Turnquist, Alexander / Faint At The Loudest Hour

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Faint at the Loudest Hour is the astonishing solo debut by guitarist Alexander Turnquist, part of a young generation of guitar players who have taken their incredible virtuosity and turned it into something actually worth listening to. Like James Blackshaw, Jack Rose, Glenn Jones, et al., this could roughly be described as “raga” guitar, with its long, modal compositions and hypnotic overtone play. Unlike most of his peers, however, Turnquist employs a variety of extended techniques à la Hans Reichel, grappling the strings with both hands and using a variety of approaches and attacks on both the steel and wood. There’s also a distinct lack of audible “roots” influence here, with Turnquist sidestepping the Fahey-isms that dominate so much current acoustic guitar music. Along with the six- and twelve-string acoustics, Turnquist makes subtle use of electronic textures, such as the surprising Fennesz-like dissolve that occurs midway through “Amongst a Swarm of Hummingbirds.”  Faint at the Loudest Hour was recorded by Scott Solter (Mountain Goats, Liam Singer, many others) with cinematic depth and detail.

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