Residents Bin: 2021 Roundup
Some staff picks from each month of this year.
What a year, not going to lie it was really tough to pick one release from each month. The residents are really putting out incredible stuff every month. Have a check through our staff picks from the year for a selection of some of our favourites.
January: J. Tripp— Off Peak Constant
Kicking off with this one from GEORGIA’s J. Tripp.
Hailing from New York this producer has a way of melding together an assortment of all things naughty and nice in Hip Hop, abstract electronica, stranger dance music and much more into something entirely his own.
It’s been on my heavy rotation all year, Plaque have always been releasing amazing kit, keeping things fresh at every turn.
February: Bretwalda— Barrowlands
Resident: Stay Awake!
Label: Stay Awake!
Drone fuelled medieval takes from Bretwalda on Stay Awake.
Interspersed with spoken word covers of Anglo Saxon texts, rhythms with industrial inflection lay the groundwork for perennial instrumentation to take focus.
All round wholesome and wistful, the album is of top tier quality — I still cant get enough of it. I wanted to include Stay Awake’s latest Sissy Fuss release also, but in the interest of fairness have kept it with just this piece. Lovely stuff from the label.
March: TML — VOIP 01
Resident: TML
Label: Self Released
Taken from TML’s archives of stuff previously only heard in a live setting. This release features 4 tracks, two noise orientated and two stompers.
The two rhythmic bits with DIY techno inflection are sandwiched by grotesque noise fuel fit to wake the beast.
Something great for later nights and angry days. Go get it — all proceeds donated to Second Harvest Heartland, providing hunger relief in the Upper Midwest.
April: Autumns — Be Desire
Resident: Dyslexia Sound System w/ Autumns
Label: Deviant Pleasure
Split on Deviant Pleasure with Autumns on the A and AIR LQD on the flip. Truly nostalgic EBM stuff in the new style, Autumns tracks in keeping with his brand of noise fuelled ripping bass lines. AIR LQD’s take a slightly slower approach, at times more abstract, but always heavy and always satisfying.
The whole thing is amazing, for fans of L.I.E.S’s more industrial stuff as well as the traditional industrial heads.
May: Hidden Construct— Hidden Construct II
Resident: Muzak Concrete
Label: Muzak Concrete
Undulating ambiences interlocked with breaths of soft pads all underlay this wholly gentle album from Hidden Construct.
All of these modular soundscapes arranged in a rather abstract composition are fit to backlight any time of day.
Listen if you fancy going into a deep calm.
June: Yosuke Tokunaga— 9 Mezzotints
Resident: Vacast
Label: Vaagner
All of the tracks in this album tend to come in and out of my mind at different times every month. The textures and sound palette in it are truly addictive, it’s probably been one of my favourite albums of the year in all honesty.
Beautiful piano noodles, string arrangements and disjointed recordings all brought into one, cohesive project courtesy of Yosuke Tokunaga and the people at Vaagner. Keep your eyes on this label, they’ve been consistently amazing over the last year.
July: Always From The Same Angle — Always From The Same Angle
Resident: Lust Pattern
Label: Lust Pattern
Bristol ambient powerhouse Lust Pattern with this release from Always From The Same Angle.
A gentle hour long trip through piano parts, noise laced field recordings and unassuming ambient pieces, recorded originally between 2018 and 2021 and brought into cohesion more recently.
One for an end of the week commute, peaceful and warm.
August: V/A— 5th Birthday Compilation
Resident: Slack Alice
Label: Slack Alice
5 years of Slack Alice, Bristol wouldn’t be the same without them. Providing a space for the freaks and weirdos of Bristol as well as being an integral force for the cities experimental scene.
The album features 16 tracks from all the familar faces we cherish here as well as tracks from Stephen Mallinder and Mick Harris (Scorn). Doesn’t really get better than this.
The more I listen to this thing the better it gets, treats in every crevice.
September: Caro— Lowlands
Resident: Radio Limbo
Label: Limbo Tapes
Forward thinking business from Caro for Limbo Tapes. Ambient laced beats, sparse and textural with the occasional vocal layer to keep you focused. Easy to lose yourself in these.
Poised between warmth and the cold the album takes form at the intersection of both. Everything about this is lovely, the drum programming, the sample selection, the pacing, highly recommend.
October: Sticks In The Wheel — Tonebeds For Poetry
Resident: From Here w/ Stick In The Wheel
Label: Stick In The Wheel
Like if Broadcast had gone down a more industrial route.
Drones, noise, distorted percussion, readings field recordings weave the sound of Tonebeds For Poetry into something refreshing.
The album tracks London’s sonic identity through the ages, in one sweet package. Incredible stuff.
November: WESQK COAST — Clava
Resident: OOH-Sounds
Label: OOH-Sounds
Another candidate for label of the year in my opinion, OOH-sounds have never been short of exceptional.
This album is exemplary of their output, delightful surgical computer production spun in an organic sound style, refreshing to no end, peaceful and intense when it wants to be.
The flavours across this are continuously exciting, and as such, I’ve not stopped listening to it since it came out. You probably should to if you haven’t already.
December: V/A (MISH) — Risky Business vol. 1
Resident: MISH
Label: Egregore Collective
Bristol’s MISH with his bit for the Egregore Collective comp out a few weeks back.
Such lovely sound design on this thing, everything sounds as it should be, tight and crisp.
Gear fit for the basement dwellers to wade through sweat and smoke to. Go support a talented man on the up.
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