Hosts Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot pay tribute to the late singer-songwriter Jill Sobule. They revisit their 2009 conversation with Jill where they discuss her music and being a pioneer for crowdfunding art. They also review the new music from Shamir, Pelican and tUnE-yArDs.
Tune-Yards' sixth studio album “Better Dreaming” is the first since duo Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner became parents. The hosts agree that it may be Tune-Yards' most danceable album yet.
Pelican's mostly instrumental metal music is in fine form on their seventh album “Flickering Resonance.” It is a return to a two guitar approach with touches of space rock and ambient vibes.
Shamir has declared that the new album, “Ten,” is his last. In the ten years since his debut album, “Ratchet,” Shamir Bailey has focused primarily on electronic music, but this features live instrumentation. Host Jim DeRogatis theorizes that post-COVID many people are having mid-life crisis at age 30 and hope Shamir will find a way to continue making music.
Jill Sobule tragically died in a house fire on May 1 at age 66. The singer-songwriter had a few hit singles in the 1990s, then pioneered a more direct relationship with her fans, performing house concerts and crowdfunding recording sessions. In 2009, she and Julia Sweeney of Saturday Night Live recorded a session for Sound Opinions, which we revisit this week.
For more than 15 years, Sound Opinions was a production of WBEZ, Chicago's public radio station. Now that the show is independent, we're inviting you to join the band and lend a hand! We need your support more than ever because now we have to do all the behind-the-scenes work that WBEZ handled before (like buying insurance and paying for podcast hosting, ugh). Plus, we have some exciting ideas we'd like to try now that there's no one to tell us no!