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.
Speaking of the art world, reader Halsey Burgund sent a link to his installation that “involves some unconventional recording techniques, mainly doing it wirelessly and using lots of open-source and customized software.” Looks like fun...
Hey lucky Tape Op website forager: I've got an extra goodie bag from the Tape Op Party we held in March during SXSW. I don't have the full selection of swag, but I'll thrown in a couple of the SoundToys "special tin can of awesomeness" items which...
THE ERA OF HI-RES DIGITAL AUDIO IS HERE
I’ve been watching the rise of hi-end digital audio recently, and as I put the individual pieces together over the past year or so a picture is emerging that has inspired me to claim that we are...
As a gift to her fans in Mexico and other Spanish speaking countries, St. Vincent has released a Spanish language version of her 2024 release All Born Screaming, Todos Nacen Gritando.
Releasing companion albums is a bit of theme with St. Vincent....
Larry interviewed Jack White back in Tape Op #82, and we went inside his Third Man Records pressing plant in issue #127.
White just released his sixth solo album, No Name. It is a great listen filled with whisps of Zeppelin, swamp blues, Detroit...
Video Release: James Supercave "Burn"
What follows may be one of the best answers to the "So, how'd you guys meet?" question we have ever heard. Producer, engineer, and oft-recorded bassist (Black Keys, Ryan Adams, Norah Jones) Gus Seyffert was...
The Decemberists' ninth album, As It Ever Was, So It Will Be Again, is out now. In 2003 I got a call from Colin Meloy about maybe recording his band, The Decemberists. Tape Op contributor, Adam Selzer, had already recorded some tracks for what...