Fitting name for a last album; The Books left behind an odd legacy with The Way Out. While their output was relatively small, the duo managed to establish themselves with their fourth and final album as major participants in the Plunderphonics scene. What is Plunderphonics? It's a genre of music that is heavily based in sampling; combing not only cuts from other songs, but audio recordings, sound effects, and often lo-fi ambiance. The Way Out is an excellent album to jump into the genre; although The Books use a lot of their own original compositions; moreso than their cohorts. Acoustics play a giant part in establishing the album's sound which is a concept album of sorts. Each track follows the concept of "self-help" tapes. Music includes many samples from these relaxing old school "don't be less than yourself" pep talk cassettes. Mixing these oddball rants about inner peace with beats that sound like they were made with the instruments from a child's toy-box is something not everyone might not appreciate; but for those listeners who want to guess what the hell they are playing on; it's pretty great. There's a wide range of emotion, from defiance, to chilly loneliness and the pop culture of the self medication. The voices ringing through the tracks are omnipresent, speaking directly to the listener like a therapist. They might be imaginary and faux, but there is still in an instant comfort when they talk to you in that gentile timbre.
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