The Creative Music Recording Magazine SPECIAL ‘70s & ‘80s UK & EU ISSUE ELECTRONIC MUSIC Gareth Jones Depeche Mode, Erasure, John Foxx Daniel Miller The Normal, Mute Records Michael Rother Harmonia, Neu! Brian Vibberts Michael Jackson, Lauryn Hill Deke Dickerson Ecco-Fonic Records & Studio Per Sunding The Cardigans, Franz Ferdinand Gear Reviews Issue No. 110 Nov/Dec 2015 mmediaaudio (at) gmail (dot) com mmediaaudio (at) gmail (dot) com mmediaaudio (at) gmail (dot) com mmediaaudio (at) gmail (dot) com mmediaaudio (at) gmail (dot) com mmediaaudio (at) gmail (dot) com Hello and welcome toTape Op 12 Letters 14 Deke Dickerson 22 Per Sunding 28 Michael Rother 32 Gareth Jones # 44 Daniel Miller 110! 48 Brian Vibberts 58 Gear Reviews 74page Larry’s End Rant Bonus Content: Gareth Jones Deke Dickerson Per Sunding Brian Vibberts Online Only Features Heba Kadry & Adrian Morgan Aarhus Lydstudie in Denmark I’ll bet a lot of our readers know this feeling. You labor over a recording, working so hard, and eventually the music gets released into the world. You feel proud knowing something good has been accomplished. And then it starts – the “reviews” trickle in. It may begin with an offhand comment by a friend (“Oh, it was interesting, but it just didn’t grab me.”), or some anonymous post online (“Who really needs their new album?”). Next comes the local or regional reviews where the writer makes odd assumptions about the style of music you are presenting (“We’re a ska/metal/polka/surf band?”), or dumps on it because it doesn’t sound like some album that has sold millions (“This is certainly no Hotel California.”). Down the line, bigger magazines and websites might weigh in (“Pitchfork only gave us 1.3? Why? Did we piss someone off?”). You’ve all spent days, weeks, and maybe even months getting the recordings to sound how you wanted them. Relationships between all involved have grown. Everyone is focused on making this album, or release, as good as it can be. But then, at the end of this intimate process, someone may listen once (hopefully they even listen) and pass judgment quicker than it might have taken to record a single keyboard overdub. You know what? Screw the critics. Believe in what you do. And trust your love of music and the desire to create. Larry Crane, Editor mmediaaudio (at) gmail (dot) com mmediaaudio (at) gmail (dot) com mmediaaudio (at) gmail (dot) com The Creative Music Recording Magazine Editor Larry Crane Publisher &!Graphic Design John Baccigaluppi Online Publisher Dave Middleton Gear Reviews Editor Andy “Gear Geek” Hong Production Manager & Assistant Gear Reviews Editor Scott McChane Contributing Writers &!Photographers Cover art by Eric Carl <computerpictur.es> John Fischbach, Susie Delaney, Alex Maiolo, Piers van Looy, Evan Sutton, Joe Dilworth, Chris Vibberts, Jessica Thompson, Sarah Register, Chris Koltay, Garrett Haines, Scott Evans, Geoff Stanfield, Joseph Lemmer, Adam Kagan and Alan Tubbs. Editorial and Office Assistants Jenna Crane (proofreading), Thomas Danner (transcription), Lance Jackman ([email protected]) Tape Op Book distribution c/o www.halleonard.com Disclaimer TAPE OP magazine wants to make clear that the opinions expressed within reviews, letters and articles are not necessarily the opinions of the publishers. Tape Op is intended as a forum to advance the art of recording, and there are many choices made along that path. Editorial Office (for submissions, letters, CDs for review. CDs for review are also reviewed in the Sacramento office, address below) P.O. Box 86409, Portland, OR 97286 voicemail 503-208-4033 [email protected] All unsolicited submissions and letters sent to us become the property of Tape Op. Advertising Pro Audio, Studios & Record Labels: John Baccigaluppi (916) 444-5241, ([email protected]) Pro Audio & Ad Agencies: Laura Thurmond/Thurmond Media 512-529-1032, ([email protected]) Marsha Vdovin 415-420-7273, ([email protected]) Printing: Matt Saddler @ Democrat Printing, Little Rock, AR Subscriptions are free in the USA: Subscribe online at tapeop.com (Notice: We sometimes rent our subscription list to our advertisers.) Subscription and Address Changes Can all be made online at <tapeop.com/subscriptions. Missed issues of your free subscription can be purchased via <tapeop.com/issues>. If you have subscription issues that cannot be fixed online, email <[email protected]> or send snail mail to PO Box 160995, Sacramento, CA 95816. Please do not email or call the rest of the staff about subscriptions issues. Postmaster and all general inquiries to: Tape Op Magazine, PO Box 160995, Sacramento, CA 95816 (916) 444-5241 | tapeop.com Tape Op is published by Single