Kraak & Smaak

 

Establishing themselves back in 2005 with a distinctively warm and uplifting sound, legendary Dutch crew Kraak & Smaak’s live electronic vibrancy was first introduced to the world via their debut album, 'Boogie Angst'. Consisting of production trio Oscar de Jong, Mark Kneppers and Wim Plug, Kraak and Smaak’s impressive performance and studio career have seen the trio consistently create refreshing records and outstanding moments.

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With ‘Boogie Angst’ now the proud name of their own imprint, the label has captured the bands inimitable and unmistakable fusion of breakbeats and funk-jams packed with pop sensibilities.

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The second album, 'Plastic People' dropped in 2008, and it’s hit single 'Squeeze Me' helped secure an international audience, gain the band significant media attention as a must see live act. 

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Demonstrating the heights in which their flavoursome sounds can reach, during a five-week live tour across the USA, Kraak & Smaak performed at Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show on ABC television – on which one of their songs is still consistently played on as walk on music…

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In the following years, the upward trend of Kraak & Smaak continued with the release of the albums 'Electric Hustle'( 2011) and 'Chrome Waves'(2013).  Key single releases included ‘Let’s Go Back’, which featured a superb vocal from the sadly departed Romanthony. The then rising electronic star Solomun, took upon remix duties for ‘Let’s Go Back’, with the track becoming an absolute anthem of the deep house scene. ‘The Future Is Yours’ saw the band hook up a second time with Ben Westbeech who at the time was hitting the top of the charts under his Breach guise. The soulful ‘How We Gonna Stop The Time’ with Irishman Stee Downes was an instant club hit that went on to be licensed for release on AxtoneRecords. Moreover, new remix work came through for Moby, Aretha Franklin, Chromatics, and Royksopp.Kraak & Smaak’s fifth album Juicy Fruit; released in 2016 was a return to the organic sound of their debut and embraced stunning vocal contributions by upcoming international talents including Parcels, Cleopold, ALXNDR London and Eric Biddines. This led to a collaboration with Mayer Hawthorne on the hugely successful single ‘I Don’t Know Why’.

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2018 gave birth to the successful ‘Keep It Together’ single with LA disco don Luxxury for Future Disco. Summer saw the release of the ‘I’ll Be Loving You’ single on their own Boogie Angst imprint, featuring long-time K&S’s live and studio vocal collaborator IVAR. The groups sixth studio album –‘Pleasure Centre’, released in October 2019, have once again seen them flex their A&R muscle, joining forces with up and coming acts including Izo FitzRoy, Wolfgang Valbrun, The Palms, Satchmode, and more. The record has already seen support from the likes of BBC radio, KCRW, Indie Shuffle, Delicieuse Musique and Sirius XM to name a few and looks set to catapult them even further into public Conciousness.