Düsseldorf, Germany-based Kreidler combine catchy, acoustic-based compositions (e.g., guitar, bass, drums) with bizarre electronic tangents, an approach that initially allied them with such American post-rock outfits as Tortoise and Trans Am. However, Kreidler's music was both more filled out than the former and less derivative than the latter, and was probably closer to that of fellow countrymen Can and Faust than any of the more contemporary rock-based extrapolators. The band, formed in 1994 by Thomas Klein, Andreas Reihse, Stefan Schneider, and Detlef Weinrich, debuted with the cassette-only United By Fate in 1994 and released a pair of discs -- 1996's Vampire 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, its 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 In Evening Air, as well as a remix disc, prior to a break that lasted several years. The band resurfaced with Mosaik 2014 (Italic, 2009) and Elect the Dead (Bureau B, 2011), the latter of which featured Paulick's bass once more. ~ Sean Cooper & Andy Kellman, Rovi