Manchester producer and master of exploratory techno Andy Stott turned into a subversive bass fetishist on his last two EP’s, and new offering Luxury Problems finds him once again obsessed with the low end of things. It’s leagues-deep dub that thuds along the ocean floor where the undesirable creatures lie, but the addition of meticulously produced and angelically high vocals from Alison Skidmore (a former piano tutor of Stott’s) compliments his atypical ugly desolation.
Leading track ‘Numb’ cements this new direction as a waiflike multi-layered vocal line is looped before the bass enters to give the album life, like the pounding engine of a towering war machine. ‘Lost and Found’ sees Stott migrate back to familiar territory with uneasy production that throbs through the deep alongside a haunting torpid vocal. Proving once again that he is utterly incomparable, Stott gracefully manages to blend the opposite counterparts of the ethereal and the decaying. What starts as hard to stomach becomes almost hummable with the addition of a Portishead-like click drum. ‘Sleepless’ is a thudding hark back to earlier techno days; production is an unstoppable force and Stott opts for vocal samples rather than the albums direct approach. It’s a galley-rave, but this ship is more Flying Dutchman than Belafonte.
Bass doesn’t go much lower than ‘Hatch the Plan’, a sinister Aphexian groove that confidently fuses otherworldly mourning with evil atmospherics while the white noise of Expecting provide an ominous sense of what’s to come. The bass gives the track a heartbeat and it becomes an affront- though it’s more exploratory than abrasive.
Luxury Problems provides the best example of Stott’s ability to masterfully craft his production around pre-recorded vocals; a funk bassline and drumbeat coupled with soothing, oohing drones. However, momentary flourishes in instrumentation feel wildly out of place.
While requiring repeated listens (preferably using high-quality headphones) to fully comprehend, the delicate choral line and groove of ‘Leaving’ means that while Luxury Problems may begin life as a leviathan, it ends up a much tamer beast.
Luxury Problems is streaming in its entirety over on NPR.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTOsBk-V9uA?rel=0]
