Peace Orchestra
Self-Titled
(G Stone)
As one half of Kruder and Dorfmeister, Peter Kruder helped to unleash the amazing 2CD laid-back beatfest of K & D Sessions. The double disc of remix work (and a couple short originals) was one of the most solid releases of the year and a testament to the duo being able to reconstruct tunes with their own deft touch into something that was often times more interesting than the original. Those wondering what the duo could do without the starting points of other music need wait no longer, as the Peace Orchestra is a fully-realized effort and a great one at that.
Sounding something like you might expect from one half of the above mentioned duo, Peace Orchestra is nine tracks and just over an hours worth of laid back beats, jazzy little keyboard lines and lots of other little bits thrown in for good measure. The disc starts off in familiar K&D territory with "The Man Part One." After some odd blips and washes of sound that give the track an almost underwater feel, in comes a little thicker keyboard melody and some live drumming sounds. It all folds over itself and slowly winds together, and rub a dubs you along in a warm groove. The same sort of feel continues with some nice use of horns on "Meister Petz," before stepping things up just a slight notch on "Double Drums Domination."
After the slightly overlong (but ultra tripped-out) "Domination," the disc changes up ever so slightly for the second half beginning with the darker sound (and awesome chang-up rhythms) of "Marakesh." The disc closes out absolutely beautifully with an awesome 1-2-3 punch of tracks. While "Who Am I" throws down a thick beat over some trancey slow progressions before it picks up and layers on some even chunkier riffs. "Shining" goes the trippier route again with nicely layered chime sounds, big timpani drum hits and vocals by Chilli Bukasa before "The Man Part Two" drops and sounds almost like a Portishead outtake with muted horns, an old gospel singer sample, and completely wah-ed out guitars.
As could be expected, production on the disc is outstanding and although none of the tracks move much beyond a downtempo pace, the music still has plenty of life and interesting things going on within. Fans of Kruder And Dorfmeister would probably definitely want to check this out, as well as anyone who just enjoys good downtempo music that doesn't drag.
Rating: 7.5
