Tape Op Magazine - Issue #156 - issue-156

Karriem Riggins

Interviews

John Cale

Interviews

Jason Livermore

Interviews

Yuka Honda

Interviews

Brad Cook

Interviews

Noah Lennox

Interviews

MORE FROM THIS ISSUE

JULY 27, 2025 INTERVIEWS

Jon Markson

Jon Markson: It's a Livin' Thing

BY SAM RETZER, JOHN FORRESTAL

If you've been keeping up with the explosion of popularity around hardcore and heavy alternative music, chances are you've heard the name Jon Markson. After a decade in the trenches as a producer and performer in Brooklyn's punk and indie scene, he has returned to his native Allentown, Pennsylvania, and formed a close alliance with The Animal Farm studio in bucolic Flemington, New Jersey. Studio owner John Forrestal operates the farm as an animal rescue but also as a tracking destination for bands who want to escape New York, or maybe just talk to a cow. I arrived on a crisp fall day to meet these two and hear about all the noise that Markson has been making on the Farm.

JULY 27, 2025 INTERVIEWS

Jon Regen & Matt Johnson

Jon Regen & Matt Johnson: Crafting Albums Across the Ocean

BY JON REGEN & MATT JOHNSON

When singer, songwriter and pianist Jon Regen met famed UK synth wizard and producer Matt Johnson after a Jamiroquai gig back in 2018, he had no idea the two would soon begin a fruitful partnership that would take them both into acclaimed, uncharted waters. With Regen, a new parent based in NYC, and Johnson across the ocean in London, the duo set out on the seemingly Herculean task to make an entire album remotely in a pre-COVID world. Their first effort, Regen's 2019 release Higher Ground, received praise from outlets like Rolling Stone, Billboard, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Four years and one pandemic later, the team is back with Regen's 2023 follow-up album, Satisfied Mind. A genre-busting ride through jazz, pop, electronica, and more, this new collection of songs features cameos by luminaries like Ron Carter, Rob Thomas, Pino Palladino, Dave McMurray, Larry Goldings, Tim Lefebvre, Jeremy Stacey, and others. We caught-up with the duo as each prepared for their own respective solo tours.

JULY 27, 2025 INTERVIEWS

Sonic Boom

Sonic Boom: Music Can Be Anything

BY LARRY CRANE, IAN WITCHELL

After Tape Op's online editor Geoff Stanfield interviewed both Noah Lennox and longtime collaborator Pete Kember [#46] for the Tape Op Podcast about their work together, and their recent album Reset, he wanted to dig a little deeper into Noah's musical beginnings and process. Geoff dropped editor Larry Crane a line, who decided wanted to then interview Pete Kember, and catch up with all that's happened in his interesting career over the last couple of decades. We last chatted with Pete Kember, aka Sonic Boom, way back in Tape Op #46, about his years in Spacemen 3, his Spectrum and E.A.R. projects, and more. Since then, he's kept busy, including producing MGMT's Congratulations and Beach House's 7 albums, mixing Moon Duo, and producing and collaborating with Panda Bear on a number of projects, notably the recent Reset album.

COLUMNS

GEAR REVIEWS

Gear Reviews

1976 Stereo 3 Band Saturation & Width Processor

by 1976 Stereo 3 Band Saturation & Width Processor | reviewed by Andrew Jones

Drawmer isn’t the only audio company that offers a saturation processor, but they are the only brand I’ve encountered that offers one with this much functionality, a great price point, and all in one rack unit. The name may suggest at least two features, but there are even more. Like its name, the...

Gear Reviews

88M USB Audio Interface

by 88M USB Audio Interface | reviewed by Corey Reidy

As I began writing my review for Neve’s 88M – the company’s first step into the world of USB-powered desktop interfaces – I struggled to find words to describe Neve that hadn’t been used many times before. Adjectives such as “iconic” and “timeless” were earned over six decades of experimentation,...

Gear Reviews

Auto-Align 2 Plug-In

by Auto-Align 2 Plug-In | reviewed by Larry Crane

Ever since getting a very patient and life-changing call from mastering engineer John Golden [Tape Op #121], where he explained that my snare drum and overhead mics on many of my mixes were out of phase, I've been a stickler for keeping phase and polarity relationships intact, especially on drums....

Gear Reviews

Capitol Mastering Compressor Plug-In

by Capitol Mastering Compressor Plug-In | reviewed by Garrett Haines

It seems fitting that Universal Audio offers the Capitol Mastering Compressor plug-in. When the first hardware units were made, Capitol Mastering engineer/tech Ian Sefchick [Tape Op #134] drew from his love of the Universal Audio 175 compressor and his desire to pair its tube front end with a...

