Luxury Problems (Andy Stott album)
| Luxury Problems | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Andy Stott | ||||
| Released | 6 November 2012 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 48:49 | |||
| Label | Modern Love | |||
| Producer | Andy Stott | |||
| Andy Stott chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Aggregate scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 8.1/10 |
| Metacritic | 86/100 |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| The Austin Chronicle |  |
| Exclaim! | 9/10 |
| The Irish Times | |
| Pitchfork | 8.7/10 |
| PopMatters | 9/10 |
| Resident Advisor | 4.5/5 |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Spin | 8/10 |
| Uncut | 8/10 |
Luxury Problems is the second studio album by English techno musician Andy Stott. It was released in November 2012 under Modern Love Records.
Stott's EP Passed By Me (2011) marks the beginning of the part of his discography where he made tracks with a less dub techno-tinged style that defined his previous records, opting instead for a much more bass-heavy sound a la Sunn O))) and Demdike Stare, slower tempos, and more abstract arrangements. However, the EP still contained elements of techno on tracks like “New Ground” or “North To South."Luxury Problems maintains the dark and abstract structure defined by Passed By Me and another EP by Stott released in 2011 named We Stay Together and is the first record in Stott's career where even the smallest elements of the techno music that inspired his earliest works are completely absent.
The tone and sound of Luxury Problems came from how significantly Stott's personal life was changed by the time he was working on his EP Passed Me By (2011). He started to not have any sleep and wasn't aware when a day actually started and ended anymore, which resulted with an LP having an unsure, fuzzy, and unsteady feel.Electronic Beats analogized the album's set of sounds as presenting a "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."
Stott explained that he wasn't influenced by any other music when he produced the album, much like Passed Me By where he only intended to create "tunes that sounded right to me." Despite this, Juno Plus journalist Richard Brophy still noticed parts of other works and "familiar" musical styles on Luxury Problems, such as the elements of the My Bloody Valentine album Loveless (1991) on “Numb" and the oldschool jungle-style sub bass on “Sleepless.” He compared the instrumental of “Up The Box” to the works of Stott's project Millie & Andrea. He also suggested the foggy weather of Stott's hometown Manchester came into shaping Luxury Problems' hazy atmosphere. Reed Scott Reid of Tiny Mix Tapes noted elements of 1990s music on the album, such as the flanging Amen break drum sample on “Up The Box."
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