Woodland is the name of Gillian Welch and David Rawling’s studio in Nashville, and it’s also the name of their new album. On Woodland, the duo continue to show their deep connection as collaborators. The album has a wide open sound that features their seemlessly blended and intimately recorded vocals, and the light touch of a backing band that includes drums, bass, pedal steel, banjo, and airy strings on tunes like "What We Had" and "Hashtag". "Lawman" and "The Bells and the Birds" have a lovely somberness, and the album as a whole has a "live off the floor" feeling to it that we hear less and less of these days. Woodland will stay in our "recently played" column for the forseeable future.
We interviewed Gillian and Dave back in 2001 for Tape Op #85.
Tape Op is a bi-monthly magazine devoted to the art of record making.
Larry’s intro to issue #71 was one of his most important notes for engineers in a long time. It’s easy to press play, but not pay attention to the audio hitting our ears. (Have you ever read a book and found your eyes are scanning over...
Watch the latest episode of the Creative Recording With Tape Op series! Editor Larry Crane and Online Publisher Geoff Stanfield dig into the idea of keeping it simple.
Episode made possible with support from Earthworks Audio.
Be...
I still listen to tons of music. I listen for work and I listen for pleasure. I listen for discovery. We are in an age where music is so readily available, in so many formats, that it’d be a shame not to take advantage of the plethora of...
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,...
I'll be doing a "Quickies 6: In the Studio" panel-type thing at SXSW on Saturday, March 20th, 11:00 AM, at the Austin Convention Center, Room 16A. I think you have to sign up for this, so check their website for more info. It'd be cool to meet some...
With hindsight, you could look at Wilco’s A Ghost is Born as a transitional album. Much has been written about their previous LP, Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, and a documentary film, I Am Trying To Break Your Heart, chronicles how during the making...
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...
Photo: Larry Crane
The recent passing of Ed Cherney sent me to my archives. I'd interviewed Ed many years ago and he asked me not to run it. We went back and forth about it, and I never understood why he didn't want this interview in Tape Op....
To accompany the new documentary film, Eno, a career spanning soundtrack has also been released. It is a 17-track album that dips into many eras of his 50 year solo career. We recommend checking out all of Eno's solo recordings,...