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Download Ghetto Grooves 2 |
Press Reviews |
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Author: Review by: Sound On Sound
NOVEMBER 2004
Unsurprisingly, this is a follow-up to Tekniks successful Ghetto Grooves, which obtained a four-star review in the SOS September 2002. Well, if it ain't broke, don't fix it - the new release is aimed at exactly the same hip hop and R&B styles as the original, and follows a similar format; some 25 construction kits are complemented by a generous collection of individual bass, synth, kick, snare, and hi-hat samples. The WAV files total over 650MB, while each of the construction kits provides between six and about a dozen loops, plus a few individual samples.
The musical contents of the kits themselves are definitely aimed at the sparser end of the field - think Jay Z rather than R Kelly - so if smooth and soulful late-night R&B tunes to turn the lights down to are your thing, then you would need to look elsewhere. Original tempos for the construction kits are generally between 90bpm and 110bpm, and the emphasis throughout is on the beats. Each kit generally contains three or four drum loops and some have additional percussion loops. These are all well put together, with plenty of aggressive kick and snare sounds to give the loops just the right attitude. Most of the sounds seem to be classic drum-machine fodder, and the large collection of individual kick, snare, and hi-hat samples (well over 2000 in total) would provide plenty of ammunition if you wished to programme your own loops to sit alongside those provided.
The instrumental loops are mostly simple and uncluttered, and this is generally the right way to go with this style of music where the vocals (sung or rapped) are the dominant feature. Most of the kits include a bass and synth loops, but there is also a good smattering of guitar, Rhodes, string, and clav, plus some occasional trumpet and even a sitar or two. Despite the deliberate simplicity of the majority of the bass or synth riffs, there is enough in the way of musical hooks to add some character between the vocal elements during song construction.
With the appropriate tempo- and pitch-shifting, mixing and matching the various loops between different kits proved straightforward - the consistency of the styles and original recording tempos made this easier than with some other loop sets. In use, perhaps my only criticism was that it might have been nice to have a few more instrumental variations (particularly bass loops) within some of the construction kits. A little extra work with the beat-slicing tools or a sampler using the numerous individual samples supplied would soon put this right however. All in all, Ghetto Grooves 2 seems to follow on where the original left off. The loops and sounds are pretty much spot on and, without sounding too clean or sanitised, would fit right into the grittier end of the current (very commercial) hip-hop/R&B marketplace.
4 Stars
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Author: Review by: Music Tech Magazine
AUGUST 2004
Hip hop artists aren’t exactly known for their shy, retiring approach, and claims to have produced a collection of the ‘hottest beatz’ and ‘phattest tracks’ have become about as noteworthy as the inevitable sample licensing agreement on the rear cover. Titles like Ghetto Grooves don’t exactly inspire confidence, either – even if this is the second volume in this particular series. But hope springs eternal, and dropping any new CD into the drive always carries that frisson of expectation that you may have stumbled across something rather special.
And as things turn out, Ghetto Grooves is indeed quite special – though the evidence doesn’t become clear until you’ve got past tracks one and two, which are marred by some unpleasantly spikey digital distortion on the audio CD (which may or may not be present on other copies). It’s essentially a collection of 25 .WAV-format construction kits across an 82–110BPM range, supported by a further five tracks carrying bass, synth and drum samples.
As potentially useful as the individual samples are, it’s the construction kits which are the real selling point of this collection – to the extent that 25 really don’t feel like enough. Producers Saleem ‘The Dream’ Asad, Krunchie and Damien Egan have done a masterful job of maintaining the basic hip hop/R‘n’B feel of these grooves but extending them both sonically and rhythmically to embrace countless different styles and genres. This is the kind of eclecticism and rhythmic creativity which currently informs all the best sample libraries.
Many of the kick drums, for example, are hard to recognise as the instrument we’re familiar with, but the snatches of noise which constitute many of these sounds are successful nonetheless. With all kinds of stylistic flavourings, these grooves have enormous appeal.
Don’t let the title put you off, this excellent collection deserves your attention – though a few more tracks would have been nice.
8/10
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