Synopsis
In 1977, the Voyager spacecraft 1 and 2 launched into outer space, each bearing a golden LP containing sounds and music ranging from The Rite of Spring, to a Pygmy girl’s initiation song from Zaire, to the sound of a kiss. It was meant to represent Earth’s Ultimate Playlist. The documentary The Heart is a Drum Machine is like that golden record. It brings together the myriad thoughts of musicians, scientists and engineers today in an effort to address the timeless question: “Why music?” The cast list, which features artists Jason Schwaartzman, John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Wayne Coyne (The Flaming Lips), singer-songwriter Kimya Dawson, George Clinton (Parliament)—not to mention Elijah Wood—will appeal to fans of indie, pop, jazz, blues, and folk music alike. Through their personal stories, theories, and responses to the creation and consumption of music, the documentary explores the intimate relationship between music and the human body.
Writer Ann Druyan describes the Voyager Golden Record as demonstrative of the planet’s “longing we feel to be part of the cosmos,” that is, to be a part of something greater than ourselves. The Heart is a Drum Machine proposes an answer to that feeling of yearning. There is a great universe of music right here, in our own terrestrial world, just as infinite, complex, and mysterious as the solar system. In fact, it is closer than we think. Music starts with our very own heartbeats.