3 out of 5

Label: VHF Records

Produced by: Scott Solter (recorded by)

A fascinating extrapolation of John Fahey-style folk – tuned away from folk and towards rootsy and ambient experimentalism.

On guitar, vibes, lap steel and piano, Alexander Turnquist pieces together six long-form “stories:” broad strokes of lushly strummed / picked notes that explode from minimalist sounds and whispers, or occasional electronic clicks, or ambient tricks of noise…

In trying to rather purposefully stray from the “tradition” of Fahey and his ilk, though, Turnquist may have extrapolated too much: the dives away from more built out rhythms or sustained moods made Faint feel more like an experiment than an attempt to communicate; the stories are tall tales told with embellishment but occasionally missing out on the grounding elements. ‘In the vein of bedlam’ stands out for me: breaking and shifting in a way that (I imagine) stays true to Turnquist’s modernist takes on the acoustic genre, but also keeping the track focus on clear emotional states, and a kind of end goal. Meanwhile, tonal breaks in the middles of ‘Amongst a swarm of hummingbirds’ or ‘Water spots upon my mind’ do the opposite, taking what already feels like somewhat distancing melodies – form over function – and pushing that agenda more with the aforementioned breaks.

This is by no means uninteresting, of course, and is technically impressive as hell. Scott Solter’s recording is tight, and edgy; nervy. Which would be perfect if it felt like Alexander was living in the moment, but there’s just a bit too much presentation here for that vibe to land.