* En anglais uniquement
Düsseldorf, Germany-based
Kreidler play a singular form of melodic, mainly instrumental music which blends the studio experimentation and tight yet freely flowing rhythms of their Krautrock forefathers with electro influences. With the release of early albums such as 1998's
Appearance and the Park, the band were at the forefront of Germany's experimental electronic scene, earning attention from fans of post-rock bands like
Tortoise as well as left-field techno acts like
Mouse on Mars. As the prolific band continued to refine their approach, they incorporated sounds and influences such as Baroque music (2002's
Eve Future), Fourth World-style global fusion (2012's
Den), and traces of dub and funk (2021's
Spells and Daubs).
The band, formed in 1994 by
Thomas Klein,
Andreas Reihse,
Stefan Schneider, and
Detlef Weinrich, debuted with the cassette-only Riva in 1994 and released a pair of discs -- 1996's
Weekend and 1998's
Appearance and the Park -- on the
PIAS subsidiary Kiff SM.
Schneider left to concentrate on the like-minded
To Rococo Rot and was replaced temporarily by Alex Paulick, who played on the band's self-titled 2000 album, their first for Hamburg's Wonder label. (A short-lived deal with Mute allowed the band to release the album in the U.S.)
Kreidler put together a second album for Wonder, 2002's
Eve Future, as well as a remix disc, prior to a break that lasted several years. The band resurfaced with Mosaik 2014 (
Italic, 2009) and
Tank (Bureau B, 2011), the latter of which featured Paulick's bass once more, before 2012's
Den switched to a more elegant, chilled-out approach. The band celebrated its 20th anniversary with
ABC, a concise yet expansive effort featuring a Georgian choir as well as
Kreidler's more expected mix of rock and electronic instrumentation. In 2017,
Kreidler released
European Song, an album of studio improvisations created in response to the 2016 United States presidential election. Sessions in both Düsseldorf and Berlin resulted in
Flood, the band's 2019 full-length.
Spells and Daubs, described as one of the band's most pop-influenced albums, arrived in 2021. ~ Sean Cooper & Andy Kellman