Mike Mettler

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Music Reviews
INXS: Kick - 30th Anniversary Edition
Mike Mettler  |  Jun 01, 2018
Performance
Sound
INXS were riding high as the calendar got deeper and deeper into 1987. The alt-rocking Australian sextet had truly come into their own following the wider international penetration of 1985’s Listen Like Thieves. They were also burgeoning MTV darlings, mainly thanks to the magnetic presence of poster-boy frontman Michael Hutchence. That said, the band had enough musical acumen to override their video-centric image, best exemplified by the churning, layered groove of Thieves’ big hit, “What You Need,” itself born of the interlocked songwriting axis of lyricist/vocalist Hutchence and keyboardist/guitarist Andrew Farriss.

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The S&V Interview
Is There Sound on Mars?
Mike Mettler  |  Oct 24, 2018
The concept of whether sound exists and actually could flourish in space — or not — was very much on my mind as I sat down with the creative and scientific teams behind National Geographic’s groundbreaking series MARS, which returns for a second season on the National Geographic Channel (a.k.a. Nat Geo) on November 12. I asked nine members of the MARS creative team about the aural choices they had to make about scoring the show, the science of sound in space, and whether they’d sign up for a mission to Mars themselves.
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Stream On
It’s a Stream, Stream, Stream, Stream World
Mike Mettler  |  Aug 17, 2018
Has streaming saved the music industry? Depends on whom you ask. If we’re to believe certain vocal factions within the music business, we’re already officially entrenched in the “end of owning music” era...
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Spatial Audio File
It’s Spatial Audio O’Clock, Yeah
Mike Mettler  |  Apr 22, 2022
British indie-rock sensations Wet Leg made quite a splash with their deadpan and earnestly quirky June 2021 debut hit single “Chaise Longue.” Now a key component of this dynamic duo’s full-length, self-titled April 2022 debut album, “Chaise Longue” gets to stretch its compositional legs that much more in Atmos.
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Spatial Audio File
I’ve Got Spatial Audio in My Head Everywhere I Go
Mike Mettler  |  Jul 08, 2022

It’s interesting how some people refer to certain summertime activities as either “hot” things to do, or “cool” things to do. When it comes to summertime listening, I tend to think it’s an intersection of both concepts. And when it comes to what I listen to for review in each weekly Spatial Audio File column during these summertime months, I consider certain tracks to be “smokin’ hot” and others to be as “cool as can be”—and sometimes, they’re actually some combo of both ideas together.

As always, each of the five hot/cool tracks that follow has been thoroughly spec’ed and checked by way of my personal deep-dive listening sessions on both my home system and headphones alike. You’ll find access to each and every one of them, alongside a gaggle of other stellar Made for Spatial Audio and Dolby Atmos cuts, within the ever-expanding Apple Music library.

And now, I give you this week’s hot-and-cool combo platter of five wonderfully immersive tracks, which are as follows. . .

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Music Reviews
Jack Bruce: Silver Rails
Mike Mettler  |  May 21, 2014
Performance
Sound
When it comes to delivering the low end, Jack Bruce has been the cream of the crop for six decades and counting. His syncopated approach to playing bass helped shift pop music’s bottom-end emphasis away from just laying down root notes and fifths, in turn opening the door to a more adventurous yet melodically inclined style that laid the foundation for the rock explosion of the ’60s. Turns in both Manfred Mann and John Mayall’s band set the table for Bruce to connect with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker and forge Cream, wherein the super Scotsman set the heavy-blues power-trio standard with epic runs and full-band interplay in songs like “I Feel Free,” “Spoonful,” “Politician,” and “Sunshine of Your Love.”
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Music and Soundtrack FeaturesThe S&V Interview
Jakko M. Jakszyk Balances Secrets, Lies & King Crimson
Mike Mettler  |  Nov 13, 2020
Like most musicians, Jakko M. Jaksyzk was not planning on spending the bulk of 2020 at home. For one thing, the celebrated progressive-leaning British guitarist/vocalist was more than ready to continue with King Crimson's ongoing 50th anniversary tour that had begun in earnest in 2019. (Sidenote: most of Crimson's 2020 dates have since been reset for 2021.). Not only that, Jaksyzk had composed a short set of experimental, narrative performance pieces that were commissioned by BBC Radio 3 for him to perform solo during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August, but that event was also scotched.
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The S&V Interview
James Guthrie on Mixing Roger Waters and Pink Floyd in 5.1
Mike Mettler  |  Sep 25, 2015
Good things come to those who wait, as the saying goes. But when it comes to finally getting producer/engineer James Guthrie’s long-awaited 96kHz/24-bit mix of Roger Waters’ 1992 solo album Amused to Death in 5.1 on Blu-ray in hand, well… the word “good” isn’t quite good enough. “Great” is certainly a step up, but I’m going to have to go with a superlative along the lines of “stellar,” “outstanding,” and/or “stunning,” for Guthrie’s surround-sound treatment of Amused catapults an oft-overlooked entry in Waters’ storied canon of work into a new sonic stratosphere. Recently, Guthrie and I spent a fair amount of time going over his goals for bringing Amused into the surround universe and sharing his favorite moments from The Dark Side of the Moon and Wish You Were Here in 5.1, plus he reveals exclusively what Floyd-related project he’ll next tackle in 5.1. It’s a miracle — another miracle.
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Music Reviews
James Taylor: The Warner Bros. Albums -1970-1976
Mike Mettler  |  Oct 11, 2019
Performance
Sound
And lo, there was a new breed of musician who had come to town, and they were duly christened singer/songwriters. In the wake of the burgeoning rock era's focus on volume-dealing power trios and instrumentally propelled multi-member ensembles (whether schooled or otherwise), there soon emerged another genre compelled by a more sensitive, more lyric-driven, and more acoustified approach.
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The S&V Interview
JD Souther Hastens Down the Hi-Res Wind
Mike Mettler  |  Mar 24, 2016
Consummate singer/songwriter JD Souther pours a lot of history into every line he writes and records. “I can’t consciously put my finger on it, but I can remember probably every piece of music I’ve ever heard,” he admits. “But it’s just at certain times, not all at once. I’m sure bits of it come out in everything I write.” Souther, who's co-written songs and worked extensively with the likes of the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt, also has an uncanny knack for making a melody all his own, and he has a critical ear for just how good the finished product has to sound. And now, thanks to Omnivore Records, we get to revisit Souther’s own recorded canon with the triple-threat CD reissuing of his first three heretofore hard-to-find solo albums: John David Souther (1972), Black Rose (1976), and Home by Dawn (1984). Souther, 70, and I got on the line to discuss the improved sonics of this reissue series, writing with Glenn Frey, sharing golden-ear minutiae with Ronstadt, and his passion for high resolution and great stereo gear. Some people call it music and some people call it gold, but nobody knows how to hone a mix quite like JD does.
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