Top Picks: Margaret Glaspy's 'Emotions and Math,' the movie 'Mountains May Depart,' and more
Class divide
Mountains May Depart follows the life of Tao, a Chinese woman, over a span of 26 years, exploring issues of class division and China’s modernization. The eventual alienation between Tao and her son suggests that the viewer take a critical look at the traditional values being challenged by the rise of capitalism. The movie will be available on DVD and Blu-ray July 12.
Broadway love
In the wake of the shooting in Orlando, Fla., Broadway stars including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Sarah Jessica Parker, Matthew Broderick, and Bernadette Peters came together to record the song “What the World Needs Now Is Love,” composed and written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Check out the video of the group performing the Broadway for Orlando song at http://bit.ly/broadwayorlando. Proceeds from the track are going to the LGBT Center of Central Florida.
Serene jazz
The special edition of the album On the Go by trumpeter Matthew Halsall offers peaceful, serene jazz music. While “The Journey Home” is the most upbeat track, “The End of Dukkha” is the most intriguing. The album is now available.
Phantasmagoric film
The film Embrace of the Serpent, inspired by the journals of two ethnographers who traveled the Amazon in the 20th century, casts a spell. It’s an elegy for the Colombian tribes decimated by colonialism, but it doesn’t have the punch of an indictment. Its artfulness is much stranger and nuanced. “Embrace of the Serpent” is now available on DVD and Blu-ray.
Star sighting
It’s difficult to find a musician who doesn’t cite Joni Mitchell as an influence, but New Yorker Margaret Glaspy will make you a believer with her stunning debut Emotions and Math. There’s nothing folksy going on here, but Mitchell’s naked, confessional songwriting is alive these many decades later in Glaspy’s thoroughly modern tales of love gone wrong, or just plain gone. Her pliant voice demands your attention, ranging from plaintive pleading to a growl in the space of a measure, and she’s no slouch on electric guitar, either. A star ascending.
