Way Out West - We Love Machine

Features - It's a Review-off

Written by Scott Brown and TK

(1) Scott Brown:

Legendary Bristolian dance duo Way Out West are all set to launch We Love Machine on 6 October, 2009 through label Hope Recordings.

It's their first LP since 2004 and only their fourth in sixteen years of partnership. Fans will be pleased to know that their loosely ethereal blend of trance and house, spun together around wispy vocals and synthy melodies, is every bit the flavour of Way Out West they have come to know. True enough, the standards of production and musical styling have the hallmarks of DJs Jody Wisternoff and Nick Warren's long service on the world's dancefloors. However, after trying to enthuse a positive response to their latest release, I couldn't help drifting away from this album.

It's good, and just as commercially potent as any of their previous releases, but it lacks an edge. It's now 2009 and their sound seems flatly conventional. I wanted to picture myself bopping away on a packed dancefloor to these tunes, just as legions of clubbers have done for the past decade and a half.

Instead, I found myself in a half empty cocktail bar wondering where the party had gone. The track "Surrender" caught me in its groove for a while, but nothing truly stood out about this album. This is very well made but standard issue stuff. Middle of the road.

5/10

(2) TK

Progressive-house darlings Way Out West's forth album has been eagerly anticipated for a number of years now. The brainchilds behind Way Out West, ultra-talented DJs Jody Wisternoff and Nick Warren, do not fail to deliver another collection of songs which feature not only progressive-house roots but also a mix of breaks, synth and vocals.

"We Love Machine" is, in the main, fairly down-tempo. Overall, the sound is more akin to Way Out West's past-classic "The Fall" than "The Gift".

First-up tune "We Love Machine" kick-starts the album with a fine mix of synth and breaks. "Only Love", the first single released from the album, begins with lingering vocal undertones set amongst groovy breaks, which soon gives way to a soaring repeated chorus. It is a good-times song; semi-vocal-house, if you will.

The album then progresses towards slightly darker roots, which arguably peaks with the starkly beautiful vocals and funky drums of "Surrender" before lifting in mood again with "Survival", which features a captivating-chorus and prominent-strings, and the sassy "Tail of the Rabid Monks".

"We Love Machine", like the very best electronic albums, is an eclectic affair. Way Out West has again created an album which is assessible to not only general electronic-music fans, but also punters who demand a record with some guts.

8/10

Featured Single of the Week

Howler - Back of Your Neck

Featured Album of the Week

VA – Smoove pres: MO’ RECORD KICKS: Act II

This latest collection from label Record Kicks is easy on the ear.

If it doesn’t have you dreaming of better days in the snap of a second, there is something wrong with you. This record is an aphrodisiac for the modern workplace.

From "The Young Patter" by the Baker Brothers and "Prophets Bound to Christ" by William Joseph Fowler & the Disciples, DJ Smoove mixes up a storm on record Act II. With the types of sounds that would be at home at a funk club in the funkiest of cities in the funkiest of countries, there is no denying that DJ Smoove is, for want of a better description, a cool cat.

A particularly favourite track of this reviewer is "Rags to Riches" by the Liberators, a fresh afro-funk act hailing from Sydney, Australia. The track is so rich with the sounds of Africa, it is a wonder it was not produced in, ummm, Africa.

The Diplomats of Solid Sound have been on my radar for a while, and so have Lack of Afro. So it does not surprise me that the Lack of Afro remix of the Diplomat’s tune "Give Me One More Chance", is an outright classic.

Similarly to a lot of the new releases from the team at label Record Kicks, this is highly recommended!

Label: Record Kicks

8/10