Introduction
Rental Yields is a project by Front and Follow in support of tackling homelessness in Manchester.
Like many places across the UK, Manchester suffers from huge inequity and the visual representation of this is pretty stark – we see skyscrapers popping up all over the place, including in the new ‘Skyscraper District’ near Deansgate whilst 6,780 people in the city are currently without a home, many living in temporary accommodation*.
All money raised will go to SPIN (Supporting People in Need). You can find out more about their work HERE.
*from a report by Shelter, December 2021
How Rental Yields works
The idea is that each artist creates a new piece using audio or other things stolen (borrowed) from someone else. Artists are arranged in groups of three and connected to the other two people in the group whereby they steal (borrow) from one person (their TENANT), and the other artist borrows from them (their LANDLORD).
Around 120 artists have taken part in the project. Three volumes have been released so far, 6 volumes will be released in total.
The project may make more sense when you look at a grouping, I was in a trio with Bit Cloudy and Runningonair, the Bit Cloudy submission can be found on Volume One, the other two tracks will follow on later volumes.
Volume One
Volume one is an excellent album, it’s a bit glitchy and dark ambient, more on the noise and industrial side of ambient with a bit of IDM thrown in for good measure. A bit unsettling at times but it’s an engaging and atmospheric listen.
Robbie Elizee vs Kieran Mahon – Sister States
A lo-fi grainy feel with spoken vocals, it’s like a stream of consciousness with vocals fading into an evolving arp.
Bone Music vs Audio Obscura – Seize The Means Of Control Voltage
A glitchy vibe with layered percussive sounds and noise with a harsh edge.
Polypores vs Crisp Packet Jackets – Trance Goblins
Bass drone, metallic sounds and synth lead create an atmospheric track with subtle movement and nice edge.
Kat Bryan vs Cahn Ingold Prelog – Paladin
A kind of lo-fi vibe with pad and percussive sounds contrasts really well with the more floaty vocals.
Dogs vs Shadows vs Moray Newlands – The Soft Cushion Broke The Shadows Fall
A lo-fi ambient looping vibe, it has an edge of glitch and a slightly unsettling end.
Kuma vs The Leaf Library – A Guillotine For My Landlord
Dreamy vocals have a looping quality layered against a pad, sparse percussion and background sounds. There’s subtle movement and an edge of tension.
Spaceship vs Heavy Cloud – On What Were Once These Streets Before
A great ambience from layered synth and background sounds, there’s a subtle movement.
Mute Branches vs wesellboxes – Witching Residence at the Box Factory
Tape hiss and drone with looping percussive sounds, I really like how the song has strong industrial sounding rhythmic elements that contrast against noise and drones.
Salford Electronics vs Camp of Wolves – Shards
Wonky bass drone and synth are propelled by distorted drums which create an edge of tension, periodically released. Layered elements work really well.
Distant Animals vs The Revenant Sea – Yields
Rhythmic opening with pulsing background sounds builds with looping qualities and an experimental feel.
Elizabeth Joan Kelly vs The Burning Trestle – Portabella House By-the-Sea (After the Burning Trestle)
This song has a minimal techno feel with layered background sounds, emerging synth and great sound effects.
Soloman Tump vs Klaus Von Mork – Little Owl (Stolen Pellet Mix 2)
A dark ambience with layered sounds, there’s an edge from metallic sounds, spooky vocals and noise.
Silver Tears vs Quartersized – And I Stumble Around
Noise and pulsing sound effects, drums give momentum. Vocals have a dark quality and the song has a great tension.
Kinver Pond vs tarotplane – For The Benefit Of The Community
Rhythmic opening, distorted sound effects and heavily processed vocals create a dark, edgy sound.
Selfish Limbs vs The Kendal Mintcake – Surrender
A pulsing, layered noise track, there are vocal sounding elements which provide a great contrast.
Bit Cloudy vs Runningonair – Theoretical Conspiracy
Synth and vocals to open, percussion and bass give momentum. Great layering of arp, synths and percussion to build tension.
Bleepeater vs The Incidental Crack – Heroin Friend
An edgy feel to the song from drone, swirling noise and background sounds. Really like how the layering gives movement to the song.
Wodwo vs Shit Creek – Cetaphil Effaclar
Rhythmic elements with synth and bass, it’s ambience with an edge of tension.
Yellow6 vs David Walraff – The World Can Be As Sad As It Seems
Great ambience from guitar and background noise to open, it’s very atmospheric with layered guitars, synths and background sounds.
Yol vs Concrete-Field – Rental Yields
A harsh noise track, the vocals are very unnerving. Like something out of a horror film.
