Customer Reviews

The K&D Sessions [IMPORT]

5 star:		(124)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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!

I bought this CD because of the overwhelming positive comments I read about it here. Consequently there is not much to add but rather to reinforce that this is an excellent CD. The Austrian duo of Kruder and Dorfmeister create a fantastic double disc mix of electronica that is earthy and laid back. The master mixers rework the talents of such diverse acts as Depeche Mode, Count Basic and Bone Thugs 'N' Harmony just to name a few. Of the two discs I prefer disc two as it is more uptempo. Disc one is more downbeat and if you don't watch out you could be (zzzz) chilling more than you wanted. The songs fit into a variety of styles that include dub and dropping big beats, jazzy trip-hop, ambient with bleeps and tweeks, r& b laced reverb beats, and acid jazz to create a lush tectural sound that is sophisticated. The end result is music that is sensual and intimate, stylish and visceral and at times even eerie. The cold edges blend perfectly with the warm earthy textures to create the sound that is uniquely the print of master mixers D&F. The laid back sound is the perfect back drop at the end of a hectic urban day of survival, music to chill to. K&D have their pulse on this wave of electronica. Their music is one that will carry well into the 21st century, a footprint in the development of electronica that is walking with sure steps.

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.

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.

Well, it's 2005, and the 1990's golden age of electronic music is starting to become a faded memory....which I find a little depressing. Nostalgia replaces the joy of discovery, and the mind begins writing its little revisionist histories.

But a few of those great albums and songs will continue to yield pleasure. Tonite the internet radio dj played the "heroes" remix, and I remembered how unbelievably exciting it was to discover that music like this exists.

It's impossible to overstate how good this album is.

Kruder and Dorfmeister are truly the leaders of the remix school. Anything that falls on their hands get sculptured and molded into a totally different piece of music work. Take Roni Size's "Heroes". If you didn't know the song title, you wouldn't have known that it was a drum'n'bass song initially before getting remixed - you might have thought that it was a completely new song all on its own. Also pay attention to Mama Oliver's "Eastwest/Stoned Together" and even Bone Thugs 'n' Harmony's "1st Of Tha Month". Personally though the stand-out track has got to be Lamb's "Transfattyacid". Louise Rhodes glides over K&D's reworked beats like a seagull over calm sea, resulting in an absolutely grand finale for the first disc. Richard Dorfmeister mentioned in February 99's Raygun that the first disc is 'more up and jazzy' while the second is 'more laid back and slow'. True enough, that is what The K&D Sessions is all about. Compared to K&D's previous release, the DJ-Kicks album also from Studio K7, the K&D Sessions is more conceptual and abstract. Listening to the album gives you that sort of late night, lounge room, cocktail and martini, velvet couch feel. Truly stylish, relaxing and most of all, absolutely cool. This is the kind of music that club owners should exploit to give their clubs class and eclat, not cheesy R&B or the like. So take note, sit up and pay attention to Kruder & Dorfmeister - class is in session.

The perfect music for almost any mood. I use it both to hype up and to chill out. Just as the title suggests, this two-disc record reads like a jam session, with seamless tracks that transport you from jungle music (check out the resmoking of "Heroes" by Roni Size/Reprazent) to rap ("1st of tha Month" by Bone, Thugs 'n Harmony). You are convinced at the end of disc one that you've been listening to the same track (it probably doesn't help that some of the songs are not only long as hell, but also have redundant riffs...but i suppose that's what chill out music is all about).

Still, this is an excellent showcase for the talents of my favorite Austrian duo. Disc one's highligts include Heroes, Jazz Master, Going Under (whose singer's voice is just menacing enough to make you stop and take notice),Bug Powder Dust....aw, hell, the whole cd is excellent!!!

Disc two's highlights: Sofa Surfers (stoned or sober, you can imagine people lounging in an orpulent(sp?) den doing....stuff), EastWest(can now be heard on a couple of commercials), Going Under (more bass, more ambience this time), 1st of tha MOnth, Boomberclaad, and the last two tracks.

All fans of good music should have this in their collection. It is essential.

If you like this CD, check out the original work of the featured artists, you might like: "New Forms"-Roni Size/Reprazent(Check out Bahamadia on title track), "Lamb"-Lamb(watch out for the Filia Brazilia Mix at the end),"Exciter"-Depeche Mode, anything by Alex Reece and David Holmes.

wishful thinking...what if K&D worked with Elizabeth Fraser(of Cocteau Twins fame). Oh, the possibilities!!!!!

Rare is the album I can fall in love with upon first listen; rarer still for that album to be a 2-CD collection. Yet that is exactly what happened with "The K&D Sessions", the premiere (re)mix collection by the Austrian DJ duo of Peter Kruder and Richard Dorfmeister. I bought the album on the recommendation of Amazon.com (you know, the whole "if you like this artist, you'll positively LOVE this similar artist" thing). Well, they didn't steer me wrong. After chilling out to the languid grooves of Air, Thievery Corporation, and Zero 7, I had no problem embracing the languorous "K&D Sessions". Indeed, after one listen to their ratcheted down take on Lamb's "Trans Fatty Acid", I was hooked. CD1 is simply without peer. The seamless blend of tracks is 70 minutes long, but always seems to roll by far too quickly. CD2 is also outstanding. The entire collection is breathtaking, not only because of K&D's first-class remixing skills, but because of the diversity of artists featured. The mix is seductive enough that you'll want to find out about all of the artists featured here. Favorite tracks include (from CD1): Heroes (Roni Size), Going Under (Rocker's Hi-Fi), Trans Fatty Acid (Lamb), Jazz Master (Alex Reece), Bug Powder Dust (Bomb The Bass); and from CD2: Gone (David Holmes), Boogie Woogie (Kruder & Dorfmeister), Sofa Rockers (Sofa Surfers), Eastwest (Mama Oliver), and 1st of Tha Month (Bone Thugs `N Harmony). But, really, the entire collection is great. This is truly an album for anyone who appreciates music. Highly recommended.

This disk set got a ton of play all last summer but if you don't already know it; it is NECESSARY for your collection. I do some casual DJing for friends and whenever I pop this in, I get a stream of people asking me what this is so they can go buy it. I think that speaks volumes. It's just plain cool. Enjoy.

Anyone who's taken an Art appreciation class out there will know that the genesis and very purpose of art was to amalgamate both pleasure and feeling in space. Kruder and Dorfmeister have devolved to the basic tenets of art and produced a form that is both timeless and pleasureful. I remember the first time I heard it my cheeks hurt from smiling for that long. It is fluid,...timeless,....sublime,...peaceful and non intrusive.

Its full of groovy, loopy acid jazz,... melded together, that has meaning and theme. K&D Sessions feels like they are the glue of the collective thought process of all the artists whose music were mixed in this epic CD.

Loquaciousness apart,....I bought this CD and my girlfriend loved it and wanted her own,... her neighbor listened to it and wanted one of his own,... his ex-girlfriend happenned to listen to it and wanted one too.,...... I kinda lost the chain after that. The point is,... no matter what genre interests you,... no matter how your tastes have evolved,... you have to get this CD. This is the Monet painting you saw the other day, and loved, and you looked around and you WERE IN THE PAINTING,... hearing those two victorian women gossip while the waves gently swept onto those pristine beaches!!!! And if the CD doesnt give you the goose bumps,.... I'm sure you'd atleast have a good laugh wondering if Dorfmeister was actually his name!!!