kind of jam band adjacent Phil's #3: Neil Young with an epic love song Recording starts in the middle of a jam Jay's #3: Monster instrumental featuring Eddie Hazel's psychedelic playing Mike Watt does a cover with J. Mascis handling the guitar The interesting career of Prakash John Phil's #2 and Jay's #1: Hendrix blows minds with acid blues rock SRV does an incredible cover Jay's #2: Nasty riff and solo from Eddie VH One of Van Halen's darker songs Phil's #1: A Grateful Dead classic that highlights Jerry Garcia Cover of a Bonnie Dobson folk song Builds to a roaring crescendo 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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite guitar solos. Show notes: Occasional chiming in from CC intern Lily Rolling Stone recently released a top 100 solos list Phil likes the long jammy solos Solos can go along with a riff or go off on crazy tangents Steely Dan used many guitarists Jay used to be into '80s speed guitar Vinnie Vincent went way over the top Charlie Sexton was a guitar prodigy who went on to play in Dylan's band The greatness of early Dire Straits Tough to narrow down our lists Appreciating Billy Idol Eagles bad, Joe Walsh good Terry Kath could rip So many great Jimmy Page solos The vast and weird catalog of Frank Zappa Billy Corgan has many excellent solos Kim Thayil was an unconventional soloist Bowie worked with many great guitarists: Mick Ronson, SRV, Belew, Earl Slick, Reeves Gabrels Townshend's solo on "I Can See for Miles" is simple but intense Fun weirdness from Focus on "Hocus Pocus" Phil's #10 is a tie Roger Hodgson of Supertramp was better known for playing keyboards Many hidden gems in the Who catalog Jay's #10: Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age Phil's not a fan of mosh pits 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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we celebrate the return of the MLB season by counting down our favorite baseball hats.  Show notes: On to our top 10 Phil's #10: Reaching back to the '50s with the Phillies Jay's #10: Mid-90s Mariners  Good use of seafoam green '90s uniforms had a lot of bold colors: Teal, purple Phil's #9: The simplicity of the SF Giants hat Hat designs got pretty weird over the years Corduroy hats were a thing for a while Jay's #9: Classic A's green and yellow look Phil's #8: Dodgers' classic blue and white is another look that hasn't changed Bandwagon jumpers are inevitable Jay's #8: St. Louis Cardinals navy blue with red logo Had one that got ruined at Lollapallooza '93 Phil's #7: The mid-70s Angels hat with the halo Lots of different looks for the Angels over the years Jay's #7: Phillies' hat from late '70s/early '80s Phil's #6: Sticking with Philly with the A's from the '30s Some hats are instant conversation pieces for middle-aged guys Jay's #6 and Phil's #4: Another classic look with the Tigers Ruining hats by working out in them Phil's #5: Kansas City A's with the kelly green Jay's #5: Brooklyn Dodgers with the classic B Jackie Robinson era Jay's #4: Can't go wrong with the Cubs "C" hat Some cool Cubs hats over the years Phil's #3: Iconic Red Sox blue hat Jay's #3: White Orioles hat with the cartoon bird Tried a more realistic bird in the '90s Phil's #2: The Braves' 70s hat with the lower case A Jay's #2: The Blue Jays' all-blue hat introduced in the late '80s Are middle-aged guys more likely to wear hats? Phil's #1: Orioles' mid-60s to mid-70s black hat with orange bill Jay's #1: Original Expos hat In Canada, Toronto fans hate the Canadiens but love the Expos Defunct but beloved team 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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we celebrate the return of the MLB season by discussing our favorite baseball hats.  Show notes: We've both purchased many hats over the years Back in the '70s and '80s, you didn't have a lot of viewing choices for baseball games Baseball cards were a big factor in figuring out the hats and logos you liked Hats can fade, especially the dark blue ones When you just can't wear a Yankees hat Now there are so many alternate jerseys, hats, logos You can get hats in different colors and styles Old guys like us don't like flat-bill caps Other sports don't wear hats as part of the uniform, but you can get hats for their teams We often get hats of teams we have no affinity for Phil's honorable mentions: Black Sox-era White Sox, Boston/Milwaukee Braves, Cardinals from the '40s, Pirates pillbox hat from the '70s, Cleveland Chief Wahoo hat from the '50s Jay's honorable mentions: Reds, Brewers '70s hat with the glove logo, Royals, Expos all-blue hats in the '90s, Mariners '70s hat, Blue Jays original hat Phil: Seattle Pilots had a bad hat, with a touch of stolen valor     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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we pick our favorite underrated albums.  Show notes: Jay's #6: The Spinanes with a decidedly not-grunge album on Sub Pop Female singer-songwriter teamed with kickass drummer Phil's #5: Power pop that never hit big from Boston's Gigolo Aunts Got a song on the Dumb and Dumber soundtrack Jay's #5: Another power pop gem from the Velvet Crush Saw them play in Austin in '94 Phil's #4: B-52s avoid the sophomore slump and getting labeled as a novelty act Didn't hit as hard as the debut, but strong nonetheless Jay's #4: Late '80s/early '90s anthemic indie rock from O-Positive Influenced by R.E.M. and briefly on CBS Phil's #3: More Boston-area indie rock with Belly Tanya Donelly had a great rock pedigree, first playing with Throwing Muses and Breeders Jay's #3: Ex-Dumptruck guitarist Kevin Salem with Replacements/Tom Petty sound Released a couple of strong albums in the mid-90s before moving into production Phil's #2: U2's electronic departure that turned off a lot of their fans They were ahead of the game with the techno sounds Bad choice for lead single Jay's #2: Again with the power pop, this time from the Posies Band fell out of favor, Geffen refused to promote it Angry album that nobody heard Phil's #1: The Neil Young album where he was backed by Pearl Jam but couldn't publicize it "Godfather of grunge" with the biggest band at the time Did a brief tour of Europe, couldn't play here because of PJ's Ticketmaster litigation Jay's #1: Another major label flameout courtesy of Jawbreaker Punk act that faced sellout cries from fanbase, but label didn't like finished product and dropped them Great album that was a big influence on emo acts to come 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.

