No record collection is complete without
This month’s classic album is ‘The K&D Sessions’ by Kruder and Dorfmeister.
Originally released in 1998, it has gone on to become one of the most influential albums of the past 20 years and has launched a million soundalikes and sub genres.
Peter Kruder and Richard Dorfmeister hail from Vienna, Austria and announced their intent with 1993’s ‘G-Stoned’ EP on their own G-Stone Recordings label. With its iconic, stylized cover (a parody of a Simon and Garfunkel cover) and vast array of ideas, it launched the downtempo revolution and propelled the two sound scientists to the forefront of this then burgeoning scene. Even with this early release, its possible to get a glimpse at the blueprint of their future sound – a irresistible mix of drum n bass, soul, hiphop, reggae, dub and Brazilian music.
In 1996 they released the seminal DJ Kicks album on Berlin label Studio !K7. This became an instant success and took them to the next level in terms of profile and the respect shown to them by their peers, critics and audience alike.
By now everyone was copying their sound and dropping their name, as they had become the DJs, producers and remixers ‘du jour’ and this reached its pinnacle two years later, when they released ‘The K&D Sessions’ as a double CD, showcasing all their best production and remix efforts to date, together with a bunch of new and unreleased tracks.
It kicks off with the sublime, trippy Bossa remix of Mercury Music Prize winner Roni Size’s track ‘Heroes’ before moving on to the more uptempo sound of Alex Reece’s ‘Jazz Master’. Each track on this album is a masterpiece, with amazing attention to detail and depth of production.
There are no fillers on either CD, but other stand out tracks include the remix of Depeche Mode’s ‘Useless’ and the quieter mix of David Holmes ‘Gone’. Richard Dorfmeister’s production on Mama Oliver’s ‘Eastwest’ is also of note, as is their own ambient piece ‘Boogie Woogie’ (packed full of emotion).
The release of this album led to K&D being propelled to the ranks of worldwide superstars and they followed with remixes for Madonna and an extensive DJ’ing schedule.
Ironically, after this massive tour de force (incredibly successful both in critical and commercial terms) they never really recorded together again, moving off into different solo projects, whilst occasionally teaming up for big DJ shows.
Dorfmeister has recorded a number of albums with Rupert Huber as Tosca and more recently with Madrid de Los Austrias and Peter Kruder has recorded under the ‘Peace Orchestra’ moniker but neither has scaled the heights of their combined efforts.
A true classic, whose influence is still deeply felt today and will be for many years to come.
