I confess - here's another occasional Tape Op contributor, Ben London from Seattle. He used to be in a flat-out rock band called Alcohol Funnycar, and here collaborates with his bandmates to create a moodier, more personal journey. Tucker Martine produced, engineered and mixed this record on 16-track 2" at his own Flora Ave. Studio and Avast. It's a total ear treat, with sounds of instruments changing as the songs progress, floating Mellotron-ish keys, echoey guitars, roomy drums, drum machines, breathy vocals and more. There's a freedom to this recording, like nothing had to sound the same track to track and anything goes with tracking and mixing - and this is healthy and helps the album keep moving along and stay interesting. Plus I think "Mercury" is one of the best pop tunes I've heard in a while.

(www.pattern25.com)

Tape Op is a bi-monthly magazine devoted to the art of record making.

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