Night Works was actually releasedjust over a year ago, but since then Layo &Bushwacka! have enjoyed success in the singlesmarket, prompting XL to reissue the album with fourbonus tracks tagged on the end. This is a suspectdecision artistically, as part of the original’sappeal was in the way it had been carefullyconstructed and segued to form a complete whole ratherthan a collection of individual tracks.
Nevertheless, the music itself stillsounds excellent, with nocturnal breakbeat tracks,down-tempo rumblings and upbeat house anthems, allproduced with imagination and flair. The boyshave a feel for a good soundscape, and among my choicecuts Sahara stands out for its highly atmosphericbreaks, with extra percussion flavourings and amusical language that hints at Eastern influences.
All Night Long is a fine house track, starting off as iffiring its own engine and then taking off into thesunset. Let The Good Times Roll typifies the moodyinstrumental feel to a lot of this album, and SleepyLanguage is just that – a slack beat, wah wah guitarsand a wide open sound but with a devilish bassunderneath.
Then of course there’s Love Story, theboys’ anthemic moment, recently crossbred with theKings Of Tomorrow‘s Finally to make a Top 10single. To me the original still sounds better, withthe Nina Simone sample. With both versions on thisrecord you can make the choice!
The follow up single, It’s UpTo You (Shining Through), is also present, as is acosmetic reworking of Let The Good Times Roll, which is notreally essential. New track Where Did We Go Wrongcloses the record with a tougher house sound.
If you have a keen interest indance music you probably bought this first time round,but if you didn’t I’d recommend you go and get it now.The addition of the bonus material isn’t strictlyrelevant, though. It’s the original record that still soundsgreat, organic and forward thinking.
Layo & Bushwacka! MP3s or CDs
Layo & Bushwacka! on Spotify
