I’m still shocked at the passing of Martin Phillips of The Chills. He made a number of songs and albums that truly inspired me and many others. Please check out the interview I did with him in 1997, and listen to his song “Pink Frost” if you’ve never heard his music. You’ll find the beauty and sadness of this song quite fitting. It’s one of many great songs from a great writer. -Larry Crane
Tape Op is a bi-monthly magazine devoted to the art of record making.
Simultaneously making apparent the depths of both my dorkiness and my loyalty, I steadfastly stood by Imogen Heap's "Hide and Seek" all through its various tribulations over the last couple years -- first with its questionable placement on the OC,...
by Alex Maiolo
One of our patron saints of recording, Mitch Easter [Tape Op #21], turns 70 today. That's almost irrelevant, as this treasure of a human should be celebrated every day, but it prompted me to write about his impact.
Like anyone,...
I politely asked Youtube to remove a song by my old band that someone had posted without permission. They took it down but then apologized "sorry about that" and ran my business name as if "blaming me" for removing content. Really? Wow. Pretty...
This past September, I attended the inaugural A3Exchange in Boston and had one of the most enjoyable conference experiences in years. A small team of forward thinkers, under the leadership of Paul Sitar, is putting together an "exchange" for...
By Alex Maiolo
I’m sure a lot of you are asking “who was Herb Deutsch and what does he have to do with rock n’ roll?” The short answer is sometimes it’s the people behind the scenes that change the course of...
By John BaccigaluppiPhotos by Cynthia Connolly
If you haven't yet, check out Larry's review in this issue for some insight into the recently published book, The Inner Ear of Don Zientara. I hope you know who Don is. As Ted Nicely says in the book,...
Listen
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...
Now that the Tape Op iPad app is available, we've been trying to figure out the best ways to get the magazine to other digital formats. Expansion to other full-fledged tablets (Android, etc) is a fairly straightforward - if laborious - process, in...