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Andy Stott

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Andy Stott
Live at CMKY Festival 2009
Live at CMKY Festival 2009
Background information
Also known asAndrea
OriginManchester, England
Genres
Occupation(s)Musician, producer
Years active2005–present
LabelsModern Love

Andy Stott is a British electronic musician and producer, living in Manchester.[1]

Biography

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His debut album was Merciless[2] in 2006, and was followed by Unknown Exception (2008) and Luxury Problems in 2012.[3]

Passed Me By (2011) marked a significant change in Stott's sound; it has none of the elements of his previous dub techno release, opting for a much more bass-heavy sound.[4]

Stott has undertaken several productions under the moniker Andrea and these works were released on Daphne, a sublabel of Modern Love.[5] Most of this work is in association with MLZ / Pendle Coven's Miles Whittaker who used the moniker Millie in the recordings[6] and were released as Millie & Andrea. In 2012, Stott collaborated with the Brooklyn duo The Hundred in the Hands remixing Keep It Low[7][8] from their 2012 album, Red Night.[9]

Stott's album Luxury Problems received top album awards on both Resident Advisor[10] and Pitchfork[11] in 2012.

In March 2014, Stott and label-mate Whittaker released Drop the Vowels, under the Millie & Andrea moniker.[12]

Artistry

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Stott analogises making music to a scientist creating compounds, by figuring out formulas that use studio gadgets and parts of other music.[13] He never borrows inspiration from his personal experiences when he produces material.[13] As Zach Sokol explained when he interviewed Stott in 2016, "his music draws from where he's at creatively, functioning as a reflection of whatever curiosity is currently making the gears in his head churn."[13] When creating albums, he also tries to make each track have a very different aesthetic by using a variety of equipment and musical influences.[13] As he explained, "I go to the studio and I don't mess around, but at the same time, I don't really know what's going to come out."[13] Modern Love boss Shlom Sviri also contributes suggestions and ideas to Stott when he creates tracks and sequences the order of songs on his LPs.[13]

All of Stott's work touches on many types of experimental styles and genre.[14][15] Tiny Mix Tapes writer Birkut analysed Stott's works employ neo-futuristic themes and are hard to label in specific genres because they are "shifting disfiguration of Detroit techno, grime, house, and industrial music."[16] Stott's music contains a melodic structure that has been compared by multiple critics to Cocteau Twins and Dead Can Dance.[14] A trademark element in his works is the use of rhythms that are slightly off beat, which often gives the tracks a feeling of anxiety.[14]

Since Luxury Problems, vocals from Stott's former piano teacher Alison Skidmore appear on his music,[17] and numerous pieces about Stott's second, third and fourth studio albums highlighted, as well as praised, the interplay between the menacing instrumentals and the light tones of Skidmore's singing.[4][15][18][19] The vocals have a bright pop tinge[14] and an ethereal tone that contradict the otherwise sinister vibe of the instrumentals.[17] As Stott discussed creating Luxury Problems, "when it was suggested that I use a vocalist, I was worried that it would sound different to the normal way that I write tunes, but when I heard that bass coming from the speakers, that visceral bass, I knew that I still wanted that undertone as a counterpoint to her vocals."[17]

An Electronic Beats review of Luxury Problems described its sounds as presenting "the beautifully decayed aura of concrete and chrome, halogen and grime—the soul of a heaving, monstrous city at twilight, equal (yet often struggling) parts fragile light and enclosing darkness."[18] Writing a PopMatters article about Too Many Voices, Alex Franquelli wrote that "patches of comfort" are included for the "sole purpose of creating an imbalance that makes the darker elements stand out and shine in all their misty glare."[19] Reed Scott Reid's review of Luxury Problems for Tiny Mix Tapes analyse it "represents an apogee of scruffy elegance, curdled rhythms growling within the crumbling masonry of its bitworn shunt."[20] He wrote the vocals "dimly illuminate a pervasive auroral gloom, shafts of ecru and dun mottled with putrescent tinctures; a mournful, angelic presence – a long-deceased sacristan, perhaps – bleeding through the aether as faint drumsteps crack gravel."[20]

Personal life

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Stott is married, and has a son who was born in August 2012.[21]

Discography

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Albums

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List of studio albums, with chart positions
Title Year Peak chart positions
UK
Indie
Break
[22] 		BEL
(VL)
[23] 		US
Heat
[24] 		US
Dance/
Elect
[25]
Merciless 2006 — — — —
Unknown Exception 2008 — — — —
Luxury Problems 2012 — 167 44 24
Faith in Strangers 2014 11 140 — 18
Too Many Voices 2016 — 101 — 11
It Should Be Us 2019 — — — —
Never the Right Time[26] 2021 — — — —

Singles and EPs

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As Andy Stott:[27]

