I thought I'd seen it all until I heard about collectors that pass around bootlegged copies of the test tones and bias pads from all genres of artists and albums. From an article in MOJO this month: "Sorting their collections by "tones at head" or "tones on tail", these fanatics derive pleasure from being able to identify different studios via the quality of the oscillators. Some collectors even listen for "rocks" in bias pads and point to faulty tape alignment as an indicator of an album's flawed sound." Wow. What's next? Collecting tape "silence" between tracks? -LC
Tape Op is a bi-monthly magazine devoted to the art of record making.
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New Fruit Bats Album: Baby Man
By Geoff Stanfield
September 16, 2025
Fruit Bats, the moniker of Eric D. Johnson's musical endeavors, has just released Baby Man. The album is follows the 2023 release, A River Runs...
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New video from Yeemz on recording her track “No Trace”
By John Baccigallupi
September 14, 2025
Yi-Mei Templeman is friend of Tape Op who records under the name Yeemz. She’s a songwriter and composer who plays cello, piano, banjo, guitar, and...
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Larry Crane on the Revolutions Per Movie Podcast
September 4, 2025
Larry Crane and the Revolutions Per Movie podcast host Chris Slusarenko chat about Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii!They discuss the genesis and all the...
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Justin Gray: Immersed
By Matt Anderson
August 31, 2025
Justin Gray’s new album, Immersed, was created specifically for immersive surround formats, such as Dolby Atmos, with considerations beginning from...
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About The Cover Art for Issue #167
By John Baccigallupi
August 31, 2025
When we published issue #167, we, of course, credited Hazel Morishige for the cover art, but I forgot to credit the individual pieces of art that...
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New Deftones LP: Private Music
By John Baccigallupi
August 26, 2025
The first time I saw Deftones live was at the Cattle Club, a small 250 person capacity club in Sacramento, CA, in the early 1990s. The Cattle Club was...
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New Jeff Tweedy song and video, “Feel Free”
By John Baccigallupi
August 25, 2025
Larry interviewed Jeff Tweedy of Wilco back in Tape Op#132 along with his son, Spencer Tweedy, and engineer Tom Schick at the band’s The Loft Studio...
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Superchunk's new album, Songs in the Key of Yikes, is out now!
By Larry Crane
August 22, 2025
The new Superchunk album is here, and – no surprise – it rocks. I interviewed singer/guitarist/songwriter Mac MacCaughan way back in 2009 [Tape...
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New Album from Raymond Antrobus and Evelyn Glennie: Aloud
By Geoff Stanfield
August 19, 2025
Raymond Antrobus and Evelyn Glennie [Tape Op#154] return with a new album, Aloud, part two of their spoken word poetry collaboration. Produced...