Minimalism sounds good on CD. So hypnotic is the music's effect that the slightest blemish easily distracts, and the more silent the carrier, the more your attention can focus completely on the musical processes themselves. That said, I have a few small reservations about the pieces themselves on this issue. First, John Adams's Shaker Loops is a different and arguably better work in its original scoring for string septet (still obtainable on 1750 Arch Records S-1748—not submitted for review); the arrangement for string orchestra makes it a glossier piece, but also a less intimate and inviting one. Second, in his Variations Steve Reich was trying his hand at through-composition on a scale new for him, and writing for forces larger than his norm. there's an awkwardness, a vague lack of purpose to the score when compared with Tehillim and The Desert Music, slightly later works that seem more assured and directed. Admirers, however, will certainly want to know this work, and it's good to be able to hear it in full CD clarity.'