Though it verges on the lackadaisical, this utterly enjoyable record radiates the attentive playfulness that Mouse on Mars bring to their warbly, crunchy beat salads. Originally released on vinyl on the tails of the group"s excellent 1997 album Autoditacker, Instrumentals feels a bit like it was cobbled together from pieces on the cutting room floor. But since Mouse on Mars"s Andi Toma and Jan St. Werner are so good with their sonic bits and pieces, the collection does not feel at all like a throwaway. Lovely little melodies arise but then wander away again in the company of various burps, snaps, and fizzy bits that waddle off like landlocked ducks. Six minutes into "PegelGesetzt" you hear a single non-repeating funhouse "wheeeee"--a minute later, a horn. Not a serious record, but a substantial one. --Erik Davis