Lily Inspiration: Year Zero

Imagine softly droning, undulating music. Just tones really. A woman’s voice gently begins speaking:

“Embrace euphoria.
Come with us.
The world is of no use to you anymore.
Be free with us.
Find your truth.
Put down your possessions and follow us. To the infinite. The new world. The year zero.
Embrace the earth mother.
Bathe in her glow.
Let her hold you and wrap her arms around you, slide across you as she moves beneath you.
Dance with her and be free.”

Sound like an invitation to a cult in the California hills? Guess again.

So, this is my first post about something that really has nothing to do with Smoking Lily per se, but is something that I find exceptional. I’ve always been a fan of Vancouver-based pot-rock band Black Mountain. Something about their thick and droning, hard and heavy, beautifully harmonic, and really just all around satisfying psychedelic rock has always appealed. Great for long road trips, working out, trying to hammer out some work, or just enjoying in the background after a hard day.

I’ve kept up with their music and liked at least 90% of what I’ve heard. Then I saw reference to them being vetted to do the entire score to a post-apocalyptic surf film, Year Zero, and I was hooked. I downloaded the soundtrack and listened to it for a few weeks, loving the movement from the spiritual missive above to their signature slamming guitars and growling vocals, then back again. An experience akin to being gently moved on ocean waves until you catch a break that picks you up and throws you lurching forward, daring you to tame it.

Beyond the sick soundtrack, the film itself is excellently done. The basic concept is that if society ended, what if rather than turning into feral throwbacks, some of us just shut up and surfed. Filmed on actual film (gasp!), grainy, colour-blown, honey-slow vignettes of 70′s muscle cars and motorcycles driving down dusty roads and bikini clad post-apocalyptic vixens on the beach are well-deserved breathers from the actual surf shots. Though I was left hoping to see some female surfers, the skill of the guys is unquestionable and watching it fills one with the wonder of the abilities of the human potential. Now let’s see those butter-soft California boys come up to Tofino during storm season for some real surfing.

So, if you enjoy surf films, or just want to spend 40 minutes lost in another world, check out the film or soundtrack. It’s available on iTunes and other sources. Official website is here. Enjoy!

later,
morgan