ComfortZone
Several
http://www.soundonsound.com
http://www.futuremusic.co.uk
http://www.keyboardmag.com
Rhodes Attacks
Future Music 8/99
"Everyone secretly likes the sound of an electric piano, and this CD will titillate Jamiroqual and Elton John fans alike with its collection of chords and licks from the Fender Rhodes Mkl 73 (the most sought after electric keyboard of all time!" apparently). No tedious multisampling rubbish here, thank the Lord, just funk and plenty of it.
There are three main tempos used throughout this CD: the hip hop friendly 90bpm, the housey 125 bpm and the trance-fastic 150bpm. Quite why these weren’t in the 160/170 bpm drum’n’bass region is a mystery, so unless you’re happy about pitching them up it looks like time for Mr Timesstretch to make a trip to Loopsville.
That aside, the Rhodes has a gorgeous sound and most of the samples come in a variety of flavours: dry, with reverb, with effects, etc. The riffs are generally of the jazzy variety, with an occasional dose of funk, and they’re delicious. No written interpretation can come close to expressing how they sound, but the words cheeky, sparkling, mysterious, lush and groovy spring to mind. If you make music that’s even slightly funky, you’ll love this collection."
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Sound On Sound 6/99
"From German sample CD producers Ueberschall comes this 74-minute mixed-mode CD, featuring (as the name suggests) the world-famous Rhodes electric piano. The layout takes the form of a series of solo performances lasting between two and four bars each, and within each track ID there are usually two or three variations on a specific theme enabling you to select (for instance) one for your verse, one for your chorus, and so on. The performances cover an impressively wide range of styles from slow blues, acid jazz, and retro rock styles, all the way through to choppy funk, trip-hop and even pseudo-romantic mushy chords that the likes of Mariah Carey and Kenny G would be proud to squeal all over. Obviously, the ’Retro Force’ is strong in this one and you can easily see how the Rhodes’s kitsch influence has extended into so many areas of popular music today, including hip-hop, drum & bass and the kind of mass-appeal retro-disco that keeps Jay Kay from Jamiroquai in Ferraris. The performances on this disc are all highly musical, and are made all the more authentic by the clever use of the type of effects you would expect to find on a Rhodes piano sound, such as wah-wah, rotary speakers, rich choruses and even a bit of distortion now and then. Not that this gets in the way all the time, as more often than not the producers have provided alternate dry versions of most of the takes. All of the riffs are listed with their tempos and relevant key signatures, and the sleeve notes are clear and easy to follow. One extra bonus, which is a very good idea with a ’performance’ sample CD of this type, is that MIDI files for all of the tracks are burnt into the audio CD in CD EXTRA format (Mac/PC), meaning that once you have sampled your riff and placed it in your track, you have a good deal of flexibility should you need to double the part with another MIDI instrument. Unfortunately, Rhodesattacks is a one-trick pony, insofar as you are pretty much stuck with the performances as-is; there are no multi-samples, and no scorchingly mad solo riffs to speak of. If, however, you already have plenty of electric piano sounds in your sound modules (and lets face it, who doesn’t) and you’re looking for a specialist product dealing in some truly inspired chord-based riffs and licks performed by someone who obviously loves the Rhodes and, more importantly, knows exactly what they’re doing with it, Rhodesattacks might be right up your street."
Brazil Electro
Sound on Sound 5/2002
"TAKE A TRIP TO BRAZIL!", the press release reads. "Electric Lounge, Club Music, Easy Listening meets Brazil, Afro Cuban, Salsa and Bossa Nova." The liner notes cite artists as diverse as Carlos Jobim, Astrud Gilberto, Lalo Schifrin, and Kruder & Dorfmeister as the inspiration for the relaxed and jazzy sounds on this double-CD set.
Brazil Electro has been programmed, arranged, and produced by Marko Popovic, with various other musicians on live guitar, bass, keyboards, and percussion parts as required. The first third of the CD follows the familiar 'construction kit' format, where brief complete mixes are played and then broken down into their component parts. The quality of these is very high throughout, and the complete mixes suggest a range of creative possibilities for the various samples.
