Bergheim 34, an experimental, post-electronica outfit from Heidelberg, Germany, have an extremely relaxed approach to making records.

That means improvising with no rehearsal in drummer Steffen Neuert's bedroom as a DAT tape rolls, then, releasing the results.

They have a similarly relaxed approached to traveling, which almost got them into trouble when they arrived in the U.S. for the first time earlier this month. They were set to play their debut North American show, an in-store gig at New York's Other Music record outlet, when they realized one of their suitcases, filled with musical equipment, hadn't arrived with them from Germany.

"Right before we're leaving Frankfurt, I was saying that the suitcases would be fine, that [losing them] never happens to me," recalled keyboardist-guitarist Anne Vortisch, with a laugh. "And of, course, it did."

The lost suitcase surfaced at Newark Airport just two hours before the in-store show, allowing Bergheim 34 to kick off a mini-tour of the States that started Jan. 6 in New York and ended Jan. 14 at the Lounge Ax in Chicago. The visit was designed to promote their first album, the all-instrumental Bergheim 34, which came out in America last summer on the First Love label.

Bergheim 34 take their name from Neuert's street address in Heidelberg. The members of the sextet, who range in age from 25 to 30, came together in 1995. They meld electronic bleeps, erratic beats and ambient spaces with guitars, bass and sitar, throwing in jazz stylings and dub studio techniques to create organic, otherworldly sounds. The results are similar to the experimental works of groups such as Stereolab, Laika and Mouse on Mars.

"New Ground," a song from the Bergheim 34 CD, relies on the pulse of a bass to ground the group's space-age electronics and simple keyboard riffs. The dub-heavy "Millie in the Mix" has a haunting air with its mournful-sounding synthesizer arrangement, while "Minor Throne" is a melange of sitar strokes, pop-styled guitar chords and whirling keyboards.

To record the album, the musicians -- Andrew Peckler (keyboards, bass, guitar), Millie Baker (bass), Kyros Khoschlessan (keyboards, loops),Ben Morgan (sitar/percussion), Neuert and Vortisch -- simply sat down in Neuert's bedroom and began jamming and recording straight to DAT. They produced the CD without a single rehearsal.

"Everyone just turned on the instrument, plugged it in, and we just started," Neuert said during the second stop on the band's tour -- a show at Philadelphia's Khyber Pass club. "[The recording session] was totally unforced, and easygoing. We kept the volume really low. It was really laid back, and it just happened."

While the songs on Bergheim 34 are minimalist in texture, the band's Khyber Pass show was a wall of layered instruments with Neuert's free-form percussion speeding up the tempo, then bringing it back down. The musicians concentrated on their playing, barely looking up or at one another. Between some songs, the band members swapped instruments to change mood and style.

Compositions moved through circular dives and twists. The 60 or so college students who showed up for the early afternoon set were transfixed, sitting silently, cross-legged on the floor.

When asked about their various musical influences, the band members cited jazz, dub, pop and soul, as well as specific heroes such as British techno-industrial composer and producer Alec Empire. Their style leans toward the past, but embraces the experimental workings of electronica.

"I didn't really like the first techno scene in Germany," Neuert said. "We all got fed up listening to techno or jungle. That's when everyone started listening to soul and jazz."

In addition to their work in Bergheim 34, all of the band members have side projects. Peckler records under the name, Sad Rockets, and recently released Plays, a critically heralded album on Germany's Source label. Vortisch is under the tutelage of Kraftwerk member Florian Schneider at a German music school.

Ben Morgan, the band's sole American member, has his own instrumental ensemble, Lexicon, based in his hometown of Philadelphia. Morgan became part of Bergheim 34 after studying in Germany as an exchange student; now he splits his time between the two musical groups. Vortisch and Neuert said the rest of the band members met hanging out in record stores and at the HD800 club, a popular music venue in Heidelberg.

"The good thing about Heidelberg is that people [in music] like to help each other," Neuert said. "I know the whole hip-hop scene. I know everyone that plays in bands or has something to do with music."

With plans to release their next album in March through Germany's Klang Records as well as First Love, the band has already written a handful of songs. They include "Ding Dong," which features Vortisch singing in Spanish, and an as-yet untitled number that Vortisch describes as a "trashy disco song."

And, since Bergheim 34 recently purchased a multi-track digital recorder, that next album seems destined to be born out of Neuert's bedroom.

American fans are responsive to the innovations of the Heidelberg group. After the Bergheim 34's recent gig in Philadelphia, many audience members hung around the stage long after the band had finished playing.

"I thought they were great, they way they mixed traditional rock 'n' roll with jazz and electronica," said Jeff Whaker, a 24-year old student in Philadelphia. "They mix it all up, but make it come together."

Another fan from Philadelphia was equally upbeat about the ensemble's mix of live instrumentation and electronic music.

"It's refreshing to hear the sitar being used this way," said Walter Hicks, 27. "You hope this kind of music doesn't become too mainstream. It's more honest and pure that way."