Hit Zone | Remix Magazine

Hit Zone, brought to you by the Bunker 8 crew, Toronto-based makers of Nu Groove Pop and Extremely Abrasive Beats, is a four-CD collection (two audio, two Acidized WAV) of modern dance, pop and electro-funk samples that tips its hat to the '80s but sounds altogether current. Touchstones include the likes of Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, Timbaland and The Neptunes. Aside from the occasional love ballad, Hit Zone's grooves are primarily mid to uptempo (100 to 132 bpm). The well-carved-out bass frequencies caught my ear. Even on my subpar bathroom boom box (that everyone keeps around for mastering, right?), Hit Zone thumped me in the chest without too much cabinet growl. I was also pleased to hear some well-placed tabla flurries, screeching reverb-laden synths and more than a couple of soulfully played piano tracks lacing the booty-shaking dance grooves. True to most Big Fish libraries, handy construction kits or soloed individual tracks are present so that you can easily extract the exact part of the compositions you like. Aside from the 32 track starters, Hit Zone doles out another 40-plus dance grooves in an extra Beat Zone portion of the disc. Whether you are producing soulful R&B of the world’s next Janet Jackson, these tracks speak to the radio.