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Latest by Mike Mettler

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Mercury Rev

Vinyl or Spotify? Neither. Mercury Rev’s Jonathan Donahue is a cassette man

Alt-rock icons Mercury Rev are back after seven years with The Light in You, and while the musical landscape has changed, Jonathan Donahue’s lust for cassettes has not.
Music Features
The Audiophile - Grace Potter Midnight

Grace Potter takes a sonic road trip (but leaves the vinyl behind) on Midnight

Grace Potter leaves the Nocturnals behind to visit every sonic style under the sun on her new album Midnight.
Music Features
interview geddy lee of rush on r40 the audiophile live

Geddy Lee on how Rush cranked back the clock one song time at a time on R40 Live

A band like Rush doesn’t just turn 40 – they do it with a twist. Vocalist and bassist Geddy Lee shares the making of R40, a retrospective tour that turns back time a little further with every song.
Music Features
The Audiophile !!! (Chk Chk Chk)

The Bee Gees are underrated and Spotify is overhated, say Chk Chk Chk

“You try to do as many different things as you can, because they all have a slightly different character.” Genre mixing can be a beautiful thing when it’s done right, as witnessed by the blissful sounds made by the Brooklyn-based jam-punk/indie-dance hybrid collective known as !!! (pronounced Chk Chk Chk). On their new album As […]
Music Features
Vanessa Carlton

Vanessa Carlton on her music evolution since ‘A Thousand Miles’ made her a star

DT chats with Vanessa Carlton about how making her new album, Liberman, was as much about the sound of the record as it was the music itself.
Music Features
Widespread Panic

Why Widespread Panic weaned off Pro Tools to cut their latest album live

Feeling a little too comfortable after playing together for 30 years, Widespread Panic threw away digital tools on their latest album, Street Dog, to record it live in a room.
Music Features
The Audiophile OMI

After 8 years percolating in his brain, OMI’s hit Cheerleader was just the beginning

“My voice is different. It’s distinctive. There’s nothing to compare it to.” The summer of 2015 may be long-faded into the rear view, but some of its hot sounds remain as fresh now as when we first heard them — sounds like those of OMI’s ubiquitous Cheerleader, the tropical house ode to the person who […]
Music Features
Chuck D Public Enemy

Public Enemy’s Chuck D is still fighting the man (but not Spotify)

Rap royalty Chuck D explains why Public Enemy’s new album Man Plans God Laughs runs only 29 minutes, why he’s not afraid of Spotify, and why he doesn’t believe in feeling pressure.
Music Features
Game of Thrones Season 5

Game of Thrones’ Ian Beattie looks back at the bloody, award-winning season 5

Digital Trends' Mike Mettler sits down with Game of Thrones actor, Ian Beattie, to discuss what it was like making the series' successful -- and bloody -- fifth season.
Entertainment Features
interview k os on cant fly without gravity the audiophile 001

K-OS rapped into iPod headphones for his latest album, and you would never know

Canadian rapper K-OS redefined “lo-fi” by recording all the vocals for his latest album, Can’t Fly Without Gravity, on his iPod headphones. And you probably wouldn’t have even noticed.
Music Features
The Audiophile Battles

Infinite loops: The electro-tunes of Battles never stop repeating, or evolving

Experimental electronic artists Battles carve winding, labyrinthine loops that evolve through the song and even from performance to performance, even if audiences only see them “pushing a button.”
Music Features
john lydon johnny rotten interview public image 0002

Johnny Rotten: Kim Kardashian’s ass belongs in a gold Gucci wheelbarrow

John Lydon may not go by Johnny Rotten in his band Public Image Ltd., but the same surly, snarling persona remains. And in our interview, he’s as willing as ever to tell it like it is on everything from vinyl to Kim Kardashian.
Music Features
The Audiophile Carly Rae Jepsen Emotion

Carly Rae Jepsen on the virtues of first takes, vinyl, and singing tired

After the ubiquity of 2011’s Call Me Maybe, Carly Rae Jepson returns with an 80s throwback on Emotion.
Music Features
Klingande

Klingande melds melodies with house-friendly beats to take Spotify by storm

French DJ Klingande explains the swell of enthusiasm behind melodic house, his meteoric rise from a single song mixed in his bedroom, the problem with WAV files, and why you can’t touch Nirvana.
Music Features
strokes guitarist albert hammond jr on solo album momentary masters the 012

Talking Beatles, hi-fi, and subwoofers with Strokes guitarist Albert Hammond Jr.

