BY MIKE METTLER — OCTOBER 28, 2013
The garage-punk poet laureate has closed his eyes and passed thru fire. Lou Reed died in Amagansett, New York on October 27, 2013, at age 71, from complications following a liver transplant back in May. As rightfully lauded as Reed is for his confessional, envelope-pushing songwriting and overall […]
Above, an exclusive YouTube clip of Levin Minnemann Rudess jamming on “Marcopolis”
BY MIKE METTLER — OCTOBER 25, 2013
“I work hard on the music end of things, and record my bass parts as high quality as I can.” That, in a nutshell, is the mission statement for Tony Levin, noted bassmaster and Chapman Stick innovator […]
BY MIKE METTLER — OCTOBER 21, 2013
Get Tommy Shaw and me, Mr. SoundBard, in a room talking about music, and chances are you’ll have to drag us out by our respective ears to get us on the way to our next destinations. (Just ask Styx’s ever-patient, ever-gracious tour manager and assistant tour manager.) Tommy […]
BY MIKE METTLER
“Music is astounding, isn’t it?” Graham Nash is genuinely enamored with the wonders of sound — and so am I. There’s always a special twinkle in his eye whenever we get together to talk about the indelible music he’s made since the early 1960s, the new music he’s planning to make next, […]
BY MIKE METTLER
“No way to slow down.” Though it’s a line from the night’s lone encore (more on that later), it also aptly describes Ian Anderson’s energetic 128-minute set at the Beacon Theatre in New York City on October 10. As billed, Anderson and his ace six-piece band ran through Thick as a Brick […]
BY MIKE METTLER
“Everybody loved it — except me. I was so not satisfied with it. It was my fault.” That’s Robbie Robertson, telling it like it is back in August 2013 about the original mix of The Band’s acclaimed 1972 double live album, Rock of Ages (Capitol). It only took 40-plus years for Robertson […]
MIKE METTLER: What was the first record you ever bought?
ROBBIE ROBERTSON: The first record I ever bought with my own money was Here’s Little Richard [released March 1957, on Specialty Records]. I was addicted to his song “Rip It Up.” It was the most amazing shuffle. It still is, to this day.
METTLER: Do you […]
In the above YouTube clip, Wayne Coyne and I discuss “You Are Alone,” the song that opens Side C of the 2 LP set of The Flaming Lips’ latest full-length aural delight/challenge, The Terror (2013). Notes Coyne of the song, “it consists of a strange emotional chord that was the true spark for the […]
Hello and welcome to SoundBard.com! I am your humble SoundBard, Mike Mettler. Some of you know me from my years as Editor-In-Chief of such fine publications as Sound & Vision, Car Stereo Review, Mobile Entertainment, and Road Gear, and/or as a contributor to publications like Musician, High Fidelity, Stereo Review, Guitar Player, Guitar World, […]
