After the world veered off its axis, duly impressed by NYC composer/performer Patrick Grant’s maneuver of an electric guitar procession, entitled, Tilted Axes, delegated throughout pinpointed designations across the world, including New York, Detroit, and Dusseldorf, Germany, the talented musician is offering up to the world 13 tracks that contain melodic washes of guitar and classical music into the mixture.
A Sequence of Waves (twelve stories and a dream) cover the musical terrain where Tilted Axes: Music For Mobile Electric Guitars left off. Heavily influenced by sounds of the electric guitar, the new album takes you on a magical journey through tracks that delve into the modern realm of rock music as well as falling deep into the insular world of classical fare.
A Sequence of Waves opens up with “Lucid Intervals” that starts off with elegant violin strings that gives off this symphonic finish a polished feel. The keys pick up on the melody as intricate strings duel with it. This music will transpose you from your immediate settings and into an environment that is definitely your escape from the ordinary. This is dramatic music that is highly dynamic as well. A forecast into something stormy, “Lucid Intervals” is brimming with something that screams of urgency. The clashes of percussions sound off like broken glass, giving off a delicate cadence as the music tapers off.
The second track, “Driving Patterns” crescendos off a wave of rollicking guitars played all at once. This cascade of sounds demands your attention. This music is highly moving as a pounding of piano keys sped through a chaos of fervent guitar licks.
On “Prelude I,” the sounds of the lone electric guitar affects a soothing mood. The interlude is a melodic wash of an electric guitar solo.
The symphonic overtures on “Alcohol,” is deeply imbued with energetic strings, mixed in with the electric guitars and snarling drums. Rhythmic bass also accompany the high energy of strings and the cacophony of percussions.
There are some delicate strings that reside over the song, “Tobacco.” Filled with the familiar twang of electric guitars, this slow striding track resonates with singularly guitar solos and piano chords that add to the overall crescendo in the chorus.
There are some world fusion elements evident on the track, “Firearms.” Interest in world music has led Grant to travel to Bali three times to study the gamelan, manifested in such projects like with Robert Fripp (King Crimson, Brian Eno, David Bowie) & The Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists. This track in particular envelops an electronic and operatic-style sound. Dramatic string traces throughout the gamut of this track, as the vibrant and insistent violin performances battle some guitar rhythms. A rush of demented sounds cast a web of stormy cadences as circling guitars duel it out.
“Seven Years at Sea” flares with electronic nodes as blips and beeps from the technological fare blares off into what one imagines is the abyssal ocean. Ambient synths and slow numerating over guitar strings, create an aching overarching sound, filled with longing and wistfulness. A listless oceanic journey fades away as reverberating and howling guitar solos loosen into ambiguous waters.
An intricate wall of energy builds up on “Breaking Butterflies Upon A Wheel” from a heavy layer of woven guitars. Fast beats coming from the rhythmic drums also accompany the canopy of guitars as this unwavering energy seems to be unceasing. This sonic blend is ill-contained and is bursting with an overzealous sound coming from a buoyant group of charged guitars.
A cascade of sounds come off of “Lonely Ride Coney Island”, where lithe strings zip off of electronic nodes as blips and bleeps flare off into the technology sector. Classical strings trace beneath this track as moody electronics weave through. A build-up of guitars and keys clashes out in this rather simple arrangement done up in a minimalistic approach.
The bluesy number on “Primary Blues” tees off on an rhythmic edge, weaving guitars and bass that bears into the electronics as these clashes of sounds traces an interlay of piano keys followed by the lush strings that is played intermittently.
“Prelude II,” the second interlude is once again played with the sole sound of the electric guitar, but this time with a more upbeat tune. The energetic vibe gives off some electric sounds coming from the excited strumming of the guitar.
The closing tracks are a free-welding, free-forming batch that blend marching guitars with electronic modes for a spiraling effect. On “To Find A Form That Accommodates The Mess” the rock sound is paved by enthused piano melodic that is matched by the electric sounds coming from the blend of buzzing guitars. And “One Note Samba” does not disappoint at all with a sizzling dance vibe that starts off on a slower note that picks up with the electronics and the free-flowing sounds of the electric guitars being wheeled around.
A Sequence of Waves is an eclectic vision filled with revisionary notes of what classifies rock music. Here, rock is fused with classical overtures, embolden by a symphonic finish that enlists the sounds of lush strings and melodic piano. Electronic textures polish off this dynamic fusion whereas the Balinese-inspired gamelan adds a touch of world music into the sound.
Grant’s works intersect classical, popular, and world musical tastes and styles that can be found in concert halls, film, theater, dance, and visual media that spans over three continents. The collective washes that could be found on the 13 tracks on A Sequence of Waves are a steady display of Grant’s mobility in maneuvering between different musical forms and melding them together into a fused soundscape that brings out the best of both worlds. His music has moved from post-punk and classical bent post-minimalistic styles, through the Balinese-inspired gamelan, to atmospheric electronic soundscapes involving layers of acoustic and electronically amplified instruments, and beyond.