The drum and percussion loops are loose and funky, exhibiting a convincing depth and grit, and they follow a similar format to the preceding construction kits, but feature only drums and unpitched percussion sounds. Each expertly layered rhythm track is patiently deconstructed into its component loops and hits, allowing a lot of scope for programming variations on the supplied patterns. The bass lines are very useable, warm, and lively, with some electric, some acoustic, and one or two synthesized sounds.
Next come the pitched instruments, beginning with a brief selection of acoustic and electric guitar phrases, presented in a variety of keys and tempos. These are followed by a handful (so to speak) of acoustic and electric pianos , though a few more of those great Rhodes and Wurlitzer sounds would have been nice here, but you can't have everything. There are two minutes of short brass hits and stabs of varying quality, with more percussion loops winding up the CD, including some nice live bongos, and a short miscellany of 'leftover' hits and stabs.
Brazil Electro offers a good selection of useable samples with plenty of character. The samples themselves are consistently good and the production is excellent, with very few duff sounds having slipped through. If you enjoy the distinctive South American vibe it sets out to recreate, you should get a lot of mileage out of this material.
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Future Music 1/2002
This collection gives an interesting twist on Latin sounds. These aren't the usual samples you'd expect, rather it's more a modern representation of all things Brazilian.
The collection is broken down into the following categories: loops, construction kits, cuts, horns, instruments and percussion loops. The traditional sounds are blended with electronic rhythms, extras and lo-fi extras. The instrument section has a solid collection of double bass, guitar and a variety of different horns, all of which are extremely usable. As you'd expect, the rhythm samples are top notch giving beat loops, percussion loops providing modern useable samples that, at this moment in time, are still very popular. The cuts section offers the little bits that you can easily use to layer as an extra layer to rhythms, there are also some very tasty flute samples.
Overall, this is a well-constructed collection if some extremely useful samples. The best thing is that most of these samples will be used; they all have a place in all forms of music. So, don't be put off by the Brazil tag, this has far more to offer. The contents list the likes of Lalo Schifrin, Towa Tei, Quincy Jones, Kruger & Dorfmeister as the inspiration for this CD and once you've listened to it, you'll see why.
FM Rating: 9 out of 10
FUTURE MUSIC PLATINUM AWARD !!!
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Keyboard US
Pros: Clear stylistic focus. No filler. Tasteful processing.
Cons: Construction kits don t include single-instrument percussion loops.
Bottom Line: Go for it!
If you`d like to try your hand at Latin-flavored electro lounge, or if you`re already deep into it and need some fresh meat, Brazil Electro would be a great library to have on hand. Producer Marko Popovic knows just how to blend simmering beats with crunchy Rhodes and warm, deep bass to serve up a tasty musical gumbo. The package opens with eight well-developed construction kits. Each starts with a longish arrangement with all the backing tracks: bass, drums and percussion, chords, effects samples, and so on. These tracks give you three or four different textures in four-bar or eight-bar chunks, so if you`re in a hurry you can snip out some phrases and set up your own verses and choruses. The drum mix (all of the drums together) is then soloed, followed by the non-drum instruments in a group. Next are the short loops on single instruments out of which the longer arrangement
was built. Finally, you get the single drum-hits soloed.
This is a nice, versatile setup and it`s only the start of the fun. The 20 tracks in the Beat Loops section have full drumbeats followed (in most cases) by soloed instrument loops. The Percloops, Instruments, Hornsamples, and Livepercussion sections are even more of a mixed assortment. But it`s not a jumble; tempos and keys are well documented, and the selection of instruments, from shaker and guica to whistle, keeps the Latin vibe center stage. Marko has done his down-tempo homework, commented second listener John Krogh. The arrangement tracks sound every bit as trippy and vibey as anything you d hear on a DJ Kicks compilation. For me, though, the up-tempo club tracks were less satisfying.
I especially liked the crisply played, warm-toned bossa guitar chord patterns; somebody should do a whole library of this stuff. The acoustic piano riffs were recorded in atmospheric ways, with tinny miking and thick room reverb, so they ll fit right into your mixes. Ditto for the horn stabs.
Aside from tasteful reverb, vinyl scratch noises, and some luscious distortion on a couple of electric piano tracks, there`s not much in the way of effects processing; Brazil Electro is not about pure sound design, it`s about good-feeling beats and chord patterns. Can`t beat that.
