Arts & Entertainment
Friday,
March 18, 2005
Volume 33,
Issue 11
Sat, Nov 21, 2009
IN THE SGN
SECTION ONE
Front Page
MORE/ALL
SECTION ONE
STORIES
SECTION TW0
Arts & Entertainment
Klaus Nomi |
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| Klaus Nomi - A SIMPLE MAN | ||
| Nomi Song at the Northwest Film Forum from March 25th-31st Review by Maggie Bloodstone - SGN A&E Writer I love synchronicity: in one month, not only do I get to see one of my top seven or eight favorite tattoo subjects, Nina Hagen, exercising her celestial pipes live on Neumos stage for the first time in a decade, I get to enjoy the other greatest Opera/Pop/Punk vocalist to ever negotiate a high E and look like a Kubuki from Venus doing it: Klaus Nomi. Youre forgiven if you say, Who? Nomi (born Klaus Sperber in the Bavarian Alps, 1944) has not walked among mortals since 1983, thanks to something known then as the Gay cancer and Gods wrath against homosexuals. And its a mean bastard of a God that would take the likes of Nomi away before he attained, at the very least, the respect and iconhood of his similarly-inspired contemporary, Prima Nina. Nomi Song, a long-overdue documentary by Andrew Horn (whose apparent interest in European voices belting to the rafters is in evidence in his 97 doc, East Side Story) preserves a vital piece of gay/musical history, when ground zero for artistic innovation could be found- once again- in the fertile bowels of NYC. In 78, The New Wave Vaudeville Show at Irving Plaza sent out an open call for Geeks, Nazis, Egyptian slaves, emotional cripples, etc. to perform in a gloriously twisted cabaret that would provide a welcome respite from Discos stranglehold on NY nightlife. Looking like an albino alien by way of the Weimar Republic, Sperber, recently reinvented as Nomi, stopped the show dead with a heartbreakingly beautiful rendition of a glorious mezzo aria from Saint-Saens Samson And Delilah, so flawlessly delivered, the emcee had to assure the used-to-fakery Manhattan audience the singer was actually using his own voice. And the rest was history- very nearly literally, if not for Horns efforts. In the now-traditional format of interviews with them-that-knew-him and rare film clips, Nomi Song follows Klaus too-short career from the Deutsche Oper (where he ushered in the late 60s) to cult status, to almost-universal acclaim, to an operatically tragic end. Ann Magnusen, Kenny Scharf, Klaus Tante Trude, and various friends, colleagues, and collaborators relate the meticulous realization of the creature dubbed Nomi (the word itself the club name of a tribe of expatriate aliens headed by Klaus and Scharf). Starting from a solid foundation of talent- a unique countertenor voice that managed classic opera, pop and rock with equal skill and style- Nomi constructed a persona that, if refined 10 years earlier, could very well have equaled its spiritual mentor, Ziggy Stardust. Nomi, as Nomi, sprung fully formed onto the pre-MTV performance scene, with the music, the wardrobe, the presentation, even a logo- an artificial personality that was so real he was beyond fake. After the New Wave Vaudeville debut, friend and performance partner Joey Arias (worthy of a documentary or biopic his own self) encouraged Klaus to appear at Fioruccis- yes, as in snooty, high-end couture- and appeared with him as backup/stage dressing for David Bowies 1980 appearance on Saturday Night Live, Nomis only real exposure to the American masses. When promises of further collaboration with Bowie failed to materialize, instead of becoming embittered, Nomi was convinced to remain steadfastly on the path clearly proscribed for him by fate-or otherworldly forces? This path led him to considerable acclaim in Japan, where his monochromatic, androgynous Noh-Theater look was as big a smash as his Elvis/Callas vocal style. Likewise, a tour of-no shit-the American Midwest (less successful was his opening appearance for- no shit- Twisted Sister in Jersey), and a spot in the milestone concert film Urgh! A Music War gave the impression of pending- and deserved- fame. Woulda, coulda, shoulda except for a bug he very probably picked up on one of his frequent excursions to the notorious NYC cruising ground, the Trucks. If Nomi had died of natural causes, Nomi Song would still be an invaluable document of a true 20th century original, but lousy cosmic timing on Nomis part gives it a bleak resonance, with Nomis friends shamefacedly admitting their inability to visit him on his deathbed due to the hysteria surrounding AIDS (Nomi himself had no idea what was causing him to waste away until he saw a TV report on the Gay cancer). Seeming to deliver his own eulogy, Nomi sings Purcells chillingly prescient ode to freezing oblivion, The Cold Song. But the film remains a tribute to a life that defines truth to thine own self, inspired more by the love of art and performance than the empty need for 15-minute fame (take note, American Idols). Horn has succeeded admirably in recapturing one of those rare moments in our cultural evolution where inspired and inspirers make simultaneous magic, and the course of creativity is subtly changed for good, as well as presenting an extraordinary artist as Simple Man. (Deep down, he was very superficial on the surface, he was very profound it all makes sense somehow.) The overall look of the film suggests the art of video even before MTVs co-option, with primitive computer effects, oddly appropriate clips from old-school films like It Came From Outer Space and a self-conscious New Wave attitude that seems downright quaint. The interviewees have no dirt to dish, or seamy secrets to impart, but are clearly united in bringing Nomis story to us Earthlings. (Although acknowledged in the credits, Joey Arias is conspicuously absent?) Nomi Song neither excoriates or glorifies its subject, but presents him in a strong social and cultural frame of reference, with ample visual and aural evidence of a talent that was head and padded shoulders above the posers and pretenders. Its a nostalgic joy for those of us old enough to remember seeing the SNL show, or hearing Total Eclipse or his Kraftwerk-esque version of Falling In Love Again at the Vogue (when it was on 1st Ave.), and a sublime treat for those still waiting to discover their own Inner Nomi. Nomi Song plays March 25-31, Friday-Thursday, 7:00 and 9:15 p.m. at The Northwest Film Forum (1515 12th Ave.), Capitol Hill, (206) 267-5380. |
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