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Latest by Mike Mettler

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The Audiophile Steven Wilson

Pushing the aural envelope with high-res audio evangelist Steven Wilson

Steven Wilson doesn’t just prefer the clarity of high-resolution recordings, he’s genuinely dumbfounded by artists that choose not to make them in 2015. And his new album, Hand. Cannot. Erase. , is a perfect showcase of what it can sound like.
Music Features
alt-j this is all yours

For alt-J, recordings are a ticket to the afterlife (so don’t mess up)

After going from a tiny British electronic act to headlining Madison Square Garden, the guys behind alt-J are coming to their grips with their fame – but one thing remains the same: Recording quality trumps everything.
Music Features
Interview Alfie Allen Game of Thrones

What’s coming from <em>Game of Thrones</em> Season 5 (and a look back at the cruelest cut)

Winter is coming and All Men Must Die, proclaims the trailer for Season 5 of Game of Thrones. Alfie Allen, who plays Reek on the show, hints at what to expect this season, and the dark days his character has been through.
Entertainment Features
The Audiophile Kate Pierson Guitars and Microphones

After decades propelling the B-52s with her throaty growl, Kate Pierson flies solo

On Guitars and Microphones, B-52s singer Kate Pierson gets a chance to break out of formation and fly solo – alongside Australian songwriter Sia – on a record that showcases unique vocals that could “cut through steel.”
Music Features
The Audiophile Michelle Chamuel Face the Fire

After facing judges on The Voice, Michelle Chamuel faces the fire in the studio

After landing a runner-up position on The Voice in 2013, Michelle Chamuel steps back into the spotlight with Face the Fire, her first solo album and a hard-fought lesson in how to distill “the sound of emotion” in a studio.
Music Features
The Audiophile Butch Walker Afraid of Ghosts

Butch Walker is all about that tape, about that tape (no digital)

Butch Walker has produced talents from Weezer to Taylor Swift, but on Afraid of Ghosts, he gets personal, and lays it down unpolished, over the hiss of tape.
Music Features
The Ting Tings Super Critical

Slow down! The Ting Tings Katie White gets Super Critical about modern dance music

Katie White of the Ting Tings tells Digital Trends about the decision to go all-analog for the new album Super Critical, her club dreams of years past, and her Stevie Nicks obsession.
Music Features
hoon lee discusses season 3 of cinemaxs tv show banshee 007

Banshee’s Hoon Lee plays the most badass cross-dressing hacker you’ll ever meet

Hoon Lee, the ass-kicking, cross-dressing hacker star of Showtime's killer series Banshee, talks to Digital Trends about gender roles, transvestites, and just where he found the character's unique voice.
Entertainment Features
The Audiophile Marky Ramone

iTunes ‘sounds so small’ to punk rock founding father Marky Ramone

The Ramones may have had a reputation for rocking hard and living fast, but as drummer Marky Ramone explains, slowing down and getting meticulous to get record just the right sound in the studio was never out of the question.
Music Features
interview david crosby hates mp3 loves pono and hi res audio croz audiophile

‘You’re being cheated.’ David Crosby might hate MP3s even more than Neil Young does

Neil Young isn’t the only high-res audio fan: David Crosby insisted on high-res for the 2014 release of his fourth career solo album, Croz – and he laments the ongoing failure of MP3.
Music
CNSY on stage

How Graham Nash mixed Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s 1974 tour into HD bliss

Graham Nash has spent four years mixing and mashing supergroup Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young’s 1974 tour into an HD album. How he did it and his thoughts on Pono inside.
Music News
Audiophile Simple Minds Big Music

Did Simple Minds fast forward, or new bands rewind? Big Music sounds fresh either way

They say you can’t recapture the past, but Simple Minds comes damn close on Big Music, a contemporary take on the sound the band brought to the mainstream in the ‘80s.
Music Features
the wire goes hd for christmas marathon cast members reminisce mettler 2

The Wire cast members reminisce as an HD Christmas marathon kicks off

Cast members from The Wire reminisce about the show’s tumultuous 60 episodes, which have been remastered in HD just in time for a five-day Christmas marathon, December 26 through 30.
Entertainment News
Audiophile DevonAllman Ragged & Dirty

Rocker Devon Allman talks vinyl, vibing and hearing his dad on the radio

He may have descended from rock royalty, but Devon Allman earned his musical stripes on his own, and he proves it on his latest solo album, Ragged & Dirty.
Music Features
interview cut copy dj dan whitford talks oceans apart audiophile

‘There are no rules.’ No -fi is too lo or hi for Cut Copy DJ Dan Whitford

In his latest work spanning 80 minutes and 19 tracks, Cut Copy DJ Dan Whitford explores everything from electro disco to tribal house music. And somehow, it all flows.
Music Features
Audiophile | Angels & Airwaves | The Dream Walker

Tom DeLonge on Blink-182’s legacy and dreaming big with Angels & Airwaves

we sit down with Tom DeLonge (of Blink-182 fame) and speak about his new Angels & Airwaves album, The Dream Walker.
Music Features
interview the pixies david lovering on doolittle turning 25 audiophile 004

The Pixies’ David Lovering talks high-res, Doolittle, the death of a drumkit

In Part 2 of our interview with the Pixies, drummer David Lovering tells us about his smashed drum kit and Doolittle's 25th anniversary.
Music Features
the pixies doolittle 25th anniversary joey santiago interview 1 of 2 audiophile 009

