Kruder & Dorfmeister at the St James

By REBECCA BARRY

The silhouette of Peter Kruder's Afro almost gave it away but a Bee Gees remix was probably the last thing anyone expected to hear on Thursday night.

Vienna production duo Kruder & Dorfmeister, whose remix repertoire famously spans Depeche Mode, Roni Size, Bomb The Bass and Bone Thugz-n-Harmony, provided a moment of comic relief when they dropped a big beat version of Staying Alive.

Like their commercially successful double disc, K&D Sessions, the gig was a laidback, seamless affair that touched on a variety of styles.

While Kruder's housey set meandered in and out of fun retro nonsense and forgettable chill-out, Richard Dorfmeister kept the St James packed to the gunnels with a virtually funkless foray into techno, dub, reggae, break-beat and hip-hop.

The DJ who moonlights in lounge project Tosca, played sparse, lush and hypnotic grooves, occasionally mixing quirky harmonicas and weird sound effects into the huge, pulsing bass lines and ridiculously simple beats.

Enhancing his prowess, a large backdrop swirled with stunning psychedelic images of astronauts, owls, gymnasts and churning shapes. Occasionally it would flash with the words of Kruder & Dorfmeister's label, G-Stone Recordings.

Also worth watching was the duo's rotund and excitable MC, who interspersed crowd-pleasing platitudes with lurching dance moves and encouraged fans to join him on stage.

Eventually security ordered the 20-odd Xanadu wannabes down after someone threatened to dance over a cable and temporarily cut off the sound which, by the way, could have done with a volume-boost. There were times you could hear yourself think.

But that's a minor complaint in what was otherwise an outstanding glimpse into the future of dance music - even if it included disco.