This is the first of a series of reviews and previews of contemporary artists and their music by Matt Keeley, editor of KittySneezes.com, a Webzine, and our resident 20-something. We're suggesting you listen to music you might otherwise avoid. You might even like it.
— DN
Klaus Nomi - S/T & Simple Man
Klaus Nomi (nee Sperber) was a trained operatic singer, a countertenor — who ended up breaking into the New Wave rock scene without changing his vocal style. His two albums, "Klaus Nomi" and "Simple Man" feature a mix of arias (from "Samson and Delilah" and "Dido & Aeneas") and pop songs that show off his huge range — sung as if they were arias as well.
A third album, "Za Bakdas" was recently released, although I haven't heard it yet — and I've heard it's not really a true Nomi album. Reports say that the album wasn't in any way finished when he died, and the producers created a "Nomitron" — a Mellotron keyboard, playing tape loops of Nomi singing each note — to create the music.
Sadly, it's his death which Nomi is possibly most famous for — he was one of the first AIDS casualties, dying in 1983, before much was known about the disease. Nomi was openly gay — for instance, his cover of "You Don't Own Me" doesn't change the song's gender, and in fact, Nomi sings the line "Don't say I can't play with other boys" with obvious relish — which didn't help end the then-prevalent belief that AIDS was only a gay disease.
Oddly enough, being an "out" gay performer and something of a gay activist doesn't stop him from being one of the favorite singers of, of all people, Rush Limbaugh, who's known to play Nomi's music frequently — probably accounting for most of Nomi's radio play! Seeing Nomi on Rush's list right next to Ted Nugent is kind of funny.
Anyway — Nomi's music might be a bit of an acquired taste (as opera itself can be, I believe, one I haven't yet acquired, outside of Nomi), but if you're open to it, or a "serious music" fan, his albums are definitely worth checking out. They're relatively easily available on import, and there are about five hundred separate "best-of" compilations; each are different combinations of the songs from his two albums, and yet, none of them feature the two albums on one disc, though they'd fit.
Ah well. There's also an outstanding documentary, "The Nomi Song", which might be a better introduction than just picking up one of his records cold — it helps to put him in context and eases you into his blend of synth bleeps, rock grooves and traditional opera.
Typically, his straight-opera pieces are faithfully performed and arranged. Nomi was a huge opera buff, who loved and respected the music and wanted to introduce it to the masses. I'm not sure if it worked — if anything, it might work etter introducing opera fans to pop music — but either way, it'll open your ears to some really amazing work.
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