No, not the SM57. The S-M-Seven.

While it’s not my favorite mic, nor is it the most interesting, by any means, it certainly reproduces many sounds wonderfully and accurately. Simply put, it’s utilitarian. And build like a tank. My SM7 has taken many o’ falls and still, many many years later, works like a charm. I’d say, in any given record I produce it’s used multiple times. And not on just one instrument. It yields great results with vocals, drums and bass/guitar amps. I’ve even used it on kick drums (more of the vintage flavor) and have been very happy with the output. It’s claim to fame was when it was discovered that engineer Bruce Swedien used this mic for most of the vocals on Michael Jackson’s 1982 record, Thriller. You know the record that spawned seven top 10 singles and has sold over 110 million copies? So aside from the fact that Michael sounds great behind it, other people do as well. It’s not just Michael’s amazing voice. It’s a cardioid dynamic mic that can stand up next to a U47, U87 or any other variety of vintage condensers.

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In a way, the continued existence of The Death Set doesn’t really make a lot of sense after the 2009 death of one of its two founding members, Beau Velasco. Not that remaining frontman Johnny Siera shouldn’t have pushed forward, but the band’s hyperactive fusion of hip hop and dance beats and pop punk sugar rush hooks simply doesn’t seem like a creative vehicle that can handle that kind of sadness hanging over it, and even the Death Set’s name feels awkward and perhaps even in poor taste now.

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It’s quite possibly my favorite mic. It’s a dynamic. But it certainly has qualities of a condenser. It’s definitely one of the most accurate, flat and detailed of the mics in my collection. I love what it can do with female voices that have a lot of sibilance. It’s my go-to mic for snare bottom. I love what it does to guitar cabs with just a little too much presence. What’s even better about this mic is the off-axis rejection with its super-cardiod polar pattern. Which means it’s incredible to use live, either in the studio or for performance. The mic also has a 5-switch bass roll-off just like it’s younger sibling the 421. It also has a high/presence boost which I rarely use, unless a snare is really dull.

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White Life is something of a departure for Jon Ehrens, the prolific and chameleonic singer-songwriter previously best known for indie bands like the idiosyncratic Art Department and the lo-fi Repelican. For one of the first times in his career, Ehrens is sharing vocal and production duties on White Life’s self-titled debut, which was recorded with Chris and Mickey Freeland at Beat Babies, and features several lead vocal performances by his sister Emily Ehrens. But more significantly, White Life is a big stylistic left turn for Ehrens into the world of synths, drum machines and unabashedly pop vocal performances.

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Rjyan “Cex” Kidwell has been consistently revising and switching his modus operandi for recording and releasing music since his career began in the late ’90s. Early Cex releases featured instrumental IDM, before he began rapping, then singing, and later returning to making beats without vocal accompaniment. His first handful of albums tended to run an hour or more, before he began to favor concise 40-minute albums and even shorter EPs. And after beginning his career with high profile national releases on the trendsetting IDM label he co-founded, Tigerbeat6, Kidwell has released much of his music in recent years on deliberately low key vinyl or cassette-only releases, while remaining as prolific as ever. And since some of his best music yet has been on less heralded records like the 2007 Steely Dan sample collage Dannibal or the 2009 experimental club music of Bataille Royale, it’s proven worthwhile to give every new Cex record close attention.

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Civilian is Jenn Wasner and Andy Stack’s third full-length album for Merge Records. But it feels more than anything like the continuation of a collaboration between Wye Oak and another duo, brothers Chris and Mickey Freeland of Beat Babies Studio, who began producing the band on last year’s My Neighbor / My Creator EP. The four songs debuted on that EP pointed toward possible new directions for the band, including a wider variety of instrumentation and some of their most lively and upbeat songs to date. Ultimately, however, the ten new songs on Civilian are closer in sound and mood to 2009′s The Knot, another dark and subtle album that gradually unfolds and reveals its charms over several listens.

Holy Holy

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