Modern Love
Last year Andy Stott released two stellar EPs of murky dub techno. They were a wonderful departure from all of the current changes to dubstep as they incorporated chopped dance beats with dark synthesizers wonky loops and strange samples. This latest release finds Stott working with his old piano teacher Alison Skidmore who performs some incredible vocals throughout the album.
On the opening track “Numb” Stott starts off by repeating Skidmore cooing “Touch” and layering her singing over the single word. Her vocals are spliced up even more into a beat and the layered vocals keep coming. It’s like trying to remember a dream where you only have the bits and pieces scattered around to make things just coherent enough to remember. The vocals are followed by a pulsating bass beat that sounds like a bunch of boulders rolling down a hill. It’s a great cave jam.
“Up the Box” is a bit of a departure from the rest of the album as it sounds very similar to a Squarepusher track. It starts off in a slowed down drum and bass beat but eventually slows to a snail’s pace. Somehow this doesn’t sound out of place at this point on the album. This is an excellent release offering some of the darkest grooves to dance to in a huge cloud of fog.
