7 out of 10



“If you move from Zero-7, K&D, Royksopp, Lemon Jelly and Fila Brazillia over to Leftfield, Good Looking, Ninja Cuts and Grand Central in a single sitting, then this CD is for you.” It’s always helpful to know what to expect from a sample collection and the sleeve notes for Downbeat & Leftfield go further than most in giving you a flavour of what’s inside. Hip hop, chill out, industrial, jazz, lounge, world music, drum‘n’bass… all are represented in this highly eclectic mix, although this does mean that no single style gets anything like comprehensive coverage. Of the 1,000-plus samples included (in .WAV and Rex2 formats and Reason NNXT refill patches for multi-sampled instruments), just about the only common theme is that all the samples have great feel - And even that isn’t always easy to identify from a single synth note or a bass sound. That’s why, in general, it’s the looped material which is the most successful and - Given the ease with which synth sounds can be produced in software form these days - arguably the most worthwhile.



The collection covers drum loops, drum kits, percussion, bass sounds and loops, instrument sounds and loops, SFX sounds and banks and vibes, as well as atmospheres - all beautifully recorded and well documented. The CD is part of Loopmasters’ Origin series which, by the end of this year, will comprise 12 titles, released in batches of four. However, there’s no sense of Downbeat & Leftfield feeling incomplete without its sister titles. On the contrary, all the CDs are complete in and of themselves.



A rich and varied source of sample material...