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From The Desk Of Her Space Holiday’s Marc Bianchi: “George Washington”

This week’s release of Her Space Holiday‘s 10-track, self-titled album marks the end of the one-man musical project that Marc Bianchi started back in 1996. Fittingly, HSH’s final album is also the first on the Austin-based Bianchi’s No More Good Ideas label. While he has some live dates set to support the LP, the genre-defying musician mostly plans for the album to be the closing statement from HSH, who over the past decade and a half has also remixed tracks by the likes of R.E.M., Bright Eyes, Elastica and the Faint. Bianchi can now add MAGNET guest editor to his already-impressive resume, as that’s what he’ll be doing all week. Read our brand new Q&A with him.

Bianchi: I stumbled across the film George Washington by pure chance. It was a week after Christmas some odd years back, and I decided it was time to cash in the Tower Records gift cards I had received from distant relatives and cranky co-workers. Since there wasn’t really any albums out at the time that I wanted, I began sifting through the DVDs. And there, misplaced in the “F” section, sat George Washington. At the time, I never heard of the film or of its director David Gordon Green, the decision to purchase the movie was based solely on the packaging. I watched George Washington that night, and it forever changed how I felt about contemporary movie making. It turns out there are great American films that were made after the ’70s.

The pacing and cinematography were so meditative and somehow familiar that I was instantly immersed in the story. The colors were rich and warm, almost humid in nature. One thing I really appreciated was how large the audio’s role was in the emotional delivery of the movie. Raw, poetic bursts of narration set against a vibrant, yet nonintrusive soundtrack. (which, incidentally, was scored by none other than David Wingo from Ola Podrida).

Though critics tend to compare George Washington to early Terrence Malick films like Badlands and Days Of Heaven, I feel that Green invoked more of a palpable, local emotion with this piece, especially in the narration. With Malick, I get a get a sense that the writer is speaking in tongues through a brilliant performer. In George Washington, however, I felt like it’s the characters themselves who conjure the broken observations of their landscape and loss. If you happen to get the chance to check out George Washington and enjoy it, I suggest then moving on to the other Green films such as All The Real Girls and Snow Angels, which are also amazing in their own right.