For the last 10 years Dan Rathbun has been writing, performing, producing and recording some of the most distinctive music around. He co-owns and operates Polymorph Recording, in Oakland, CA, with...
One time I went to see Romeo Void (remember them?) at the California State Fair here in Sacramento. It turned out that they were opening for a band called Gamma, which was Ronnie Montrose's new...
I briefly met Robert Poss back in the fall of 1993 when Band Of Susans performed in Bratislava at the U Club, an amazing underground bunker that had once been used as a bomb shelter by the local...
Steve Albini has become a somewhat legendary figure in the recording world these days. Our pal, John, gave us these leftovers from an interview he did with Steve recently, and it provides a...
Sue Garner has been a member of many New York based bands over the years, Fish and Roses, The Shams, and currently, Run On. Generally she can be found playing bass and singing. After all those...
A little over a year ago, a record under the guise of OP8 was released which was a collaboration between Howe Gelb, Joey Burns, John Convertino (all of Giant Sand) and Lisa Germano. It's one...
Since I took on this column last fall I've received about forty cassettes that were submitted to Tape Op for review. After months of wading through, listening, and reviewing, I feel the need to echo...
As I did last time, I'm going to give you a few recipes for unconventional recording techniques. In the event that something turns out to be "conventional" (boring/old hat/duh!), please berate me...
Tiny Telephone is a studio set up by the band MK Ultra in San Francisco. John Vanderslice is a member of that band and helps run the studio. Todd Costanza is a member of Granfalloon Bus...
If you're a Red Red Meat fan, you probably already know about this record. Tim Rutilli, the songwriter behind Califone proceeds from where his previous outfit (Red Red Meat) left off. It continues...
The only way I can adequately express my excitement over this record is to say that I haven't been so unexpectedly and pleasantly surprised by an album since I first heard Pavement's Slanted and...
I like reissues of obscure groups. Usually they have all sorts of different source material on them plus it's music from a different place and time, and usually you can feel that. Y Pants were a...
About two years after releasing his first solo record on El Recordo Records, Joel R.L. Phelps (formerly of Silkworm) has given us two very impressive recordings. The first is a five song EP including...
In the last issue I reviewed Nerve Generator's tape in Cassette Corner. Well, now they've got their CD out and it's a dandy. This Is 4-Track! was recorded in guitarist James Botha's bedroom on a...
From the band's own mouth(s): "Digilogue was recorded using a mixture of failing analogue equipment and high-end digital equipment and monitored in our studio exclusively on damaged hi-fi speakers."...
Tape Op no es ningún tipo de revista local, y por eso es poco común que doy tanto ánimo a un grupo de la escena de Portland. Este es una excepción. Fernando es un hombre y...
Here's what I noticed: Only Thurston's songs have those little vocal clicks (the ones you get when you open your mouth to sing or when there's a bit too much saliva running around). I probably...
The Sorts play a wide-range of mostly instrumental rock (vocals occasionally appear to present mantra-like lyrics) that at times sounds like Fugazi's vocal-less songs and at other points sounds like...
This is one of those records that Tape Op readers will love to listen to. Its full of creative production ideas with each song employing a different recording approach. Chief songwriter Jason Lytle...
After listening to The Roaring Mechanism I get the feeling that I would enjoy P.E.E.'s music a lot more if the band was less concerned with prog rock rhythm shifts and more willing to let the sense of...
Y'know, I just turned 35 a little while ago, and I was thinking about this rock-n-roll bullshit myth of people getting old and getting soft; outgrowing that raunchy, evil, dirty mean spirit of rock....
It's not so unusual to find violin or other related classical instruments in rock music today, but most bands use them merely to enhance their sound rather than as the focal point. Warren Ellis is...
If you know anything about writing for magazines n'all, you know that record labels and publicists send out these things called "press kits" with copies of the new records that you're supposed to...
A Japanese man with a Brian Wilson obsession and guest app-earances by Hillary and Robert of The Apples in stereo? Sign me up! (Matador, 625 Broadway 12th Flr, New York, NY 10012)
Uh Oh. Everyone knows the kiss of death for any studio is to put out a compilation CD of the stuff that they've been working on. It's then that you find out that the hip, cool studio that Pavement cut...
