Kruder & Dorfmeister – 1995 Album Review

The K&D Sessions album has become something of a legend in the world of chillout and downtempo music. A testament to the genre's viability and a compilation of remixes that lives on in the top ten lists of chillout fans everywhere, and then they were gone. The duo Peter Kruder and Richard Dorfmeister went their separate ways and formed new groups, Tosca and Peace Orchestra, both fantastic in their own right, but still, we longed for the original K&D magic. The wait is over, and the timing is impeccable!

1995 is not just an album title, but a moment in time, when the genre of chillout/downtempo was at its best, and G-Stone Recordings was at the front of the pack releasing stellar tunes from a myriad of talent that still holds up to this day. On November 13th, G-Stone will once again become a lighthouse for those in seek of high quality reclining music with the release of Kruder & Dorfmeister's 1995.

After discovering a box of DATS (Digital Audio Tapes) in their old G-Stone studio (or so the story goes), the duo reunited and decided to release a new recording. The origin story here seems a little heavy-handed, but we will forgive them because it's Kruder and fucking Dorfmeister. Was this a lost album recovered from dusty tapes, or is that a metaphor? Who cares – it's here.

So what can you expect from 1995? In many ways, this record feels like they genuinely did pick up some old tapes and rework them into an album and bring them up to today's studio standards. 1995 is an amalgamation of their most pleasing sounds, vibes, and beats for those that love that jazzy, hip hop instrumental, mid-90s trip-hoppy sound.

The loops, the bass lines, the samples, the breakbeats, the reverb, it's all here, and it's lovely to hear it again. K&D don't try to reinvent themselves here but instead give us more of their best selves and more gems for our collections, err playlists. However, we still wanted it on vinyl!

The track "King Size" feels like it could have been a nice long extended B side to an early K&D single, with its hypnotic layers, looping bass lines, reggae samples, horn licks, and smokey groove. All of the tracks on the album stay in the right lane, and each one stands on its own but still feels like a cohesive work.

A little older, a little wiser and still just as cool as they ever were.

This type of chillout is challenging because so much of the work can be forgettable and just an infinite loop of loopy elevator music, but not 1995. These guys know how to layer things just right, take away when necessary, and sprinkle in just enough to keep your full attention. This LP is not only an album; it's 15 little vignettes that take you back in time, to smokey lounges in Paris, Berlin, New York, and San Francisco – you can almost smell it.

For fans of the original works from the golden era of chillout, this one will fit like your old wingtip Doc Martins and thrift store leather jacket. For those just stumbling upon Kruder and Dorfmeister, you are about to be welcomed down a sublime rabbit hole that will delight you and keep you digging for more. Welcome to 1995; it's nice to be back!