Liquid Photography is Dani Joss’ first foray into solo work (he has participated
in previous releases by S.ink) and is a record which is composed of five
self-contained soundtracks to imagined films. Internally, the tracks are broken
down into smaller movements, charting the change and progression of the miniature
motion pictures which Joss hopes to inspire in your brain. Liquid Photography is
independent film music that is partially inspired by the gothic orchestral swell
of Shinjuku Thief, the broken tonality of Coil’s work (with a nod to Derek Jarman
for good measure) and the horror movie music penned by John Carpenter.
Of the batch, “Love interrupted / BREAK! / fin” is my favorite. It opens with
the ominous music found throughout the third act of, say, John Carpenter’s The
Thing before edging into near-nothingness as we hesitate on the precipice of
destruction. Faced with the extreme solutions of either total annihilation or
complete freedom from oppressive tyranny, we leap headlong off the edge,
propelled by the climactic rush of the music beneath us. The opener, “fate [vs]
coincidence [vs] fate / FORCED / physical act of love,” opens with a strong
declaration of thematic intent — an short introduction full of orchestral swells
and grandiose washes of sound — before crawling inside itself so that only the
thin echo of a drone remains. “Part / falldown / everlasting sadness / part
[reprise]” grumbles like a sepia-stained spaghetti western, the guitar splashed
with a shot of strong whiskey before being handled with a heavy hand.
Imaginary soundtrack music has always been one of my favorite types of
instrumental music and Joss’ Liquid Photography plays to this temperament in the
listener. Each section of Liquid Photography has its own personal narrative
structure: start, conflict, climax and resolution. These songs are
self-contained emotional roller coasters: once you’re on, you ride it all the
way. Any other way just short-changes the experience. Intriguing.
Liquid Photography is OUT NOW on Poeta Negra.
