Asking someone what podcasts they listen to is akin to asking someone what their favorite My Little Pony character is. It immediately outs the inquisitor as a niche culture nerd with an unusual pastime. It also casts the investigator as an antisocial weirdo who spends too much time with headphones on.
So, what podcasts do you listen to?
I have a few music-based podcasts I find enlightening and entertaining. Some of them continue to pump out episodes on a regular basis, and others had a limited run. Listen and learn. Or laugh. Or just be a nerd for a while.
‘Soul Music’
This BBC 4 production is like “This American Life,” but about music. Each episode is a documentary-style exploration of a single song and how it affected the lives of the people interviewed. Sometimes an expert or the artist talks about the technical details of the song, but sometimes it’s just people adding personal heft to a piece of pop culture. You never know what song might resonate with a person, and you might develop a new appreciation for a song you’ve never liked.
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‘Sound Opinions’
A weekly public radio show produced by WBEZ in Chicago, this is the “Siskel & Ebert” of rock ’n’ roll criticism. Two music critics who once worked at rival Chicago newspapers talk pop music, interview artists and review new albums. It deals with mainstream music, so you’ll rarely get cutting-edge recommendations from this show, but Jim DeRogatis and Greg Kot know what they’re talking about.
‘Analyze Phish’
Comedian and television writer Scott Aukerman is best known for the show “Comedy Bang! Bang!,” but he is also part of two music podcast side projects that are worth a listen. “Analyze Phish” is a 10-episode show wherein rabid Phish fan and onetime “Parks and Recreation” writer/producer Harris Wittels tries to convince Aukerman to enjoy the band. He never quite gets there, but both men are hilarious and it might give you a new perspective on the music of the quintessential jam band. Alas, Wittels died in 2015, so new episodes are unlikely.
‘U Talkin’ U2 to Me?’
Aukerman is back, this time with actor Adam Scott (“Parks and Recreation,” “Step Brothers”), and they’re both huge U2 fans. They spend a lot of time on extended inside jokes, but there is occasional insight about the band’s music as they do an album-by-album dissection of the band’s discography. Some episodes drag, but the payoff at the end is remarkable.
‘Beyond Yacht Rock’
Back in the mid-2000s, a group of friends created a web video series called “Yacht Rock.” If average Americans had the ability to watch high-quality video online at the time, and if widespread social media had existed, “Yacht Rock” would have been bigger than PewDiePie. Instead, the series about the smooth, sophisticated pop-rock of the late ’70s and early ’80s became a cult favorite among music-heads.
The four principals of that show did some serious liner note research to come up with the series about Kenny Loggins, Michael McDonald, Steely Dan and the rest of the yacht rock progenitors, and they bring that creative expertise to their podcast, “Beyond Yacht Rock.”
Each episode explores a new, made-up genre by counting down a top-10. Past genres include post-Motown, Africadabra, inlaw country and an entire episode about the brilliance of “Oh Sherrie” by Steve Perry. In addition, they do “yacht or nyacht” episodes where they take audience song suggestions and judge whether they’re true yacht rock. It’s an excellent way to learn about new music and discover unexpected ties between artists and recordings.
