Top 200 Tapes of 2019

12.20.19 by Tabs Out Crew

1 101 Notes On Jazz (Suite 309)

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Can one justify awarding thee most prestigious designation in the cassette community to 101 Notes On Jazz?

No​pe.​​​​​



Luckily I don’t need to justify it.​ I can just sorta do it.​ ​But maybe I’ll try to convince you a little bit? Maybe you’ll agree with me that this tape from Suite 309 feels like no other tape feels. Sure, mountains of ferric oxide ​were inscribed this year with LUSH drones, HARSH walls, and RARE synthesizers, but only one includes tips on buying hat feathers or “the horseless taffy alternative” and it’s 101 Notes On Jazz. Only one presents itself like an inside joke that no one is in on and it’s 101 Notes On Jazz.

Raymond C. Scott III​’s​ bogus ​radio ​bumpers​ are delivered casually and at a steady clip, all anchored in an AM jazz station zone​. H​is diction could not be more sincere as he rattles ​the absurd collection off.​ I hesitate to use a reductive Tim & Eric comparison here, even though that may be pretty spot on. You feel it hard during moments of Raymond announcing a ​shoe left behind at the hot dog roast​​ and his bad relationship with tap dancing​, and with his buttery, Wareheim-like voice, but​ a focused listen to 101 Notes (as silly as that sounds) finds something more.

An excerpt from the 40-second track New Duck Whistlers unwinds ​”That was Melt Me Tender​​ by The New Duck Whistlers. Tommy Duckson on the trap kit. That’s Kit Tenderloin in the drum pit, and it was basically a drum bonanza on that one. Brett “Bandana” Shandling on the triangle.​” ​The word flow of Duck to Duckson, kit to Kit to pit, bonanza to Bandana hits hard. This isn’t just yuk-yuk funny, it’s DIFFICULT LISTENING! True outsider shit. It’s also the best tape of 2019 and I refuse to convince you any more. Go throw butter at the ducks.







2 V/A – ShopLand World: Music for a Discovery Park of Miniature Supermarkets (Strategic Tape Reserve)

Commerce. It’s stupid and I hate it. More to the point, I don’t like leaving my house, and online shopping is for jerks. Plus, in transactions of commerce, money is exchanged, and I don’t have much of that, or any. In addition to these data points, I’m a terrible grump about virtually everything. keep reading at Tiny Mix Tapes







3 Fire-Toolz – Field Whispers (Into the Crystal Palace) (Orange Milk)



It was proven, it remains proven, that we are all electric narratives covered in varieties of skin, and that perfect sound can forever connect us to the infinite possibilities of being. keep reading at Tiny Mix Tapes







4 Robedoor – Negative Legacy (Deathbomb Arc)



5 Magic From Space – 🎶 4 HSP ć ASMR vol. 2 (Ingrown Records) +



6 Buck Young – Buck II: Where Do You Want It? (No Rent Records)



7 Budokan Boys – Dad Is Bad (Baba Vanga)



8 Laura Luna Castillo – Folksonomies (Cudighi)



9 V/A – Doom Mix Vol. III (Doom Trip) +



10 Bastian Void – Acreage (Muzan Editions)

11 Storyteller – Project R.O.Y. (ADAADAT)

12 Bonnie Baxter – AXIS (Hausu Mountain)

13 Dinky Mirage – 005 (Traced Objects) +

14 Curved Light – Airs of Modality (Unifactor)

15 Gwasg Gelert – Y Côd Da Vinci (Strategic Tape Reserve)

16 Moth Cock – If Beggars Were Horses Wishes Would Ride (Hausu Mountain)

17 Adderall Canyonly – Give Me Room Under the Fire of the Sun (Orb Tapes)

18 Bending Spirit – Flowermoon (Boudoir)

19 Nihiloxica – Biiri (Nyege Nyege Tapes)

20 George Chen – ord Origami [Deluxe] (Deathbomb Arc)

21 Savage Cult / German Army – split (NEN)

22 Marsha Fisher – Inverted (Bad Cake)

23 Mukqs – SD Biomix (Orange Milk)

24 Crazy Doberman – Synth Tidings Vol. II (Not Quite Archaic)

25 Ditto – Bookjum (Cudighi)

26 Oariana – A Pear on the Wind (Ingrown Records) +

27 Beyt Al Tapes – De Gendt (Beartown)

28 Shadows – Sin | Sionis (Polar Envy)

29 Brin – Loose Leaf (Leaving Records)

30 Former_Airline – Rewritten by the Future (Moss Archive)

31 Wes Tirey – No Winners in the Blues (Patient Sounds)

32 Tim Barnes – s/t (Obsolete Staircases) +

33 Jadapod – Art (Next Age)

34 somesurprises / supercandy – Some Candy (Crash Symbols)

