Allah-Las :: Zuma 85

You can glimpse a stunning sunset through a ruined window on the cover of the Allah-Las’ fifth full-length, Zuma 85, a fitting metaphor for the music’s cracked pastoral beauty, which imbues 1970s psychedelia with sunny So-Cal breeziness.

The LP gets at a very consistent vibe from divergent directions, trying out all sorts of ideas but fitting them into a single, album-spanning narrative. It’s a nice view, but more than that, a reminder of how art can spring from difficulty and transcend it.

Self Discovery For Social Survival: A Film

8 musicians, 16 surfers, and tucked-away surf breaks in Mexico, the Maldives and Iceland are on full display, as the viewer is taken on a journey that showcases the seamless relationship between wave and sound. As the opening credits state, the surfing was done in real time… the music was created in response.