We interviewed John Cale in issue #156 around the time of his previous release, Mercy. He has just released POPtical Illusion, a collection of synth and keyboard heavy tunes that carry a heavy, and at times angry message about the state of the world. That is not to say that that Cale has lost all hope and there is optimism that we can still bring about change. POPtical Illusion was produced by Cale along with longtime artistic collaborator Nita Scott.
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One of my favorite records of 2024 to date is Phosphorescent’s Revelator. It’s a beautifully recorded album, featuring Matthew Houck's timeless songwriting and lyrics plus gorgeous arrangements. I was hooked the first...
Tape Op contributor Allen Farmelo sent us this thoughtful piece on why the mag doesn't feature many "negative" reviews. Makes sense to me. I imagine anyone out there wanting us to write reviews ripping apart gear all the time still might come up...
It's not Idol, technically, but America's Got Talent and its dentally-impaired overseas cousin are still franchises helmed by Simon Cowell, who I think we can all agree has become somewhat of a figurehead for shitty pop music and...
My best friend and business partner, John Baccigaluppi, is moving out of the old building that houses his studio The Hangar (along with his Tape Op office) and had been part of his life since 1990. I played on some of the earliest records from...
by Alex Maiolo
The term “linchpin” tends to get chucked around pretty liberally when we discuss music scenes, but Ed Ackerson, who succumbed to pancreatic cancer on October 4th, was the very embodiment of it. Ed was one of those...
Matt McGlynn over at the informative Recording Hacks site has a section devoted to Tape Op mic reviews. Not all of them are up yet, and we're not quite sure why he wanted to tackle this project (crazy? smart? nice guy?) but it's up there. Now I can...
For his new release, Honey, Caribou's Dan Snaith (Tape Op #35, #105) wears his Detroit techno influences on his sleeve, and uses AI to explore and reimagine vocals as well as manipulate his voice, to create an album of dance tracks that...
Dear Tape Op Readers,
We are feeling overwhelmed and deeply saddened by the death of George Floyd. Unfortunately this is far from an isolated incident.
Our voices and collective action have never been more needed than right now.
Human...
THE GREAT BRITISH RECORDING STUDIOS
Howard Massey, an excellent author and recording engineer, is putting together what should be an important book on the British record studio scene of the sixites and seventies. If you were involved in this...