In case of catastrophe, listen to vinyl! And more from the Pixies’ Joey Santiago

DT’s Mike Mettler interviews Joey Santiago of The Pixies about Nirvana, MP3s, and Doolittle’s 25th anniversary.
Music Features
interview the kinks dave davies on rippin up time hd audio and more cover art

How The Kinks’ Dave Davies changed the course of rock with a sliced speaker cone

When The Kinks’ guitarist Dave Davies sliced open a speaker cone with a razor blade in 1964, he literally set the tone of rock music for decades to come. And that sound lives on in his latest solo album, Rippin’ Up Time.
Music Features
interview king crimsons adrian belew tells all about flux music app audiophile 002

Guitar wizard Adrian Belew on how his Flux app creates bite-size music for the Twitter era

DT’s Mike Mettler sits down with guitar wiz Adrian Belew on his new app, Flux, and how he hopes to change music for the Twitter era.
Music Features
Pink Floyd The Endless River

For their last-ever album The Endless River, Pink Floyd recorded on a boat

Pink Floyd recently came together to record their last album of new material, The Endless River. And appropriately enough, they did it on a boat, embracing the latest recording technologies yet again.
Music Features
Audiophile Joe Perry Rocks: My Life in and out of Aerosmith

For Aerosmith’s Joe Perry, feeling ‘in the room’ is the pinnacle of hi-fi sound

From Aerosmith cofounder to solo artist and back again, Joe Perry has seen – and heard – it all. With the release of his new book, Perry delves even deeper into the fascination with sound that has shaped his entire career.
Music Features
interview wayne coyne of the flaming lips on remaking sgt pepper with miley cyrus color band shot photo by george salisbury

If Sgt. Pepper wasn’t weird enough, count on The Flaming Lips to turn up the dial

We speak with Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips, who runs us through what it was like to re-record Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band collaboratively with artists like Miley Cyrus.
Music
billy corgan smashing pumpkins adore reissue 1

Billy Corgan on his 107-track Smashing Pumpkins reissue, and what’s ahead

Digital Trends’ music columnist Mike Mettler speaks to Billy Corgan about his new 107-track reissue of the 1998 Smashing Pumpkins album Adore, and what’s ahead for the band.
Music Features
Audiophile: Gary Numan

While hipsters relive the sound he pioneered, Gary Numan keeps forging forward

Remember the ‘80s? Gary Numan does, and he’s ready for something new. The electronic music pioneer talked with us about hi-res recording, the magic of the piano, and why he’s running alongside today’s electronic crowd – not in it.
Music Features
The Audiophile Joe Bonamassa

Blues maestro Joe Bonamassa: Hi-res is hype, digital is clinical, bleed is good

For a guy who’s only 37, Joe Bonamassa is undeniably old school. The celebrated blues artist told us why more resolution isn’t better, why sequencing the order of songs on an album is a lost art, and why bleeding is good.
Music Features
interview the band coves talks vinyl vs digital creativity recording press photo 1 by steve gullick

Digital? Nah. For Coves, the perfect sound is somewhere in a black drain pipe

Hot on the heels of their album Soft Friday, the psychedelic-garage heroes of Coves talk vinyl versus digital, creativity, and the benefits of reverb.
Music News
interview depeche mode alumni vince clarke on modern synthpop recording erasure 2014 photo by joe dilworth

After pioneering synthpop with Depeche Mode, Vince Clarke just kept innovating

Vince Clarke was making synthpop before many of today’s electronic musicians were born. But with Erasure and his latest album The Violet Flame, he’s still pushing the sonic envelope.
Music Features
beatles google earth sgt pepper in mono the thomson house london jul 28 1968 apple corps ltd copy

What it’s like to remaster The Beatles albums, and why its sound is ‘way beyond compare’

Mike Mettler interviews the engineers responsible for remastering mono albums by The Beatles in vinyl.
Music News
greg nicotero interview walking dead fx special effects

Getting gory with the FX mastermind behind The Walking Dead

Greg Nicotero knows zombies. As the special effects designer for The Walking Dead, he’s the one responsible for making them look as gut-wrenchingly real as possible.
Entertainment Features
audiophile yes move heaven earth get closer edge hi fi sound 2014 photo by rob shanahan

Prog-rock legends Yes talk hi-fi, remastering, and the lasting appeal of the album format

The original progressive rock band, Yes, is back with a new album called Heaven & Earth. DT's Mike Mettler sat down with the band to discuss the new album and their thoughts on high-resolution audio.
Music News
audiophile ian anderson homo erraticus yellow foliage med

THE AUDIOPHILE: Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson brings back the flute for new HD audio album

Former Jethro Tull lead man Ian Anderson is not living in the past: For his new album Homo Erraticus, he’s fully embracing high-resolution digital audio.
Music Features
audiophile jordan rudess amazing harmonywiz app turns instant mozart dream theater band shot

Can’t play an instrument? You can still ‘paint’ music with HarmonyWiz

We sit down with Jordan Rudess of Dream Theater to discuss his latest music creation app, HarmonyWiz, which aims to help anyone create music.
Music News
Moody Blues Justin Hayward interview

‘How the hell did we do this?’ Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward looks back

When Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward isn’t preserving the band’s sound in the highest digital quality possible, he’s forging ahead with new techniques in his own solo recordings.
Music Features
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