Top 200 Tapes Of 2013

12.3.13 by Tabs Out



Well here it is. The obligatory year end list all music sites must do in order to keep their blogging certification up to date. Like ALL “best of” lists it is flawed and missing things you would’ve included. We only listed tapes that we actually own. Ones that we have held in our hands and listened to on an actual cassette deck (so nothing we only heard on Bandcamp). If it wasn’t sent to us, something we bought, or found in the glove box of a stolen Volvo ala the Breaking Bad finale (Spoiler Alert!) then it’s not listed here. There’s also other factors. We probably didn’t get around to checking out every cassette we’ve gripped this year. Tabs Out received about 700 tapes in 2013. Big ups to everyone who sent us stuff! We appreciate it! But that is A LOT to go through and doesn’t include the stuff we’ve purchased and traded for along the way. Maybe we forgot about a tape that we really dug? If there was an artist that put out eight insanely good tapes, we tried to pick two or three of our favorites rather than flood the list with their entire output for the year. We also didn’t list any tapes by our projects (there might be a comp or two one of us is on. sue us), or that were released on the 905 Tapes or Beyond The Ruins labels. We grouped some releases together as we felt necessary.

So before you go on about “Where is the ____ C30!?” or “Why isn’t the ____/____ split C24 listed!?” or “why is this list coming out before the year is over!?” just chill out. This is all in good fun, and pretty ridiculous, so enjoy it. When possible we provided links to the label’s site. If any of this stuff is available, BUY IT! Make 2014 rule as hard as 2013 did! We wrote about a lot of these tapes in our Tape of the Month features and Who Has Tapes Anymore? column at Ad Hoc if you wanna check those out. When you’re done with the list, check out some Casstats from it.

Here we go…

1. Cream Juice “Man Feelings” (Orange Milk)



Like my parent’s generation with the Kennedy Assassination, I know exactly where I was when I first heard “Man Feelings”. I had just gotten back from the Philadelphia Zoo and a package was waiting for me from Orange Milk. I opened it up, threw the Cream Juice tape in a Walkman and started making dinner. I had to stop about half way through Side A to make phone calls. The crew NEEDED to know about this tape. Cream Juice is the duo of Seth Graham and Keith Rankin (Giant Claw) who operate the Orange Milk imprint, most definitely our most beloved cassette label in Tabs Out world. Together they generated the most frantic, sexy, and overwhelming fusion of sound I have heard in a long long loooong time. Layers and layers of perfectly stacked rations of ooey-gooey synths, midi mind benders, drums, sax, cut ups, clap tracks, guitar shredding, and who knows what else. Inspirations from every genre worth a damn are dunked into the special sauce and coated beyond satisfaction. Years from now, like JFK, teachers will stand in front of students and attempt to explain this cassette to them. YOU. MUST. HEAR. THIS. TAPE.

Check out the Casstats!