Best Cassettes of 2019: Duplication.ca Staff Picks

Best audio cassette tapes of 2019 from Duplication.ca

2019 has been wall to wall audio cassettes for the Duplication.ca team. We’re non-stop duplicating, printing, and packaging audio cassettes, to the point that we’ve been dreaming in high-bias. With so many jammers on high-rotation at the production facilities and Toronto’s Dupe Shop, to pick an absolute favourite of the thousands of cassettes we’ve duplicated in the past 12 months is an impossibility. But man did we try. Here’s our staff picks of just some of our favourite cassettes of the year.


Equip - Cursebreaker X duplication by Duplication.ca

Josh’s pick (Production, Toronto)
Equip – “Cursebreaker X” c32

Cursebreaker X is the latest album from Chicago synth/vaporwave artist Equip (Kevin Hein). This album is the full realization of the performance and musical aesthetics, culminating in a new stage costume including a Unicorn horn, cape and glowing Cursed Sword. It takes you for an immediate ride into a fictional RPG bringing in inspiration from Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy and Secret of Mana, fleshing out castles, valleys and skies with styles of Progressive rock, synthwave and Ambience compositions. Available exclusively at the legendary 100% Electronicon 2 festival, now just a myth. Break the Curse!


Sacred Bones Record Society - Robert Eggers mixtape, manufactured by Duplication.ca

Ashly’s pick (sales, Montreal)
Robert Eggers – “Sacred Bones Record Society mixtape” c60

Working as a companion piece to Eggers’ truly incredible horror film The Lighthouse (one of the best films of the year), this mixtape is a lobster trap of sea shanties, tales of shipwrecks, and isolation induced madness. May cause nautical hallucinations, siren calls, and flooding.


Oppression - Le coeur plein de rage, manufactured by Duplication.ca

Samm’s pick (Pad Print, Montreal)
Oppression – “Le coeur plein de rage” c33

Lo-fi, tough, and scummy black metal from the basements of Montreal’s east end, blending into post-punk and oi territory seamlessly. No real internet presence, email directly for a copy.


DJ Speedsick - Nothing Lasts, manufactured by Duplication.ca

Fae’s pick (Production, Montreal)
DJ Speedsick – “Nothing Lasts” c48

Harsh as Hell techno, heavy and soaking in mixer feedback. Imagine if the blood rave scene from Blade set up a residency in the midwest, and then make it a bit grimier.


Odd Person - The Flowers of Arcadia, manufactured by Duplication.ca

Ryan’s pick (Dupe Shop, Toronto)
Odd Person – “The Flowers of Arcadia” c30

The sounds of the rainforest dropped in the middle of electronic compositions. Mallets and percussions emphasize your surroundings as living, breathing ecosystems. These deeply engrossing new age arrangements serve as a healing potion for the cold edges of city life. Recommended if you dig Spencer Clark!


Robert Glasper, Fuck Yo Feelings, manufactured by Duplication.ca

Denise’s pick (Manager, Montreal)
Robert Glasper – “Fuck Yo Feelings” c84

Nearly filling up a c90 tape, the Fuck Yo Feelings mixtape is STACKED with guest appearances with legends like Herbie Hancock and new school maestros such as Denzel Curry. Robert Glasper delivers on his unique style of jazz and hip hop fusion, exactly what you’d expect after his work on Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp A Butterfly.


CFCF - Liquid Colours cassette

Rob’s pick (Marketing Coordinator, Montreal)
CFCF – “Liquid Colours” c44

A revisionist look at corporate y2k-era IDM and jungle music, tailor made to soundtrack your Calvin Klein purchases, or day at the relaxation spa, or even choosing your souped-up car in a Sega Dreamcast game. Conceptually fascinating, sonically amazing. Somewhere between KLF’s ideological use of sampling and vaporwave’s critique of capitalism in the music industry lands Liquid Colours, a guide through consumerism in a pre-9/11 world.


Real World - The Language of My Life is Written in Blood, manufactured by Duplication.ca

Garret’s pick (Dupe Shop, Toronto)
Real World – “The Language of My Life is Written in Blood” c8

Viscous death metal, not for the faint of heart. Brutal riffs that will pummel your eardrums like a heavy weight to a punching bag.

Available at the Dupe Shop


The amount of talent that comes through the Duplication.ca production line is simply incredible. From hip-hop to black metal, from new wave to no wave, and from vapor to the occasional field recordings of glacier movements, we’re happy to boast that we’ve treated each tape with the attention and care it deserved. Can’t wait to hear what you all have in store for 2020! We hope you get to use your holiday break as an opportunity to cram your friends into a jam space and churn out a killer c20.

