December 2002 • Raster-Noton
I don't know if Alva Noto and Ryuichi Sakamoto deliberately set out to combine two sorts of music that are as much of polar opposites as they did, and I still haven't decided if it works or not. But there's still something vaguely intriguing here. Vrioon is ambient music stripped down almost to the basics—soft, slow, airy piano, accompanied by quiet yet harsh and rigid glitches and electronics. Combined, it's a strange experience.
While the piano parts are quite nice, the electronics can be grating (especially with headphones, and especially on "Noon"), making listening to Vrioon both pleasing and discomforting at the same time. It's like spinning some Satie while connecting to dial-up. Sometimes it works, like the spaced-out and peaceful "Trioon I" and "II", and sometimes it doesn't, like the motonous and annoying "Noon". There are also some parts where there is seemingly no structure, like "Uoon II", which is just a cascade of random piano notes without the electronics, or "Trioon II"'s droning style. Yet the album's glacial pace makes it difficult to even notice much diversity.
All that aside, it's still an alright album. It has its hits and misses (notably, tracks 1, 5, and 6 being the better), but overall it's pretty unique as far as ambient goes. Maybe it's my personal preference for the more complex and lush arrangement of Stars of the Lid or Eno, etc., but I can live with this as well.
