Release Date: Apr 1, 2014
Genre(s): Electronic, Pop/Rock, Club/Dance
Record label: Modern Love
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The primary players involved with Manchester's Modern Love label aren't known for their accessibility. As Demdike Stare, Sean Canty and Miles Whittaker have spent the last five years exploring techno's chillier, more obtuse corners, merging the library-music aesthetic of projects like BBC Radiophonic Workshop with the harsh, pounding dub of Basic Channel. On his own, Whittaker's explored a slightly more streamlined take on dance music—albeit a take that's prone to ear-blasting noise—while psychic brethren and fellow Mancunian Andy Stott's made a name for himself with his slow, bog-dipped dub techno, most recently perfected on 2012's astounding, vocal-heavy Luxury Problems.
Miles Whittaker and Andy Stott treat their Millie & Andrea alias like a costume. Over their original run of singles from 2008 through 2010, they hid behind their masks to try out jungle, garage and juke. A tad less serious than most of their music, the tracks were often illuminating ("Temper Tantrum," "You Still Got Me"), but amidst renewed interest in Stott solo and the ascent of Whittaker's Demdike Stare, Millie & Andrea fell to the wayside.
After four years dormant, something has set Millie & Andrea off again. Officially outing themselves as Miles Whittaker (of Demdike Stare) and Andy Stott, the pair have returned via a surprise debut album and a whole new (and old) set of considerations. Drop The Vowels is essentially a mongrel breakbeat album, built all wrong and full of off-kilter asides.
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