In the meantime take a look at our cassette duplication calculator for tons of packaging options, and cassette shell colours!

Happy holidays, tape heads!

Cassette Store Day sale: save 15% off cassette duplication orders!

Cassette duplication sale from Duplication.ca for Cassette Store Day 2019

Cassette Store Day is coming up, and we’re going to celebrate it in style at Toronto’s only cassette boutique, the Dupe Shop! We’re aiming for wall-to-wall stock of brand new cassettes, so we set up a fantastic limited time deal to make cassette duplication even cheaper.

Order fully packaged cassette duplication by September 8th and receive 15% off your order! In exchange we’ll stock up to 5% of your order quantity (or minimum 3 tapes) at the Dupe Shop to sell during Cassette Store Day 2019.*

All you have to do is add the coupon code CSD2019 at checkout and we will manually adjust the 15% discount upon receiving the order. Beyond that, it’s the same great cassette duplication service.

Click here to pick from dozens of shell colours, packaging options, and save 15% off cassette duplication!

*Eligible orders must comprise of duplication and packaging, including cover artwork. Dupe Shop stock quantity will be added to your total amount (i.e. if you order 100 cassettes, you will receive all 100 cassettes and we will duplicate an additional 5 for the Dupe Shop.) You will not be charged for the additional Dupe Shop quantity. All leftover items from Cassette Store Day 2019 will remain as sellable stock. Discount will be applied before taxes and shipping. Discount cannot be combined with any other sale or deal.

Tupperwave duplicated and packaged by Duplication.ca

We’ll be partying hard at the Dupe Shop all Cassette Store Day, keep an eye on your on the Facebook and Instagram pages for announcements!

The Dupe Shop
1185 Bloor St. West
Toronto, Ontario

Straight Outta Duplication.ca: Beat Tapes for your Boombox

From 80s NYC rappers to the modern day Ableton beat makers, cassette culture and hip hop will forever be fused. There are few things in the world that bring us more joy than popping a tape in our Nakamichi decks and listening to the chill snare hits and loop-digging samples of a hip hop beat tape. With our real-time duplication services and high-bias chrome tape the bass hits live loud and proud on cassette tape, allowing for a range of 20Hz to 20kHz.

Here are a few of our favourite hip hop and beat tapes that we’ve been blasting through the office!

Astro Mega - The Ends duplicated at Duplication.ca

Astro Mega – “The Ends” c26

Loop digging lofi hiphop beats duplicated to high-bias chrome cassette. Zone out and listen to the record pops and crackles dancing deep in the mix. Astro Mega is a Toronto local so this makes for great Game 6 half-time music during the inevitable Raptors win.
Available at the Dupe Shop


Recognize Ali - Islam duplicated at Duplication.ca

Recognize Ali – “I Self Lord And Master” c50

If you want an alternative to the Soundcloud mumble rappers look no further than Recognize Ali. When he says “that this that soulful boom bap sound” on ‘Liftin Me Higher’, he’s not lying. Limited edition cassette comes with obi-strip.


Cyrus Tha Great - CCC Vol​.​1: Beats Inspired by the film - Straight Outta Compton duplicated at Duplication.ca

Cyrus Tha Great – CCC Vol​.​1: Beats Inspired by the film “Straight Outta Compton” c11

Exactly as described, this cassette is overflowing with instrumentals and scratchwork in tribute to the legendary gangster rap crew. Has an awesome Roy Ayers sample on Side A. Truly dig the Akira style artwork and hand-numbered obi-strip.


Various Artists - Home Grown duplicated at Duplication.ca

Various Artists – “Home Grown”

Inner Ocean Records has an impressive and prolific back catalogue of beat tapes and instrumentals, and this compilation of record digging beats is a stand-out among stand-outs. Deep bass and killer vibes, each track differentiates itself from the last.
Available at the Dupe Shop


Pout - Nylon Tears duplicated at Duplication.ca

p o u t – “Nylon Tears” c26

Blending R&B, pop, and trap beats, this 2017 cassette still gets regular play at our Dupe Shop store in Toronto. Some tracks are filled to the brim with rapid snare hits and reverb-heavy saxophone, while others feel skeletal and atmospheric.
Available at the Dupe Shop


Do you have an album you’re aching to release on cassette? Take a look at our cassette duplication calculator to see all of our awesome shell colours and printing options. Our obi-strip and cassette etching options make for great limited edition releases.

Check out our cassette duplication calculator for an instant quote