Completely Conspicuous

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1973. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" was big in '73 - Dark Side of the Moon spent 741 weeks on the Billboard albums chart - Big singles from Jim Croce, Paul Simon, Roberta Flack, Stories, Joe Walsh, Stealers Wheel - Jay's bubbling under albums: Wings, Queen, Lou Reed, Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, John Lennon, Sabbath - Marvin Gaye: Not a subtle man - Phil's bubbling under: Bob Marley and the Wailers, ZZ Top, Grateful Dead, Gram Parsons, Rolling Stones, ELP, Iggy and the Stooges - Jay's top albums: NY Dolls, Bowie, Pink Floyd, The Who, Led Zep - Dark Side of the Moon has been so overplayed over the years, but still a great album - Phil's top albums: Allman Brothers, Elton John, Bowie, The Who, Led Zep - The ridiculous coincidences of HBO's Vinyl - Quadrophenia is the last great Who album - The underrated John Paul Jones - Jay's favori

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1972. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Re-recording because of audio issues - Missed the podcast's 14th birthday - In '72, Phil turned 3, Jay turned 5 - Big tours going on: Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, McCartney - Different concept of band longevity back then - A lot of soft rock on the singles chart - Phil's faves: Neil Young, Bowie, Elton, Stones, Allman Brothers, Grateful Dead, War, Jackson Browne, Van Morrison, Lou Reed, Big Star, Stevie Wonder, Little Feat - Pete Townshend's solo debut - Jay's faves: Sabbath, Steely Dan, Stones, NY, Lou Reed, Big Star, T. Rex, Alice Cooper, Roxy Music, Bowie - Favorite song from favorite album:  "Jack Straw (live)" (Phil) and "Moonage Daydream" (Jay) - Did audiences appreciate what they were seeing back then? - Sometimes people have too much fun at shows - Next time: 1973 Completely Conspicuous is available through Apple Podcasts. Subscr

It's part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the year so far. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Breitling's #10 and Kumar's #8 - Jangly indie pop sounds from Australia - The lack of touring is really hurting bands and fans - Breitling's #9 - A Matmos side project, "a niche of a niche" - Kumar's #10 - All-star post-punk act out of LA - Kumar's #9 - The loud/loud dynamic - Breitling's #8 - Solo album from singer of Hop Along - Breitling's #7 - Ambient electronic from an Italian musician in his 60s - Bandcamp Friday has been a big hit this year - Kumar's #7 - New band from Ian MacKaye, Amy Farina and Joe Lally - Harking back to Fugazi's sound - Kumar's #6 - Texas-based act with members from the Riverboat Gamblers and Rise Against - Breitling's #6 - Another great Slumberland release - Breitling's #5 - Dream pop from the Ukraine - Kumar's #5 - Indie rock stalwart continues evolving his sound - Ku

It's part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of the year so far. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - R.I.P., Great Scott - Big blow to Boston rock scene - Venues, bars, restaurants are going out of business all over the country - Breitling and college friends have resurrected their old radio shows on Mixcloud - Parcheesi Redux is on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays - Now 17 weeks in - Music industry is at a standstill - Touring has ceased altogether - RATT's back, baby (thanks to Geico) - Livestreams have become a thing - There's no money in album sales anymore - Breitling: Have been listening to more music this year - Breitling's faves outside the top 10: Jesse Gallagher, Hum, Phoebe Bridgers, Katie Day - Kumar's on the bubble picks: EOB, Jeff Rosenstock, Peel Dream Magazine, Porridge Radio, Savak - Next time: On to our top 10 Completely Conspicuous is available through the iTunes podcast direc

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1971. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - The disappointing ZZ Top Sixpack box set - Early Bob Seger is good - Started seeing more solo albums - The rollercoaster ride of Doors fandom - Jay's faves (not #1): Rolling Stones, McCartney, Marvin Gaye, Funkadelic, Sabbath, Lennon, Bowie, the Who - When you've heard songs you love too many times - Jay's #1 - Zeppelin's pinnacle - Don't need to listen to it anymore - Licensing songs to death - Don't understand people who listen to the same music they did 30 years ago - Country music is the new pop - Phil's faves: Allman Brothers, Sly Stone, John Prine, Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Joplin, CSNY, Elton, Traffic, Nick Drake - Phil's been listening to a new album every day during quarantine - Phil's #1 - The Stones were in the middle of a killer run - A band that was greater than the sum of its parts - A few more from Jay:  T. Rex, Ki

