Mike Mettler

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The S&V Interview

Leon Russell Recounts His Amazing Life Journey

Mike Mettler | Apr 02, 2014 | 0 comments

Photo by David McClister

“I’m basically what is known as a talented

PerformanceSound The term supergroup gets a bad rap—but

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illusionist.” So says piano wizard Leon Russell, but the Oklahoma native is being more than somewhat modest. His C.V. is as impressive as they come: First-call member of the legendary ’60s L.A. studio collective known as The Wrecking Crew, co-founder of Shelter Records in 1969 with Denny Cordell, spearhead of Joe Cocker’s infamous 1970 Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour, and beneficiary of a revived recording career by teaming up with Elton John on 2010′s T Bone Burnett-produced The Union. On his just-released Life Journey (UMe), Russell comes full circle to show his mastery of the form on tasty covers like his piano-vamp stab at Robert Johnson’s “Come on in My Kitchen,” a slip-slidin’ romp through “Fever,” and a swing-sational full-orchestral take on Duke Ellington’s “I Got It Bad and That Ain’t Good.” Here, Russell, 72, and I discuss his ever-unique recording technique, what it’s like being “out on the edge,” and his time in the studio with Frank Sinatra. Face it, Brother Leon: You’re a one-man Wrecking Crew unto yourself.

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Music Disc Reviews

Levin Minnemann Rudess Special Edition Mike Mettler | Feb 26, 2014 | 0 comments

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with good reason. Often, it’s applied to a collective of hot-shot all-star musicians who look pretty good together on paper, but the resulting music usually proves the individual parts are actually greater than the sum. Discerning listeners tend to cast a wary eye, er, ear toward such lineup mashups—unless the pedigree is an impeccably progressive one intent on exploring the cosmos of composition to achieve a common sonic goal.

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Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Life on Mars: Combo DVD Review Mike Mettler | Dec 02, 2009 | 0 comments

Reading > n"> Light to the Top Mike Mettler | Apr 20, 2011 | 0 comments

"From the bottom of our hearts, thank you everyone. I can't wait to answer the 'Is rock and roll dead' question now..." So tweeted @foofighters at midday, and with good reason - the band's hard-charging, all-analog new album Wasting Light debuts at #1 this week with 235,000 copies sold here in the States.

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The S&V Interview

Linda Ronstadt Reveals Her Passion for True High Fidelity Sound Mike Mettler | May 28, 2014 | 1 comments

“We were united for the best sound we could get, and that was it. That was what we were chasing.” Is Linda Ronstadt revealing her high-end hopes for Hasten Down the Wind? Actually, that’s her assessment of the main goal she had for the 15 songs on her new compilation, Duets (Rhino). The ace song interpreter simply soars on songs like the tender but tough “I Never Will Marry” with Dolly Parton, the special intuitive blend she gets with James Taylor on “I Think It’s Gonna Work Out Fine,” and the complementary vocal halo she sets for Frank Sinatra on “Moonlight in Vermont.” Ronstadt has since retired from singing (in 2013, she revealed she has Parkinson’s disease), but that hasn’t stopped her from appreciating the sound of a good mix or a stellar vocal — or gently trilling a few lines of her favorite songs while we talk. Here, Ronstadt, 67, and I discuss her hi-fi proclivities, when not to use echo, how the right vocal texture tells the right tale every time, and how she learned about spotting hollow fifths.

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Other Tech

Lisa Loeb Takes Us to Camp Vinyl Mike Mettler | Sep 30, 2008 | 0 comments

You've always been a bit of a hi-fi geek, haven't you? I have. On prom night, my boyfriend and I checked out stereo speakers at an all-night speaker sale. It was a big deal back then, a ritual - you had to get the perfect speakers, and set your room up a certain way.

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Reference Tracks The S&V Interview

Little Steven Explores His Musical Roots in Soulfire Mike Mettler | Jul 19, 2017 | 1 comments

Believe it or not, even Little Steven—Bruce Springsteen’s longtime guitar foil and songwriting soundboard in The E Street Band, and the decorated Godfather of the Underground Garage and Outlaw Country radio formats—feels the need to recharge the creative batteries every now and then. “This record turned out to be a really wonderful reset, reintroduction, and rebirth of myself,” Little Steven admits about his first solo album in 18 years, Soulfire (Wicked Cool/UMe). “It was a wonderful opportunity to start again, and really show my roots in a way I had never done before. I mean, I never put a blues song on a record before, I never did a doo-wop song before, and I never did a cover of anybody before I did this thing!”

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Track One

Live Review: Bruce Springsteen Reaches Higher Ground Mike Mettler | Apr 04, 2012 | 0 comments

“Church.”

That was how a musician friend responded shortly after I told him via iPhone chatter that it was 10 minutes before Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band hit the stage last night in the first of two dates at the Izod Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Track One

Live Review: Dr. John Unlocks His 21st Century Night Tripper

Mike Mettler | Apr 09, 2012 | 0 comments

I knew I was in for something special as soon as I took my aisle seat in Row M in the orchestra at the Howard Gilman Opera House at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (a.k.a. BAM) last Friday. It was Night 2 of Dr. John’s 3-night stand, named for his new, supertasty album Locked Down, produced by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach.

Track One

Live Review: Radiohead

Mike Mettler | Jun 01, 2012 | 0 comments

Radiohead followed their own muse at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Thursday, May 31.

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