Turnquist, Alexander / As The Twilight Crane Dreams In Color

Vhf

As the Twilight Crane Dreams in Color is the second full-length from New York-based guitarist Alexander Turnquist, who defies expectations with a set of hypnotic epics that owe more to classic minimalism than current notions of solo guitar.  Forgoing most of the extended techniques of his debut, Turnquist lays down a thick blanket of 12-string that sets up persistent, loop-like patterns in the music. Simple and lovely strings, piano, and percussion provide the melody, carrying most of the movement in the pieces. Turnquist uses extraordinary control and restraint--the orchestrations are as reductionist as possible, with no cringe-inducing "string drama" or unnecessary virtuosity. An almost-monomaniacal tremolo thrum of the guitar dominates the album, but there is a lengthy ambient breakdown that occurs mid-way through the 18-minute "The REM Cycle - Dream Phase" that is a thing of elliptical and drifting beauty.  As the Twilight Crane Dreams in Color is a bold statement even in the context of the frequent micro-parsing of styles in the sub-underground--there's really not much else out there like it.

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