Green House Music - Reviews: Vir Unis

Vir Unis - The Drift Inside

GHM.99.02
Released 1999

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Groove Unlimited - Gary Andrews (c) 2000

Previously known for his past collaborations with Steve Roach, Ma Ja Le and the compilation, The Ambient Expanse, Vir Unis has at last released his own fully fledged solo album entitled "The Drift Inside". As the title suggests this is a expansive work of scintillating ambient and floating soundworlds. There are twelve tracks altogether each one linking up to provide one continuous sound source. "Currents Beneath the Shine" begins with shimmering synthesizer motives that gently bathe the listener in a warm feeling of calming music. Much of the music presented gives the impression of being underwater, such is its credentials for creating images in the minds eye. Other titles like "Hidden Streams" and "Adrift" further more cement the feeling of this underwater feeling. I could carry on in describing the music with descriptive words like, floating,and shimmering. I will not, as the exercise will be pointless. It is incredibly hard to review ambient music especially if the music is unique which this album is. Suffice to say that this is undoubtley a very good release. I know this album has done very well back in the States and it deserves to do well over this side of the Atlantic, ambient music at its best.

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Mike McLatchey, Expose Magazine (c) 2000

Following on the heels of The Ambient Expanse, the first solo effort by Vir Unis, after collaborations with Steve Roach and Ma Ja Le, consists entirely of ambient floats and drifts, putting aside the 'fractal grooves' of Body Electric. Naturally, the closest similarity would be with the co-producer Steve Roach, yet Vir Unis already has his unique voice, already a sure hand with subtlety and nuance. There are 12 pieces here, and as with many albums of textual nature, the divisions between tracks aren't always noticeable. At times, such as on the opener "Currents Beneath the Shine" or "Resonate and Glow", the sound is crystalline and ethereally positive, reminding me of early Michael Sterns with the music's shimmering, mandala-like patterning. At others, Vir Unis reaches the abstraction of his contribution to The Ambient Expanse, sounds of twilight grottos and other such vivid imagery. Every moment is rich with atmosphere, mystery, and vision, each piece picturesque and compelling. It's everything you would hope it to be, a debut of extraordinary quality. Waste no time purchasing this one.

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Sharee, Jungle Voodoo E-Zine (c) 2000

Ambient fans listen up ... you may not have heard of the artist or the label, but you're going to want to seek it out. Long time electronic musician, Vir Unis forges deep into aural atmospheric exploration with "The Drift Inside". There are no stand outs on this 12 tracker ... they all flow effortlessly into one another creating a cavern of synths, fx, rhythms and more. With track titles like "Leaving the Skin" and "Neuron Lights", you can get an idea of what inner aural journey you can take with this CD! Outstanding.

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Bert Strolenberg, Klem Magazine (c) 2000

This is the 2nd release of the new Minneapolis-based ambient soundscape label Greenhouse, and Ii'm sure this one will have some consequences, as this one comes from John Strate-Hootman alias Vir Unis. Since his fantastic collaborative projects with Steve Roach & Ma Ja Le, he has become someone to expect a lot from. With this 1st full-length solo-excursion Vir Unis has succeeded in producing a musical inward journey that wins on all points. As the title already suggests, The Drift Inside offers a great collection of 70 minutes + spacious but also dense ambient soundworlds that have been carefully spatial enhanced by friend & soundmagician Steve Roach. Vir Unis' shimmering, almost dwelling ambient textures have the ability to capture the listeners in an almost gracious way, I even think it perfect evening & night-music. Vir Unis has done very well with this release, this is a must-have for every ambient-addictive.

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Phil Derby, SMD Magazine (c) 2000

The ambient music I like best is the kind that just floats by, washing over you as it moves along effortlessly. 'The Drift Inside' is so effortless, so smooth, that it seem to pass by in an instant, or to last forever, I'm not sure which. Not too dark, but with deep, rich sounds and brilliant bright high end tones, this is first-rate ambience.

