Search - Wisp :: Nrthndr

Igloo Magazine's REVIEW

Pietro Da Sacco | 12/06/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Review by: Luca Maini at igloomag.com

(12.05.05) Finally, the long awaited Wisp debut album is here. After listening to several tracks and remixes floating on compilations, I was curious and excited about a solo work. Since the very beginning of Nrthndr you'll be aware of something special: the alchemy of junglist breaks and uplifting melodic composition of "Negions Fail" works so well that you'll be instantly mesmerized. You must surrender to Wisp's sweet tunes, so beautifully arranged that they smoothen rhythms that otherwise would be called breakcore. "Closing Brydges" is a stunning crescendo from an eerie atmospheric piece to an analog outburst; "Congratulations" is more upbeat and digitalized while "Loophole" slows down with some technoid influence; "1Stop" is a brief trip to hip hop territories but the common feature is that they're all moving and joyful, like no other thing you listened to in recent times. "Untethered" borrows too much inspiration from the Boards of Canada but I can forgive him listening to the acid bleep rave of "Dead Street." The end of this record is simply amazing --before closing with the warm piano licks of "North," it's time for the frantic scattered breaks of "All his might" that, after an epic breakdown, literally explodes into a reece driven anthem full of bass energy and 8-bit melancholia. Nrthndr is a record made up of contrasts between intense rhythms and playful melodies that will stick in your brain for a long time, superb and unpaired stuff. Watch out for a forthcoming vinyl EP on Terminal Dusk."