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.
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...
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...
Wally De Backer (a.k.a. Gotye) has put together an extensive collection of information and photos about the Ondioline, a electronic musical instrument from the 1940's, on a new website www.ondioline.com!
Brian Charles and his friends at Zippah Studios are recording in the style of past hits, and then detailing how they did it. It's a weekly series. The latest post, in which they take an original song by Aaron Perrino (The Sheila Divine, Dear Leader)...
I'm about to write something that at first will seem like another gray-beard waxing nostalgic for a by-gone analog era. But, stick with me, because I think the tables are turning to where going analog might be as forward-thinking as it gets.
Let's...
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...
Check out the new single and video, "Vintage" from Moses Sumney. We’re big fans of Moses here at Tape Op, and his LP Aromanticism made both John and Geoff’s best of 2017 year end list. "Vintage" pulls the listener into its...
Our pal, Howard Massey, has a new book out, Behind The Glass Volume II. Volume I was a real treat, and Howard also co-wrote Geoff Emerick's excellent Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of the Beatles. There's a ridiculous amount...
Arooj Aftab's Night Reign
Arooj Aftab is a four time Grammy-nominated artist we featured in Tape Op issue #157. With Pakistani roots, she sings in Urdu and English, and became one of my favorite vocalists the moment I saw her performing on a live...