In the ever-expanding genre of “drug” movies it is rare that you ever get to meet or see characters other than the dealers or the spiraling users. In the powerful “Maria Full of Grace,” you are confronted with three people who become involved in the drug trade as survival mechanism more than out of habit or means of power and riches. Maria, a poor Columbian girl, stuck in a dead end job in a flower factory, agrees to become a human mule swallowing 62 balloons of heroin that she will deliver for a few thousand dollars to New York. As perilous as this seems the incredible thing about this film is that the real story becomes about so much more. Filled with more a few perfect performances and some unexpected plot twists, this film is a real treasure that never finds a need to preach, but merely allows the story to speak affectingly for itself.

When you grow up the town that birthed the Beach Boys, it must be hard to escape the pull and power those timeless melodies. The members of Dios Malos have managed to channel the love into the finest psychedelic rock of the year. The debut album combines the bright and breezy beach music of their idols with sweeping Flaming Lips meets Mercury Rev epics that rise and fall like acid soaked waves falling across your consciousness. Almost every song on this impeccable and sticky masterpiece will have you humming or unknowingly lifting your lighter into the night and cheering for more. I can’t wait.

Yet another indie-folk record that is both spare and yet more than enough. Sam Beam, the reclusive Floridian with a voice like a hipster angel, has once again spun gold with hushed masterpiece of personal songs that recall the quiet, sunny summer days that we all imagine having lived. Mostly accompanied only by a single gently plucked guitar, this album deserves concentration or at least a spacey quasi waken state.