AMG
Aug 1, 2001 12:00 PM, Dave Hill Jr.
Even if you don't think you're familiar with Keith Le Blanc, chances are you've been grooving to his beats for most of your life. Le Blanc's funk, pop, and hip-hop drumming and production résumé includes megastars like Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, James Brown, Annie Lennox, Seal, R.E.M., and more. The Essential Trilogy is two years' worth of Le Blanc's funky fresh grooves and sounds spread over three audio CDs, a collection packed with a wide range of hip-hop and even some unusual blends of electronic and acoustic ambience.
The trilogy's three CDs are Hip Hop Hard Phat, Old Skool Beats: Class of 2001, and Out There. Tempos generally range from 60 to 120 bpm, with loops divided into two- or four-bar sections the exceptions are a few 160 bpm jungle beats and some tempoless soundscapes.
Le Blanc describes disc 1 as “mostly the meat” and disc 2 as “hard drum loops with a lot of (over)dubs.” The main difference between the discs is their drum tones. Old Skool Beats' drums sound shorter, tighter, and more finished. And while these old-skool beats may seem somewhat like playground jams, they also sound similar to what one might find on a contemporary rap album hence the name Class of 2001. Thankfully, many of the more produced vibes repeat those same grooves by themselves, both with and without effects and scratching dubs. That is a great advantage for producers who want to add their own licks or even some of the naked scratch samples on disc 1 (tracks 41 through 43).
Although the beats are often panned radically a bit too much for my taste the kick drums boom with plenty of reverb and massive low end. I particularly enjoyed the electronic and effects combinations, such as “Flying 808's” and “Fuzz Dubs” (tracks 21 and 43 on disc 2). I like having sounds separated more and wish some of the scratches mixed into grooves could be applied to other drum loops for solo use.
Disc 3, with 48 tracks of audio, starts off with “Waterscape 1,” which is essentially gurgling water sounds behind cymbal swipes and bell chimes. Aside from washy pads and dramatic, airy synths, you will hear talking drums, cymbals, and congas, all with varying degrees of spooky delays and additional reverb. I found the first few tracks on this disc to be a bit uniform, but Out There begins to have some real possibilities as it leads into the MH PERC section, beginning with “Drum Corps Scape” and world music-sounding delayed congas and hand drum tracks.
Each CD contains 74 minutes of audio, with documentation provided in three four-page foldouts describing each CD's contents. Titles are straightforward if unimaginative. For instance, disc 1's track 1 contains four loops and reads: “093 BPM: Full Mix/Big Verb Mix/Bigger Verb Mix/Kit.” Single hits are included at the end of disc 1, in track 44 and tracks 50 to 55.
The resulting down low for Essential Trilogy: for less than a Benjamin ($89.95), many producers will be getting hip-hop hard, fast.
Overall Rating (out of 5): 4
AMG/EastWest (distributor);
tel. (800) 833-8339 or (310) 271-6969;
Web www.amguk.co.uk and www.soundsonline.com
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