American Blindfold

Austrian Hans Platzgumer certainly has a finger on the pulse of modern electronica. Always interested in blending sound and soundscape, genre and generation, under his own name and a myriad others, Platzgumer remixed himself across the gritty glitz of New York City and, in 1998, delivered the crowning American Blindfold under the new pseudonym Aura Anthropica.

Despite the fact that one could dissect the title and its intent in one of several ways, it's what's inside that counts — and this counts a lot. From dreamy trip-hop breaks on the opening "Googol," and on to the disjointed, but completely honest segue into the wicked rock psychedelia of "Disjointing the Bird," it's a belligerent hint as to where Aura Anthropica is going.

By the time we get to the sinister spoken word prophecy on "The Inland," and the drum 'n' bass-y "Aguascalientes" a little later on, that path is completely apparent. American Blindfold is an exploration of taste and style that evokes memories of much of history's finer electronic points. Playing off ghosts of Biosphere and Robert Miles; of Massive Attack and the ambient rock menace of Fripp & Eno, Platzgumer has both given tribute, and triumphed himself, with an eminently listenable slab that allows both dance freaks and chill-out groovers to find their line. It's that achievement that ultimately allows American Blindfold to become a slick soundtrack for the modern era.