35 Sophiaaaahjkl;8901 – Fiber​​-​​Optic Fur & 3D​​-​​Printed Bones (Suite 309)

36 Satin Spar – Grey Fox Dreamwalk (Shadowtrash Tape Group)

37 Ron Thomas and John Swana – Serenity (Galtta) +

38 Fuck Lungs – 2th (Already Dead) +

39 Hippies Wearing Muzzles – Euler Haze (Moon Villain)

40 Nicholas Langley – Nicholas Langley Plays the Vitamin B12 (Strategic Tape Reserve) +

41 German Army – Salary Of Stagnation (Cønjuntø Vacíø) +

42 Dos Monos – Dos City (Deathbomb Arc)

43 Life Education – Guru Overlord (Specious)

44 Adderall Canyonly – Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said (Bibliotapes) +

45 Bath Consolidated – Narryer Gneiss Terrane (Orange Milk) +

46 V/A – Sounds from the Black Lodge: A Tribute to Twin Peaks (No Problema)

47 Severino Pfifferling – Musik für Spülmaschine und Synthesizer (Strategic Tape Reserve) +

48 Vague Voices – Гробник (Amek Collective) +

49 Dave Public – More Than This (Hot Releases)

50 Synth Sisters / Nikmis – split (Muzan Editions)

51 Body Image Corporation – s/t (Skrot Up)

52 Tereshkova – Chunks of Monochrome Rainbows (Astral Spirits) +

53 Mitchell W. Feldstein – Pretty Boss (Flag Day)

54 Dean Leininger – Unmoved, Unspoken (SDM)

55 ASPS – Master was not perturbed (Mayonnaise Glaze)

56 Wasteland Jazz Unit – Session to Nothing (Oxen)

57 Kymatic Ensemble – Split Series Vol. 4 (Sean McCann / Seth Graham) (Orange Milk)

58 Hylopath – Driverless-Human (ADAADAT) +

59 V/A – Infinite Futures (Full Spectrum)

60 Endurance / PJS – split (Crash Symbols)

61 The Holy Circle – Sick With Love (Deathbomb Arc)

62 Hasufel – Manifestations of the Spirit (El Tule)

63 Goblintropp – Physical Walking Among Unquiet Trees (Lighten Up Sounds)

64 Regular Music – Online Summer (Never Anything)

65 Storm Ross – Home (Already Dead)

66 Dutch Courage – The Lounge Era (Bezirk)

67 Curved Light – Flow and Return (Constellation Tatsu) +

68 Post Moves – No Dignity in Haste (Obsolete Staircases)

69 Tiger Village – Modern Drummer (Hausu Mountain)

70 Elizabeth Joan Kelly – Departure 2019 (self released)

71 MAbH – On Being Pollinated (Third Kind)

72 German Army – Year of Solitude (Castle Bravo)

73 LXV – Payload (Anòmia)

74 3 Cherries – S/T (Terry Tapes) +

75 Chad Munson – Surface Tension (Muzan Editions)

76 M. Sage – Bias Folklore (Patient Sounds)

77 V/A – Splixtape (Hypnic Jerk)

78 Devin Bateson (with Manolis) – Conversational Relaxation (self released)

79 j. b. glazer – Compact Break (Them There)

