BLOG | DEC. 23, 2019

Tape Op Staff Picks 2019 and the Decade

What another great year for music! It is always a challenge to sit down, reflect and try to narrow down all our favorite albums of the year (let alone a full decade!) into a simple list. Here at Tape Op we are frequently making music suggestions to each other and since there is nothing like a friend's reccomendation, we hope you find some favorites of your own and discover something new on our lists.
Happy Holidays and New Year from your friends at Tape Op!

Larry, John, Geoff, Marsha, Anthony, Scott and Andy

Larry Crane's Picks for 2019

Yola
Walk Through Fire

Wilco
Ode to Joy

Sleater-Kinney
The Center Won't Hold

Jessy Wilson
Phase

Pink Floyd
The Later Years

Lily & Madeleine
Canterbury Girls

Federale
No Justice

Jeff Lynne's ELO
From Out of Nowhere

Peter Gabriel
Flotsam and Jetsam

Brian Eno With Daniel Lanois & Roger Eno
Apollo: Atmospheres & Soundtracks (Extended Edition)

Nérija
Blume

The Black Keys
Let's Rock

Durand Jones & the Indications
American Love Call

Julian Lage
Love Hurts

John Baccigaluppi's 2019 Picks:

The National
I Am Easy To Find (album and short film)

Nerija
Blume

Bon Iver
i, i

Arlo Parks
Every Tracked She Released This Year!

The Replacements
Dead Man's Pop (Don't Tell a Soul remixed)

John's Dozen from the Decade:

Radiohead
A Moon Shaped Pool

The National
I Am Easy To Find

Wilco
The Whole Love

Beck
Morning Phase

David Bowie
Blackstar

Bon Iver
22, A Million

Moses Sumney
Aromanticism

Sufjan Stevens
Carrie and Lowell

Juana Molina
Wed 21

Big Thief
Masterpiece

Nils Frahm
All Melody

Michael Kiwanuka
Home Again

Geoff Stanfield's 2019 Picks

Black Pumas
Black Pumas

Lee "Scratch" Perry
Heavy Rain

Post Malone
Hollywood's Bleeding

Bill Frisell and Thomas Morgan
Epistrophy (Live at the Village Vanguard)

Tycho
Weather

Khruangbin
Hasta El Cielo (Todo El Mundo En Dub)

Tinariwen
Amadjar

Brittany Howard
Jaime

Altin Gün
Gece

Geoff's Favs of the Decade:

Subatomic Sound System (featuring Lee "Scratch" Perry")
Super Ape Returns to Conquer

Moses Sumney
Aromanticism

Kendrick Lamar
Damn

Lana Del Rey
Ultraviolence

David Bowie
Blackstar

Travis Scott
ASTROWORLD

Vanduras
In the Dark

Circles Around the Sun
Interludes for the Dead

Temples
Sun Structures

Sun Kil Moon
Benji

Nils Frahm
All Melody

Cedric Burnside
Benton County Relic

Marsha Vdovin's 2019 Picks:

James Blake
Assume Form

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Ghosteen

Anthony Sarti's 2019 Picks:

Lana Del Rey
Norman Fucking Rockwell!

Grimes
My Name is Dark (Single)

RL Grime
NOVA Pure

Poppy
I C U (Music to Read To)

Tycho
Weather

Mike Shinoda
Post Traumatic (Deluxe Version)

The Anix
Hologram (Deluxe Edition)

DJ Shadow
Our Pathetic Age

Bring Me The Horizon
amo

Charli XCX
Charli

Andy Hong's 2019 Picks:

Lily & Madeleine
Canterbury Girls

Danger Mouse & Karen O
Lux Prima

Lists
EP 2

Meernaa
Heart Hunger

The Japanese House
Good At Falling

Marquis Hill
Love Tape

Barrett Martin Group
Songs of the Firebird

65daysofstatic
replicr, 2019

Alcest
Spiritual Instinct

Reason Define
In Memory...

Bring Me The Horizon
amo

Astronoid
Astronoid

Endless Dive
Falltime

We Lost the Sea
Triumph & Disaster

Tape Op is a bi-monthly magazine devoted to the art of record making.

Or Learn More

Tape Op Podcast LISTEN NOW
Latest Podcast Episode

NEW! EP107: RICK MITAROTONDA AND PRODUCER D. JAMES GOODWIN

MORE ENTRIES

New LP, You’re Free to Go by Anjimile produced by Brad Cook

BLOG

New LP, You’re Free to Go by Anjimile produced by Brad Cook

By John Baccigaluppi

March 14, 2026

I think I’d noticed Brad Cook’s name in the credits of Bon Iver records, but took more notice when I interviewed BJ Burton for Tape Op#137 and he...
New Music from Brigitte Calls Me Baby: Irreversible

BLOG

New Music from Brigitte Calls Me Baby: Irreversible

By Geoff Stanfield

March 14, 2026

The Chicago-based band, Brigitte Calls Me Baby, has just released Irreversible, produced by Yves Rothman and Lawrence Rothman [Tape Op#155]. The...
Gouge Away release new track, "Figurine"

BLOG

Gouge Away release new track, "Figurine"

By Corey Reidy

March 12, 2026

Out on tour with Wednesday right now, and ahead of tour dates throughout 2026 with Touché Amoré and Ovlov (not to mention two nights in September with...
Aquarium Drunkard’s Jason P. Woodbury reveals his Nightbird Singing Quartet

BLOG

Aquarium Drunkard’s Jason P. Woodbury reveals his Nightbird Singing Quartet

By Meredith Hobbs Coons

March 11, 2026

Having familiarized myself with the Jason P. Woodbury oeuvre through the years via his editorial home Aquarium Drunkard (to which I sometimes...
Happy International Women's Day

BLOG

Happy International Women's Day

March 8, 2026

For International Women's Day, I was going to share our collection of articles featuring women in audio. That collection is currently being...
Fugazi: Albini Sessions

BLOG

Fugazi: Albini Sessions

By Corey Reidy

March 8, 2026

For decades, the existence of Fugazi’s Albini Sessions was mostly rumor, bouncing between friends, sometimes as legend and other times as a...
Talking Heads' Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live

BLOG

Talking Heads' Tentative Decisions: Demos & Live

By Geoff Stanfield

March 8, 2026

As a music creator and fan, I am always interested in the transformation from the seed of a song, the demo stage, and the version that was released as...
Remembering Bob Power

BLOG

Remembering Bob Power

By Allen Farmelo

March 5, 2026

When a life is big, the details that make a person special tend to get washed away in the broad strokes of their success and influence. This has been...
New Releases from The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis, Willow, Jacob Collier and More!

BLOG

New Releases from The Messthetics and James Brandon Lewis, Willow, Jacob Collier and More!

By Geoff Stanfield

February 21, 2026

It's a good week for new music! Jacob Collier [Tape Op#151] released Something Heavy, an EP with three versions of "Something Heavy."...