Evan Caminiti
Meridian
Release Date: Jun 16, 2015
Genre(s): Electronic, Pop/Rock, Experimental Rock, Experimental Ambient, Dark Ambient
Record label: Thrill Jockey
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Album Review: Meridian by Evan Caminiti
Very Good, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 7/10
Atmosphere is the key factor in much ambient and/or experimental music. Brian Eno’s output in the 1970s, which many would argue set the standard for ambient music in the decades to follow, specialized in a calm, pastoral atmosphere. On the other side of the spectrum, an artist like Gnaw Their Tongues makes the listener seriously consider the idea that she may have actually died and been cast down into the most torturous pits of hell, with an atmosphere focused entirely on oppression and horror.
Based on rating 7.0/10
For years, Evan Caminiti has made guitar drone in the duo Barn Owl with Jon Porras; as they've gone along, they've folded more electronics into their heavy soundscapes. He also performs alone: on his last solo ventures—2012's Dreamless Sleep and Night Dust—he used guitars, but ones that were so heavily processed and reconfigured that it wasn't obvious what they were on first or subsequent listens. In a recent interview with Fact he commented on this increased tweaking of the instrument: "I got to a point where I was running it through so many effects pedals that it was basically not even a guitar anymore.
Opinion: Excellent
Evan Caminiti’s main gig is Barn Owl, a duo in which he helps concoct desert-scorched drones that are pierced by twangy guitar flourishes. His last two solo records (Dreamless Sleep and Night Dust, both released in 2012) were minimalist endeavors, but they still managed to explore the outer edges of what a guitar could sound like. On Meridian, guitars don’t figure much into the equation.
Opinion: Very Good
Evan Caminiti — Meridian (Thrill Jockey)With a handful of prior solo releases and his participation in Barn Owl (and other, lesser-known projects), Evan Caminiti has established a track record of guitar and electronic drone. Meridian continues his trajectory, albeit in what feels like a more focused way. This is a purely synth-driven work, which invokes some specific forebears and establishes a different context in which it plays.After the intro 90 seconds of “Overtaken”, the remaining 40 minutes is divided among cuts of four to six minutes apiece.
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