BY MIKE METTLER — DECEMBER 31, 2014
Whether you choose to digest your music via 180-gram wax, high-resolution downloads, and/or full 5.1 surround sound, this past year delivered a spate of full-length aural goodness. In reverse order, here are The SoundBard’s Top 31 long-players of 2014.
31. The Dollyrots: Barefoot + Pregnant. (Hunnypot) Coolest of the cool garage-sters […]
BY MIKE METTLER – DECEMBER 26, 2014
After a pair of masterful 5.1 surround-sound mixes for the 20th anniversary edition of Pink Floyd’s The Division Bell and the November release of The Endless River, one might think producer Andy Jackson would follow suit for his own first full-fledged progressive-leaning solo album — but you’d be dead wrong. […]
BY MIKE METTLER — DECEMBER 24, 2014
“I don’t know why these songs all came out so long. I think we’re going to have to blame Steven Wilson,” laughs Dave Kilminster. The ace guitarist is discussing the impetus behind the extended track lengths on his self-described “prog-tastic” solo record, …and THE TRUTH will set you […]
BY MIKE METTLER — DECEMBER 10, 2014
When Mark Rivera isn’t splitting his time being Music Director for Ringo Starr or serving as a versatile multi-instrumentalist with Billy Joel (the latter for 32 years and counting), he’s doing what any good audiophile would — dropping the needle on some fine, fine wax. “The warmth of vinyl is like […]
BY MIKE METTLER — NOVEMBER 26, 2014
“I personally like to be surrounded and ambushed by music. I want it to surprise me, and I want it to come from surprising places,” says Steve Hackett, echoing the sentiments of scores of audiophiles the world over. The progressive-minded guitarist has been enjoying accolades for the depth, compositional excellence, […]
BY MIKE METTLER — NOVEMBER 12, 2014
Bruce Hornsby could never be accused of being an artist who rests on his laurels. “I’m such a different musician in every way than I was 20 years ago,” he admits. Prime evidence of the master pianist’s ongoing creative evolution can be found all over the double-disc Solo Concerts […]
BY MIKE METTLER — OCTOBER 22, 2014
“It’s a very common name. Back of $20 bills, that’s me.” Producer Andy Jackson is being typically self-effacing as he leans back in a chair across from me in front of the massive 48-track Neve 88R console that dominates the control room in the Astoria, the grand houseboat recording […]
BY MIKE METTLER – OCTOBER 21, 2014
“48k is a very high standard. If I sing something in the studio and then I play it back that way, it sounds exactly the same,” says electronic music pioneer Gary Numan. “The thing that’s most important to me is the sounds of the songs and the songs […]
BY MIKE METTLER — OCTOBER 10, 2014
“Souls, having touched, are forever entwined.” It’s a lyric penned by Deep Purple’s Ian Gillan in honor of his dear friend and late bandmate Jon Lord, the original keyboardist for Deep Purple who pioneered merging rock music with classical themes when he composed the material played jointly by […]
BY MIME METTLER & RYAN ULYATE – SEPTEMBER 26, 2014
Hypnotic Ears: Ryan Ulyate in his Topanga Canyon studio. Photo by Judith Crow.
Editor’s Note: I’ve been friends with producer/engineer Ryan Ulyate for years, and I’ve been honored to sit next to the man a few times in his Topanga Canyon studio while he contemplated the scope […]