Unlike much ambient music which prefers to develop very slowly, none of the track lengths on 'The Drift Inside' approach double digits. The 12 tracks flow seamlessly together as a single piece of music, but within each track there is a unique character to the long, streaming sound that both binds it to the whole and sets it apart on its own. I found as I was listening that, although transitions between tracks were very smooth, I was always able to identify when it had moved to the next piece. Each track seems to run a perfect course, exploring feathery light sonic realms, with deliciously rich textures. Steve Roach helped produce the CD, which was put together in his Timeroom studio and mastered by Roger King. Roach also contributes sounds to two of the tracks, though even the tracks he wasn't directly involved in seem to have his musical tendencies.

The music is nearly devoid of any rhythm, although some of the textures, like some subtle crinkling noises in 'Leaving the Skin,' lend themselves to a slight feeling of something solid. But for the most part, the sounds just hang beautifully in the mist, often with metallic brightness meeting deeper, lower tones that don't quite approach darkness, merely hinting at it instead. 'Zero Ground' delves a little deeper into the darkness than some, with traces of the style Roach employs on his disc 'The Magnificent Void.' Titles appropriately convey the feelings evoked, such as 'Resonate and Glow.' 'Crystal Eyes' is velvet smooth, with Roach's soft guitar contributions sounding much like Jeff Pearce's ambient music.

I have reviewed many ambient CDs, and though I have only played 'The Drift Inside' a few times, I would have to say that, without question, it ranks as one of the finest ambient releases I have ever heard. If you like formless shifting ambience, you are virtually assured of a thoroughly rewarding listening experience.

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Bill Binkleman, Wind and Wire (c) 2000

Those people who are always bemoaning the lack of "classic" space music in the vein of Jonn Serrie's And The Stars Go With You finally have no reason to complain. Vir Unis' The Drift Inside is as perfect an example of warm drifting space music as has been produced in years. While definitely on the warmer side of ambient, there is a complexity to this disc that is more than simple synth washes. For example, the calm beauty of "Crystal Eyes" fades into the liquid burbling of "In the Wake of a Passing Thought" with its minor-key shadings and vague rumblings. However, starting the album off in the glow of "Currents beneath the Shine," Vir Unis steers the recording more in the direction of either a positive or, at the least, a neutral emotional impact. "Currents..." features billowy layers of iridescent synths gently undulating with a single lead line melody lazily traipsing through its velvet darkness. The synths rise and fall in waves of ambient bliss and I absolutely defy anyone to compare this to a cut from Serrie's And the Stars... and tell me it's not every bit as heavenly.

Although there are twelve tracks on the album, much like the floating ambient/space works from Steve Roach (who co-produced this CD and contributed guitar loops to two songs) The Drift Inside is really one long slowly evolving piece of music. "Hidden Streams" brings a soft warmth to the previous opening cut's spaciness. On the next song, "Leaving the Skin," the album shoots back out into the blackness of space with long soaring synth washes launching the listener into the far flung reaches of solitude and quiet. The title track introduces subtle background effects amongst the patient waves of synthesizers that adds an uncharacteristic depth to the mix. It's a very well done cut!

Toward the end of the CD, songs take on a slightly darker feel. Shadows grow longer, odd synthetic noises echo and bounce off distant walls and there is a vague disquieting air to things. Yet, despite the evolution into more menacing territory, Vir Unis (does one address him as Vir?) keeps one foot planted firmly in a melodic sensibility that, while not even remotely neo-romantic, is also not the least bit dissonant or avant-garde. By album's end, the music has become almost formless yet still retaining a friendly glow, like a distant star nebula or the faraway lights of a lunar city on some moon orbiting a planet in the Andromedan galaxy.

By now, you probably have inferred that I think this is superb outer space music. But there is more to it than even that. Is this warm dark ambient? Soft yet cold? Maybe it's just the work of one of the next generation of great space musicians. Whatever you want to call it, I call it a must have for fans of the genre. Saddle up, all you space cowboys, there is a new galactic sheriff in town.

