H.P. Zinker frontman Hans Platzgumer has been experimenting with digital contortions again. After his twisted down-tempo American Blindfold project (under his Aura Anthropica guise), Platzgumer has now set about describing silicon environments on Datacard. (Luckily, he stays away from Carmen Electra's breasts). In doing so, Platzgumer adeptly veers from Ed Rush-style analog tech-step to Mille Plateaux-ish clicks and cuts.

The white noise belch of "Journey" expels the tricky machismo of the opening two brutal-- but hardly groundbreaking-- rinsers, "Hedonist Nightmare" and "Terrifier." Platzgumer then turns his skills to more challenging and engaging matters. "Boogieman" is a havoc-wreaking chromium electro worm. The spell-check torturing of "llal.04875.abrr" gives remixer Hecker the opportunity to eclipse Oval, Pole, and Kit Clayton in their nano-representations.

Platzgumer only begins to unveil his originality with Datacard's sixth track, succinctly titled "H." The song sums up the album thus far, containing darkstep drum-n-bass elements along with the piezoelectric sounds of his datacard communicating with its components. Like the preceding tracks, "H" would be an effective dance track for the clubs. However, in the calmer surroundings of your living room, you'll be in a far better position to marvel at Platzgumer's construction. "H" delicately trips through familiar territory and, by combining the dark with the hazy, renews these two cliched genres.

"Weather Report" doesn't buck the trend. Platzgumer collaborates with Albert Pöschl, taking the industrial clanks and klonks we've become accustomed to though the wringer. These sounds are refreshed and sparkling, with their ability to disturb inevitably reestablished.

Platzgumer should be congratulated for revitalizing tech-step on this release, even if Datacard won't likely win any awards for such a rewind. The subtleties Platzgumer has imbued his album with would be lost in the throb of a club, but put it on your home system and you'll be sent to an environment those Pentium ads have strenuously avoided showing you. Perhaps Carmen Electra's implants are a less disturbing destination after all.

-Paul Cooper