Soundware round-up
Ztekno
Rave Game£20
Misleading title alert, as Rave Game is in fact a straight-up 128bpm techno sample/MIDI/VPS Avenger preset library. 20 eight-bar drum loops come in four increasingly built-up versions, full and stemmed, and set the dark, driving mood of the whole thing. 30 16th-note analogue basslines come with sidechained variations; 60 synth loops, 25 acid TB-303 lines and 11 vocals get dry and FX-processed variants; a ton of superb one-shot drums and FX go straight in the bank; and eight release-quality construction kits provide instant inspiration. Unmissable.
loopmasters.com
10/100
Ben Aylon
One Man Tribe
$26 or subscription
Percussionist Ben Aylon serves 100 loops and one-shots performed primarily on a variety of African drums, but also incorporating a few Indian instruments, most notably dholak and kanjira. Aylon’s style is chiefly informed by the Senegalese tradition, so there’s plenty of temporal and melodic trickery in evidence, and his playing is phenomenal. The loops range from solo lines to polyrhythmic ensembles, while the one-shots include rolls, flams and other ‘articulations’, played on single and multiple stacked drums. For non-subscribers, the price feels fair, too.