Once and future Strokes guitarist drops new solo album Momentary Masters, and the man is all about great sound and cool vinyl.
Music Features
DJ Matoma

How a Norwegian DJ set Spotify on fire with a tropical Notorious B.I.G. remix

Norwegian DJ Matoma is one of Spotify’s most popular DJs thanks to his summery tropical house interpretation of The Notorious B.I.G.’s Old Thing Back.
Music Features
Joe Satriani

Joe Satriani stops shredding to spin a story on Shockwave Supernova

Joe Satriani may be known the world over a guitar virtuoso, but on his new album Shockwave Supernova, the master steps outside his comfort zone to try something new.
Music Features
lee bannon interview audiophile 8

Lee Bannon on ‘chair music,’ his name change, and sonic link to Keith Richards

Pattern of Excel finds Bannon twisting the cosmic knob of a futuristic radio station parked on the edge of an experimental ambient universe where bass and beats have been replaced by reverb-drenched intergalactic axe scrapings.
Music Features
interview x ambassadors singer songwriter sam harris 2 the audiophile 017

After a Jeep commercial and a hit single, X Ambassadors plant a lo-fi flag on VHS

The single “Renegades” rocketed X Ambassadors to number on alternative radio, and now the fledgling Ithaca, NY band is back with their first full-length album: VHS.
Music Features
interview thomas fehlmann the orb audiophile 5

Ambient moodmakers The Orb know when to kick out tech to make room for music

Ambient house music pioneers The Orb are past their days of waiting for the latest and greatest synthesizers, and let their music take top priority on their spacey new album Moonbuilding 2703 AD.
Music Features
interview giorgio moroder on deja vu the audiophile

What do Britney, Charlie XCX, and Sia have in common? The beats of Giorgio Moroder

Giorgio Moroder may not be a household name, but the beats from his 40-year career definitely are. On his latest album, Déjà Vu, Moroder pairs up with artists from Britney Spears to Sia on a fresh set of danceable tracks.
Music Features
Audiophile The Darkness

When it’s time to cut an album, The Darkness believe in a thing called digital

The Darkness built a career on over-the-top glam rock, but in the studio with producer and guitarist Dan Hawkins, subtlety and restraint reign as the band strives for the perfect sound.
Music Features
The Audiophile Paul van Dyk

Straight outta East Berlin: DJ Paul van Dyk remixes the politics of electronic music

Growing up in East Germany gave DJ Paul van Dyk a unique perspective that helps fuel the throbbing electronic beats of The Politics of Dancing 3, his latest album.
Music Features
The Audiophile Steve Aoki

Steve Aoki on Neon Future II, his obsession with Wolverine, and DJing on Mars

We speak to DJ Steve Aoki on his passion for music, high-res audio, comic books, and why he’s so excited about the future.
Music Features
foo fighters cancel shows after dave grohl broke leg audiophile4

Speeding down the Foo Fighters’ Sonic Highway

As the Foo Fighters explored eight different studios across the U.S., keyboardist Rami Jaffee used the Force (and plenty of Mellotron) to leave his own tire tracks on the new album, Sonic Highways.
Music Features
my morning jacket jim james on the waterfall 18861 photo by danny clinch 20hirez

For My Morning Jacket, The Waterfall just flows better in high resolution

On their new album The Waterfall, My Morning Jacket experimented with a number of different recording techniques to craft a different vocal treatment for every song, including Jim James’ signature “fish tanking” technique.
Music Features
Miami Horror

How Miami Horror sculpted a post-disco dreamfest on All Possible Futures

After the bubbly pop of 2010’s Illumination, Miami Horror returns with All Possible Futures, a Talking Heads-inspired discodreamfest that definitely belongs on your summer playlist.
Music Features
porcupine tree gavin harrison drummer

Stripped down and reimagined in brass, Porcupine Tree takes on a whole new life

Gavin Harrison honed his craft as the drummer for prog-rock legends Porcupine Tree, and with Cheating the Polygraph, he’s returning to some classics to play them as never before.
Music Features
Silicon Valley interview

Silicon Valley’s Martin Starr on playing a satanic programmer, Kid Rock, season 2

Before HBO’s Silicon Valley begins its second season on Sunday night, we talked to Martin Starr – also known as Bertram Gilfoyle – about the show’s flirtation with real-life tech tycoons, last year’s Kid Rock guest appearance, and of course, what’s next.
Entertainment Features
The Audiophile Imagine Dragons

Imagine Dragons chase the hi-res dragon, hate getting smashed on the radio

For their new album Smoke + Mirrors, Imagine Dragons created a studio from scratch to capture every nuance in high-resolution digital audio. Listening to it on the radio? Forget about it.
Music Features
Tycho

For chillwave maestro Tycho, effects are as much instruments as the ones you play

Sometimes beautiful music is a happy accident. For Tycho, also known as Scott Hansen, preserving the stumbling process that leads him there is as important as the intentional part.
Music Features
interview the crystal method on remixes mp3s their latest album audiophile remixed 007

The Crystal Method explain the art of the remix, why MP3s suck, and Satan Gas

Ken Jordan and Scott Kirkland have made a living remixing other artists as The Crystal Method, but on their latest album, it’s their work that goes under the knife as other mixers take the board.
Music Features
The Audiophile Seth Avett and Jessica Lea Mayfield

How many Avett brothers does it take to salute Elliott Smith? One, and an indie prodigy

Indie icon Elliott Smith inspired a generation of songwriters before he tragically passed away at 34 in 2003. Now Seth Avett and Jessica Lea Mayfield are rekindling his memory with a touching tribute album.
Music Features
The Audiophile Will Butler Policy

Arcade Fire’s Will Butler burns short, bright and solo on <em>Policy</em>

Free from the constraints of Arcade Fire’s frantic sextet, multi-instrumentalist Will Butler explores everything from Americana to electronics music on his new solo album <em>Policy</em>.
Music Features
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