TWELVE years in the waiting, if not the making, the new opus from Teutonic titans of tone, Kraftwerk, is released.

And opus it is too. The electro-meisters may not be the most productive little combo, but when they meld it's considerably more than a little nacht musik.

Since first juggernauting from their native Germany more than three decades ago, Kraftwerk have become synonymous with rhythmic relentlessness, pristine innovation, a clunk-click of clarity.

Tour de France Soundtracks builds on their 1983 single Tour de France to provide a shimmering soundscape to this year's centenary of the race. And the band, a seminal influence on the likes of David Bowie, New Order, Afrika Bambaata and right through to Moby, maintain their customary excellence. The five Tour de France-titled versions apart, several Kraftwerk klassiks kommand respect, ja.

Aero Dynamik is smoother than a swan gliding through silk. The menace of Elektro Kardiogramm, meanwhile, is offset by the album's most insistent offering, Vitamin, a curious mix of sheen and scuzziness.

Older, wiser, haughtier, Kraftwerk leave the rest way behind panting in the peloton.

Updated: 11:10 Thursday, August 21, 2003