80 Nonlocal Forecast – Bubble Universe! (Hausu Mountain)

81 Khaki Blazer – Optikk (Hausu Mountain)

82 Reinartz – Interactions (Jollies) +

83 moduS ponY / VLK – split (Strategic Tape Reserve) +

84 Nicholas Langley – Nix Six New Plus Two (Third Kind Records)

85 BBJr – Junior Nuclear (Lurker Bias) +

86 Revenge Technician – Problem Addict (Head Destroyer)

87 Margraff & Yantis – Ohne Eile (Patient Sounds)

88 CDX – Lion Cuts (Doom Trip)

89 Joseph Allred – Aspirant (Garden Portal) +

90 Sleepland / Nakayama Munetoshi – split (Muzan Editions)

91 Wobbly – Monitress (Hausu Mountain)

92 The Blue Tapes House Band – Vol. 3: Chase Me Before The Plague (Blue Tapes)

93 royallen – Cassette Tape (Permanent Nostalgia)

94 HRNS – Naomi (Warm Winters)

95 Carey – The Driver (Already Dead)

96 Sugar Pills Bone – Lumb (Orb Tapes) +

97 Machine Listener – Colurbrid (Hausu Mountain) +

98 Clone 334 – Tac (self released)

99 Hainbach & My Panda Shall Fly – Borrowed Water (Muzan Editions)

100 Chefkirk / Mossy Throats – split (Moon Myst Music)

101 Skyminds – s/t (Auasca) +

102 Space Heater – Full Blast (Terry Tapes) +

105 Tyresta – Circles Back Around (Obsolete Staircases) +

103 Autophonia – nolite te bastardes carborundorum (Scioto Records) +

104 German Army – No No Boy (Phormix)

106 メトロノリ Metoronori – “​?​” letter (Cudighi)

107 Mrs Dink – Death by Misadventure (Crash Symbols)

108 Valance Drakes – An Angel in Alliance with Falsehood (Amek Collective) +

109 Új Bála – Diacritical Marks And Angels (Baba Vanga) +

110 New Injuries – Make Techno Black Again (Obsolete Staircases)

111 Yves Malone – Beyond the Before (Never Anything) +

112 HOTT MT – Earth on Heaven (Doom Trip)

113 Günter Schlienz – Island (Feathered Coyote) +

114 Whettman Chelmets – Giant Eyes & Infant Steps (Girly Girl Musik) +

115 Granchio Pinocchio – kNN (Dinzu Artefacts)

116 Matt LaJoie – Happy to Help (Flower Room)

117 Kitty Wang – Filter_Romp_v1​.​4 (Tone Burst)

118 Madteo – Burn Brightly in the Night Then Disintegrate Wit Delight (Origin Peoples)

119 The Hell Hole Store – Three the Hard Way (Already Dead)

120 Günter Schlienz – The Icelandic Tapes (Hangover Central Station) +

121 Euglossine – Coriolis (Hausu Mountain) +

122 Ruined Spirit – Black Metal’s Redemptive Arc (Display)

123 qualchan. – Goodbye to All That (Houdini Mansions)

