Discovery #1

Gayngs - Relayted (2010)

Talk about melodrama? This takes it up tenfold and expands on it and meshes it and blows it out of the water. It's so unfathomable that I almost don't know what to say. There's flamboyant pianos and intricate beats blending over angelic harmonies awash in a poetry that imagines a gaudy extravagant means toward salvation. I feel like I'm on a drunken ride of magnanimous proportions when this music speaks to me. The past decade has been called the naughties, as in zero, and I like to refer to it as the era of elimination. I don't mean that as a nullification of identity or as a brain fade but as in the globalization of cultures. We have the means now to learn from so many different languages from around the world in very quick and drastic ways. It's wonderful! It's changing our attitudes about nationalism, an adjustment that is vitally important for our future. We are awakening to a human identity, a global citizenship, as in we are all connected by the intimate aspect of our humanity and in no way does this truth bear out than in art, in music, in the creative spirit that is inherent in every person. Bands are now melding across cultural lines and blending various styles of music in the creative process. It is allowing dynamic new forces to come forth and lets us indulge in a broad range of experimental and classic forms. Gayngs embodies this idea in so many ways and with some heavy mixing in the process, they have come out with an album that just feels absolutely perfect. It's gotten under my skin and I can't let it go. It's fabulous!

Silent Light - Carlos Reygadas (2007)

Just watch the opening shot (below) of Reygadas's film and you can never go back. It is one of the greatest spectacles in cinematic history. A time-lapse dolly of epic proportions and it is a mindblowing visual display of creativity in the universe. It's these moments that show the wonders all around us. We see them every day and we appreciate them in our own way but sometime it takes finding a new perspective through someone else's eyes to see it fresh once again. It's a very slow and beautiful shot and it embodies the pace of this movie, Silent Light. It's a shame that our culture doesn't reward intimate thoughtful spare movie experiences in meaningful ways. Movies like these may get some applaud amongst the circles of critique or a nod during awards season but never will they cause a stir in the sphere of public appeal. I suppose it says something about our culture but who wants to wallow in such device whilst describing their favorite movie for the year. Silent Light is about a family in a Mennonite community in Mexico. The father must come to terms with affection for another woman, a simple plot full of intrigue but Reygadas gives us a unique take on the genre. What little dialogue exists in the movie is obscure and poetic but the heart of the film is the grand visual storytelling that traces across the screen. Reygadas used people who actually live in the Mennonite community instead of professional actors (which may be the reason for so little dialogue) and he manages to get such heartfelt performances from them that they float upon the screen in a very natural way. It's a difficult film to to behold and after a couple of hours of such a gradual meandering pace filled with little more than exquisite shots, I can understand the reason some may wish to give up on it but the denouement comes together with such sacred clarity that it's worth every second. Take the time and have the patience for this gem, it's one of the great films of our era.