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss our favorite albums of 1970. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Phil's got some quality hockey hair going - Going to go through our favorite albums of each year from 1970-2020, starting with '70 - We were both under the age of 3 - Pretty varied list of favorites from that year - Popular music was splintering into many different genres - FM radio was pretty freeform - Radio was the main way to discover music back then - Some interesting tour pairings - Altamont was an abrupt end to the hippie era - Big deaths in 1970: Hendrix and Joplin - Phil's favorites (except #1): The Who, CSNY, Neil Young, Led Zep, Van Morrison, Derek & the Dominoes - Jay: Not a Clapton fan - Phil: Kinks, Beatles, George Harrison, McCartney, Miles Davis, Bowie, Joni Mitchell, Chicago, James Taylor, Elton, Stones - Phil's #1 - The Dead's best studio album - Jay: Deep Purple, Hendrix, Funkadelic, Black Sabbath, Stooges  -

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the final Grateful Dead studio album Built to Last. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - Built to Last released on Halloween 1989 - Jay had just graduated from college, Phil was a junior - Jay: Don't remember this album even coming out - Phil: It's not memorable - Felt like band was going through the motions - Brent Mydland dominated the album with four songs - He was suffering from depression; died a year later - Maybe Garcia and Weir didn't have enough good material - Fall '89 Dead shows are considered the band's last great run of concerts - Tried the same recording technique as previous album but it didn't work - Garcia said Mydland's songs were better - Final song is really bad - Phil: They had enough material to record another album - You can find version of them online - Garcia started getting into drugs again - Concert performances suffered - Band members started doing other projects - A cou

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead album In the Dark. Show notes: - Recorded via Zoom - We originally planned to do this in early March, but then something happened - In the Dark was released in July 1987, seven years after the last Dead studio album - Phil had just graduated from high school, Jay was going into junior year of college - The band had been playing the songs in concert for years - Jerry Garcia had gone into a diabetic coma in '86 - Had to re-learn how to walk, talk, play guitar - Band was renewed after his recovery - CDs were just starting to get popular - We both didn't get CD players until 1989 - First CDs: Phil's was 10,000 Maniacs, Jay's were Cult, the Who, Joe Jackson - The Best of Steve Miller was a college staple in the '80s - Recorded live in an empty theater - "Touch of Grey" was all over MTV and rock radio that summer - Very catchy single - Phil: Album was breath of fresh air after two dis

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss quarantine life. Show notes: - Recorded recently via Skype - What's the first thing you'd do post-COVID? - All the big movies got pushed back to later in the year or 2021 - Some movies are going straight to streaming - When will we feel comfortable at crowded concerts again? - If touring slows down, how will musicians survive? - Artists may have to go directly to fans for support - Lou Barlow started a subscription service - Artists have done similar things for years: Rundgren, Prince - Might see more music made by artists stuck at home - Suddenly we have a lot of time to listen to records - Jay: Daughter's into the Beatles now - When you know songs you hate by heart - Appreciating '70s-era McCartney - Bad production really stands out on mix playlists - Does anyone remember dynamics? - Self-improvement activities to catch up on - Brian: No time to do any of it so far - Jay:

Part 1 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss quarantine life. Show notes: - Recorded last week via Skype - Homeschooling is hard work - A month in, the hoarding continues - Brian's second-grader has a lot of schoolwork - Brian was down in Florida to spend a few days at spring training - Had planned to visit family in Arizona in March, but decided not to - Virus moved quickly - Brian saw Jonathan Richman concert in March - Jay: Was supposed to fly to California for a conference in March, but it was canceled - Had tickets to Archers of Loaf concert in mid-March that was canceled - Jay: Working from home full-time - Brian: Trying to find non-screen activities for the kids - We're spending a lot of time with our families, which isn't a bad thing - We've never had a situation like this where everything is shut down - A lot of people are out of work or unable to work right now - No sports to watch during one of the best time

