Tape Op Staff Picks 2021

It's that time of year again where we go back through our digital listening histories or simply look over at the turntable to get a handle on just what we were enjoying this past year. There were a ton of great releases this year, many of them made during in bedrooms, basements and cabins during lockdowns, quarantines and the spaces in between. We gave a little leeway for some late or perhaps overlooked 2020 releases. Enjoy.

Larry Crane

1. Steven Wilson
   The Future Bites

2. Anders Parker
   Wolf Reckoning

3. Illuminati Hotties
   Let Me Do One More

4. Yes
   The Quest

5. The Beatles
   Let it Be (Super Deluxe Edition)

John Baccigaluppi

1. The Weather Station
   Ignorance

2. Cassandra Jenkins
   An Overview of Phenomenal Nature

3. Low
   Hey What

4. Hand Habits
   Funhouse

5. Floating Points, Pharaoh Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra
   Promises

6. Arushi Jain
   Under the Lilac Sky

7. Big Red Machine
   How Long Do You Think it's Gonna Last?

Geoff Stanfield

1. Blitzen Trapper
   Holy Smokes, Future Jokes

2. Amyl and the Sniffers
   Comfort to Me

3. King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard
   Butterfly 3000

4. Rachel Eckroth
   The Garden

5. Xenia Rubinos
   Una Rosa

6. Nate Smith
   Kinfolk 2: See the Birds
   
   

Anthony Sarti

1. Turnstile
   GLOW ON

2. Clams Casino
   Winter Flower

3. The Weeknd
   "Save Your Tears" (w/ Ariana Grande) Remix

4. Crumb
   Ice Melt

5. Sons of Alpha Centauri
   Push

Andy Hong

1. In Inertia
   Efflorescence

2. Wings of the ISANG
   The Borderline between Hope and Despair

3. Pat Metheny
   Road to the Sun

4. Alina Baraz
   Sunbeam/Moongate

5. Hope Tala
   Girl Eats Sun

6. Rodrigo Amarante
   Drama