Sounds of Berlin | EQ Magazine

I love Berlin-maybe because it's filled with reminders that sometimes, good prevails. Big Nazi buildings now house an entirely different government, the guards waiting to machine gun citizens are gone, and the wall is down. What's more, Berlin is now the hot club scene, and Sounds of Berlin encapsulates that scene with 75 construction kits, divided by time increments (e.g., the 12PM-4PM "afterhours" set is more mellow than the 3AM-8AM set). Tempos range from 120-130 BPM, although the Elastik playback engine allows for high-quality stretching. The kits include deconstructed and mixed riffs, playable via MIDI (controller or sequencer notes); this brings flexible, real-time control to a loop-based virtual instrument.

I'm a big fan of this kind of music, and this is the real deal: Hypnotic, minimalist, highly electronic grooves that connect directly to your central nervous system. It's moody without being negative, and the slight aura of mystery matches the vibe of a darkened, smoky club. These loops show great care in both their musicality and recording; you can use them as is, or apply the Elastik engine's filtering and other processing.

Ueberschall's offerings are of uniformly high quality, and Sounds of Berlin is no exception. Catch the audio example at www.eqmag.com, and you'll understand why I'm so impressed. -Craig Anderton