22-year-old Irishman Barry Lynn has released two albums on the Planet Mu label under the pseudonym Boxcutter, both specialising in London’s popular underground dubstep sound. Rumour has it that Radiohead’s Thom Yorke is an admirer.

Balancing Lakes slightly side-steps Lynn’s Boxcutter releases, the tracks featured here – consisting of demos recorded between 2002-2005 - carry strong underlying rhythms but are otherwise firmly seated within the IDM and occasionally ambient domains.

On display are reams of heavy duty glitch and squelchy analogue trickery, made comprehensible by floating, airy micro tones and excitable micro-edited beats. Aphex Twin is a very obvious influence on ambient electronic tracks such as Something With M In It, the acid ravaged Lattice Shimmer and creepy L.T.I., where the stench of Selected Ambient Works is rife, but that by no means detracts from the quality of some of Lynn’s output.

Lynn’s future dubstep production is plenty evident on Hayfever Dub and November Dub, although these tracks are not quite ripe for the picking. Otherwise, Balancing Lakes often borrows from Squarepusher’s drill’n’bass philosophy - more madcap than oozing with character, although it has to be said that Loving Dub is an excellent dubby IDM/drum’n’bass crossover track.

Lynn knows his way around his gear and produces with crispness, clarity and innovation, even if wrought from a much-travelled template. Every negative philosophical aspect appears to be cancelled out by a positive outcome, so as derivative as some of the music may sound, Balancing Lakes could well win you over through sheer entertainment alone – and it certainly lacks the pretentiousness of some of Lynn’s more popular generic bedfellows.