David J Opdyke, AmbiEntrance.org
Jun 9, 2002
Impressionistic soundscapes paint the airwaves in captivating tints and shades when Vir Unis & Chris Short pay audio-homage (with synths/ treatments and guitartronics, respectively) to Van Gogh and Gauguin. I find the delicate grace of the yellow house to be prettier than any picture...
16.5 minutes of sheer splendor unfurls all around the Monastery of the South. Ache-inducing gorgeousness just shimmers and swells. This track has been the last thing I heard upon hitting the pillow for many nights this month...a wondrous sleeper. Only occasionally do Short's guitar strings reveal themselves as such, like in the ultrasoft noodling which wafts through the synthborn skytides which exist On the Threshold of Eternity; eventually all fades back to a tantalizing near-nothingness, which is gradually refilled by the supremely atmospheric clouds which soar over the Journey of the Wayfarers. Light organic textures begin to bristle below the phantasmal swirls.
Stormy Seas hardly seem so when rendered in gauzey, only-slightly-brooding pastel sheens of high and low... wispy skies, maybe, but except for a bit of minor darkening, the turbulence here is negligible. Short-runner Quest For Paradise (3:39) simply flows into the lush streams, surging and receding in cushiony vaporgusts. My only gripe is when the rarefied air of Starry Night (26:00) is interrupted (twice) by shortwave-radiospeak, even though expertly blended into the faintly-grumbling stellar drones, they're a bit incongruous though I've learned to accept them as part of this spacier selection, which reverts back to the previous modes of serenity.
Masters of their sound-palettes, Vir Unis & Chris Short imbue the sonic canvas of the yellow house with abstract art of most immersive aural colorings... Minimalistic panoramas are so restrained I could just scream! Wonderful! A+.
Vir Unis / Christopher Short -Yellow House
Hannah
M.G. Shapero, EER-Music.com
June 14, 2002
“Vir Unis” and his talented crew of musical helpers have established themselves just in the last few years as producers of some of the best ambient sound to cross the Millennial Line. In this album, “Unis” collaborates with guitarist Christopher Short, one of the “Ma Ja Le” duo, in a series of excursions into “deep chill” rhythm-less ambient. The title refers to a house once occupied by the artists Gauguin and Van Gogh, whose famous work changed the look of modern art.
Short can play blues, country, and rock guitar, and that’s where his playing comes from here but these twangs, in Bubble Ambient, are stretched out and written in foam on the virtual ocean. You hear chords and melodies, but they are interlapped with “Vir Unis’” drifting, shifting waves of electronic and environmental sound. Track 2, for instance, features Short’s improvisation on what seems to be a medley of Pat Metheny’s “Jaco” and Santana’s “Black Magic Woman.” This familiar music is washed in a whispering sea-scape of Unisworks, giving the listener a feeling which is a peculiar mixture of comfort and eeriness.
In the later tracks, the more experimental side of the Bubble takes over, and Short’s guitar becomes an abstract element in one of Vir Unis’ grand extravagant tidal waves of sound, the 26-minute track 6, “Starry Night.” Up until now, the album has been unusually serene, unlike “Unis’” other unnerving works such as Aeonian Glow. But here, the exploding swirling universe of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” is rendered into sound with multi-tracking, long-period loops, microtonal tone-clusters, “found sounds” from random radio broadcasts, and outright space electronics somewhat in the style of Michael Stearns. There are moments of intense beauty in this album, and many of them are in this last track, though you may have to put your virtual brains back into your head after you have finished listening to it. It’s a vast whirling universe, all coming out of a bubble in a little yellow house.
Phil Derby, Sequences Magazine
June 2002
The last collaboration that I'm aware of between these two (and others) was the excellent 1998 CD Imaginarium. That was a tribal, edgy work. This time, feather-light softness and dark haunting ambience are the order of the day. The disc starts in very ethereal drifting fashion over the first few tracks. "Monastery of the South" is a sublime way to relax, a slow but serene starter. "On the Threshold of Eternity" has some lovely, almost bluesy guitar work by Short, perfectly complemented by Vir's soft flowing sonic textures. There are hints of gurgling darkness, but the effect remains soothing.
Even brighter is "Journey of the Wayfarers," which includes light nature sounds and more shimmery synths. "Stormy Seas" is still full of expansiveness, but also seems a touch restless, a harbinger of things to come. "Quest for Paradise" is a relatively light, brief interlude, perhaps lulling the listener into a false sense of security.
But hold on to your hat, and your nightlight, for the eerie, chilling finish, "Starry Night." The title suggests a beautiful night sky, but the sonic tapestry paints quite a different picture. The first half of this 26-minute piece is the best dark ambient I've heard since Lustmord and Robert Rich made Stalker. It is a challenging bold piece that will captivate and maybe even frighten some. But it does emerge at least a little from the depths for some almost pretty finishing touches, at least by comparison, for the final half of it. The long slow fade is something to relish, yet with a touch of sadness that it has come to an end. Fans of floating ambient with dark touches will enjoy this immensely.
