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.
Musow Danse by Les Amazones d'Afrique is out now and was produced by Garrett Jacknife Lee. Read his interview from Tape Op #149. This pan-country, multilingual supergroup of amazing African women is powerful and so important. Their previous two...
I ran the end rant about "Lies" I hear in the studio from musicians. I asked for "Lies" that engineers tell people, but only got these two. But they're pretty good! Please take with a sense of humor, according to Arthur, but there may be some truths...
I still listen to tons of music. I listen for work and I listen for pleasure. I listen for discovery. We are in an age where music is so readily available, in so many formats, that it’d be a shame not to take advantage of the plethora of...
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...
Here's a clip of a rare Rolling Stone interview with the Lizard King talking about making records around 2 1/2 minutes in.
“I could never produce ... because I don’t have the patience for it. I think that’s the main thing. Who's...
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...
By Justin Douglas
When you hear a particularly moving piece of music, and you get that little chill that runs from the top of your scalp down your spine, that’s a specific network in your brain logging that music into your memory....
By John BaccigaluppiPhotos by Cynthia Connolly
If you haven't yet, check out Larry's review in this issue for some insight into the recently published book, The Inner Ear of Don Zientara. I hope you know who Don is. As Ted Nicely says in the book,...