Selected Media Quotes
Pitchfork Media (score of 8.2)
"By embedding both new age and noise-oriented electronic themes into
his pastoral pieces, Turnquist unites disparate traditions and ideals,
essentially employing sonic counterweights to construct 57 minutes that
are as surprisingly dynamic as they are perfectly beautiful." - Grayson
Currin (Pitchfork Media)
Mojo Magazine
"Turnquist layers his six and twelve string guitar instrumentals
with electronic drones, piano and vibes. This first widely available
release is a filmic beauty, its chilly pastoralism distinguished by the
physicality of his
playing"
The Silent Ballet
The Silent Ballet Top 50 Albums of 2009
#6 of 50
If the album’s title is any indication, Alexander Turnquist has crafted
a very dynamic poem of dreamful instrumentation; horizontal simplicity
intertwines with vertical complexity in ways that recall the workings
of the mind at rest, a permanent harmony of acoustic neurotransmission
bristling with small, but enormously significant events in the form of
short keys, violin, and cello interventions. The twelve-string guitar
functions as the bloodstream of this impressionistic system, taking its
textures and minimalist developments forward, backward, sideways, and
everywhere in between. Like both a system and a poem, the movements in
this music are rhythm and harmony-based, a continuous flow of ideas
made in precise short movements that gradually build a greater whole -
a whole that is one of this year’s best, one of those albums that is a
practically must-listen regardless of musical preference. (David
Murrieta)
"Few artists have broken the TSB radar as quickly as Alexander Turnquist. After receiving rave reviews on Apneic and Faint at the Loudest Hour, Turnquist performed the hat-trick by contributing the stunning "We Are Magnets" to TSB Volume IX: Wenn Ich Ein Eisbär Wäre. Yet, with his second full length, As the Twilight Crane Dreams in Color,
he appears to have only begun his dominance of the acoustic guitar
album. If the "We Are Magnets" indicated that Turnquist would be
migrating away from guitar-based compositions, then it was a red
herring. The three quarters of an hour of music on the album are
largely guitar centered, but subtle additions are made by other
instrumentation, such as piano, glockenspiel, and vibraphone by
Turnquist himself, cello by Marlan Barry, and violin by Christopher Tignor.
The cohesion of elements is stunning and easily places Turnquist at the
top of his class. Although there has been many acoustic guitar albums
in the past few years, none have been as accomplished as As the Twilight Crane Dreams in Color. " (The Silent Ballet)
"Here is an instrumentalist who pushes plumes of tightly woven
acoustic patterns into the atmosphere, quickly following them with
other tufts of strings or occasional electronic passages, sculpting
thick patterns that escape the casual listener, but tease and engage
anyone who takes the time to sit down and share a moment with his
work." - Jonathan Brooks @ The Silent Ballet
Direct Current
"Minimalist New York guitarist Alexander Turnquist
creates shifting layers of intricate finger-picked guitar with piano,
violin and cello shadings for a sound that is mesmerizing and hypnotic.
Second album "As The Twilight Crane Dreams In Color" may have a title
that should have been a Pink Floyd epic but the touch here is delicate
and dreamy not psychedelic on tracks such as the ten-minute opus
"Dancing In Borealis Ribbons of Vivacity".Recalling at times guitarist virtuosi James Blackshaw and Jack Rose,
Turnquist uses his instrument as a Takoma tapestry of chiming, detailed
patterns, adding subtle melodic turns to the extended repetitions of
"raga-style" chording. If Philip Glass had played guitar on his
groundbreaking works such as "Metamorphosis", it might have sounded
something like what Turnquist is exploring here." -Direct Current
Textura
"What makes the new recording so special? In simplest terms, it's because the New York-based guitarist fulfils the promise evidenced by his previous releases and challenges himself to go beyond what he's done before. What recommends the album even more is that Turnquist shows himself to be not only a distinguished instrumentalist but most importantly a composer of distinction. Ambitious in structure, the album features three long-form tracks, the shortest ten minutes and the longest almost nineteen, but all fully justify their length. One of the most interesting aspects of the compositional design is that Turnquist often extends the guitar's dense clusters throughout the pieces so that they act as stabilizing anchors for the intermittent voicings of the tracks' themes." - Ron Schepper
www.alexanderturnquist.com
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