Neil Wiernik's third full length album is playful with an overall calmatmosphere, despite what the murky title suggests. The mood of theearly morning hours is perfectly captured, as different layers of soundin a steady flow match the various tones of shades. Silhouette-likestructures appear hazy at first glance but slowly come into shape asthe mind focuses on them. Besides the album's brilliant opener,"Brittle Sticks," which features a casual female vocal, all otherpieces are purely electronic instrumentals. Tracks 2-5 run in acontinuous flow, giving the impression of a live in-studio recording.Following that, "Post Shifting Ground" is a remix of the preceding"Shifting Ground Water." The early 80's beat box rim shot sound ispushed even more in the forefront but before it get's really disturbingit suddenly ends. In this abrupt silence, NAW places the straightforward "Two A.M. Overcast," which is undoubtedly another high pointbefore "Foggy Autumn Dawn" closes the album in the tradition of classicBasic Channel 12" B-Sides. The double finale leaves me with a wish formore, and thus repeated plays are irresistable. While I usually preferalbums to be longer, 40 minutes of quality is always more desirablethan an album with lots of filler.Read More
