KURATED NO. 200
READERS’ CHOICE 2023
Part Four
PLAYLISTS
• 3-Song Playlist from the film Catherine Called Birdy
• ALBUMS: Rat Saw God by Wednesday and Goodnight Summerland by Helena Deland
Asheville, North Carolina band Wednesday made one of contributor Chris Wong’s favourite albums of the year – Rat Saw God (Megan Elyse photo)
Contributors
Today’s bi-coastal contributors have been listening to some off-the-beaten-path sounds, musicians and sources this past year.
Newfoundland’s Debbie McGee spotlights the soundtrack from the 2022 film Catherine Called Birdy. British Columbia’s Chris Wong presents the expertly played, raucous sounds of US band Wednesday as well as the introspective music of Montreal-based Helena Deland.
• RETIRED FILMMAKER MCGEE shares three superior tunes from an original score by noted composer Carter Burwell featuring three different sets of musicians.
• THE EVER ECLECTIC WRITER and communicator Wong forwards a study in contrasts:
• alt rock/shoegaze/country outfit Wednesday from Asheville, North Carolina and their latest album Rat Saw God
• a lovely, poignant and insightful long play from BC-born Helena Durand – Goodnight Summerland
The choices are typically varied from the Vancouver music journalist who’s set to launch his first book next month – Journeys to the Bandstand: Thirty Jazz Lives in Vancouver. The book covers 75 years of Vancouver’s jazz history told through the profiles of both notable and under-recognized players.
The 6th Annual Readers’ Choice
Kurated readers share their favourite music of the last year in the annual Readers’ Choice series.
Today’s offer is a rich and full buffet with a lot of good choices.
Kurated is a music sharing project.
Share it with your friends!
Stay tuned and enjoy,
Debbie McGee
St. John’s, NFLD
Massachusetts ensemble Roomful of Teeth whose self-described mandate is “dedicated to reimagining the expressive potential of the human voice”.
3-Song Playlist
• The Book of Catherine
• Alright
• Aelis Arrives
This year I recommend the soundtrack from Lena Dunham’s 2022 film, Catherine called Birdy. The film is based on an 1994 children’s novel by Karen Cushman. Set in 13th-century England, the film is almost perfect in my judgement. It’s not just for Dunham’s brilliant adaptation and direction, but for the costumes, sets and performances, including those from Bella Ramsey and Andrew Scott.
The soundtrack too is almost perfect, featuring an original score by Oscar-nominated composer Carter Burwell, performed by the Grammy-winning vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth along with several covers produced by Luis Felber and performed by UK-based musician/singer Misty Miller.
I hope listening to the selections on the brief playlist below will pique your curiosity enough to watch the film (on Prime), and see and hear for yourself how the music enhances each scene it is used in. After that you can return to the soundtrack, and smile and smile.
About Debbie: Debbie McGee is a retired filmmaker, living in St. John’s, NL.
Chris Wong
Vancouver, BC
Helena Deland’s lyrics are something to behold. She lives in Montreal and her album Goodnight Summerland speaks to her BC roots. (Oneintenwords.com photo)
HEAR THE FULL ALBUMS
Rat Saw God
Goodnight Summerland
Wednesday: Rat Saw God
Looking back at 2023, a personally hard year, a big part of my life soundtrack was the band Wednesday from Asheville, North Carolina. I have an unlikely obsession with Wednesday’s music. Unlikely because someone who turned 60 shouldn’t enjoy an indie band that plays noisy, distortion-laden alternative rock, shoegaze, and country. Right? Actually, the deep pleasures of well-crafted and ardently-performed music don’t have genre, volume, or age restrictions.
So I embraced Wednesday, especially after hearing Rat Saw God, the band’s fifth and best album. Released in 2023, Rat Saw God enthralls, in large part because of frontwoman Karly Hartzman. Her expressive (and sometimes wonderfully crazed) singing and electric guitar playing, and vivid lyrics that document the missteps and mortifications of youth, make an indelible impact. The tall presence in Wednesday of guitarist and vocalist MJ Lenderman, who has put out terrific solo albums, adds to the band’s magnetism.
Seeing the five-member group perform at Neumos in Seattle seven months ago confirmed Wednesday’s thrilling and uniquely catchy sound. If you’re intrigued, Wednesday will be at the Rickshaw on May 22, 2024. I’ll be there, with hearing protection for my aging ears, and an open spirit ready to receive Wednesday’s cathartic squalls and infectious songcraft.
Helena Deland: Goodnight Summerland
In a completely different vein from Wednesday’s invigorating noise, the softly exquisite Goodnight Summerland by Helena Deland was another 2023 album that I obsessed over. I’ve been listening to Deland, a BC-born Montrealer, since the singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist put out a strong full-length debut in 2020: Someone New. The much more spare and acoustic Goodnight Summerland shimmers with a beauty that’s remarkably soothing.
Favourite song: Saying Something. Featuring Deland’s multi-tracked and harmonized voice along with minimal guitar and organ, it’s a gorgeous meditation on loss and grief.
I had tickets to see Deland at the Fox Cabaret in November, but I gave them away because my mom was very near the end of her life. A few months later, I stopped in my tracks when learning that Deland’s evolving grief after her mother passed away is the thematic backdrop to Goodnight Summerland. No wonder the album has resonated so deeply. While I wish I could have gone to the show, I have Deland’s meaningful songs to help me cope with my own grief.
For that I’m grateful.
About Chris: Chris Wong’s first book, Journeys to the Bandstand: Thirty Jazz Lives in Vancouver, will be published in February 2024. Chris will present the book at the Jazz at the Bolt festival (February 17-18), at the Post at 750 in the CBC Building (February 20), and at Frankie’s Jazz Club (March 3).
Contact Chris for details about the events and how to buy the book, and stay tuned for a Kurated feature on Journeys to the Bandstand.
