Self Discovery For Social Survival

Description

Since the birth of the genre in the early 1950s, the surf film has been a synthesis of image and music. Generally, these two key ingredients are obtained separately, mixed together only after the visual fact. Self Discovery for Social Survival subverts this recipe. Just like the osmotic waves that flow through the film, the visuals and music of SDSS coexist and infiltrate each other to reinvent and reimagine what surf films can sound and feel like. SDSS functions as a triptych. In Mexico, the psychedelic combo from Los Angeles, Allah Las, joins surf historians and professional surfers to sip tequila and tackle winding waves. Their five songs on the soundtrack, entirely instrumental and named like jams, lay the groundwork for the classic surf aesthetic: sparkling guitars, sporadic yet attentive percussion, and rolling bass lines. In the second part, set in the southern atolls of the Maldives, the electronic pop dub duo from Los Angeles, Peaking Lights (Aaron Coyes and Indra Dunis), ride the waves with a group of young Australian surfers. Peaking Lights then returns to dry land in their studio to dive into their two contributions to SDSS, "Mirror In The Sky" and "Hold On." In a nearly silent symphony that concludes in Iceland, we discover Connan Mockasin, a neo-psychedelic musician from New Zealand, and Andrew VanWyngarden from MGMT. They encounter gray waves, volcanoes, euphoric hot springs, massive glaciers, and wild mushrooms. Mockasin and VanWyngarden eventually settle into Gary's Electric studio, birthing a surreal emerald-hued finale. Dungen and Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, two pillars of the Mexican Summer label, provide additional sound design to build this soundtrack into unrecognizable layers.