2016
Sam Sparro, ‘Quantum Physical Volume 2’
Sam Sparro is identified by his smooth and soulful vocal style, but unlike others in his musical bracket, he does all the parts himself....
Profiles
2016
Dave Gahan & Soulsavers, ‘Angels & Ghosts’
Listening to Dave Gahan and Soulsavers’ latest album, Angels & Ghosts, it’s hard to believe it was created between their home studios—all but the...
2016
Cool Spin: Yacht, ‘I Thought the Future Would be Cooler’
By the time you get through the second full play of I Thought the Future Would be Cooler, you’ll have decided whether you love...
2015
‘A Very Swingin’ Christmas’ with the Count Basie Orchestra
Music being one of the season’s greatest gifts, we interviewed the seven-time Grammy-winning producer/engineer/musician who made one of this year’s grandest Christmas albums: The...
2015
Cool Spin: Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, ‘It’s a Holiday Soul Party’
No one else working today makes real soul records like Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings. And now, in the great tradition of the big...
2015
Cool Spin: Sam Phillips – The Man Who Invented Rock ‘n’ Roll
Just cross everything else off of your Christmas list and buy these two things for every music lover you know: Peter Guralnick’s upcoming biography...
2015
Bellfuries, ‘Working Man’s Blues’
The Bellfuries’ latest album was recorded in Hi-Style Studios (Chicago) by engineer/musician Alex Hall. Working Man’s Blues reflects what Hall and Hi-Style capture so...
2015
The Stone Foxes, ‘Twelve Spells’
Engineer George S. Rosenthal’s parents assembled a demo studio in their live/work warehouse in the late ’70s, when the elder Rosenthals were musicians in...
2015
John Lousteau & Teenage Time Killers Keep It Raw, Angsty With Debut
Channeling their inner teens—that’s what the members of metal supergroup Teenage Time Killers had in mind for recording their debut album, Teenage Time Killers:...
2015
Sound Explosion!
While most books that accompany documentaries simply repeat images and interviews from the film, Sound Explosion! Inside L.A.’s Studio Factory with The Wrecking Crew...
2014
Mix Regional Sessions: New York City
FLUX STUDIOS Questlove was working on new material in the Dangerous room with engineer Ryan West…Late Show With Stephen Colbert bandleader Jon Batiste was...
2014
Mix Regional News: New York City
The Mastering Palace Adds Second Studio Mastering engineer Dave Kutch built The Mastering Palace in 2007 as a one-room mastering facility in Harlem. Kutch...
2015
New York, New York 1975: Oh What a Year!
It’s hard to believe that Saturday Night Live, the long-running variety show that carries a New York City vibe at its heart, debuted 40...
2015
Jim Lauderdale, ‘Soul Searching’
The latest from Grammy-winning artist/songwriter Jim Lauderdale is a double-album of original songs offering two takes on soul music: On Disc 1, Lauderdale went...
2015
Josh Hoyer’s ‘Cooked Raw’
Soul singer/keyboardist Josh Hoyer and band capture the essence of live performance on their new album by recording direct-to-disc in Welcome to 1979 Studio...
2015
Cécile McLorin Salvant, ‘For One to Love’
With a voice so versatile and beautiful, there’s nothing this young jazz singer can’t do. On her second album, For One to Love, she...
2015
Cool Spin: Ghostface Killah/Adrian Younge, ‘Twelve Reasons to Die II’
Prolific super-producer Adrian Younge personally crusades against mass-produced hip-hop and R&B by playing analog-only instruments recorded to analog tape with no plug-ins. He’s the...
2015
Mercury Rev’s ‘The Light In You’
For Mercury Rev’s eighth studio album, The Light In You, vocalist Jonathan Donahue, recorded his initial ideas at home into a 1970s mono cassette...
2015
Metric’s Daily Jams Create ‘Pagans in Vegas’
Over the course of six albums, Canadian foursome Metric has evolved into a heavy-hitting contender in modern rock. Which makes the group’s resident gearhead,...
2015
Jaga Jazzist Records ‘Starfire’
Jaga Jazzist is a prog-rock band, a jam band, a jazz ensemble and an electronic outfit all in one. The eight-piece Swedish group records...
2015
James Taylor, ‘Before This World’
James Taylor’s Before This World, out this month on Concord Records, is the Grammy Award–winning singer/songwriter’s first album of original music since 2002’s October...
2015
George and Chico Freeman at Southport for ‘All in the Family’
Guitarist George Freeman has crossed paths with Southport Records owner/engineer Bradley Parker-Sparrow many times since Sparrow founded the label in 1977. Freeman’s latest album,...
2015
Cool Spin: Foals, ‘What Went Down’
For What Went Down (Warner Music), the follow-up to Foals’ career-defining album, Holy Fire, the Oxford, UK quintet decamped to Saint-Remy-de-Provence in the South...
2015
Corsica Arts Club Releases Self-Titled Debut
What you hear is not what you see with Corsica Arts Club. The Los Angeles-based duo of Arash Parsee and Brendan Thompson (expanded to...
2015
Asleep at the Wheel, ‘Still the King’
Beloved Texas swing group Asleep at the Wheel have been carrying the torch for the late Bob Wills’ legacy almost as long as Wills...
news
Sessions & Studio News
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA Producer Roy Thomas Baker tracked and overdubbed Split Shift’s latest release (NoName/Elektra) in Glenwood Place‘s (Burbank) Studio 1 with engineer Daniel Kresco. Ziggy Marley and producer/engineer Ross Hogarth had Studio 2...
2015
Ben Lee, ‘Love Is the Great Rebellion’
Ben Lee has released 11 solo albums, in addition to his band work with Noise Addict. The newest, Love Is the Great Rebellion, is...
2015
Leon Bridges, ‘Coming Home’
“The clothes make the man,” the saying goes. In the case of 25-year-old Forth Worth, Texas native Leon Bridges, clothes kicked off his career....
2015
Cool Spin: Penguin Prison, ‘Lost in New York’
In the four years since Penguin Prison’s self-titled debut, New York-sprung dance-pop has become all the more established by the likes of MGMT and...
2015
Jillian Speer’s ‘Daggers & Suede’
The urban-meets-singer/songwriter sound of Jillian Speer’s wonderful new EP gives the singer’s soulful songs just the right edge, and it all starts with her...
2015
Calexico’s ‘Edge of the Sun’
When people know your band particularly for mixing musical styles from myriad decades and cultures, and you’re about to start your ninth studio album...
2015
Mix Regional News: A Note From Memphis—David Porter’s ‘The Classics’ at Stonebridge Mastering
Memphis-based mastering engineer Gebre Waddell recently mastered producer/songwriter David Porter’s project The Classics at his Stonebridge Mastering studio. Porter is best known for songwriting...
2015
Composer Shota Nakama and His Video Game Orchestra
It may seem hard to believe, but the videogame industry is in a graying stage. You can set the time it reached maturity anywhere...