Wisp – The Shimmering Hour
Niagara Falls has a composing genius in their hands, hell, burn down that wax museum they have and make a stage close to the water fall and let Wisp play live weekly, the town needs something fresh and cinematic and Wisp would never disappoint for one moment, he could be their Blue Man Group.
Reid Dunn might be known to some of his close internet friends as someone that plays fantasy video games, hangs out on the WATMM forum and leaves polite comments once in a while, works the night shift, and might not jump onto AOL messenger until 3am every night until morning sending you clips of tracks he makes thru the day. All that is great and all but he has reached some musicians dream which is to release on Richard D. James’ record label Rephlex and pretty much put everyone to shame in the IDM world.
If you haven’t listened to his new LP The Shimmering Hour then you haven’t heard Aphex Twin served to you on a silver platter with some of the finest tweaks, iron man marathon speed and maximized sound quality. Honestly, I put it on this record and I feel like i’m about to ride in on a horse into a village and burn that whole thing down, which isn’t a bad dorky thing its just that epic and fantasy filled. Some songs I feel like i’m feasting with foreign kings and riding on dragons that have 3 heads as a level 60 Gunslinger Destromath but thats besides the point, its Reid the kid that I thought since 2004 would be huge one day and after 5 years he has become a favorite composer of many electronic fans and seriously not to plug him but for any video game company that needs a sound designer and you think Amon Tobin or Richard Devine is the top of the line well then you need to give Reid one day to compose you something for any scene and i’ll bet my left arm(i’m left handed) he’ll make it perfect. Alright, i’ve gone overboard and thats what happens when you’re listening to this record and writing about it.
(please note the artwork above is only partially the final art used for the release, I just enjoyed that section of the cover a lot more)
[audio:wisp1.mp3] [audio:wisp2.mp3] [audio:wisp3.mp3] [audio:wisp4.mp3]
12 Comments Leave A Comment
Bryn says:
June 20, 2009 at 12:42 amjust ordered this LP after hearing these songs, incredible tracks.
Craig says:
June 20, 2009 at 9:27 amThe Shimmering Hour is one of the best albums I have heard this year.
Keeper of the Hills had me hooked from the moment I read the review on Dusted Magazine and heard the track. The album has good sequencing too, each track creates momentum for the next.
john says:
June 20, 2009 at 11:11 amwisp reigns epic supreme
NAVIS says:
June 20, 2009 at 6:54 pmPower to us south paws!
NAVIS says:
June 20, 2009 at 6:56 pmPS: Is it June 23rd yet? It needs to be because I want that new Bibio album. I need something to comfort me when I’m on my flight to Scotland.
Will H says:
June 20, 2009 at 8:40 pmThis guy is the prime example of the IDM dream: Someday, after releasing tons of albums on netlabels that you composed in your parents basement, Aphex Twin/Venetian Snares will call you up for a chat and wisk you away to a magical kingdom of bars in England of people getting smashed to fucking weird music.
I love IDM.
trip2 says:
June 21, 2009 at 5:12 amnice to see a slow worm
shantnaked says:
June 21, 2009 at 6:57 amvery good stuff. thanks for educating me on wisp.
gerwin says:
June 21, 2009 at 3:20 pmamazing music, i ordered the album right away
Kevin says:
June 22, 2009 at 7:02 amholy crap, thank you for this.
rtificial says:
June 22, 2009 at 5:07 pmYou can download a bunch of his older albums off a friend hosted site. I think when sublight(RIP) went under he just gave em out there. I love dropping his tracks at the end of brutal breakcore dj sets to bring things down all nice and peaceful.
As I typed this a bird just hit my window.
Richard Devine needs to put out a new album or something too. I may ask him about this next time I see him. Dang guy is a software/hardware monster, but one of the nicest producers I’ve met.
Jamie says:
June 23, 2009 at 9:57 amBrilliant! Really love this. Thanks.