BY MIKE METTLER – SEPTEMBER 24, 2017
If there’s one thing you can predict about the iconoclastic avant-guitarist Kaki King, it’s that the only thing you expect her to do next is that she’ll do the unexpected, every time.
Over in my Audiophile column on Digital Trends, Kaki and I discuss her restless creative nature, including the philosophy […]
BY MIKE METTLER – SEPTEMBER 4, 2017
Steely Dan co-founder Walter Becker passed away at age 67 on September 3, 2017, leaving behind a hi-res-oriented recorded legacy virtually unmatched by any other contemporary recording artist. As the saying goes, we may never see/hear his likes again.
To that end, we here at The SoundBard are proud to […]
BY MIKE METTLER — JUNE 16, 2017
“We can do this.” This was the mantra undertaken by Styx as the band spent almost 2 years on and off behind closed doors working on the music that ultimately became known as The Mission, its sonically sweet 16th studio album and most ambitious, most challenging, and most rewarding […]
BY MIKE METTLER – JUNE 1, 2017
Believe it or not, the most important date in popular music history is Sunday, June 1, 1947. That’s the exact date Paul McCartney refers to in the title track of The Beatles’ seminal 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band when he sings its opening line: “It […]
BY MIKE METTLER – MAY 12, 2017
50 years ago today, Pink Floyd headlined Games for May on May 12, 1967, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall (QEH) in London. The show was billed as “Space age relaxation for the climax of spring – electronic composition, colour and image projection, girls, and The Pink Floyd.” (The […]
BY MIKE METTLER – MARCH 19, 2017
Could the indie art-rock gods known as Spoon have come up with a better name for their electrifyingly great new album than Hot Thoughts? Not bloody likely.
On their first studio effort in 3 years, the Austin, Texas-based collective is firing on all cylinders. From the echo-driven joy of the […]
BY MIKE METTLER – MARCH 3, 2017
In an exclusive video share, legendary Canadian guitarist Rik Emmett walks us through the current album by his band Rik Emmett & RESolution9, RES 9, track by track, and he also plays us a number of its signature riffs while doing so. Take a look and give a […]
BY MIKE METTLER – JANUARY 21, 2017
Over in my weekly Audiophile column for Digital Trends, Jade Puget, guitarist and co-producer for California-bred emo-punks AFI, and I discussed the band’s new release on Concord, AFI (The Blood Album), his favorite plug-ins and programming options, balancing tempo shifts between songs both live and on record, and reconciling […]
BY MIKE METTLER – JANUARY 14, 2017
When it comes to creating music that pushes the sonic envelope, Wayne Coyne and The Flaming Lips have been on the literal cutting edge of aural adventurousness for decades. Their new album, the evocatively titled Oczy Mlody — available now in various formats from Warner Bros., including a hi-res […]
Whether you choose to digest your individual favorite songs via 96kHz/24-bit high-resolution audio downloads, hi-res streaming services, and/or 7- or 10-inch 45s, this past year delivered a wonderfully wide swath of singular aural goodness. In reverse order, here are The SoundBard’s Top 21 individual tracks of 2016, along with an accompanying A/V clip. (Note: The hi-res […]
