Mike Mettler

CD-centric box sets continue to be released at a fairly reasonable clip, and they’re usually stocked with bonus material, outtakes, alternate takes, and more. Even better, some of these boxes include additional BDs with historical live performances and period videoclips, plus 5.1 and/or Dolby Atmos mixes to boot. One such example is the just released 2CD/2BD deluxe box set from Esoteric Recordings that expands upon onetime Cream bassist/vocalist Jack Bruce’s most excellent 1971 solo release, Harmony Row. Read music editor Mike Mettler’s in-depth review to see how this box opens up the core content of Row in all the right ways. . .

LG Malique is having a moment—and it’s the right moment. The Arkansas-bred rapper is all about sharing positivity and encouraging uplift, vibes that permeate all 22 minutes of his new eight-song mixtape EP, Carved in Gold. Read Mike Mettler’s review to find out if the Dolby Atmos mixes of two key Gold cuts, “Don’t Come Closer” and “Give It to God,” take Malique’s messages into the 360-degree heights where they belong. . .

Irony, your official band name has duly been dubbed Envy of None. That’s the tres-cool moniker for a four-piece Canadian/American band that includes vocalist/keyboardist Maiah Wynne, multi-instrumentalists Andy Curran (Coney Hatch) and Alf Annibalini, and guitarist Alex Lifeson, the latter of whom you may know from his innovative halcyon decades in that little ol’ prog-rock trio from Ontario known as Rush. Read music editor Mike Mettler’s in-depth review of the all-new Dolby Atmos mix of EON’s sophomore effort, Stij(ē)ən Wāvs, to see how just how well they fare in the 360-degree universe. . .

Has the once and forever Dolby Atmos mixing king Steven Wilson done it again with the 360-degree mix of his new, two-song album The Overview? Read music editor Mike Mettler’s in-depth review to see if Wilson has taken Atmos mixing to the next cosmic level. . .