Nina Diaz - you may remember her from such spunk classics as Girl In A Coma - is back with a "solo" record The Beat is Dead.
Nina Diaz is one of the great geniuses of modern music. She has a vocal range of soft and smooth to soaring and thunderous. Watch her transform on stage into a rock'n'roll monster.
These songs make great use of that range, and showcase her unique, ground-breaking song writing style. All of these sounds make perfect sense together.. yet I've never heard anyone put songs together quite like this before. She crafts complex sonic landscapes all her own. If I squint real hard, I think I can hear a hear the Sonic Youth influence. I know that Nina is a big fan of Sonic Youth because she told me so at a GIAC show in Atlanta (if not, I might have guessed it from her frequently wearing the shirt). You won't find SY's indulgent noise or dissonance here (except at times, like Star).. but their ability to explore sonic territory beyond the horizon of their peers.. this depth of song-writing plays out with passion and heart only Nina.
I was expecting something danceable due, in part to the lead single Trick Candle, which is a funky dance tune. If you follow this blog enough, you will find that I really like it when punk bands play a danceable beat. So I'm happy to find songs like that one. But overall, this record is more to the pace of playing a chess game in a trance, than to go club-ub-in'.
There is something about these songs that is deeply profound. An age-less soul in a young person's body.. something that demands close attention.
The record clocks in at 50 minutes.. solid, especially for a debut.. and there is no filler. Every song here has its own story to tell and ground to break.
Well done Nina, well done.
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