WORRYTRAIN – fog dance, my moth kingdom

(CD, Own)

Joshua Neil Geissler aka Worrytrain within some parts of his album fourth “fog dance, my moth kingdom” has offered the most gripping, the most moving examples of modern composition ever since, well almost since Godspeed you black emperor’s first album – and that not only of the lyrical alikeness of the canadian collective’s name and the title of this album. Or when was the last time I re-listened to my albums of Ennio Morricone. Wow, Morricone, that is a big word to say for any modern compositor, but it is true, for instance within the two conflicting sound colours of doom-impending percussions and romantic string arrangements of “Soviet passage” there is the same oppositional structure of melodic elements that the grand master from Italy liked to use, e.g. in his soundtrack to 1900 or even the spaghetti westerns.

But I also said “some parts” right at the beginning, because at times the mixture of electronic elements for their shock or noise value seems a little forced and does not come over naturally. For instance the “thundertrance interlude” – and I did remark the speaking title of this – destroys what was left of the feeling and atmosphere the most gentle and sensible “For Auschwitz” did create. A very difficult matter, because of the connotations that title generates and therefore the demands are much higher. But I feel that probably just because I am from Austria and Auschwitz, the historic fact and the lesson and responsibility it puts on us for the future, is much closer to me than to a modern composer from New York trying his hands at electronic music.

Judging from the titles of the compositions on this record it would seem that Geissler likes to take his inspiration from history and mythology. There are tracks with fitting names such as the two mentioned before, or “Cambodia”, “Exorcism for Cello and Malaria” or “the trenches choir.” And then I wonder if he takes them as seriously and with as much respect as is necessary, because if he did, he would have to stand up and be judged against compositions such as John Zorn’s “Kristallnacht”, and that is still some way off. Which is not to say that he is not serious or respectful about his work and its content, not by far, he definitely is, but the mixture of various spots in history and other tags and rags from mythology gives the whole record a little meta-level aftertaste. Moreover, Geissler is also far away from using cheap effects to hammer down a message, probably only for his own renommé, as so many other artists do. No, he is chosing elements were keenly, he is not shying away from using clichès as well, but obviously only after a lot of thought. He is also not a fan of the most subtle understatement, but mostly I do believe that he manages to find a pretty good balances somewhere in the are between these two elements.

Musically he works with traditional instruments, such as cello, piano and percussions, and mixes them with electro-acoustic sounds. More important than that are the dynamics he manages to reap from slow and deep noise-interludes in connection and in opposition with the wonderful, almost romantic melodies he provides at other places in time, which make his step towards scoring movies,  mostly independent movies, just a consequential choice. He shows to be able to perform in various classical forms, such as the concerto or the nocturne, but also finds his way through noisy drones and more experimental forms with ease. The dynamics are excellent, if sometimes – as mentioned - also a little disturbing, but Geissler takes you on a very interesting ride, sometimes relaxing and sometimes exhausting, but an overall fine experience.