BY MIKE METTLER – FEBRUARY 12, 2016
You can feel it coming, right around the 3-minute mark. The song has been building to an inevitability, courtesy of the track bed set by a Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 analog synthesizer, a Roland CR-78 Disco-2 drum machine, and some ominous, processed electric guitar riffs. A somber, Vocoder’ed vocalist […]
BY MIKE METTLER — JANUARY 1, 2016
Whether you choose to digest your music via 7-inch wax, digital streaming services, high-resolution downloads, and/or full-on 5.1 surround sound, this past year served up a score of tasty individual tunes for your ears to enjoy. In reverse order, here are The SoundBard’s Top 21 songs of 2015.
21. Def Leppard: “Blind Faith” […]
BY MIKE METTLER — DECEMBER 31, 2015
Whether you choose to digest your music via high-resolution audio downloads, 180-gram LPs, streaming services, 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 2015.
31. The Ting Tings: Super Critical. (Finca) Spunky ‘n’ […]
BY MIKE METTLER – NOVEMBER 5, 2015
There was a time Art Garfunkel thought he may never sing again, not long after he returned from a Simon & Garfunkel tour in the Far East in 2010 and promptly lost his voice. “You go into a terrible depression. What am I going to do? Who am […]
BY MIKE METTLER – JANUARY 2, 2015
“We just wanted to make the most glorious sounding thing we could.” Guitarist/keyboard programmer Charlie Burchill has perfectly described the vibe of Simple Minds’ first studio album in more than 5 years, the spot-on titled Big Music. These pioneers of late-’70s synthtronica from Glasgow, Scotland crossed over, well, big in the ’80s, […]
BY MIKE METTLER — DECEMBER 31, 2014
Whether you choose to digest your music via 7-inch wax, high-resolution downloads, and/or full 5.1 surround sound, this past year served up a score of meaty individual tunes for your ears to enjoy. In reverse order, here are The SoundBard’s Top 31 songs of 2014.
31. Steve Conte NYC: “Ok DJ.” (Thunderdog) Big […]
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 – 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 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 […]
