From the very beginning, the music of Kreidler was something out of the ordinary. Their recently reissued early recordings underscore the band’s singular status within German music culture. Formed in Düsseldorf in 1994 from the alliance of the trio Demux Baleines Blanches (Thomas Klein, Andreas Reihse, Stefan Schneider) and DJ Sport (Detlef Weinrich, also known as Toulouse Low Trax), the band initially fused dub, jazz, motorik krautrock and smart electronics into a sound that grooved playfully, subtly and with quiet propulsion. A touch of post-rock in the vein of Tortoise – who were in the process of defining the genre in early-1990s Chicago – completes the picture.
The quartet produced almost exclusively instrumental music that sounded idiosyncratic and international, and at the time of its release anything but »typically German«. While some tracks may today feel faintly dusted with age, others still surprise with their timeless freshness. The original line-up is long since history: Schneider and Weinrich have gone on to successful solo careers, while Klein and Reihse continue Kreidler with new collaborators. Early Recordings 1994–95 compellingly demonstrates just how unique the band was from the outset, documenting a moment in German music history when experimental sounds could still unfold with remarkable freedom.
