Artist ...... : Ben Westbeech
Title ....... : There's More To Life Than This
Genre ....... : House
Label ....... : Strictly Rhythm
Catnr ....... : SR362D
Source ...... : WEB
Quality ..... : 320kbps avg / 44.1KHz / Joint Stereo
Duration .... : 00:53:08 (122.MB)
Ripdate ..... : 18-09-2011
Store ....... : http://www.beatport.com/
Tracklist ... :
1. The Book 4:29
2. Something For The Weekend 4:31
3. Falling 4:20
4. Same Thing 3:20
5. Justice 6:12
6. Stronger 7:20
7. Inflections 5:33
8. Sugar 2:42
9. Let Your Feelings Go 5:48
10.Butterflies 4:36
11.Summer's Loss 4:17
Release Notes :
Reinvention can be tricky. Get it right, and you can become a master of musical
metamorphosis like Bjork. Get it wrong, and you end up with David Bowie's's drum
& bass period. Most artists trying to scrape their way out of a pigeonhole go
for one of two tried-and-tested routes. The first, which we'll "the Mark
Pritchard method," is to adopt a different alias for each musical pie you stick
your finger in. The second?"the Madonna method"?is to keep your name, but clutch
at the coattails of credibility by enlisting the trendiest producers of the
moment.
Ben Westbeech has taken both paths recently. Last year's UK funky anthem
"Fatherless" by Breach?which took research to reveal was indeed the work of the
Westbeech?was a far cry from the acid jazz-tinged 2007 album Welcome to the Best
Years of Your Life. And now we have There's More to Life Than This, the second
album to bear Westbeech's own name but one that bears just as little resemblance
to his debut. Welcome's blue-eyed soul has been shown the door. The new Ben
Westbeech has been given a house makeover by producers like Motor City Drum
Ensemble, Henrik Schwarz and Rasmus Faber.
But does this new change of direction work? Yes, by and large...even if the "The
Book" and "Something for the Weekend" initially make you think Westbeech has
been reincarnated as Jamiroquai. The polished jazz-funk and daytime playlist
disco aren't entirely unsuccessful, by the way. It's just that There's More to
Life gets better from then on. "Justice" has the trademark wintry deep house
atmospherics of Motor City Drum Ensemble, "Stronger" is a slowly building groove
fashioned by Midland and "Inflections" adds speedily strummed Spanish guitar and
rollicking percussion courtesy of Henrik Schwarz. Westbeech has chosen his new
friends carefully: This sounds like a coherent album rather than a string of
collaborations, with his creamy tones?and occasionally clichΘd lyrics?providing
a common identity throughout.
That identity doesn't seem as convincing or confident as his instrumental alter
ego Breach, however. Indeed, you sometimes feel that Westbeech is hiding behind
his producers. (Especially given that "Fatherless' proved he has the studio
skills to produce something pretty spectacular?and more unique?on his own.) For
the next album it'd be intriguing to see him drop the pseudonyms and the hired
hands and combine both sides of himself to showcase the "real" Ben Westbeech,
whoever that might be.