SloFunk | Keyboard Magazine

Reviewer: Ernie Rideout | Rating: Pros: Great grooves and performances. Well-recorded and edited. Cons: Very little processing variation within tracks. Bottom Line: Well-focused, this groove-packed set takes you right back to the best part of the '70s. Back to SloFunk product details

SloFunk revives the art of the live funk groove, with an emphasis on the mid-tempo, sexier portion of the BPM spectrum. Consisting of an audio CD and a CD-ROM with WAV and MIDI files of each groove, this construction-kit set is ready for tracking.

The drums are programmed, but everything else in this set has been played live by musicians who sound like they've been jamming together for years. The electric bass parts slap their way to the front of each track, dripping with funky fills and clever phrasing. Electric guitar chanks and chicken-shack licks lock tight to the bass and drums, with just the right pedals and effects to lay into the track. Full horn sections grace several cuts with unusually tasty lines.

The surprises on this disc to me were the harmonica tracks. Wonder-esque licks abound, as do some wonderfully rhythmic processed blues harp effects. Not your average sample CD fare, these add a flavor you won't find elsewhere. There are keys or synths on just about every track, but you won't find a treasure trove of B-3, Rhodes, and Wurly samples here. "The synth tracks and drums are too modern to call them '70s refugees," says senior editor Jim Aikin. "They blend well sonically with the guitar, bass, and horns, but they seem to be coming from a slightly different place stylistically."

Each of the 18 cuts in this set is broken out into long phrases (usually four to 16 bars), with as many as five variations on a groove-including bass, drums, and guitar variations. I found myself wishing for sonic variety as well as rhythmic: For the most part, the same miking and processing is used on each variation. Fits in nicely, but a little change-up would've been nice. The contents of the two discs are identical, with the WAV files looped for direct use in Sonic Foundry Acid. The MIDI files include the basic drum grooves and variations on kick and hi-hat parts, as well as keyboard parts, where available. "I would love to hear some of these tracks fleshed out into full tunes," says Jim." The potential for great tunes is totally there." I agree; this is one greazy set.