  • 2005: Replace (EP)
  • 2005: "Ceramics"
  • 2005: Demon in the Attic (EP)
  • 2006: "Choke" / "For the Love"
  • 2006: "Merciless"
  • 2006: The Nervous (EP)
  • 2007: "Handle with Care" / "See in Me"
  • 2007: The Massacre (EP)
  • 2007: Fear of Heights (EP)
  • 2007: "Hostile"
  • 2008: Bad Landing (EP)
  • 2009: "Brief Encounter" / "Dripping"
  • 2010: "Tell Me Anything" / "Love Nothing"
  • 2011: We Stay Together (EP)
  • 2011: Passed Me By (EP)
  • 2013: Anytime Soon
As Millie & Andrea
  • 2008: "Black Hammer" / "Gunshot (Stripped)"
  • 2009: "Spectral Source" / "Ever Since You Came Down"
  • 2009: "Temper Tantrum" / "Vigilance"
  • 2014: Drop the Vowels (Album)
As Andrea
  • 2010: "You Still Got Me" / "Got to Forget"
  • 2010: "Retail Juke" / "Write Off"

Remixes

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  • 2011: "Know Where (Andy Stott Remix)" on Holy Other's EP With U
  • 2011: "Great (Andy Stott Remix)" on Hatti Vatti EP Great
  • 2012: "Keep It Low (Andy Stott Remix)" on The Hundred in the Hands EP Keep It Low
  • 2012: "Pleasure (Andy Stott Remix)" on Blondes' album Blondes
  • 2013: "Valentine (Andy Stott Remix)" on False Idols' One sided-12"
  • 2013: "Concrete (Andy Stott Remix)" (remix of Batillus song)
  • 2015: "Boys Latin (Andy Stott Remix)" (remix of Panda Bear's song "Boys Latin" off of his 2015 release "Panda Bear Meets the Grim Reaper")
  • 2015: "MG – Europa Hymn (Andy Stott Remix) " (remix of Martin Gore's song)

References

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  1. ^ "RA Reviews: Andy Stott – Unknown Exception: Selected Tracks Vol. 1 (2004–2008) (Album)". Residentadvisor.net. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  2. ^ "Andy Stott – Live at Alpha-Ville Festival 2011". Red Bull Music Academy Radio. 3 November 2011. Archived from the original on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  3. ^ "Luxury Problems (Second Edition – Emerald Vinyl) by ANDY STOTT – 2LP – Boomkat – Your independent music specialist". Boomkat. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  4. ^ a b Beta, Andy (25 April 2016). "Andy Stott: Too Many Voices". Pitchfork. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  5. ^ "Andy Stott". Alpha-ville.co.uk. Archived from the original on 3 January 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  6. ^ "Knackered House: Andy Stott's Modern Love". Sonic Router. 26 December 2011. Archived from the original on 20 November 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  7. ^ "Andy Stott goes subterranean on a new remix of The Hundred in the Hands". Factmag.com. 14 May 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  8. ^ "Andy Stott & JD Twitch remix The Hundred in the Hands | Juno Plus". Junodownload.com. 19 April 2012. Archived from the original on 22 April 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  9. ^ "The Hundred in the Hands Share Andy Stott Remix, Announce North American Tour Dates @ Top40-Charts.com – Songs & Videos from 49 Top 20 & Top 40 Music Charts from 30 Countries". Top40-charts.com. 15 May 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
  10. ^ "RA Poll: Top 20 albums of 2012". Resident Advisor. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  11. ^ "Staff Lists: The Top 50 Albums of 2012". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2 January 2013.
  12. ^ "Drop the Vowels at Modern Love Records". Modern-love.co.uk. Archived from the original on 28 December 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  13. ^ a b c d e f Sokol, Zach (28 April 2016). "Andy Stott Decodes the Mad Science Behind His Latest Sonic Experiments ". Thump. Vice Media. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  14. ^ a b c d Tantum, Bruce (21 April 2016). "Andy Stott Too Many Voices". XLR8R. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  15. ^ a b Richardson, Mark (29 October 2012). "Andy Stott: Luxury Problems". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 November 2012.
  16. ^ Birkut. "Andy Stott – Too Many Voices". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  17. ^ a b c Brophy, Richard (14 November 2012). "Solving life’s luxury problems: An interview with Andy Stott" Archived 2 September 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Juno Plus. Juno Download. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  18. ^ a b Jones, Daniel (16 November 2012). "Angelic Engines: Daniel Jones recommends Andy Stott’s Luxury Problems". Electronic Beats. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  19. ^ a b Franquelli, Andy (27 July 2016). "Andy Stott: Too Many Voices". PopMatters. Retrieved 29 August 2017.
  20. ^ a b Scott Reid, Reed. "Andy Stott – Luxury Problems". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 4 September 2017.
  21. ^ Jackson, Glenn (7 November 2012). "In the Studio: Andy Stott". XLR8R. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  22. ^ "Official Independent Album Breakers Chart Top 20". 23 November 2014 to 29 November 2014. Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  23. ^ "Discografie Andy Stott" (in Dutch). Ultratop Flanders. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
  24. ^ "Com Truise: – Chart history: Heatseekers Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  25. ^ "Com Truise: – Chart history: Top Dance/Electronic Albums". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
  26. ^ "Andy Stott Never The Right Time". The New Yorker. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  27. ^ "Andy Stott " Modern Love | A record label". Modern Love. Archived from the original on 30 October 2012. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
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