3.5

Release data:

Vir Unis – Mercury and Plastic
CD-R, AtmoWorks, 2002

Vir Unis, aka John Strate-Hootman, is known for his interesting new approaches in the field of ambient music.

The ten tracks, making up a total of 76 minutes of music, is another well executed effort, displaying great fractal groove/rhythm creation, pulse beats/percussion and expanding textural landscapes as displayed on the collaborative recordings “Body Electric” and “Blood Machine” made with Steve Roach.
It gives the music a futuristic, gloomy and progressive touch in which warmth and organic elements also have their significance and place.

Next to this album, Vir Unis also released “Symbology”, a remix album with some deep, airy and lucid reworked versions of the “Mercury and Plastic” sessions as well as pieces which didn’t fit on anymore.
There’s a rough edge to all these tracks when compared to the smoothen contents of the previous disc. More minimal in shape and content, it nicely carries on in the described energetic, groovy but relaxed ambient style.

Website: www.atmoworks.com

You can see what reviews I have done of this artist on the Vir Unis artist page