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Phil Stacey as we pick our favorite underrated albums.  Show notes: First episode of the year! Recorded right after the gold medal men's hockey game What is underrated? A well-known artist's less popular release or lesser-known artists Phil: Neil Young has a few underrated albums among his vast catalog Other Phil honorable mentions: Big Star, Bob Mould, Best Coast, Kaiser Chiefs, Bettie Serveert, Built to Spill, Keith Richards, N. Mississippi All-Stars, Ben Folds Five, Until the End of the World soundtrack, Til Tuesday, Neko Case, Passengers, Big Head Todd, Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Fela Kuti, Dead Milkmen, Shuggie Otis, Uncle Tupelo, Waterboys Jay's honorable mentions: Trail of Dead, Material Issue, Peter Gabriel, The Church, PiL, Afghan Whigs, QOTSA, Smashing Pumpkins, Blind Melon, Elliot Easton, Pearl Jam, Elvis Costello, Matthew Sweet Phil's #10: Cracker's debut album Lowery's first post-Camper Van Beethoven release Jay's #10: Keith Richards releases a stripped-down solo album Was pissed at Jagger, created the antithesis to his flashy style Phil's #9: Prince creates a new band in the early '90s No more Revolution, going for more of a hip hop sound Jay's #9: Only release from David + David Studio musicians who teamed up to release atmospheric story songs Phil's #8: Indie supergroup comprised of members of Sleater-Kinney and Helium Only released one album Jay's #8: Living Colour's third album was criminally overlooked Introduced industrial elements but was lost in the wave of grunge Phil's #7: Jerry Harrison goes solo More pop than what Talking Heads were doing Jay's #7: Sebadoh unleashes ripping indie rock masterpiece Contributions from two songwriters Phil's #6: Self-assured debut from Elastica Waited too long to release their next album 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.

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling about our favorite music of 2025. Show notes: Counting down the rest of our favorite albums of the year Kumar's #8: Indie rock godfather Bob Mould is still pissed off and rocking Mould has also reunited his '90s band Sugar Kumar's #7: Triumphant return for Mclusky Falco and crew having fun ripping on various targets Breitling's #6: Superchunk keeps going with new drummer If you thought they were angry in 2018... Chock full of "banglociraptors" Kumar's #6: Straight outta Asheville with Wednesday's killer combo of alt-country, shoegaze and heavy guitar rippers  Band features MJ Lenderman but it's Karly Hartzman's show Breitling's #5: Debut from Slumberland act The Cords Scottish indie jangle-pop banglociraptors Kumar's #5: Thrilling post punk from South London act Shame Returning to harder rocking sound of first few albums More albums are shorter nowadays Breitling's #4: Prolific Chicago psych-pop act Sharp Pins keeps bringing it Flashes of GBV and early Kinks Breitling's #3: Crutchfield sisters (Waxahatchee, Swearin') drop surprise release as Snocaps Again with the Lenderman, on drums this time Kumar's #3: PUP applies newfound maturity to pop-punk bangers Singing about adult stuff  Breitling's #2: Mini-album from Peel Dream Magazine Autumnal-sounding leftovers from previous album recording session Kumar's #2: Sloan keeps bringing the heat with 14th release of diverse and rewarding power pop Four singer-songwriters keep the offerings varied and on point Breitling's #1 and Kumar's #4: Monumental four-album conceptual triumph from Hallelujah the Hills Lot of guest stars including Ezra Furman, Clint Conley, Sadie Dupuis, Patrick Stickles Staggering amount of excellence  Kumar's #1 and Breitling's #7: NYC's Geese blows up with wide-ranging collection that grabs your attention Their club tour sold out immediately Frontman Cameron Winter leads a sound that ranges from Pavement to soul Looking forward to 2026 releases from: Notwist, Kiwi Jr., Courtney Barnett, Sleaford Mods, Crooked Fingers, Strange Pains Reunion shows next year from Silkworm, Superdrag 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.