This week, I'm joined by author Greg Renoff as we discuss the new book he wrote with legendary rock producer Ted Templeman. Show notes: - Greg's first book was 2015's Van Halen Rising - Five years later, people are still discovering it - Wrote about the early years of VH from a fan's perspective - The band filled a void when their debut came out - That book led to Greg's new book, Ted Templeman: A Platinum Producer's Life in Music - Templeman came to book signing for Van Halen Rising - Greg later pitched the idea of a book about Templeman - Book looks at his start as a musician and the albums he worked on as a producer - Renoff wanted to add more structure to Templeman's recollections - Book's out on ECW Press on April 21 - Took a few years to put together before the editing process - Did a lot of interviews with Ted, exchanged many emails - He didn't want to dwell on controversy too much - Book starts with his childhood in Santa Cruz

This week on Quarantining With Kumar, I talk about how life has changed drastically in a short period of time because of COVID-19. Show notes: - Recorded while driving around to get some essentials - Day 5 of self-quarantine, working from home - The state of Massachusetts has pretty much closed all non-essential businesses - We haven't experienced anything like this before (in my lifetime) - Life after 9/11 was weird, but got back to normal fairly quickly - Some states have implemented "shelter in place" rules - Social distancing is the big buzzword - Public gatherings are outlawed - Spring breakers defied warnings - Everything's getting canceled: Sports, trips, concerts - We need to stay home to keep virus from spreading - Most people I know are complying with the quarantine - Musicians are doing livestreams instead of concerts - Optimistic this will end soon, but it's hard to tell - Watching out for older folks who are more susceptible

I talk to Phil Stacey and Dave Olson about baseball's cheating scandal while we drive to a rock concert. Show notes: - Recorded on the way to see the Drive-By Truckers in Somerville, MA - Not the first cheating scandal in MLB, but this has a different feel - Houston Astros accused of stealing signs on the way to 2017 World Series - Every team cheats in some way or another - "If you're not cheating, you're not trying" - Corked bats, scuffed pitches - Baseballs were juiced last year to generate interest - The sport is fading in popularity - Too slow for short attention spans of today's society - Steroids in the late '90s were ignored in favor of home run records - Did the punishment fit the crime? - Astros were fined and lost draft picks, but could have been worse - MLB didn't expect this to blow up; former Astro revealed it in an interview - Public reaction has been loud - Two other teams have fired their managers who had connections to Ast

Part 2 of my conversation with guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss rock stars and aging. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - '90s butt rock is alive and well in New Hampshire - Marlins will soar, according to Scott Stapp - Commercial rock radio is dying - In the mid-80s, rock radio was thriving in the Boston area - Brian has satellite radio - GNR/Smashing Pumpkins touring this summer - The evolution of Sugar Ray's sound - Mark McGrath is always working - The Cameo economy - Talking to musicians - The ubiquity of Henry Rollins - The musician deaths have always been plentiful - 10 years ago, we lost Jay Reatard, Teddy Pendergrass, Doug Fieger, Mark Linkous, Alex Chilton, Malcolm McLaren, Dio - So many big names in rock are getting older - Eagles have continued to tour without Glenn Frey - Surviving members of Nirvana have reunited for charity shows - Rush will never play another show - R.E.M. has never performed together since their breakup -

I'm joined by guest Brian Salvatore as we discuss rock stars and aging. Show notes: - Recorded via Skype - Brian's first appearance on the show in two years - The rock deaths keep on hitting us hard - Neil Peart's recent death was surprising and shocking - Brian: Not a big Rush fan, but respected them - A couple of really good documentaries about the band - Rush followed their own path - Andy Gill of Gang of Four kept touring and recording right until he died - Big deaths that impacted us - Jay: Peart, Gord Downie, Bowie, Prince, Tom Petty - As a kid, remember Randy Rhoads, Bonham, Bon Scott, Keith Moon - Later, Cobain and Layne Staley - Tortured artist syndrome - Meanwhile, the Stones keep chugging along - Brian: McCartney is still amazing live into his 70s - Neither of us has seen the Stones live - Brian: Regret not seeing classic acts at least once - Prince played crazy long shows - Getting harder to stay out super late - "Farewell tours"

