BLOG | NOV. 28, 2021

Tape Op Staff Favs for 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.

2021Wrap2
image1

Larry Crane

image2

Steven Wilson -
The Future Bites

Anders Parker -
Wolf Reckoning

image3

Illuminati Hotties -
Let Me Do One More

racheletc

Yes -
The Quest

metheny

The Beatles -
Let it Be (Super Deluxe Edition)

John Baccigaluppi

The Weather Station -
Ignorance

Cassandra Jenkins -
An Overview of Phenomenal Nature

Low -
Hey What

Hand Habits -
Funhouse

Floating Points, Pharaoh Sanders and the London Symphony Orchestra -
Promises

Arushi Jain -
Under the Lilac Sky

Big Red Machine -
How Long Do You Think it’s Gonna Last?

Geoff Stanfield

Blitzen Trapper -
Holy Smokes, Future Jokes

Amyl and the Sniffers -
Comfort to Me

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard -
Butterfly 3000

Rachel Eckroth -
The Garden

Xenia Rubinos -
Una Rosa

Nate Smith -
Kinfolk 2: See the Birds

Anthony Sarti

Turnstile -
GLOW ON

Clams Casino -
Winter Flower

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

Crumb -
Ice Melt

Sons of Alpha Centauri -
Push

Andy Hong

In Inertia -
Efflorescence

Wings of the ISANG -
The Borderline between Hope and Despair

Pat Metheny -
Road to the Sun

Alina Baraz -
Sunbeam/Moongate
/

Hope Tala -
Girl Eats Sun

Rodrigo Amarante -
Drama

MORE ENTRIES

Tunde Adebimpe: Thee Black Boltz

April 18, 2025

Tunde Adebimpe: Thee Black Boltz

BY Geoff Stanfield

Ian Brennan interviewedTunde Adebimpe forTape Op#155, and he has just releasedThee Black Boltz, a beautifully conceived album full of interesting soni...

New Bon Iver: SABLE fABLE

April 13, 2025

New Bon Iver: SABLE fABLE

BY Geoff Stanfield

Listening toSABLE, fABLE, the new release from Bon Iver, it dawned on me that he and co-producer Jim-E Stack, have created a collection of songs that ...

New Music from Dirty Projectors

April 4, 2025

New Music from Dirty Projectors

BY Geoff Stanfield

We interviewed David Longstreth of the Dirty Projectors back in 2013 forTape Opissue #93. His new release,Songs of the Earth, is a return to a sound a...

New Music From Tortoise

March 31, 2025

New Music From Tortoise

BY Geoff Stanfield

Members of Tortoise have graced the pages ofTape Opfor years. We interviewedJohn McEntirein 2001 for issue #23, and more recently we coveredJeff Parke...

New Music From Lucy Dacus and Perfume Genius Produced By Blake Mills

March 30, 2025

New Music From Lucy Dacus and Perfume Genius Produced By Blake Mills

BY Geoff Stanfield

We interviewed producer and guitarist Blake Mills inTape Op#115and for ourpodcastin 2019. He’s produced newly-released records for both Lucy Dacus –Fo...

Fort George Brewery and Tape Op Overdub IPA

March 21, 2025

Fort George Brewery and Tape Op Overdub IPA

BY Geoff Stanfield

Brian Bovinizer is the Marketing and Sales Director at Fort George Brewery in Astoria, Oregon. Being aTape Opreader, some 11 years ago he spottedTape ...

Mdou Moctar Releases Tears of Injustice

March 5, 2025

Mdou Moctar Releases Tears of Injustice

BY Geoff Stanfield

Released in 2024, Mdou Moctar'sFuneral for Justiceis a raucous, distorted guitar-driven album that, along with bands such as Tinariwen, turns the idea...

Panda Bear Releases Sinister Grift

March 4, 2025

Panda Bear Releases Sinister Grift

BY Geoff Stanfield

It's always a good day when I discover that there is new music from Panda Bear. It hits all the marks for me; nods to the classics, modern concepts, s...

New Music From Rafiq Bhatia

February 25, 2025

New Music From Rafiq Bhatia

BY Geoff Stanfield

We hadRafiq Bhatiaas a guest on ourDISCussion podcastin June of 2023. His new release, a collaboration with pianist Chris Pattishall,Each Dream, A Mel...