Mike Mettler

Stream On
Qello Brings Live Concerts into Your Home and Beyond
Mike Mettler  |  Feb 24, 2021
Qello seeks to corner the market on streaming concerts and music documentaries but do they offer enough diverse material to satisfy our hunger for content?
Continue Reading >
Music and Soundtrack FeaturesThe S&V Interview
Steven Wilson Is a Hi-Res Man of the People
Mike Mettler  |  Jan 29, 2021
"I like to upset people, because it means I'm doing the right thing."

And that, my friends, is Steven Wilson for you in a nutshell. The once and future king of surround sound has taken yet another giant creative leap forward with his new solo album, The Future Bites (Arts & Crafts), which, after a pandemically induced half-year deferral, is finally being released on January 29, 2021.

Continue Reading >
Music Reviews
Remaster Class: The Doors: Morrison Hotel
Mike Mettler  |  Jan 15, 2021
The Doors needed a win. Badly. After the, shall we say, appendage-related kerfuffle at a chaotic March 1969 show in Miami, the band was sidelined with legal troubles and limited performance options. Solace was found within the friendly studio confines of Elektra Sound Recorders in Los Angeles, with February 1970's Morrison Hotel the ensuing vibrant result.
Continue Reading >
Music and Soundtrack FeaturesThe S&V Interview
Gavin Harrison Exposes the Secrets of His Expert Rhythmic Designs
Mike Mettler  |  Dec 18, 2020
Gavin Harrison knows what he wants, and he knows how to get it. The critically celebrated, session-bred progressive-oriented British drummer vaulted into superstar status during his jaw-dropping eight-year stint as a member of Porcupine Tree, and he's since moved even further up the wide-acclaim foodchain thanks to all the mind-bending work he's done during his current, ongoing gigs behind the kit with both King Crimson and The Pineapple Thief. The thing is, Harrison pays little or no heed to the constant praise for his innovative drumming, nor does he spend much time ruminating over his impeccable legacy.
Continue Reading >
Music Reviews
John Lennon: Gimme Some Truth: The Ultimate Remixes - Deluxe Edition
Mike Mettler  |  Dec 04, 2020
Performance
Sound
I always viewed John Winston Ono Lennon as an inveterate seeker—an artist who was forever searching low and high to find both his ballast and his balance. During his time in The Beatles, Lennon was able to connect with listeners on an interpersonal level ("In My Life") while he also remained unafraid to address his own fears and insecurities ("Help!"), was eager to embrace the free-associative nature of the Sixties ("I Am the Walrus"), and was wholly game to confront the depths of his pain ("Julia").
Continue Reading >
Stream On
Being There...Virtually
Mike Mettler  |  Dec 03, 2020
With large-scale live events still in a holding pattern, attending VR and AR concerts online could be the next best bet for diehard concertgoers.
Continue Reading >
Music Reviews
Paul McCartney: Flaming Pie - Archive Collection Deluxe Edition
Mike Mettler  |  Nov 20, 2020
Performance
Sound
I've always looked at Paul McCartney's post-Beatles career—now getting into its sixth decade—as being on a sine wave. When's he's at the top of his game, he's at the apex (Band on the Run, Flowers in the Dirt), and when he's off the mark, he's at the nadir (Give My Regards to Broad Street, Press to Play).
Continue Reading >
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.
Continue Reading >
Stream On
Nugs.Net Opens the Floodgates to Live Hi-Res Recordings
Mike Mettler  |  Nov 12, 2020
Keep those bootleg LPs in storage — nugs.net opens the floodgates for access to scores of live hi-res recordings from many of our favorite artists.
Continue Reading >
Music Reviews
Remaster Class: Supertramp: Crime of the Century
Mike Mettler  |  Nov 06, 2020
The third time was truly the charm for Supertramp. After two middling misfires, the British quintet's third LP, September 1974's Crime of the Century, vaulted them into the big leagues where progressive-leaning tendencies met not-so-subversive pop sensibilities head-on. Over the course of eight songs, Supertramp took full advantage of the dynamic range of tracks like "School" (punctuated by multiple piano bursts and yelping schoolchildren), "Bloody Well Right" (its razor-sharp guitar line wafting from back- ground to foreground and back like a talkbox in a tsunami), and the ascendant, power-packed rage of the title track (with a final lyrical twist worthy of the last episode of The Prisoner).
Continue Reading >

Pages

X