124 Neil Campbell – Mirror Mania Ersatz Chamber (self released)

125 The Tuesday Night Machines – Roof Tent Rhythms (Strategic Tape Reserve) +

126 Hasufel – Decrepit (Plush Organics)

127 Final Cop – A Struture of Violence (Clan Destine)

128 Shredded Nerve – Attempting An Exit (Thousands of Dead Gods)

129 Aghnie & Seqta – House of Spleen (Crash Symbols)

130 Flower Power Synth and Woodwind Ensemble – Titanic II (Obsolete Staircases) +

131 Somnambulists – From the Field to the Factory (Zum Audio) +

132 Sparkling Wide Pressure – Yowling Seers (Lillerne)

133 Veio Abiungo – The Dregs (Lost Tribe Sound)

134 Frank Hurricane – Hurricanes of Love (Crash Symbols)

135 Bloor – Drolleries (Astral Spirits) +

136 Seth Graham – Hint (Mondoj)

137 Adderall Canyonly – Influenza 10 (Personal Archives) +

138 Debby Friday – Death Drive (Deathbomb Arc)

139 Among the Rocks and Roots – Raga (Orb Tapes)

140 Jen Kutler – The Ways We Wait (Flag Day) +

141 Soda Lite – Vale & Stone (Inner Islands)

142 V/A – Sampler Platter Vol. I (Cudighi)

143 type/token – Still. (Traced Objects) +

144 Lärmschutz / The Howl Ensemble – Faux Amis Vol. 6 (Faux Amis)

145 Gut Fauna – Magicicada (Ingrown Records) +

146 Sharkula x Mukqs – Prune City (Hausu Mountain)

147 South City Hardware – Redirected Midi (Third Kind Records)

148 Giuseppe Falivene – Air Chronicles (Amek Collective)

149 Treru / Modrian Loop – Grey/Yellow (Outward Records) +

150 Plake 64 and the Hexagrams – All Hail Yeah (Nullzone) +

151 Will Guthrie – Some Nasty (Hasana Editions) +

152 M.T. Hall – NV (Pale Master)

153 Nik – Nik – Era One (Sanzimat International)

154 Fletcher Pratt – Rituals for Magnetic Vol. 1 (Never Anything)

155 C. Olivia Valenza – Noumena/Bruises (FTAM Productions)

156 Brin – Hug Sway (Patient Sounds)

157 Mukqs – Jaki Crush (No Rent)

158 V/A – In Chiaroscuro (Polar Envy)

159 Jordan Anderson – Hand of Fear (Outward Recrds) +

160 Burnt Probe – Corresponding Exits (Madriguera) +

161 Blaine Todd – Every Road is a Good Road (Debacle/Full Spectrum)

162 Regarding the Muisc of Others – Shank William (Patient Sounds)

163 Dere Moans – Inglorious Deathsounds Mixtape (Bad Cake)

164 Arian Shafiee – Arabic Voices (Unifactor) +

165 Jordan Reyes – A Night With My Aunt’s Dolls (Heavy Days) +

166 Amirtha Kidambi & Lea Bertucci – Phase Eclipse (Astral Spirits)

167 V/A – The Mondrians (Hotham Sound) +

168 Paranoid Time – Gruesome Mutilation (No Rent)

169 Peter Kris – Mandan / Moroni (OTA) +

170 Bang! Bros – Big BANG! Theory (Parts One & Two) (Hausu Mountain)

171 V/A – Alone in the Dark (Hot Releases)

172 New Age Dad (Origin Peoples)

173 Gateway – Summed​-​Up​-​Sounds In Process (Round Bale Recordings)

174 TRUPA TRUPA / Suspirians – split (Whited Sepulchre)

175 Larry Wish & His Guys – Fable Table Cloth (Bumpy)

176 Cool Person – Weird Person (Permanent Nostalgia)

177 Space-Saver – Exponential Bummer (Hiccup Records)

178 Acid Parenting – Vision Wrecker Service (self released)

179 Billington/ Shippy/ Wyche – The Eventual Warp Cat (No Index)

180 Kudler / Gerycz – Kapteyn B (Dove Cove)

181 G.S. Sultan – Jeremy (Mondoj)

182 Crank Sturgeon – high-fibre-dire (Tingo Tongo Tapes)

183 Moon RA – mUSICA iN dIFFERENT iNUTILI sERVICES Vol​.​1 (Unifactor) +

184 Church Shuttle – Mind Leash (Anathema Archive) +

185 Lena Tsibizova – 3rd Track (Baba Vanga) +

186 Xentone – Forensic Beats (Degenerate Trifecta) +

187 Bani Haykal – This is You Glitching My Death (Hasana Editions)

188 Eternal Showers – s/t (Moss Archive)

189 Endurance & Kris Keogh – Processed Modular Works (Obsolete Staircases)

190 Sunwatchers – HausuLive 1: 4/13/2019 at Cafe Mustache (Hausu Mountain)

191 Aaron Oppenheim – Cumberland County (Full Spectrum)

192 Bridges of Königsberg – Considered Parallel to Borders (Or Dividers) (Flag Day Recordings) +

193 Morgan Garrett / Sunk Heaven – split (Hot Releases)

194 Concrete Colored Paint – Free Association (Park 70) +

195 Marsha Fisher – Chain Whisperer (Gay Hippie Vampire) +

196 Atariame – Voiceless (Not Not Fun)

197 Pulse Emitter – Calming Winds (Muzan Editions)

198 Whettman Chelmets – Doesn’t Remember… (Strategic Tape Reserve)

199 øjeRum – The Eyeless Sea (Vaagner)

200 Crazy Doberman – Weight Testing On Rotten Load Bearings (Baked Tapes)