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead album Go to Heaven. Show notes: - Recorded at CompCon world HQ - The Dead transitioning into a new decade, the '80s - Cover may have given fans the wrong idea - Short outing at only 38 minutes - One of the least favorite studio albums among Dead fans - Phil: A real mish-mash - Contractual obligation: Third studio album in four years - AOR was getting big - The Godchauxs were gone - Brent Mydland brings a smooth Michael McDonald vibe that is off-putting - Grateful Dead keyboard players : Spinal Tap drummers - Some Dead classics on this album: Alabama Getaway, Althea - Didn't make another studio album for seven years - Jay might go see Dead & Co. with Phil at some point - Phil: This is their second-worst album - Lost Sailor doesn't work - Three straight Weir/Barlow songs - Saint of Circumstance could be an '80s sitcom theme song - Bob Weir loves the short shorts - Hey, we used

I'm joined by guest Phil Stacey as we discuss the Grateful Dead album Shakedown Street. Show notes: - Recorded at CompCon world HQ - First ep of the new decade - Shakedown Street came out in '78 - Lots of musical stuff happening: Disco, punk, new wave, hard rock - Disco wasn't as bad as everyone made it out to be - Jay: No guilty pleasures: If you like it, you like it - The Dead were coming off a triumphant '77 - This was a contractually obligated studio album - Lots of influences thrown in: Funk, disco, African jazz, rock - Met with savage reviews - The version of "Good Lovin'" here pales in comparison to the live version, especially when Pigpen sang it - The last album with Donna and Keith Godchaux - Title track gets slagged as bad disco, but we dig it - Shakedown Street is now the name of the merch area at Dead & Co. shows - Pressure was on from Clive Davis for them to have hits - This album was produced by Lowell George of Little Feat

It's part 3 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we count down our favorite albums of 2019. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ - Breitling's #4 - Former Boston act now relocated to Nashville - Perfecting her sound - Kumar's #4 - Introspective album that topped my midyear list - Sweeping, synth-driven songs - Breitling's #3 - Worthy follow-up to classic mid-'90s indie pop release - Expansive and experimental - Kumar's #3 - Return to rocking from for NJ punk stalwarts, produced by Bob Mould - Surprisingly succinct from a band known for 8-minute epics - Breitling's #2 and Kumar's #6 - Majestic final release from artist who tragically took his own life right after it came out - Backed by the band Woods - Kumar's #2 - Third release from Toronto punk-pop act - Writing about frustrations of getting older - Breitling's #1 - Recently released instant classic from Boston indie rock act - Frontman Ryan Walsh wrote album after

It's part 2 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we count down our favorite albums of 2019. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ - The top 10 - Breitling's #10 - A surprising solo debut from a veteran rock legend - Kumar's #9 - Raw shoegaze effort from Brooklyn act changing its sound - Breitling's #9 - Electronic album with an analog feel released late in the year - "Crust ambient" - Kumar's #8 - Power pop-punk album about the aftermath of broken relationship - Great album cover - Breitling's #8 and Kumar's #10 - Strong release from shoegaze pioneers - Trying some different things - Breitling's  #7 - Shoegaze duo from California that likes to take its time - All killer, no filler - Berniece's sleep aggression - Kumar's #7 - Second release from indie legend's latest band - Embracing '80s hard rock sound - Breitling's #6 - Used to call this band the Steve Miller of indie rock - Opinion has changed, especially with the la

It's part 1 of my conversation with guest Jay Breitling as we discuss our favorite music of 2019. Show notes: - Recorded at Clicky Clicky world HQ - This program is not affiliated with Moviefone - A decade of talking rock - Near - Breitling: Had time to listen to a lot more music this year - The Billie Eilish vs. VH debate has been raging for a while - Kids don't know or care about music from 10 years ago, let alone 35 - A lot of butthurt older music fans getting worked up for no reason - Most kids have zero interest in classic rock - Listen to what you want - The "OK Boomer" phenomenon - When music becomes something on in the background - Breitling needs to see Idiocracy - The albums that didn't make our top 10 lists - Breitling: Floating Points, Rroxy More, Top Down Dialectic, Katie Dey, Max Richter - Kumar: Mikal Cronin, Ty Segall, Mark Lanegan, Trinary System - Mission of Burma's second act may be done - Breitling: Juana Molina, Bedroom