Will Stratton, Alexander Turnquist and Office Culture
Alexander Turnquist
Alexander Turnquist is an American guitarist and composer. He has released original albums on the VHF record label as well as limited released titles on the Kning Disk imprint and Textura record label. Turnquist has been compared to guitarists Jack Rose, Alex De Grassi, Kaki King, and James Blackshaw, as well as contemporary composer Philip Glass.
“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 Music
“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)
Will Stratton
Will Stratton (b. 1987, Woodland, California) is an American musician living in Beacon, New York.
“Not a single note sounds out of place here, meshing into a breathtaking whole.”
– Saby Reyes-Kulkarni, Pitchfork
“[Stratton] manages to convey gratitude, understanding, pain, and affection across the album and even within single songs. That’s no small feat, and the guitar playing’s really pretty, too.”
– Marcy Donelson, AllMusic
Office Culture
Listening to Brooklyn band Office Culture’s sophomore album A Life of Crime (due out November 1 on Whatever’s Clever) is like walking into a beloved old bar in a neighborhood where you no longer live: the staff welcomes you warmly, the drinks are just as strong, but the place feels haunted somehow—and you can’t tell if the familiar old faces are the ghosts, or if you are. Featuring Ian Wayne on guitar and keyboards, Pat Kelly on drums, Charlie Kaplan on bass, and Winston Cook-Wilson on vocals and keyboard, Office Culture creates a sonic world that’s as rich and enveloping as their intimate, sometimes sardonic narratives, drawing from the immaculate surfaces of ‘70s and ‘80s soft rock, the quiet intensity of Talk Talk, and the chilly expanses of ECM jazz.
“[Office Culture] channel[s] the spirits of Donald Fagen, Warren Zevon and even early Tom Waits to create a sound imbued with a playful spirit that’s able to retain a genuine sincerity and emotion too. Furthermore, despite drawing upon such figures, the Office Culture style is very much its own beast, a singular, twenty-first century take on the smooth sound that acknowledges its influences without wishing to become them. ” – Various Small Flames