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Chuck van Zyl, Star's End Radio Program (c) 2000

Vir Unis, Latin for "one man", is the name synthesist John Strate-Hootman has chosen represent him as a musician. Odd then that Strate is probably most well known for his rhythmic collaborations with the duo of Ma Ja Le as well as with Steve Roach, until now that is. The "one man" has finally released his first full-length solo album, "The Drift Inside". As the title implies the music is aimed toward the space within the listener. With "The Drift Inside", Vir Unis demonstrates his talent in his chosen artistic system: the Soundworld Expedition. The CD is as spacey as the night is long. Thick with atmosphere, "The Drift Inside" is best experienced nocturnally, immersed in night. The new album invites contemplation and introspection, creating a sonic environment that is comfortable and transportive. "Drift" progresses in a nearly imperceptable linear fashion, the listener only faintly aware of being led.

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Lloyd Barde, Backroads Music (c) 2000

From the promising new Green House label comes the first available solo release by Vir Unis, who you are probably familiar with from their collaboration with Steve Roach on "Body Electric" and their floaty, space music track on "Ambient Expanse," last year's #1 space music title. This time, with "The Drift Inside," they stay closer to the far reaches of space,with beatless tracks that inspire the imagination. This is pure drift music created by Vir Unis, consisting of deep atmospheres, ethereal light, and aquatic spaces, with final melting and production done with Steve Roach at the famed Timeroom studio. It is meant to be symbolic of the air and light that enters and leaves our body on a continual basis. By giving thought to this natural and universal process of breathing and seeing we gain appreciation and reverence to these forces that sustain our life. Focusing on the drift, we fall asleep, we meditate, or we enter into trance. The drift is the breath and light that travels through our physical and ethereal bodies and the community of spaces that are inside of us. If we could fully contemplate and realize for even a second the vast amount of space within and outside us, it would truly put us in a constant state of awe.

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David Opdyke, AmbiEntrance (c) 2000

"The Drift Inside" is quite different from "Body Electric" (last year's collab with Steve Roach. For his first solo release, Vir Unis is laying off the beats and fractal grooves, concentrating instead on pure, subtle, radiant flows of energy which move in and out, as shapeless and warm as slow-motion whorls of breath. Speaking of breath, mine was stilled with awe during this 72-minute ascension into sheer ambient heaven.

With a perfect blend of organic and ethereal ambiance, "Currents Beneath the Shine" reveal a new world awakening inside your ears. A hushedly cascading tide of electrons floats dreamily along invisible pathways, thinning and becoming "Hidden Streams" which spread throughout some vast, glisteningly dark chamber, occasionally casting glints of reflected light. After "Leaving the Skin", airier atmospheres are encountered, levitating over a watery mirror below.

A barely perceptible shift allows "The Drift Inside" to seep through... birdlike trills and driplets hover amongst thinly wafting ripples; the track fades away some 20 seconds before slowly phasing into "Zero Ground" (8:39), a spacious realm of twilight loveliness, swathed in the churning starlit ebony of deep space. The darkness expands and brightens, beginning to "Resonate and Glow", ebbing and flowing in soft, intersecting wave patterns.

"Crystal Eyes" peer through weather-like breezes; a light, welcome storm seems to be blowing in from the horizon, accented by faint organics and co-producer Steve Roach's ambient guitar loops. That piece is washed away "In the Wake of a Passing Thought" which leaves behind trails of more-powerful gusts. The effusive turbulence leaves us "Adrift" in a world of gently swirling chaos in the form of muted belltones and hazy notes which seem to slip between dimensions.

"Solar Plexus" (3:02) is another bit of interstellar transportation, sailing through thrumming star-corridors which echo of the void, arriving to another zone, heated by the glow of "Neuron Lights"; here subterranean lava bubbles quietly percolate under a ringing halo of synth shimmers. By the time we fall into "Deepest Dream", we arrive at the disc's equivalent of Heaven... lazily spiraling ribbons decorate this simply gorgeous final destination.

"The Drift Inside" arrived too late to place on the AmbiEntrance 1999 Top Ten List, though check back in December 2000; I sincerely doubt there will be 10 other ambient releases of this caliber. Marking himself as worthy of joining the upper eschelon of ambience, Vir Unis acheives a resounding 9.5 for this solidly ephemeral affair.

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