cd review at www.cdtimes.co.uk
for Evan Morris - Names Between Information
"To say that Names Between Information is minimalist would, perhaps, be a bit of an understatement. In fact, it'd be quite a large understatement -- the only instrument featured on the record (as far as I could discern) is a classical guitar, or, to be more accurate, some rather finely sliced classical guitar samples.
Of course, minimalism is the whole point. It's hardly like Evan Morris was too lazy to use any other instrument -- in fact, I suspect the exact opposite. I can just picture him agonisingly fighting the urge to go all out and throw in a few of his usual glitchy, digital drum sounds. In the end, though, the finished product is much better for it.
As you might have guessed, it's a wonderfully relaxing album, gently exuding the sort of calm atmosphere in which, if you're not careful, you can easily find yourself completely absorbed. It's 'ambient' exactly as Eno defined it: "...as ignorable as it is interesting."
Sadly, this atmosphere is tainted somewhat by the constant hiss of the poor-quality samples. While the incidental clicks and pops (where the samples have been sliced) of some tracks are a welcome addition, providing a certain extra rhythm, the hiss is simply irritating, and makes listening to the record at a reasonably high volume unpleasant. Another small gripe is with the mastered volume of tracks -- it seems to vary quite significantly throughout the course of the album, making constant volume-knob-adjustment a neccesity.
While Names Between Information is decidedly lacking on the production side of things, it contains some fantastic compositions and is elegant in its simplicity."
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