A friend of mine gave me a copy of this disc. Apparently he wasn't too impressed by it, and I must admit (several years and several dozen Atom Heart releases later) that it has taken me longer to get to know what this disc is all about then I ever figured. Surprisingly, this album sounds just about as fresh and new as it did when I first listened to it. The artwork and design (by Linger Decoree) properly reflect the enigmatic and somewhat humorous musical content on the disc. VSVN stands for Very Synthetic Virtual Noise, which accurately describes this 63-minute document of modern electronic fusion music. This was the third release from Rather Interesting, and as far as styles go this one is all over the board, and on top of that there are many moments of uncatagorical sonic weirdness which contribute nicely to the album's psychedelic nature. Song titles are simply listed as VSVN 1-8.

The adventure begins with an instantly pounding 4otF architecture inlayed with a subtle repeating 303 acid groove and the standard handclap on every other bass kick. Over the first couple minutes, synthesized insect leg-rubbing noises and genetically mutated hi-hat substitutes are, one by one, introduced. Our host seems to have a knack for composing colorful electronic music in much the same way that those cooking and painting instructors on public television can effortlessly whip up gourmet meals and striking landscapes in a matter of minutes. After the first rhythm break, an expansive hemi-house atmosphere materializes and the trance components are worked into a smooth, homogenous, goa-paced lather. This is definitely a good track to have on vinyl for the midnight ravers. Fans of Victor Sol's Earcloud project should recognize the similarity to the last track (Hokusai Dive) on the Chlorophile Fumes album, and there had to be some byte swapping going on here. Track two starts out pretty nondescript, but ends with what sounds like Indians consulting (mixing?) the Akashic records. In between we have some pretty complex 8-measure melody loopings and some multitextured percussion work. The melody warbles and rips along, sometimes spontaneously popping into neighboring frequency domains, while a tactile bass rumble-bubble chugs in the right channel. All the while, there's a certain amorphous-sounding hi-end melody sliding up and down in the background. Near the track's end, this melody morphs into an intricate pattern containing gated stereo imaging of what sounds to be Native American origin. Ah, the wondrous benefits of binary amplification.... A brief pause and a voice announces "Cut 3." This track was included on the first RI compilation, but all the instruments are mixed differently. In fact, the Real Intelligence version seems to be a single channel mix, as everything is dead center. The VSVN version is much more diverse in terms of panning and placement. The song itself is more of a collage made up of a roomy bassline and samples of various other things including a Tibetan monk chanting away, a toddler happily conversing with an alien, a couple kids horsing around, someone whistling, someone belching (and someone else finding that amusing), and a woman who sounds like she's *really* enjoying herself. There are other things going on too, these are merely the things I can hear out. These seem to be patched together simply for the aesthetic obsurdity of hearing all these sounds and situations together. Meanwhile, an eerie set of notes joins the bassline...all in super-separated stereo, of course.

The next track was cut with diamond precision. A high-frequency chirp emits and weaves with its own saturated delays which continue to echo to the left and right. A melodic artifact becomes apparent after only a few repetitions and blends into the background of textures slowly fading in. Next, a tame bass drum and more percussive elements stitch some of the layers together. Soon, the groovey tune is established and you're allowed to hang out in it for a time, but before long a convoluted polydrum fill is heard. The drum fills are only somewhat terrestrial sounding, and they flip and whirl about until a minimal 2-note melody creates a certain degree of audio vertigo. You have some time to explore this before your experience is cut off by a quick vinyl spindown and an interjection by a fellow listener who is, judging from the sound of his voice, a deep chair veteran. The next track is loud, and it will almost certainly shock you out of your womblike state like a boorish follow-up tune. There must be some hidden motive for doing this! The infamous drum machine Twang! and a couple of handclaps are thrown in there somewhere. This is the halfway point, and the change of gears here is meant to perhaps prevent complete drift-induced time dilation. Track 6 is of the more abstract variety. A seemingly random assemblage of sounds including a door-slamming drum, an ascending-delay bottleclap, and perhaps an altered voiceloop join up with semi-gloomy Dots-ish elevator textures. The end portion is beatless. The album finishes off with a great dub-paced driving track. The start of the track has some interesting layers of quiet sound effects of the seaside for a minute or two until the beat starts. From then on, a solid bass and a popping air-gasket keep time. Minimalist overall and quite pleasing. The gentle waves come again toward the end, this time mixed with some distant synth lines for good measure.