Content area
Full text
At his 2,300-acre property downriver from El Paso, Tony Rancich, a John Malkovich look-alike with flaxen hair, plays two roles without skipping a beat: farmer and music man. He co-owns and operates a pecan orchard, whose nuts are sold to a subsidiary of the King Ranch, and owns Sonic Ranch, a "residential recording studio compound" that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Conor Oberst, and Ministry have called home. For weeks at a time, musicians and producers from around the world retreat to this refuge in Tornillo for the solitude, the homey vibe--Zenaida Sanchez, the cook, is regularly thanked in album liner notes--and the high-caliber equipment. In the largest studio on the property is Rancich's crown jewel, the Neve Control Room. "This...