The Kronos Quartet's advocacy of contemporary music is one of the wonders of our time. Here the four players appear in triplicate, performing Steve Reich's Triple Quartet by pre-recording two quartets and playing the third simultaneously with the tape. As they have demonstrated time and time again in their vast repertoire, they possess the razor-sharp precision Reich's music begs for. The clear, closely miked recording means that the interplay of part work is consistently fascinating. The Kronos brings out an almost Copland-like quality in the second movement, which speaks of quiet, open spaces. The four pieces on this disc offer a perfectly balanced, musically satisfying set of contrasts. Electric Guitar Phase is a 2001 version of the 1967 Violin Phase with Dominic Frasca overdubbing the four electric guitar parts. Exuding a purer minimalism than Triple Quartet, Electric Guitar Phase is heady and hypnotic. Music for Large Ensemble is a glittering, xylophone/marimba-decorated panorama of sound, but it is a fitting tribute to the talents of marimba player Mika Yoshida that Tokyo/Vermont Counterpoint acts as a satisfying climax to the disc. Originally for flutes, alto flutes and piccolos and entitled merely Vermont Counterpoint, Yoshida's own arrangement is a truly virtuoso feat, gripping from first to last. --Colin Clarke