Andy Stott - Merciless [Modern Love - 2006]Andy Stott’s debut album offers up ten slices of sleek and atmospheric beat work, that Ripple with beautifully edgy piano. Stott has managed to artful mix electronica, bassy dance fluctuations, crisp beats patterns and memorable melodies. Looking for refence points here there, are elements of early Autechre , with the cold emotional melodic air of Amber. Another Warp artist, that comes to mind is Aphex twin in his more thoughtful and less playful moments. Also you can hear touches of Future sounds of London ambient techno adventures. The Orb's dubbed out spacey, beatscapes. But All the time Stott keeps an ear on the beats and the song structure, so it doesn’t become too experimental. Stott has managed to stamp his own personality here too, making this very much his own creation, instead of a stale copy of other peoples work. Some tracks do tend to wander down thier own musical cul-de-sac, relying a bit too much on repeating a similar formula. Never the less the good tracks, out weigh the bad ones. Both a emotional and feet moving debut, which shows a really bright future for Mr Stott, with out a doubt a name to look out for. Roger Batty
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