The Nomi Song (New Wave Music Documentary)
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: B Documentary: B
The New Wave cycle of music in the late 1970s onto the
1980s was much more than just a Pop-ish version of Punk, it was also pushing
boundaries and exploring character and what makes up the individual. Grace Jones may be the best-known example of
this avant-garde exploration, but she is far from alone. The Nomi Song (2004) revisits the
little-known, real life figure Klaus Nomi, birth name Klaus Sperber. At first, you might think you are watching a
mockumentary, but Andrew Horn’s work unwinds nicely and you soon realize this
is for real.
Like many artists of the time, Nomi was gay and was caught
off guard by the early days of AIDS.
However, he was riding the Wave and exploring that Kubrick/Bowie link of
alienation, isolation and identity that was a highlight of performance art of
the time. To say he was part of the New
Wave Underground is accurate, which along with homophobia is one of the reasons
his work was forgotten. Through old
footage, new interviews and performance music and video clips, a lost career is
reconstructed nicely. Horn does such a
great job in what is a labor of love, than he also revives the spirit of New
Wave and why the era is still so very underrated and important.
One of the ideas that work are the bookendings used is
very appropriately footage from the 3-D 1953 Jack Arnold Science Fiction
classic It Came From Outer Space.
Shown in 2-D, the footage of any such film is always odd because it is
lit for 3-D use because it has to be, it gets echoed in all the antiquated
video formats that also have odd lighting.
This enhances the “alienation” theme without trying, but also reflects
the era of exploration, innovation and experimentation that made this part of
the 20th century so exceptional.
Nomi himself was not being stereotypically gay or alien or Science
Fictionesque. Instead, this is a unique
talent who even in his constant falsetto singing, is not typical of any
performers of the era or a spoof of himself or the time. He was an original, combining his German
background and experience with visual and cutting edge music of the time with
what he had to offer personally.
David Bowie realized this and had Nomi and performance friend
Joey join him on a 1979 Saturday Night Live performing two songs,
including the classic The Man Who Sold The World. However, that was not the peak of Nomi’s
work, though it is certainly a highlight.
Too bad they did not get to do the project with Bowie they almost
created. The Nomi Song is a
must-see for music and performance art fans, a key record of the kinds of
artists who make a difference.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1/16 X 9 image is very
good, though the diversity of quality throughout is unusual and often has
waning fidelity. That is the way it is
and the older footage is as good as it is going to get. Kudos to Horn and company for such an
amazing restoration/upgrading effort.
The Dolby Digital 2.0 is usually Stereo, but has patches of mono here
and there, while the mix has limited surrounds in general. Despite all the limits, this is a really
effective presentation. Extras include
a trailer for this film and Palm’s controversial Gunner Palace, an audio
commentary by director Horn that is very apt in its observations of human
nature and dead on about all the technologies he had to use and save to make
this all possible. Also included is the
premiere party for the film’s release, four audio remixes of Nomi’s work,
weblinks, two deleted scenes, twelve clips of extra footage, a pie illustration
on that menu page for a Lime Tart recipe Nomi made on a TV cooking show, and
four full length performances with video.
That is pretty loaded for a single DVD, but it is also what makes The
Nomi Song one of the best music DVD releases we will see in all of 2005.
- Nicholas Sheffo
