Not So Oblique Strategies

You’re likely already familiar with Jeff Zeigler’s résumé. He’s produced and engineered records by Kurt Vile, The War on Drugs [Tape Op#102], Laraaji [#141], Chris Forsyth, Nothing, Mary Lattimore [#158], and the list goes on. In recent years, he has taken new creative leaps, shifting his...

Emily A. Sprague may be best known as the primary songwriter and vocalist for the band Florist, who have released five albums since 2016. But she also composes and records ambient-adjacent electronic music, primarily using modular synthesizers, and is about to release her fourth instrumental...

In 2025, Jim-E Stack (born James Harmon Stack) had three big releases out – Bon Iver's SABLE, fABLE, Lorde's Virgin, and Aminé's 13 Months of Sunshine – that he'd worked on as a producer and co-writer. Living in L.A., he's also worked with Charli XCX, Empress Of,...

Located in (yes) a former meat market, Pete Min calls Lucy's Meat Market in Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, his two room recording studio and home. Artists such as Meshell Ndegeocello, Real Estate, Lake Street Dive, Orville Peck, Chris Dave, The Monkees and others have used his engineering...

With the goal of releasing records recorded at the highest fidelity with minimal processing, Doug Fearn and brothers George and Geoff Hazelrigg began Outer Marker Records a few years ago, using DSD (Direct Stream Digital) recorders as opposed to the more typical PCM (Pulse Code Modulation)...

Liz Pelly is the author of the book, Mood Machine: The Rise of Spotify and the Costs of the Perfect Playlist. It's a well written and well researched book, and a fun read even though the subject is pretty dark. Spotify, and music streaming in general, have changed not only how we listen...