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.
I was amazed today to be informed that phonograph cylinders are still being manufactured. Madame Pamita dropped us a line a while back and surprised us with some cool music recorded on Cylinders by Peter Dilg, of the Edison Historical Site, and it...
Released in 2024, Mdou Moctar's Funeral for Justice is a raucous, distorted guitar-driven album that, along with bands such as Tinariwen, turns the idea of "world music" on its head. The heavy tones of Moctar's guitar plus driving and trancey...
After 20 years at the Davis Square location (and a previous 15 years on Albany Street), Boston’s Q Division Studios had to close its doors in July of 2021. Through the years, Q Division was host to a diverse group of artists, including Aimee...
We interviewed Herb Alpert in Tape Op #140, and he hasn't slowed down since. He just released his 50th album, aptly titled 50.
It is yet another prime example of the lounge pop genre he all but invented with The Tijuana Brass starting in the...
Remember Nino from issue #67? His new Bird and Egg Recording Studio is hosting "an open house of sorts. On Sunday, October 18th between the hours of 2pm and 6pm Bird and Egg will be open for you to see and feel. There will be wine and hors d'ouvres...
Hello Friends of Tape Op!
We have some fantasic gear giveaways happening right now. Who doesn't need a bundle of excellent plug-ins or a new interface?
Eventide Elevate Mastering Plug-in BundleArturia Studio and Plug-Ins
Arooj Aftab's Night Reign
Arooj Aftab is a four time Grammy-nominated artist we featured in Tape Op issue #157. With Pakistani roots, she sings in Urdu and English, and became one of my favorite vocalists the moment I saw her performing on a live...
I couldn't have said it better myself. In fact, I say this all the time. Drop by Jim Powers' Music Shrink website and read his articulate post on the subject.
The husband and wife partnership of Alan Sparhawk and Mimi Parker will forever be remembered for their work in the band Low. Their remarkable vocal harmonies always told a story of a long and storied relationship that went far beyond the music and...