Transmuting Currents Reviewed by Phil Derby, Electroambient Space June 2006 "Everything about TRANSMUTING CURRENTS is as perfect as a debut in the ambient genre can be, from the stunningly beautiful and detailed packaging to every note of music contained inside. "Transmigrate" starts the show in unassuming fashion, black waters ebbing and flowing as vibrating dark synths undulate beneath. A pounding tribal beat edges forward into the mix, without overpowering the pleasing assortment of organic sounds. In contrast, "Ripple Effect" quickly moves into a potent tribal rhythm that serves as the centerpiece, setting the hypnotic tone almost right from the start. "Cove" drips with misty atmosphere, some sounds gently raining down while others swirl around you. "Tide Pool" paints beautifully murky sound pictures as well. This one is more sound collage than music, but no less absorbing as it bubbles and churns. Taking things down another notch is "Water Cairn 1", as the music strips itself down to minimal bare ambience. Water makes a great theme for ambient music, and Vorus makes use of it without pretense or cliche. "Swampland Dub" brings back structure as things again turn very tribal, with percussion that will greatly appeal to fans of ethnoambient works by Steve Roach, Robert Rich, Loren Nerell and the like. Speaking of Roach, he produced two tracks, co-produced the CD, and did all the mixing at the Timeroom. TRANSMUTING CURRENTS is excellent, an instant classic." Artist Bio - I see working with sound as mapping vibrations in air. By matching together different vibrational patterns, it is possible to create, in 3 dimensional space, the subtlety and atmosphere of a place that is reflected in your consciousness. When I hear a sound I can see its shape, color, texture, and movement in my head. So, for me, sound is a visual art that you see with your mind. ˙ When I was 7 years old, I discovered sound manipulation through the medium of the cassette tape. I would make my own voice recordings (typically imitations of animals and weird vocal sounds), and I discovered that when I would tinker with the motor in the tape drive I could have my voice recorded to play back 2 times slower than normal. The result sounded as if I crept out into the woods in the middle of the night and made field recordings of the very monsters I would lie in bed fearing as I drifted off to sleep. It was like creating some sort of primitive sonic cave art, exercising the hyperactive recesses of my pre-adolescent imagination. Over the years my approach to working with sound has become more involved and the result more fine tuned. But this same experimental approach and psychological resonance lives on. Our interaction with sound is such a unique and individual experience, its presence in our life is that of a phenomenon. The mechanics of it are explainable by science, but the reason behind its influence on our internal atmospheres remains a mystery. Between his own solo projects, session work (and as long time member of Midwestern art-rock outfit Morsel), john has performed in Europe and toured in the US, and has spent the last six years slowly developing his own sound, living off and on in the Mountains of Western North Carolina.