Curatorial Statement – Veda Hille on week one of Club PuSh

November 14, 2013

We’ve had many conversations in our curatorial meetings about what kind of music is right for Club PuSh. Should it be dangerously avant-garde or really fun to dance to? Musicians that everyone knows, or that no one knows? Local or international? Bands that rock hard or songwriters that coax you to lean in?

In the end, as in most things, we play it by ear and skip easy categories. For me the main attribute is music that seems to be an integral part of the people who are making it.  Music that could not be made by anyone else in exactly the same way.

In our first week at the Club this year we have some stellar examples of these qualities. Haram is a band that might only be possible in Vancouver. They are a large ensemble of both traditional players and contemporary improvisers led by guitarist Gord Grdina, playing Arabic repertoire interspersed with the creative music that our city is world famous for. Plus they make you want to shake your booty or get married or something.

In another spectrum is the Coastal Sounds Youth Choir, led by Carrie Tennant and collaborating at PuSh with Woodpigeon (who recently curated the 10th Anniversary PuSh Festival Launch Party). These kids can sing, and just as importantly Carrie knows how to choose tunes.  Their concerts range from contemporary classical pieces through Tom Waits, Feist, and the Polyphonic Spree, again proving that good music is good music regardless of genre.

And then there is our Club opener this year: Gender Failure by Ivan Coyote and Rae Spoon.  Although not solely a music piece, this storytelling animated electronic music performance functions like a great song.  A song that will stick with you, play again and again in your head, and maybe shift your world just a little.

I’ll see you at the Club, people, and please save a dance for me.

Veda Hille
Club PuSh Curator