Gear Reviews

Cloudlifter CL-X

by Cloudlifter CL-X | reviewed by Scott McDowell

If you’re reading Tape Op reviews and love recording with ribbon and dynamic mics as much as I do, then you’re probably already familiar with Cloudlifters. Also known as “mic activators,” they’re essentially mic preamps that go between the microphone and the “main” preamp. Instead of outputting...

Gear Reviews

Custom Analog Console

by Custom Analog Console | reviewed by Walker Phillips

I recently got an email from Matt Walton at Iron Age Audioworks, “Hey John I’ll be in the San Francisco Bay Area in a few weeks installing a console. Maybe we could meet up for a beer or coffee?” Installing a new console? I was intrigued, and so it was that a few weeks later I rode my bike over to...

Gear Reviews

Electra 88 Vintage Keyboard Studio Plug-In

by Electra 88 Vintage Keyboard Studio Plug-In | reviewed by Geoffrey Knecht

There are a lot of Rhodes piano plug-ins out there, but Universal Audio's Electra 88 Vintage Keyboard Studio sets itself apart in some critically appealing ways. It has a large dynamic range, comes with an array of studio tools, and allows for deceptively tweaky options via a user interface that is...

Gear Reviews

Hornet Mic/Instrument Preamp

by Hornet Mic/Instrument Preamp | reviewed by Corey Reidy

With the Hornet, Useful Arts had a mission: In 2018, the company's founder, Peter Swann, teased that a yet-to-be-named solid-state mic pre/DI “small enough to throw in a backpack” would arrive, with hopes to “make great sound accessible to everyone.” As promised, the one channel Hornet is smaller...

Gear Reviews

IN-UNF Monitor System

by IN-UNF Monitor System | reviewed by Adam Kagan

Kali Audio has swiftly established a notable reputation in both professional and home studios, and quite a few professional engineers have been quoted saying that Kalis match or outperform monitors costing significantly more. Therefore, I was curious to check out their new IN-UNF ultra-nearfield...

Gear Reviews

Lexicon PSP 42 Delay Plug-In

by Lexicon PSP 42 Delay Plug-In | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

Despite all the amazing plug-ins available for delay these days, there’s something inherently cool and desirable about early first generation digital hardware delay units, hence so many plug-in emulations of them. With the newly updated Lexicon PSP 42, PSP Audioware has captured everything that...

Gear Reviews

LiN2A Leveling Amplifier

by LiN2A Leveling Amplifier | reviewed by Mike Kosacek

When I first saw the Lindell Audio LiN2A Vintage Leveling Amplifier, I admit I got excited. I use my Lindell Audio LiN76 [Tape Op #153] quite a bit, so I couldn’t wait to try this one. As soon as I pulled the LiN2A out of the box, I saw that one of my minor nitpicks of the LiN76 had already been...

Gear Reviews

PURE TUBE Condenser Microphone

by PURE TUBE Condenser Microphone | reviewed by Daniel Ryan Morse

I try a different vocal microphone on just about every record I make. Some are technically great, but too sterile for my taste. Others – particularly tube large diaphragm condenser (LDC) mics that I’ve settled on – have vibe for days, although, the self-noise of these mics (at least the knock-off...

Gear Reviews

Sub10 MK2 Active Subwoofer

by Sub10 MK2 Active Subwoofer | reviewed by Daniel Ryan Morse

When I tested the ADAM Audio A7V nearfield monitors [Tape Op #153], I also acoustically measured my control room for the first time. It brimmed with problem areas. Though I will defend home recording with my last breath, I am well aware that – at least from an acoustic perspective – bedrooms do not...

Gear Reviews

SuperPlate Reverb Plug-In

by SuperPlate Reverb Plug-In | reviewed by Larry Crane

I've been a fan of Soundtoys' Little Plate [Tape Op #123] since it came out years back, but in the back of my mind I aways wondered if "Little" meant a more complicated version was coming, in the vein of their Little MicroShift and its bigger sibling. Now SuperPlate is here, and it earns its title....

Gear Reviews

Synth Gems 1 – Exploring Vintage Synthesizers, Inspire The Music – 50 Years of Roland History (book)

by Synth Gems 1 – Exploring Vintage Synthesizers, Inspire The Music – 50 Years of Roland History (book) | reviewed by Dana Gumbiner

I've been a fan of Kim Bjørn and Bjooks' series of hardcover synth nerd bibles since the initial release of Push Turn Move in 2017. For those unfamiliar with the series, Bjooks publishes a series of gorgeous, hard cover, heavyweight, photo-essay style tomes, each with a specific focus on music...

Gear Reviews

Various Shock Mounts

by Various Shock Mounts | reviewed by John Baccigaluppi

When I saw the Peluso ad for their shock mounts in the last issue of Tape Op, it immediately piqued my interest. I have several vintage microphones that do not have good shock mounts that Peluso makes custom shock mounts for. Shock mounts are one of the frustrating parts of running a studio, as...