Xperts of Techno | Future Music Magazine

Here’s something you don’t seem to see very often: a pure, underground techno sample CD. Obviously purists will have tutting fits at the thought of an all-in-one techno solution, but with careful use this CD could provide an invaluable source of fresh sounds for many varieties of music.

At first, Xperts of Techno sounds pretty suspect. The inlay blurb describes its creators as "some of the top techno producers in Europe" though, for some reason, their identities aren’t revealed. Hmm. However, once you start checking out the sounds, your fears will be forgotten. The first part of the CD is a standard construction kit, featuring short demos followed by their constituent parts. The loop-based nature of the samples can be a pain, but the sounds are great and you should be able to get a fair degree of usability out of them. The flavour is generally Detroit-y and it’s easy to imagine a d’n’b or even an r’n’b producer having a field day.

After the construction kits come drum loops and although they’re pretty good, it would be better to have the individual sounds on their own. The music loop section is great too but, again you’d rather have single notes.

Xperts of Techno won’t find favour with any producers intent on keepin’ it real, but for genre-whores it’s great.

Verdict: A fantastic collection of kosher techno loops, useful and good value for money.