Self Discovery for Social Survival:
Surf Film + Soundtrack
Quite and interesting one coming down the pike (so to speaK) today in the form of a super ambitious film and soundtrack from the folks over at Mexican Summer. Now Sum’s reissue arm Anthology has been digging into surf culture for a while, issuing vinyl versions of Tully and Tamam Shud LPs that tied into Aussie surf culture while also reissuing soundtracks to Andrew Kidman’s Litmus and Glass Love surf films and packing them into a high-end box. Seems only natural then that someone over there was going to push it one step further. That step included getting top surfers from the US and Australia to travel with three groups of musicians and films crews to three top surf spots. The completed film follows Allah-Las and their surf group to Mexico, Peaking Lights and theirs to the Maldive Islands and Conan Mockasin & MGMT’s Andrew VanWyngarden with a group to Iceland. Each group then composed songs as reactions to the days surfing footage which is cut together with narration by filmmaker Jonas Mekas and art and animation from Robert Beatty and Bailey Elder (who also provide the packaging for this artifact).
Add to that extra pieces from Dugen and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma and this is a fairly unique package. I’m no surfer, never stepped on a board in my life, but the scope of this and the breadth of talent involved is frankly pretty intriguing. Plus, the psychedelic shimmer of the soundtrack stands on its own, even if you never witness the fully combined efforts. Check the trailer above and keep a lookout for this sucker when it comes out June 14th.
Tracklist:
1. Dungen – Var Har Du Varit
2. Allah Las – Mulberry Jam
3. Jefre Cantu-Ledesma – Breeze
4. Allah Las – Raspberry Jam
5. Allah Las – Blueberry Jam
6. Jefre Cantu-Ledesma – Swell
7. Allah Las – Boysenberry Jam
8. Allah Las – Blackberry Jam
9. Connan Mockasin & Andrew VanWyngarden – Bad Boys
10. Peaking Lights – Mirror In The Sky
11. Connan Mockasin & Andrew VanWyngarden – Surf or Not
12. Connan Mockasin & Andrew VanWyngarden – Aurora Borawhatawhata
13. Peaking Lights – Hold On
14. Connan Mockasin & Andrew VanWyngarden – Mountain Pass
More info on the film: HERE.
Support the artist. Buy it HERE.