Nina Belief: So Unfamiliar

You can find Nina Belief's Facebook page here.

I came to this show with no prior knowledge of Nina Belief's music or career. I had however been meaning to visit Monotone - a second-Saturdays party featuring minimal electronic music - and her performance seemed like it could be interesting, all the more reason to go. The venue was in the bar lounge behind Moonchine Bistro on Biscayne Boulevard; a small dark dance floor that glowed red like the underbelly of a steampunk city. I met her an hour or so before she went on. She was wearing the largest shoulder pads I had ever seen outside of high fashion, and her black hair was tied up tight into a "sculpture-roll" do. She was very pleasant and friendly, with an intense gaze, as I soon found was a part of her that also played into her midnight performance. The tight-packed crowd of no more than 80 people, impressed, said things like, "She's really into the music" and "She's so good, she's programming all that live, nothing was pre-recorded!" About eight or nine songs were played, and Nina Belief efficiently and quickly transitioned between them, taking us through passages of analog keys, resounding bass, rapid snare rhythms, electronic howls, fragile high registers and other sounds that, as I watched her turn knobs and press buttons, amazed me with the way they fell into place as music. The way she compiled them into layers was mesmerizing to watch and listen to. As her calculated movements were driven by the music, she belted out lyrics that seemed more pensive and despondent than probably caught by most people present. At the end of her set, I purchased her second LP Shivers, from which she told me afterward she played three songs. Her final song, a slow throbbing composition, was the first track on the album, titled Little Disasters. I look forward to listening to more of Nina Belief, and to see her again performing in Miami. You can read her interview with Soir Zine in Print Issue 3 coming at the start of 2015.

We tried to get the best photos we could, but her music was so captivating we had to sway our bodies at least. Photo credit to my friend Ian Duffy.

See some snapshots of previous Monotone events at http://www.oninstagram.com/profile/monotone_miami.
Nina is on this record label: http://www.no-emb-blanc.com/.

Die Alone EP: Waiting for Nightfall

"Songwriter + musician specializing in nu-gaze gloom-pop." You can find her on Facebook at https://m.facebook.com/jennieveemusic.

From Toronto/NYC based project The Vicious Guns, Jennie Vicious - now Jennie Vee - has now come out and released her solo Die Alone EP earlier in October. It embodies a new refreshing spirit, and a somewhat different sound. Love's Sweet Exile, TVG's only LP, has a more electronic bend, involves more instruments, Jennie's vocals are more throaty in lower registers, but the same warm sweet spirit and full guitar sound of hers carry over to Die Alone. Within five rapid, concise pop songs drenched in shoegaze and post-punk influence, she gently plays with ideas of black and white, light and dark, brokenness and inner peace. Layers of rapid guitars radiate like the residue heat found in a West Coast sunset, and layers of singsong, languid melodies echo through the ether. Her lyrics hold remnants of all kinds of heart ache, bittersweet and nostalgic at the same time.

1. Die Alone: Energetic guitars roll out as percussion glides on the sound waves of the bass. This song thinks about the singular state of man's heart, "You live alone, you die alone..." before coming to a slurring stop.

2. Wicked: A song of unrequited love and warning, where angelic voices breathe on guitars laced with the kind of energy one would call "running on steam". "There's no rest for the wicked, no sleep for the blessed..."

3. Red Flags: A slower ballad with more frank, heart-on-sleeve lyrics. "All my life I've been struggling to pay attention to the small things and big decisions..."

4. Say Goodbye: A heartfelt song with a dainty rhythm, that captures the point at which one decides to finally work on getting over someone they love. Repeating to herself the title of the song, in order not to divert from her realization. "I'll cry until I'm satisfied..."

5. Gone Away: A sister song to Say Goodbye, with a darker-colored tonality. "I would lay down sprawled out naked in front of you..."

A chapter of Jennie's own life is setting like the sun, evident from this debut, as she waits for night to fall, to eventually bring a new day and new opportunity to heal and be better.

You can purchase the EP for $4 at jennievee.bandcamp.com.

Nightcrawler: Far from Terrible

Photo credit: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/mobile/m/nightcrawler/

Dan Gilroy's Nightcrawler (2014) is at its heart a study of a peculiar contemporary character who turns off viewers by his perceived lack of empathy and humanity. If you've heard others say "it sucks" or if you believe so yourself, consider the nature of the film and its intent. All throughout, the viewer has a one-faceted view of Louis Bloom: his business side. We may see glimpses of him in his home, but every action that is documented has to do with his pursuit of a  job, career goals, or thought processes behind his steps of development as an employee and owner of Video Production News. Otherwise, information about the character is ambiguous or not presented. He has no family, friends, other hobbies we know of. I left the theater wondering why such a man would be driven to do that kind of work, and what predisposed him to lack such humanity that his boss and partner noticed. It is evident that the film purposely left details such as these vague. One could interpret the film as a commentary on our society's dilemma wherein we have narrowed a person's identity to their career, their character to their work ethic. Other themes such as voyeurism, personal boundaries, anti-social behavior, tainted reality through a camera eye, greed, ethics, and the internal corruption of news media are explored, however the heavy focus on the worker aspect of Bloom's character - in fact being the only thing displayed - supports my identity hypothesis.

Photo credit: http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/tiff-review-dan-gilroys-nightcrawler-starring-jake-gyllenhaal-rene-russo-20140906

The movie chronicles an intimate, up-close progression of a character who does not understand personal boundaries of other people. Louis Bloom, performed quite well by Jake Gyllenhaal, is a socially inept, intelligent, persistent man who is a natural at fawning naïvete. From a thief to a neophyte crime "photographer" to an expanding news gathering company, Lou talks to every person he encounters as if they are a co-worker or business partner. His interactions grow more cold and awkward as his greed for recognition and "success" is more visible. (I think the movie also asks us to think about what we define success as, in careers and in our lives on a grander scale.) Other praiseworthy acting performances are Rene Russo as Bloom's unofficial gore-whore boss, and Riz Ahmed as his insecure but eager assistant.

"...On TV it looks so real..." Photo credit: http://www.craveonline.com/film/reviews/755577-tiff-2014-review-nightcrawler

I especially found the score and cinematography interesting, different from the usual crime/drama thriller. Cinematography was directed by Robert Elswit. Shots were characterized by wide angle lenses, standstill views, beautiful landscapes at twilight and dawn, and almost centered portrait and full-body shots; all in all, almost artistic. Art direction was given by Naaman Marshall, and original music was I by James Newton Howard. The score on one hand was sunny and optimistic, pleasantly juxtaposing the setting of the story at night, and contrasting the gritty subject of L.A. crime. At other times it was minimal and conducive to building suspense. The film built suspense wonderfully, with lingering shots of characters with gears turning in their heads, and voyeuristic, life-viewing through camera-viewing a camera-viewing life angles. The cop car chase at the climax was especially suspenseful, considering a good portion of the film itself wasn't necessarily suspenseful in comparison.

Photo credit: http://youtu.be/nC95NXEQruQ

In conclusion, the ambiguity and open-ended nature of the plot allowed Nightcrawler to be structured by a character rather than the story, and definitely does not detract from its quality as a piece of cinema or entertainment.