Vienna. Always culturally and politically modern, yet pleasingly anachronistic in many ways, Austria's low-slung capital is an amber cast of the 19th Century. But a little more than 200 years after the death of Wolfgang Amadeus, in that very city, along came DJs/producers Peter Kruder and Richard Dorfmeister — two names that went together as naturally as "Vienna Boys' Choir."
Working an analogue-to-digital signal chain of vintage synthesizers and dub saturation, Kruder & Dorfmeister established their DJ kicks and G-Stone(d) Recordings. They engineered remixes and the occasional original swatch with unprecedented control over a constantly shifting depth of field, providing the dewy, more down-tempo counterpoint to Berlin's Rhythm & Sound. And, then, as the millennium transposed, they let the trademark rest. They played occasional gigs but didn't release much Kruder & Dorfmeister material, until last summer's blissfully flush Shakatadoodub, three previously limited downloads culled from 1990s compilations.
Being less interactive hasn't meant being less active for Kruder & Dorfmeister, however. Kruder's recent projects include production for the Berlin-based International Deejay Gigolo Records; releasing the taut, floor-oriented single "Visions Ltd."/"Shine" under his own name; as well as assisting head Gigolo DJ Hell with the atmosphere and content of his Teufelswerk full-length, due out April 27.
While Kruder and Hell were working elastic kosmiche melodies, Dorfmeister and old-school friend Rupert Huber, AKA Tosca, were putting together their largely instrumental No Hassle full-length, which will have its lushly populated stereo image presented live in surround sound.
Their appearance at Om Records' 15th-anniversary party is their sole WMC performance. And here the two will preview a new track as they come back to their warm hearth of running delay, shifting tones, and twisting musical story lines.
