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.
Dear Tape Op reader:Some folks might not know how inextricably connected Tape Op editor Larry Crane's recording studios have been to the history of Tape Op Magazine. His first home studio, Laundry Rules, was in a Portland basement at 33rd and...
The worldwide COVID-19 situation is affecting us all at this moment. Years ago I was a gigging musician and restaurant worker, and I feel I essentially still live a gig economy life - depending on Tape Op and studio bookings for personal income....
The Weeknd has a special knack for making catchy and accessible pop music that is also sonically interesting, dark, and melancholy. It's hard to believe that his first release, Beauty Behind the Madness, was released almost a decade ago, but if...
I’ve been a fan of the band Nada Surf for several decades now. They’re one of the few bands from the 1990s that have continued to make catchy, smart, guitar-based pop music that also managed to stay relevant, releasing records in 2024...
Legendary British sound engineer and producer Andy Johns has died at the age of 61.
During his more-than-thirty-year career, Johns worked with some of rock music's biggest names, engineering records for Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Eric...
Popular music owes a serious debt to Quincy Jones, and he rightly has a place on the list of greatest music producers of all time. He passed away November 3rd, at the age of 91.
I was listening to Quincy Jones before I even knew I was listening to...
I'm in the middle of cataloging 1.5 TB of audio files. This is the work I do for the Estate of Elliott Smith. Two computers keep Pro Tools on the top one and FileMaker Pro and Excel for track sheets on the bottom one. Otherwise the MacBook Pro...
For their eighth (!!!) release in three years, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard give the world Butterfly 3000. It is hard to know what to expect from this band of Aussies. They have spanned the genre spectrum with metal, garage-psychedelia,...
Yup, I sit at my computer all day editing articles, writing stuff for the mag and answering the ridiculous amount of emails that always seep in over the course of a day.
illus by Eva Kihl