Element One – Sceptre: Drum & Bass £14.95

> Strong showcase of the kind of tight, rolling beats and bass this Bristol producer has built a name on. He takes time out from releasing on labels like the wonderfully named Subplate Recordings to take us on a trip through his super-clean studio output and techniques, detouring through some seriously sharp programming. As well as dark, fevered sub workouts, and masterful musical melodies.

It all forms a power-packed library, suitable for makers of everything from strictly stepping, minimal grooves, through to more peaktime pioneers. Among the cohesive set of 176 samples are heavy hat and percussion patterns, which stack up great alongside a complement of tweaked noises, industrial atmospheres, and spooked vocal FX. Roy Spencer loopmasters.com VERDICT 9.0