Another week, another tempting gig promoted by Capsule, who are currently outdoing themselves with upcoming treats from acts like Autechre and Mono, and here bring legends Cluster to Birmingham.

Prior to Cluster, Einstellung perform having gained some attention from an association with Geoff Barrow's Invada records and had been supposed to play with Thought Forms and Barrow's Beak last year during Capsule's 10th anniversary celebrations.

Einstellung started well, approximating the early sound of Ride to a backdrop of Ealing's Scott of the Antarctic, before the songs settled into a pattern with the usual Krautrock and Post-Rock inflections (Klaus Dinger's motorik ('Apache') beat from Neu! and the kind of sonic territory already explored by acts like Explosions in the Sky and Mogwai) By the end of the set I was dying for something like 'Beat on the Brat' by The Ramones. As with the dreaded prog-genre there is a thin line between boredom and transcendence and this lot didn't do it for me, sadly. My prior experiences of Roedelius and Moebius have been mixed - having seen both with Neu's Michael Rother in a reformed Harmonia and Moebius alone with Rother sometime before. While Harmonia were lovely and as blissed out as Boards of Canada, the Moebius/Rother gig had been odd, at an unsuitable venue in Bristol where my hammered state just couldn't receive their signals. This might have been the problem tonight with Cluster, promoting their latest LP Qua which has gained deserved acclaim and through comparisons with Aphex Twin and Mouse on Mars reminds us where those acts came from. Not bad for a pair of chaps whose combined age is 141.

For those who aren't aware of this pair, as Cluster/Kluster and with peers like Brian Eno, Conny Plank, and Rother they've produced some classic albums that still more than stand up and have been heavily referenced. As with the greats, they seem about the present tense and don't come across as a tribute band to themselves like their more famous peers, the celebrated Kraftwerk.

Qua isn't out in the UK yet so I can't say that I'm familiar with it - I'm assuming a version of it comprised Cluster's set tonight? A preceding week that included somewhat tedious work, dental maladies and me in driving/sober mode going down with another cold probably didn't put me into receptive mode.

To a suitably tedious film loop of an old geezer wandering around a garden, Cluster glitched away - from time to time hitting elements of beauty and transcendence, while at others making me wonder about the Emperor's New Clothes. Other notions that came to mind included the note "Depeche Mode intro tape from 1986" and "I could have stayed at home and listened to Selected Ambient Works II for free." Then again, I was assured by my co-gigger that there was something going on. As with someone like Autechre, listening to a record at home in bed or your nearest floatation tank is far different to being sat in a chilly Town Hall.

On the strength of tonight I'll no doubt pick up a copy of Qua and can cross another cult legend off the list - perhaps I'm not sure what I've just witnessed, or can not put it into words?