Music Reviews

Sort By: Post DateTitle Publish Date
Music Reviews
Saweetie: “I Want You This Christmas” and “Big Santa” in Dolby Atmos
Mike Mettler  |  Dec 12, 2024  | 

Saweetie ain’t known as “Icy Grl” for nothing. But now, the Bay Area rapper has set her hot-but-chill sights on reveling in the holidays with a new double-stockinged single under the Dear Big Santa mantle. Read Mike Mettler’s review to find out if the Dolby Atmos mixes of “I Want You This Christmas” and “Big Santa,” the pair of festive, fresh new tracks on Dear Big Santa, are worth adding to your holiday playlist. . .

Continue Reading »
Music Reviews
Shaboozey: “Good News” in Dolby Atmos
Mike Mettler  |  Nov 26, 2024  | 

Shaboozey continues to capture that good ol’ country-tinged lightning in a bottle with his latest single, “Good News,” which was released by American Dogwood/Empire in multiple formats on November 15, 2024. Chances are, you just might see and hear Shaboozey perform this hopeful new track as part of his headlining performance during halftime at this Thursday’s Thanksgiving NFL game between the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears. Read Mike Mettler’s review to find out if the Dolby Atmos mix of “Good News” maintains the bright-star country artist’s winning streak. . .

Continue Reading »
Music Reviews
Simon & Garfunkel: Live 1969
Parke Puterbaugh  |  Jul 22, 2008  | 
Columbia/Legacy
Music •••• Sound •••½

Unlike the case with Bob Dylan, there has been precious little in the way of 1960s concert recordings b

Continue Reading »
Music Reviews
Simon & Garfunkel The Complete Albums Collection
Mike Mettler  |  Feb 19, 2015  | 
Performance
Sound
“Exciting new sounds in the folk tradition.” So went the saying on the sleeve of the 1964 debut album by Simon & Garfunkel, Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M. And how telling that seemingly innocent but steadfast declaration was, as over the course of five studio albums and one soundtrack released during those heady days of 1964-70, Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel forged a singular sound that mixed the core tenets of folk with the then-burgeoning pulse of rock. The duo were masters of blending their pitch-perfect harmonies on a cornucopia of intimate tales that concerned matters of both the heart and the state. Not bad for a pair of schoolboys from Queens originally known as Tom & Jerry.
Continue Reading »
Music Reviews
Slacker Radio: Giving Streaming Music a Human Face
Michael Berk  |  Dec 01, 2011  | 

Love radio? Tired of Internet radio's algorithmic bent, and long for the days when a flesh and blood DJ put a lifetime of obsession into picking that next track? Slacker Radio just might be what you're looking for.

Continue Reading »
Music Reviews
Star Wars: A New Hope - 40th Anniversary 3LP Collector's Edition
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 03, 2020  | 
Performance
Sound
Packaging
In a galaxy far, far away—well, to be more precise, it was actually in Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh—I received a home-made C-60 compact cassette for my 11th birthday in October 1978. My audiophile grandfather had dubbed Charles Gerhardt conducting the National Philharmonic Orchestra's performance of music culled from composer John Williams' original scores for Star Wars on Side 1 and Close Encounters of the Third Kind on Side 2.
Continue Reading »
Music Reviews
Steve Hackett - Genesis Revisited: Live at Hammersmith
Mike Mettler  |  Jan 30, 2014  | 
Legacy. Some artists embrace it, some resist it. Early-period Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett decided to go the extra mile to dance on the volcano of his past, charging firth, er, forth to majestically recast the arrangements of a top-drawer selection of his ’70s output with the British prog giants.
Continue Reading »
Music Reviews
Steve Winwood: Nine Lives
Billy Altman  |  Jul 21, 2008  | 
Columbia
Music ••• Sound •••

On his new CD's bonus DVD, Steve Winwood notes that musicians aren't necessarily music lovers - that they often lis

Continue Reading »
Music Reviews
Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3: Northern Aggression
Brett Milano  |  Mar 02, 2011  | 
 
Yep Roc
Music •••• Sound •••1/2

 

Continue Reading »
Music Reviews
Steven Wilson: Insurgentes
Mike Mettler  |  Feb 25, 2009  | 
K-Scope
Music ••••½ DVD-Audio Mix ••••• Extras ••••½
The once and future king of surround has done it again - or,
Continue Reading »
Music Reviews
Steven Wilson: Juke Box Jury of One
 |  Jul 13, 2008  | 

Sure, you know that Elliot Scheiner, Frank Filipetti, and other producer/engineers are fans of surround sound. But among artists, you'll find no bigger champion of multichannel music than Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson.

Continue Reading »
Music Reviews
Steven Wilson: The Overview in Dolby Atmos
Mike Mettler  |  Mar 23, 2025  | 

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. . .

Continue Reading »
Music Reviews
Supergrass: Diamond Hoo Ha
Parke Puterbaugh  |  Jul 15, 2008  | 
Diamond Hoo Ha Astralwerks
Music •••½ Sound •••

The glam-rock triumvirate of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Mott the

Continue Reading »
Music Reviews
Surround Review: King Crimson
Parke Puterbaugh  |  Feb 02, 2012  | 

“Superb. The music is brought to life.”

That’s Robert Fripp’s own assessment of Steven Wilson’s 6-channel mix of Discipline. I have to agree.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Continue Reading »
Music Reviews
Tedeschi Trucks Band: Made Up Mind
Mike Mettler  |  Oct 09, 2013  | 
Performance
Sound
The potent combo of married co-bandleaders guitarist/vocalist Susan Tedeschi and slide-guitar maestro Derek Trucks and nine (or so) of their closest friends hits its stride on group album number three, Made Up Mind. Mind shows how TTB has finally forged the right blend of improv interplay prowess and gutbucket roots rock.
Continue Reading »

Pages

X