Mute Records, the longtime leader of creepy electronic music, has just recently gotten their darksidin' hands on a bunch of new minimalist kraut-rock. Big surprise, you say? Uh, not really. You may know Mute as the label that released every record in Can's discography, along with albums by Einsturzende Neubauten, Wire's Bruce Gilbert, Laibach, Meat Beat Manifesto, Pan Sonic, and Plastikman, all of whom have at least toyed with minimalism at some point in their careers.

Kreidler is not as minimal as, say, Pan Sonic, but they do have a minimalist streak. On Appearance and the Park, Kreidler's follow-up to 1996's decent Weekender, they experiment with subtle repeating melodies and laidback drumbeats. It's a very subliminal affair-- you can have it on in the background and barely notice it (like the best of Brian Eno's ambient work). But if you've got the headphones on and you're listening intently, you'll find that there's a lot more depth below the surface.

Tracks like the incredibly short, Aphex-ish "Plus" and "Sneak Preview" have an almost uptight feel to them-- to paraphrase David Byrne, they're tense and nervous and they can't relax. Other tracks are almost surreally comforting. "Il Sogno Di Una Cosa" and especially the album's opening cut, "Tuesday," are like taking an electronic bath in some futuristic virtual reality. Of course, there are elements of humanity on the record, too. A couple of tracks actually feature human vocals, and... I can swear that's familiar Nintendo music I'm hearing during the opening of the extremely urban "Venetian Blind." So dig it if you can. But I'm gonna be chillin' to this in the 23rd century.

-Ryan Schreiber