We interviewed British psychedelic rock band Temples back in issue #107. Their 2014 release, Sun Structures, stayed in the CD player for months, and I have followed them loosely since. The band's new album, Bliss, takes a turn towards the dance realm, and leans more heavily on synths than guitars for the bulk of the production. It still feels very much like a Temples record, and it's good to see them exploring new sonics and production...

We’re hard at work here at Tape Op HQ on our July issue, which features an interview with super busy producer Kenny Blume, but it’s going to be a few more weeks, so in the meantime, here are a few recently released tracks that Kenny has been working on:

Fathers is a new collective that, in addition to Kenny, features Kiefer on keyboards, CARRTOONS on bass, and Nate Smith (Tape Op# 143) on drums. The project apparently came about as Kenny was finishing...

Larry interviewed Sadie Dupuis in Tape Op #142 and chatted with her about Aimee Mann’s Lost In Space LP for the Discussions Podcast episode #12. Dupuis has also done several interviews for Tape Op with artists like Tegan And Sara, Suzy Shinn, and Sarah Tudzin. 

On July 10th she will release 1331 under her Sad13 project moniker, with most tracks being around one minute long. It's interesting music, so check it out!

The original release of the Grateful Dead's Steal Your Face album in 1976 was largely panned by fans. The mix was muddy, there were weird phase anomalies, and hardcore Deadheads were perplexed by the lack of extended jams. It was recorded at the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco October 16 to 20th during the band's "Wall of Sound" era. It was ironic that this legendary live sound setup brought new levels of defined clarity to...

Uh-oh Shaggy, hide the checkbook. I was largely unaware of WaxPoetics until I saw they were hosting an auction of some of Jimmy "The Senator" Douglass' [Tape Op#130] items. What caught my eye out of the gate was a Telefunken U 47 that was used on the sessions for Aretha Franklin's “I Say a Little Prayer” and "Young, Gifted and Black". Additionally there are listings for Jimmy's vintage UREI 1176LN, Focusrite ISA 430...

We’re proud to announce the upcoming publication of a new Tape Op book, coming in September of this year! Titled, Making Music: Conversations With Record Producers, it will be published by our pals at Akashic Books in New York. We’re hoping to host a series of books under the Making Music title, covering engineers and artists as well. Interviews will include content from our print edition and podcast, plus new thoughts, intros, and extensive editing...

What begins as a simple acoustic guitar track reminiscent of Nick Drake quickly morphs (unavoidable pun) into a world that let's the listener know that Ed O'Brien has spent time in a band with some of the best songwriters and instrumentalists on the planet, and that he has been paying attention the whole time. It also makes clear that his contributions to Radiohead are significant.

I really enjoyed Ed's 2020 release, Earth, so I hit...

My vinyl copy of the Grateful Dead's classic Workingman's Dead is a little hammered. I think I bought it at a garage sale about 30 years ago. It has someone else's name written on it. I have played it a thousand times, and I can say the same for my CD copy. I mostly prefer to listen to live Dead shows, but for my money, Workingman's Dead and American Beauty are two of their finest releases, studio or live. Workingman's Dead...

1956 was a pivotal year in the music of Miles Davis. It consolidated his "First Great Quintet" which included Red Garland, Philly Joe Jones, Paul Chambers, and John Coltrane. To make good on his contract with Prestige Records, Davis took his group into Rudy Van Gelder's [Tape Op#43] studio in Hackensack, New Jersey, for marathon sessions that resulted in four influential records (Cookin', Relaxin', Workin', and...

Moses Sumney, interviewed in Tape Op#125, has new music out in the form of a collaboration with composer Joseph Shirley (The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and Creed III) for the soundtrack to director Aleshea Harris’ film Is God Is. I should back up and say that discovering Moses' music on his 2017 release, Aromanticism, and subsequently diving into his previous releases, had a profound effect on the way I listen to his music. Aromanticism...

"They said that the little man couldn't do it. 'Oh, you can't dig 35 feet below your home.' But I did it, one step at a time, man." Thus began our conversation with Robert Lang. Outside of Seattle – in Shoreline, Washington – there's an iconic recording space built into the side of hill that's been around since 1974. It's called Robert Lang Studios. Seattle artists such as Foo Fighters, Sky Cries Mary...

If you've ever recorded in Nashville, you'll understand that countertop ice machines are ubiquitous here. The first time I walked into Blackbird Studio (years before I moved here), owner John McBride [Tape Op#97] showed me the new ice makers he had just installed. To this day, I smile whenever I set foot in any of Blackbird's lounges and remember that interaction with John. Same with my first visits with Dave Cobb [#122] and F. Reid...