Various: Dramatic Tempi / Background Rhythms LP

Be With Records present a reissue of Dramatic Tempi / Larry Robbins Background Rhythms, originally released in 1975. Classic library breaks and beats set of heavy drums and louche funk. The first side, "Dramatic Tempi", is made up of four tracks each from Sammy Burdson and Klaus Weiss. Sammy Burdson was one of the many, many aliases of the mighty Austrian composer, arranger and conductor, Gerhard Narholz. Klaus Weiss produced essential records on German library labels Coloursound, Selected Sound, and Sonoton, as well as making two essential entries in the Conroy catalog. The second side is both titled and also credited to Larry Robbins Background Rhythms. Who Larry was is unknown, but it's not too much of a stretch to think it might be another incarnation of Gerhard Narholz. First up from "Dramatic Tempi" are the phased, gargantuan hip-hop beats of Sammy Burdson's impeccable "Pop Waves". The magnificently titled "Cyclodrom" is a beast of booming bass and wah wah guitars over frenetic funk drums. "Devils Drive" is dramatic, blaxploitation street funk with rolling, pounding drums. "Crime Ways" is an acid-squelch, slow-pace neck-snapper. Klaus Weiss starts by asking "Is It Hip" with clean, skipping drums, booming bass, and proto-hip-hop bells, layered beneath laconic and melodic guitar shredding. "The Camp", propelled by jazzy guitar à la Joe Pass over fast drum and conga breaks, gives way to the dark guitars and cymbal crashes of "Tomorrow". It sounds like an early New Order jam session. Closing out a pretty startling side of library greatness, "Rhythm Trip" presents early stuttering funk before easin' on in to a jazzy, soulful groove; all breezy guitar and warm keys. Larry Robbins Background Rhythms is a lighter, poppier affair, but it's not without its drum-heavy bangers. "Vox Pop" and "Pop Phase" each have clean, open-ish drum breaks, ripe for sampling or more daring DJ sets. "Pop Twang" is a short and sweet beat-heavy number that gives way to the fantastically out-there "Canned Pop". The final seven tracks are a set of 1-to-2 minute "Percussion Takes". The British library label with those instantly recognizable "orangey-red" sleeves, Conroy began releasing production music in 1965. A sub-label of Berry Music Co, its catalog typified the library industry's strange mixture of tradition and experimentation from the start. Conroy's early releases included work by big band stalwarts like Eddie Warner as well as early electronic recordings by the likes of Belgian experimental pioneer Arséne Souffriau. Mastered for vinyl by Simon Francis from audio from the original tapes. Richard Robinson reproduced the original Conroy sleeve.