Search - Kruder & Dorfmeister :: K&d Sessions

The epitome of musical chilledness

Tenu Avafia | Windhoek, Namibia | 01/31/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The thing about Kruder and Dorfmeister that makes one perk right up with attention is not so much the content of their masterful mix of acid jazz/trippy ambient/drum & Bass. It is their technique. Unhurried, genuine and subtle, they have comfortably and effortlessly outclassed the myriad collection of good electronic music out there and created a niche, a perfect hybrid between modern day electronica and trip-hop and Drum & Bass which is so sexy, evocative but oh so SERENE, that anyone claiming to be a fan of this format of music can only marvel at the effortless complexity of this CD. None of their tracks typify this more than track 2 on disc one. Stunning in its simplicity but at the same time leaving the listerner enchanted and intruiged! It operates on an underlying level of chilledness with such unhyped ease that one feels a solidarity with the ethos and constitution of the artists seldom evoked by other artists. They enjoy freaking out in the most passive way possible. I enjoyed the first CD more as it was more experimental, flirting with everything from Depeche mode melancholy to rap hype to delicious drum & Bass. WOW! If I could find a club that varied in its experimentation but maintained the underlying essence of juicy acid jazz, I'd be nowhere else. Let this CD serve as a timeous notice to club owners out there. There is an under-exploited but potentially huge market out there! The best of it is that I haven't heard any of their other stuff.... Well, not yet anyway!"

The best music to come from Austria since Mozart.

Stephen Caratzas | Brooklyn, New York | 05/25/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I'm astonished that some people find Kruder & Dorfmeister to be overrated. To my mind they produce the most elegant modern music being made, period. Call it what you will: acid jazz, ambient, drum and bass, techno. The bottom line: excellent."The K&D Sessions" is a superb sampler of the magic their studio wizardry can wreak on a diverse variety of musical forms. Artists from all corners of the sonic map - Roni Size, Count Basic, Depeche Mode, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Bomb The Bass, and David Holmes (no slouch himself at this game; check out his brilliant "Let's Get Killed") - get the K&D remix treatment. The results are breathtaking, and every tune they touch is better off for it.If you crave deep bottom grooving chill-out music that is both endlessly creative and challenging, you simply can't go wrong with this 2-disc set. For my money, the drum and bass reworking of Count Basic's 'Speechless' is not only one of the best things on this album, but a landmark creation of this genre."

Jazzy down-tempo from the masters of jazzy down-tempo

Andrew M. Schirmer | Seattle, WA USA | 05/18/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Combine equal parts Brasilian bossa-nova (a la Antonio Carlos Jobim) and drum 'n bass (a la Roni Size). Blend well, add a dash of hip-hop, and you've got Kruder & Dormeister. I discovered this album last spring on a whim, and it still is a mainstay in my life. I don't really consider it a remix album because really, the real songs are almost all unrecognisable. "Heroes" is arguably the best track from Roni Size/Reprazent's 1998 frum 'n bass masterwork "New Forms," yet Kruder & Dorfmeister transmogrify it into sort of a bossa-nova treat. Slow and low. That is the tempo. Alex Reece creates some of the most banal jungle (suitable for elevators) around, but K & D's "Jazz Master" is a pure delight of breathy vocals, and catchy rhythms. Rocker's Hi-Fi's "Going Under" steps up the tempo, but maintains the spaciness of the original. While others stick closer to the originals (i.e. Depeche Mode's "Useless"), the mixes still are top-notch and add a new perspective. The two-cd set is also an effective primer for those new to electronica/downtempo or those who just want to explore new flavours. David Holmes, Lamb, Roni Size...check out all these artists if you like the K & D remixes. Really a masterwork...full of emotion and technical wizardry, there really is something for everybody."