Fin, Inc. (publishing services) and Jackpot! Recording Studio, Inc. (editorial services) www.tapeop.com 10/Tape Op#110/Masthead mmediaaudio (at) gmail (dot) com Please Support Our Advertisers/Tape Op#110/11 mmediaaudio (at) gmail (dot) com Always check out Your latest intro [#108] rang a bell. We’ve all been <tapeop.com> and there! We’ve used a contract with our clients for the <www.facebook.com/ last five years that requires them to take TapeOpMagazine> for responsibility for their session data. We guarantee changing content (like back up for 12 months, but require them to bring a the ones mentioned hard drive into the studio at the end of the sessions above) where we open up on to which we copy their optimised data. Back in back issue articles from the days of multitrack tape, our clients rarely stored the Tape Op vaults! -LC their tapes at the studio (we were independent, and Your magazine is like a I wanted to compliment Larry Crane on the End not allied to a record or publishing company); so with lighthouse in the fog of a music Rant [#108]. The sentence “be able to withstand digital it has been more a case of educating them, rather than a change in practice. We also supply them industry gone mad. You stay focused and multiple listens” has been gnawing at me since I read with an information sheet on how to keep their data real, so us readers can see and feel the love. Does it it. I don’t know if this is how he meant it, but I’ve safe. Roger Nichols once wrote about how archived matter why we have to write, record, listen, and play wondered for ages what makes some records (in all hard drives of irreplaceable Steely Dan live recordings music? No! It just matters that we get to do it. genres) less fatiguing fresh-sounding, even after had become unusable and recommended spinning all Thanks for caring. many years. They seem to be much drives up to speed at least once every six months or Rick Chadwick <[email protected]> more “listenable,” without wearing so to ensure that lubricants on their moving parts I am continuing to enjoy my subscriptions (digital out their welcome. JC Harris <[email protected]> didn’t solidify. From my personal projects, I favour a and analog) of this great magazine. I have been backup regime of RAID network drive clones and DVD- reading Tape Op since 2011 and always come away Beyond great songs and performances, I think there R discs. Although the dyes used in DVD-R may be enriched, in one way or another, with every issue. It’s are multiple reasons that a record can remain a viable expected to decay after five years, I’ve never had a also very affirming to read your interviews with folks listening prospect for decades. Records with a sense of problem with a single disc in over 15 years of use. that I admire (and have even worked with). Thanks space and the right dynamics are inviting to listen to. They are stored at room temperature, and of course for your efforts and passion! Dark Side of the Moon, Rumours, and Sticky Fingers out of direct sunlight. A RAID with at least five drives Matthew Barnes <[email protected]> all graced my player this week and sounded darn good. is ideal because you can replace them incrementally I can listen “in deep” to these records because the I really enjoyed your interview with John without losing data. But you know all this already, music isn’t all blaring at once. On the flipside, I’m Fischbach [Tape Op #21] regarding [Stevie Wonder’s] don’t you Larry! listening to Big Black’s Atomizer right now; it’s Songs in the Key of Life. This led me on a search to Matt Ottewill <[email protected]> perfectly abrasive, yet still more inviting than many find the remastered version you both discussed and over-compressed current pop productions. -LC I had a thought regarding the accumulation of John recommended in the interview. How do I know hard drives and the obligation to look after clients’ I’ve got the right remaster, approved by John, since I’m writing in regard to your opening editorial in files. Why not state that you will keep the music for he made the record? I also found it on HDtracks.com issue #108, which I was horrified to read that one of a set period of time, and anything left after that gets at 24-bit, 192 kHz. How do I know where the source your clients threatened to force you to re-record their donated to a local or college’s library collection? I’m for this version came from? Where can I get the most material for free because you hadn’t archived their in the middle of a massive digital to long-term digital authentic, top-quality, uncompressed, remastered digital project files, or retained that archive for up to back-up of about 20 years of music.