Peter Hook & Chance the Rapper Review

Legendary bassist Peter Hook remembers Ian Curtis and Joy Division. Then, Jim and Greg review a new release from up-and-coming Chicago MC Chance the Rapper.

Joy Division
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Google Music entered the music-streaming fray this week with its new "All Access" service for Android. The world's top search engine is touting All Access as a combination of the best features of Pandora and Spotify. It offers curated "radio" stations alongside millions of tracks users can stream across devices. And Google is hoping users will pony up for that kind of access: unlike its competitors, Google's service will not offer a free option.

Forget the Desert Island - what music would you take to outer space? This week Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield made news by covering David Bowie's "Space Oddity" from the International Space Station. This isn't the first time rock has blasted into orbit. Last year Jim covered the auction of Apollo 14 astronaut Edgar Mitchell's space mixtape, which featured tunes by Creedence Clearwater Revival and Marvin Gaye. So what tracks would Jim and Greg want to jam to in zero gravity? Greg picks Sun Ra's "Calling Planet Earth," whereas Jim sticks with a classic, The Beatles' "Here Comes the Sun."

Peter Hook

Joy Division only recorded two proper studio albums before lead singer Ian Curtis committed suicide in 1980. But those releases, a string of fantastic singles and Curtis' own legend continue to impact fans today. But, as is often the case with legends, there's a lot of fiction amongst the fact. And Peter Hook, the hugely influential bass player in Joy Division and New Order, wants to clear a few things up in his book Unknown Pleasures: Inside Joy Division. First, there's the tragic image of Ian itself. True, he struggled with depression, a failing marriage and a debilitating case of epilepsy that would lead to his death. But, Peter describes a beer-drinking prankster full of joy when it came to the music. He also admits that he and the band weren't initially crazy about the sparse, moody sound Joy Division fans so love today. Much of that credit goes to producer  Martin Hannett. For more on Joy Division listen to this episode.

Then of course we come to New Order's bitter divorce. Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris and Peter achieved more success than Joy Division. They disbanded in 2006, but recently reunited without Peter. Listening to the interview you can hear the hard feelings, but Peter admits he'd play with those amazing musicians anytime. So how did New Order fare on their recent release without Peter Hook? Check out Jim and Greg's review.

Acid Rap Chance the Rapper

Album Art

A number of Chicago rappers are blowing up right now-Chief Keef, King Louie, Lil Durk. But unlike those "drill scene" artists, Chance the Rapper is the kid next door. Jim loves that this "extraordinary artist" can be both deeply profound and also funny as heck on his new mixtape Acid Rap. He calls "Pushaman" the "Ohio)" that Chicago needs. Greg is also loving the goofy, self-deprecating lyrics and hears a huge amount of growth on this second, deeply moving mixtape. Acid Rap gets a double Buy It, and yet it's completely free!

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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!

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