THREE/21 MEDIA

“Mend” Soundtrack Premiere

In 2004, way before getting waist deep in the Hip Hop genre, Three/21 released their first full length feature film "Mend", written and directed by Rik Cordero and stars Nancy Mitchell and Jay Sullivan. It was eventually picked up for home video distribution by Reel Indies. In conjunction with the DVD, we released a soundtrack featuring an eclectic mix of music inspired by the film featuring independent bands like The Mighty Sweet, Biirdie and Sangara as well as Hip Hop acts such as Blakkout, HizBoyLroy and Eric Sanicola. It was also scored by Three/21's resident composer and musical genius Jason Lam. Rather than let it collect dust we've decided to resurrect the soundtrack digitally for your listening pleasure. Click for some links below for more information on the film.

Mend Movie Review
Review by Kurt Dahlke
posted May 24, 2008

Mend's warped, time-bending look at the lives of four young adults as they struggle to find themselves within a haze of uncertainty, death, pain, depression and difficult love presents an engaging and delightful challenge. Mend skillfully weaves a number of dark plots together in a manner that never seems self-conscious or pretentious.

This is a very quirky blend, and that very quirkiness may be what saves Mend from becoming an extremely pretentious exercise in high-concept style. Its intimate scale and extremely judicious doling out of facts forces you to be on your toes. There's a lot of explaining going on, but the explanations are fleshed out by flashbacks, so instead of being a talky bore, the movie constantly jerks us back and forth in time, providing brief glimpses into the most fascinating subject - other people's lives. What's talked about engages on multiple levels; on one level is interest in everyday minutiae - how's work, who got fired, she's earning what? - it's that type of stuff; deeper still is the realization that such talk only hints at a darker underbelly, and sublimated motivations. Finally we come to understand that as each color fills in the picture painted represents a dimly lit, subjective reality, one of beauty and tragedy.

Lots of indie releases are misfires - low budgets, poor acting and overly earnest writers/directors can be a deadly blend, but Mend's audacious, fractured vision works like a weird tumbler, with random notches slowly clicking in turn, ultimately cracking open a door behind which hearts are breaking. It's an effective, darkly satiric mind-bender on a budget.

Click here to read the full review. Click here to purchase a DVD copy of Mend.

Download the full mixtape here.