Layo & Bushwacka!

Finally, a pair of DJs put together a production album that flows like a mix-CD but doesn't sound like one. As co-owner and DJ, respectively, of hipster London nightspot the End, Layo and Bushwacka! continue to excel past their peers on this smooth-as-ice sophomore effort. Though rooted in techno, it drifts across the musical map, using scatting as percussion on "All Night Long," offering their own take on breakbeat jazz with "Blind Target," tackling an epic with the sublime anthem "Love Story" and keeping the bass line pretty low-end throughout the entire effort. Rarely overreaching, Night Works rolls out like a grandiose canvas, telling a tale of beats and the melodies that love them.