Wisp - The Shimmering Hour - 4/5

After reading the hype over Wisp's new album, out on the Rephlex label, I decided to go ahead and make a purchase. Mr. Dunn has been making quite a name for himself over the past few years in the underground IDM circuit, releasing on many weblabels as well as "real" labels such as (the now defunct) Sublight and Terminal Dusk. This, as well as Dunn putting out a collection of remixes of Aphex Twin's "Selected Ambient Works 2" album, gives perfect reasoning for his signing to Rephlex (Richard D James owns the Rephlex label with Grant Wilson-Claridge).

So, one may presume that the album is merely a copycat of Aphex's work, as well as his peers such as Squarepusher, etc. and indeed in some cases their influence is evident. For example, the ghostly pads on "Seaway Trail" can easily be likened, if not mistaken for Aphex Twin's "Lichen" from the "S.A.W.2" album. Some of the bass sequences heard in "Keeper Of The Hills" sound as if they've almost been lifted from Squarepusher's "Hello Meow" from "Hello Everything" also.

However, once the listener has bypassed the likenesses and, to be fair, tacky artwork, a gem of an album can be found. Dunn ditches the IDM stereotypes of profanity and smut (see Venetian Snares' latest LP, "Filth"... or, for the faint of heart, maybe not) and pneumatic-drill-drum-rushes to deliver an album full of electronic wizardry. Beats and basslines are kept complex and seemingly everchanging, but are smothered in warm, drowsy pads and ambience. The 14 tracks presented here (it IS a long album clocking in at over 70 minutes - definitely value for money!) provide beautiful melodies so as to not overbear the listener with frantic and disjointed rhythms.

Perhaps the album's length is also a disadvantage though. I must admit, towards the latter half of the album I was wondering if I had heard this before. However, Dunn's work is fresh enough to keep entertaining, even if some of the tracks are a little samey here and there. There is certainly enough variation to save the album from being criticised too heavily, from the gabber-like intro of "Cultus Klatawa" to the Celtic-Braindance-fusion of "The Shaper". The album starts and ends perfectly as well with the energetic opener "Teddy Oggie" and psychedelic-tinged closer "Winter of Flight". "Teddy Oggie" is not necessarily a new work to the IDM fan either - this track can be found amongst the other fakes that came with the release of The Tuss' "Rushup Edge" in 2007.

As stated in Boomkat's review of the album, "The Shimmering Hour" will tide any IDM fans over until the next big release. Hell, this could even be the next big release itself.