Volume Two
Volume Two is similarly excellent, it has more of an ambient / soundscape / synth feel than volume one but still with IDM, noise and glitchy vibes at times.
Twenty Three Hanging Trees vs Phexioenesystems – Demantelement Hexanique
A great ambience from layered percussive sounds, synths and bass, it has a subtle tension and cinematic qualities.
Camp of Wolves vs Rupert Lally – Wait At The Corner
Synth pad and bass propelled by percussion, nice build of tension and release to arp. I really like the contrast between the urgency of the bass and drums and more laid back synth pad.
Kieran Mahon vs CuSi Sound – Fanfare for the Uncommon Man
Great tension between a drone and more urgent percussion, layered delayed synth adds a great element.
Polyhymns x Dave Clarkson – Stoney Middleton Revisited
Great ambience to this song, sounds like running water and a machine of some sort with sparse synth, background processed bird songs (I think) and drone. Vocals add a great element, it’s a contemplative track.
Steve Hamilton x Jonathan Higgins – The Rent Hike Gambit
Glitchy vocals, arp and bass create a really interesting vibe, it’s kind of glitch ambient, a great edge.
Letters From Mouse vs Wodwo – Without Doors
Glitchy opening given momentum by processed drum rhythm which contrasts with an ambience and given further momentum with synth lead.
Hannya White vs Pettaluck – Lullaby Too Far
Really like the contrast between strings, noise elements and spoken word parts, it’s got a soundtrack feel and great tension.
HyMettus Woods vs Sun Curves – Beyond Words Minimal Mix
Somewhere between glitchy, lo-fi and noise, it’s an edgy song.
Graham Reznick vs Kepier Widow – One Nine Nine Three
Uptempo arp and pulsing synth given momentum by kick and bass, tension builds with great movement to a final release.
Graham Dunning vs THAT CLOUD – There’s another one, careful
It’s glitchy, edgy and rhythmic, very clever layering creates an excellent groove.
[we sell boxes] vs James Stiff – Skarne Shortcomings
This track has a great IDM feel. Processed percussion layered against bass, background effects and synth.
Four Italian Pep Pills vs A Beautiful Idea – Famous In The Holiday Inn In Bolton
Somewhere between IDM and dark ambient, bass and kick are layered with synth, sound effects and conversations in a large room where you can’t quite hear what people are saying.
Moray Newlands vs ireless – The Opportunity of a Lifetime
This is quite trippy, just when you think it’s going in one direction it changes completely, with elements of acid, chiptune and experimental.
Grey Frequency vs Dan Pope – Austere Sights
Dark ambient opening, background sounds layered with drone create a cinematic type of feel evolving with drone, synth and noise.
preston.outatime vs Moid – Horsecollider
Driving kick layered with background sounds, drum gives momentum. It’s somewhere between techno and trance.
The Snaps Jar vs Exit Chamber – Pillars Crumble
Big synth pad to open, processed kick, percussion and piano add contrasting layers. I really like the contrast between the ambience of the pad and piano and harsher, glitchy feel of the kick and percussion. The spoken words are very poignant.
Sarmism vs Hitodama Drone – The Book of Trespass
Pulsing pad and app propelled by sparse drum pattern, synth and drum pattern give momentum. Chopped vocals add a great element.
Pulselovers vs Wound – Flowmotion
Lovely ambience to the opening from pad, choir-like vocals and keys. Great evolution and subtle tension through layering.
Guerilla Biscuits vs The Both And – Rentier Liquidiser
A woozy opening, like a swarm of metallic insects buzzing around your head. Great changes of feel through the song with drumming, percussion and synth.
Kemper Norton vs Kuma – Under Instruction
Field recording of the sea with emerging organ type sounds, it’s an excellent soundscape, I really like how the child’s voice is subtle but very effective.
Volume Three
Another superb album in the series. A bit glitchy, a bit dark, ambience that’s edgy and atmospheric. This album has great contrasts, it’s ambient at heart but like Volume One it’s dark at times with glitch, industrial and noise elements thrown in for good measure.
Audio Obscura vs Secret Nuclear – Vacant Period
Discussion of property characteristics accompanied by layered synths and given momentum by kick. Glitched spoken words is a great touch. I really like how it has an edgy vibe.
The New Emphatic vs Graham Reznick – Coming Home
Saturated Synth, processed percussion and bass create momentum contrasting with vocoder vocals. It’s kind of edgy ambient.
