aaamusic | On 05, Aug 2013

‘Fire’, the latest music video from Siberian DJ and Producer is certainly very ‘hot’. Discussing Kraviz, Ralph Moore from mixmag states: “She’s […] the kind of girl that most boys would chop an arm off for. Yep, she’s got the looks, but does she have the sound?” Unfortunately ‘Fire’ seems to be more about Kraviz’ pout than the music. I found myself waiting for something to happen, and perhaps this is the whole point – “There exists a unique relationship, one between a finite being and the infinite” (Yulia Skya, music video director) – but the sound effects, voice and musical direction do not seem at all innovative. It wasn’t until four minutes into the video when the vocal harmonisation of the word ‘Fire’ occurred that I finally felt that my ears were being stimulated. The repetitive low synth strings gave an interesting hypnotic effect but again, imagination seemed to be lacking. As for the footage – it appears to be geared towards Kraviz seducing the audience. I enjoyed the shots of the desolate landscape of the Mojave desert and the likening of it to Mars but other than this it seems to be Kraviz revelling in her own sense of self. Being comfortable in one’s body is important and nakedness in itself is not damaging but I fear that being so provocative on camera further pushes society to see women as beautiful objects before anything else, hence the remark from Ralph Moore – her looks were judged before her sound. I don’t think videos like this help to promote positive, progressive thoughts towards male and female stereotypes. This adds to recent discourse surrounding the documentary on Nina Kraviz’ life as a DJ and questions if she is being proactive in eradicating sexism, as she stated in response to the criticism: “You can’t control artist[s] and their creativity. Sexism and all similar bullshit must die. And the first step to it is to let artists be who they are regardless of their gender, skin color, sexual orientation etc…”

★★★★★

Heather Ryall