California Years (Dig)

Jill Sobule | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 14, 2009)
• Original Release Date: 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: R.E.D. Distribution
• ASIN: B001TD1XVW
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,945 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Over five albums and a decade of recording, Jill Sobule has mused on topics
such as the death penalty, anorexia, shoplifting, reproduction, the French
resistance movement, adolescence and the Christian right. Early hit songs
included I Kissed a Girl and Supermodel.

Jill inducted Neil Diamond into the Songwriter's Hall of Fame. She's
performed with Neil Young, Billy Bragg and Warren Zevon and has been a
political troubadour for NPR stations across America. She's an American
original.
California Years, the first release on her own Pinko Records, was produced
by Don Was . The recording, promotion and publicity for the record was
funded entirely by donations from her loyal fans. $86K and counting!

"Jill Sobule can claim her place among the stellar New York
singer-songwriters of the last decade. Topical, funny and more than a little
poignant ...grown-up music for an adolescent age."
- Jon Pareles, New York Times

"Vocally gifted and lyrically witty ... a peerless satirist."
- People Magazine

"A feisty post-punk feminist whose work brings to mind a cross between Liz Phair and Gertrude Stein."
- The New Yorker

"Songwriting skills that transcend her one-novelty-hit wonder status."
- Village Voice

"A deft ironist. She is smart and original, a treasure undervalued by
inevitable association with countless lessers who also happen to be singing
about going to the laundromat in Brooklyn."
- The New Republic

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Jill Is THE BEST, April 15, 2009

By 

C. B. Manges (Westsylvania, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: California Years (MP3 Download)

Jill Sobule has been writing the kind of tight, catchy songs you can't help but hum--or whistle--or sing to yourself--long after you've heard them. And she's been doing it for years. The new stuff offered here is no different--San Francisco, Nothing To Prove, Where Is Bobbie Gentry--I'm trying to pull out the best songs here, but heck, they're all good. Really good. There isn't a weak track on this recording.

Jill's songs can be wickedly satirical, poignant, pointed, subtly hilarious, or broken-hearted (but never cloying or saccharine)--sometimes within the same song. And yes, she "kissed a girl" back when that other singer was still in diapers, but that song, her "big hit," is only representative of her work by it's hooks and wit. It was a pop masterpiece and hugely popular, but it isn't even close to her best work. This is.

As an aside, and to demonstrate how much people love Jill Sobule's music, this record was fully funded by HER FANS--not a record company. Many, many average, everyday people sent investments, ultimately raising about $80,000, which was used to record, produce, and publish this record. That's how much people wanted a new Jill Sobule record.

They weren't disappointed. The result, produced by legendary rock maestro Don Was, is flawless. Buy it; you won't be disappointed, either.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a Wonderful shared gift!, April 14, 2009

By 

Bill A. (Middleboro, MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: California Years (Dig) (Audio CD)

I've just finished my second listen...(on my third as I type) After eagerly waiting for this record for so long... absolutely not disappointed! I'm not surprised, I Love everything Jill Sobule does, she's such a special talent.

Funded by loving fans, Jill Sobule returned the Love with this wonderful album. It's all things at once... familiar, fresh, intimate, catchy. As usual there is wonderful storytelling and smart, clever, gifted songwriting.

If your already a fan you know how special she is and this is a wonderful addition to her catalog. If your new to Jill's music do yourself a favor and check her out, she's a very unique voice and is everything that the music industry should be. She's an original Artist with talent & integrity!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Out in California, October 24, 2009

By 

Tim Brough "author and music buff" (Springfield, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: California Years (Dig) (Audio CD)

I was fortunate enough to catch Jill Sobule at Philadelphia's Tin Angel club, where she not only previewed some of these songs for us lucky attendees, but she also invited me (and a bunch of others) to sing "All The Young Dudes" with her. She also sold us download "USB keys" that offered the opportunity to own that night's show...so somewhere out there, you can hear my voice bellowing the verses to Mott The Hoople with Jill. But that also meant that I've been listening to "San Francisco," "Nothing To Prove" and a few others prior to "California Years" arriving.

So I am already predisposed to loving this CD, and Jill Sobule once again did not let me down. Fan-funded and self-released, "California Years' is primarily inspired by Jill's move out west and all the golden glow (and mirages) Southern Cal has to offer. There's the on/off fascination that opens the album on a visit to Palm Springs, where a hike into the beautiful desert hills is so hot that you turn back, or vibrancy of the pictures you've seen gives way to a resort filled with seniors.

There's also the musical contradiction. Is Palm Springs, California the sunny fun-filled world of Brian Wilson or the tragic wanderlust of Graham Parsons? Jill's previous CD, Underdog Victorious, played with the contradictions by hiding some sad subjects under glossy pop, but here the sadness gets the low cry of pedal steel. It's some pretty awesome stuff. Same for "San Francisco."

Not that Jill has lost her sense of humor. Both the biting "Nothing To Prove" and "Spiderman" take broad pokes at the entertainment business. "Mexican Pharmacy" is a bit more of a realistic take on why Tijuana has such a great rep for inexpensive drugstores. And there's the shaggy-dog story of "Where is Bobbie Gentry," which takes a long over-due look at what happened on the Tallahatchie Bridge some 40 years later.

"California Years" is proof to me that, once again, Jill Sobule's best music making years are still in progress. Her "I Kissed A Girl" fling in the spotlight may be two decades past, but CD's like "California Years" give fans like us reason to keep coming back.