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Canada Session News
Artist/rapper/songwriter/actor Drake worked on a project in Studio 6 with producer/engineer Noah “40” Shebib on an 80-channel SSL 9080 J Series…Rapper/producer Rich Kidd mixed...
Profiles
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Classic Track: “Constant Craving,” k.d. lang
When k.d. lang first emerged in the mid-’80s from the plains of Alberta, with her strong, elastic alto and her androgynous look, it was...
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Cynthia Daniels and MonkMusic: A Versatile Space for a Versatile Producer
Cynthia Daniels talks fast. She answers questions in an elliptical but always focused manner, returning to the core answer at the precise moment you...
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Canada News & Notes
Crew Studios (crew-studios.com) is a state-of-the-art hybrid facility built in the former Bakerstreet Studios location. Crew owner Sergio Cocchia enlisted the help of engineer...
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A Conversation With BT: On Composing, Sampling and a ‘Song Across Wires’
Sampling has altered the course of music in obvious and subtle ways over the past quarter-century or so. Integrating snippets of well-known recordings with...
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Glen Campbell: Hits Gain Poignancy on ‘See You There’
Two years ago, Glen Campbell’s family revealed that he is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, and his fans assumed that his wonderful 2011 album Ghost...
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Vince Gill and Paul Franklin, ‘Bakersfield’
The late Buck Owens and his compatriot Merle Haggard get the royal treatment on Bakersfield, Vince Gill and Paul Franklin’s salute to West Coast...
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Kyle Andrews, ‘Brighter Than the Sun’
Nashville-based engineer/producer Chris Grainger has been collaborating with Kyle Andrews on his albums for nearly a decade, and the pair have developed a workflow...
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Mandolin Orange, ‘This Side of Jordan’
The sweet, mournful sound of Mandolin Orange—of Andrew Marlin and Emily Frantz’s tender harmonies and strings—is uplifting to roots music lovers despite some gloomy...
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Southeast U.S. Session News
Blue Room Studios is in the process of building a new world-class live room designed by Eber Designs. The 500-square-foot room is scheduled to...
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Dumpstaphunk: Looking Back, Looking Ahead
It’s been 10 years since the New Orleans good-time party band Dumpstaphunk—spearheaded by keyboardist/singer Ivan Neville and his guitar-playing cousin Ian Neville (sons of...
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Southeast U.S. News & Notes
Davell Crawford’s My Gift to You is a beautiful new album of NOLA music that stems from the singer/composer/pianist’s roots in soul, jazz, funk...
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Vocals for ‘Fossils’
Tucker Martine produced and engineered Crooked Still member Aoife O’Donovan’s first solo album, Fossils (Yeproc), in his studio, Flora (Portland, Ore., florarecording.com). “Most of...
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Mack Emerman, 1923-2013
The recording industry lost a true pioneer on May 17 with the passing of Criteria Studios founder Mack Emerman at the age of 89....
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Review: Various Artists, ‘Ghost Brothers of Darkland County’
You don’t necessarily need any backstory to appreciate the eloquent, powerful soundtrack to John Mellencamp and Stephen King’s musical Ghost Brothers of Darkland County...
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Mavis Staples’ ‘One True Vine’
It’s been three years since Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy first produced Mavis Staples (You Are Not Alone, Anti), and the artists have forged a...
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Emily’s Army in Jingletown
The young punks in Emily’s Army put as much joy as attitude into their fresh, fast original songs, and their sophomore record, Lost at...
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Chicago Session News
Lo-fi rockers Fake Limbs tracked their upcoming album in the Studer A-820 MCH-equipped Studio A, with Greg Norman producing and Jon Sao Paolo engineering....
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Capturing the Dark Beauty of The National
For a lot of people, it takes awhile for our records to really sink in,” says Aaron Dessner of the moody Brooklyn rock band...
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MixTips: Steve Kovacs
Steve Kovacs picked Chicago. An Arizona native and Conservatory of Recording Arts & Sciences (Phoenix) graduate—with further studies in Music Theory and Composition at...
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Chicago News & Notes
Wilco’s Chicago studio, The Loft, recently installed vintage Neve 5432 (pictured) and BCM-10 consoles, as well as API 512s, Genelec 1031As, Studer Gold Series...
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Houndmouth on the Verge
Indie rockers Houndmouth have been preaching to the choir: They’ve recently toured with Drive-by Truckers, Alabama Shakes, and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, playing...
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Jason Boland’s Return to Analog
With his deep and beautiful vocal backed by a tight longtime band, The Stragglers, Jason Boland rocks classic country, and for his new album...
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Jon Hopkins Releases ‘Immunity’
What does East London sound like at 4 in the morning? Producer/musician Jon Hopkins decided to record that very idea outside his studio door...
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MixTips: Andrija Tokic at the Bomb Shelter
Andrija Tokic has had a pretty good year, but then you get the sense that he considers every year a pretty good year. The...
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Session News: Nashville
Gavin DeGraw and Tove Lo worked on an upcoming release (DeGraw also produced) with engineer David Hall at the SSL 9080 XL-K in Blackbird’s...
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Vampire Weekend: Adventures in Modern Sonics
Just three albums into what is already a hugely successful career, the New York indie band Vampire Weekend continue to surprise and confound expectations....
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Steve Martin and Edie Brickell: Roots Music’s Odd Couple
Comedian, actor and author Steve Martin has been a dedicated banjo picker as long as he’s been in show business, but he has only...
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Peter Rowan and Friends Pick It ‘Old School’
For The Old School, bluegrass great Peter Rowan assembled an incredible cast to interpret 10 of his engaging original tunes and a traditional spiritual....
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On the Cover: Ben’s Studio, Nashville
Its official name back when Chet Atkins built it in 1965, in a building owned by Atkins and Owen Bradley, was RCA Victor Nashville...
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Goo Goo Dolls
The Goo Goo Dolls’ latest, Magnetic, has already yielded Top 40 single “Rebel Beat,” and the production’s blend of bright, pop band arrangements with...
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Jason Isbell: Vocals Come First on ‘Southeastern’
ason Isbell broke away from Drive-by Truckers several years ago to focus on his own records and his own songwriting, and his latest album,...
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William Tyler’s ‘Impossible Truth’
William Tyler’s breathtaking instrumental album Impossible Truth takes inspiration from the American landscape. But it’s how the landscape sounds in Tyler’s mind: darkly shimmering...
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Sevendust @ Architekt
Hardcore/progressive metal band Sevendust—Lajon Witherspoon (vocals), Morgan Rose (drums/vocals), Clint Lowery (guitar/vocals), Vince Hornsby (bass/vocals) and John Connolly (guitar/vocals)—followed up a rare hiatus from...
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Reality Bites: The Making of LeAnn Rimes’ ‘Spitfire’
During the past few years, LeAnn Rimes’ private life has become tabloid fodder, the result of the public’s insatiable appetite for titillation. Being the...
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My Friend Andy Johns
By 1981 I had acquired pretty good street cred as a guitarist, playing with the likes of Automatic Man, Narada Michael Walden, Pat Travers...
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MixTips: Luca Pretolesi
Producers and artists working in electronic dance music must get a good laugh out of the fact that the United States just now seemed...
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Paramore Comes Back Rockin’ on New Album
In the three-and-a-half years since Paramore’s Brand New Eyes was released and sold more than a million copies worldwide, the Tennessee-based alt-pop/rock band has...
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Benedictine Nuns Top the Charts: Recording ‘Advent at Ephesus’
One of the surprise hits of the last holiday season was a recording by a group of cloistered monastic nuns singing religious songs and...