MINIREVIEW: ZERO-G URBAN ELEMENTZ SAMPLE COLLECTION
Oct 10, 2006 3:31 PM Jason_Scott Alexander (Writer)
New York remixer/producer Robert LaRow and the Xfonic crew have assembled more than 1,350 fresh hip-hop and R&B samples (1.5 GB) in a superb cross-pollination of urban flavors sure to fill floors and influence the charts in months to come. Generally tipping the high end of a 65 to 114 bpm spread, you get 35 construction kits offering 16-bar full mixes and backing submixes, complete with builds and turnarounds, individually tracked instruments and a multitracked selection of the drums (including fills) for mixing. Single drum hits used in the main groove and a folder containing hundreds of complex scratches accompany each construction kit, providing plenty of variety.
Aside from killer programming, brilliant instrumentation went into these kits. I love the trippy clarinet hook that forms the backbone in "Breezy," which is countered by a Mellotron flute phrase and string stab with a big fat tuba holding it all down. Likewise, the troubadour-themed "Don Robbery" combines mandolin and piano with Latin congas, low synth strings and flute for a mysterious, commercial sound. "Drumline" integrally weaves subkick and kick drum into call-and-answer tracks, while a string/organ riff is signed off by a large timpani and finger cymbal on the down beats. A common thread through this self-proclaimed East Coast library, though, is that it often blends in Dirty South influences, such as the Timba-like "Southernstylez" kit and many Neptunes-style samples. This disc could drop some seriously ill tracks.
For more information, visit www.soundsonline.com.
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