It’s really exciting to see Blake DeGraw’s bracing composition, “Quartet IV,” on Ball of Wax 41. While we tend to mean rock, folk, punk, and Americana when we talk about Seattle’s underground music scene, there are obviously other styles of music being made that deserve attention, particularly in the realm of improvisational, electronic, and art music. Despite my limited knowledge and vocabulary in this space, I’m going to barrel ahead anyway with this mini-review.
“Quartet IV” opens with a chromatic motif repeated a handful of times before being interrupted by some lower, crashing tone clusters. This pattern generally repeats as the motif shifts its starting point (I’m not sure I detect a traditional key here – see, my lunkhead guitar rock music theory betrays me) and the tone clusters separate into quasi-arpeggios. Around the one minute mark the motif seems to be doubled (or, in guitar rock land, someone steps on a delay pedal) which helps the piece build to a shimmering climax before a sudden end around the two and a half minute mark. I really enjoyed “Quartet IV” and hope to hear more from Blake DeGraw around town.