Revbjelde vs Arvik Torrenssen – trixon psyykesoup
A trippy opening from chimes, pulsing noise and swirling processed speech, it has a great tension and an edgy feel.
K of Arc vs TVO – Secret rite in the Stroud water Suite
Atmospheric opening from percussion and strings, vocals give an edgy vibe. It’s dark ambient with a great change in feel to a final release.
The Revenant Sea vs Gormless – Blank Loop Structure
Rain and edgy metallic sounds to open, it’s industrial with an edge of tension.
Pettaluck vs Giant Head – Dot to Dot
Great contrast between processed speech, dirty bass and choir type vocals, a superb dark vibe to the song with an evolving glitchy groove and experimental feel at times too.
Megaheadphoneboy vs Solomon Tump – Guaranteed Returns
A mechanical, industrial sound with a glitchy vibe. Spoken words add a great edge. Synth arp adds a nice change of feel.
Jonathan Higgins vs Andrew Haines – a_single_point
A brilliantly ambient track, superb layering of drones, background sounds and percussive elements. I really like the movement, it’s an ambient core but has a harsher, metallic sound at times.
Autumna vs Bleepeater – Marks Land
Glitchy, feedback feel to the opening, it’s an ambient track with drone and subtle background layering.
Field Lines Cartographer vs Graham Dunning – Broken_Wires
Atmospheric opening with ominous bass drone and synth, it’s kind of noise yet minimal and ambient.
Sone Institute vs Twenty Three Hanging Trees – Night Voyage
This one’s really hard to describe, it’s a bit of a glitchy and percussive opening evolving into drone then synth arp and bass to give great changes of feel through the song.
Her Majesty’s Coroner for Wirral vs Polypores – r_UKlandlords
Pad and synth to open, it’s an ambient and swirly background with a spoken transcript from a reddit post.
The Metamorph vs Kinver Pond – Perspex Heliotrope
Delayed vocals, background sounds and vocals layered with synths, bass and percussive sound create an edgy ambience.
Concrete/Field vs solo1 – section 106 obligation avoidance module
It’s percussive and glitchy with a hint of harsh noise. Really like the change of feel with the groove. Superb layering, excellent sound manipulation.
Von Heuser vs Silver Tears – (sunken) Scarlet Eyes
Machine-like pulsing sounds, ethereal vocals, looping synth riff, drone and beeps create an abstract sound but with a looping quality and great contrasts.
Lines of Silence vs Robin the Fog – Dead Yet
Glitchy delayed percussion, metallic-sounding bass with layered sound effects creates a glitchy, mechanical kind of vibe releasing to an ambience.
David Wallraf vs Opium Harlets – Houses in Slow Motion
Drum patten and bass accompanied by metallic sounds and synth create an edgy groove evolving into noise through to drone to finish.
The Ephemeral Man vs Kat Bryan – Long Way Home
Ethereal choir type vocals to open, synth arp acts like percussion. Choir type vocals swell in and out and compliment sung vocals really well. Reverse piano adds an excellent element. Minimal arrangement creates a very engaging sound.
Heavy Cloud vs Farmer Glitch – inside your house; a place of mirrors and ghosts
A pulsing ambience with background percussive sounds and the sound of birds and insects buzzing round your head, it’s a really well layered song that contrasts harsher sounds against the ambience really well.
Caleb Joyce vs Polyhymns – Nothing Was Happening
Drone with slow kick and choral type singing creates a tension, there’s great movement in the sound which builds and releases the tension really well. The evolving acid bassline is a great contrast.
Decommissioned Forests vs Pulselovers – Rental Yields
This one is somewhere between drone and noise with sub and layered noise / drone elements. A slow evolution with spoken words and release to a rumbling drone.
A Beautiful Idea vs Repeated Viewing – Uneasy in the Sunshine
It’s glitchy, noisy and chaotic with delayed swirling background sounds, feedback and synth stabs. But in a good way.
IVY NOSTRUM vs The Snaps Jar – AND MONEY LESS
Rumbling bass drone and sparse percussion, it’s a bit glitchy with an industrial vibe. Nice change of feel to a more ambient sound with bass and pad / synth, there’s an evolving tension with release.
Vex Message vs Sarmism – Xstabeth (in memory of David W. Keenan)
Pulsing drone and whispered male and female voices create an unsettling opening, other vocals have a disembodied feel. Really like the emerging groove, synth adds a great element and there’s an edgy vibe.
Shit Creek vs Letters From Mars – cluttercup
Sounds a bit like an old dial up modem that’s been bit crushed, layered with noise elements, synth and static hum. It’s edgy and really well produced.
