Archive for the ‘Video’ Category
[MUSIC[ Kygo and Whitney Houston, “Higher Love”
I have recently found last year’s version of this Steve Winwood classic song, and I am caught by how suited this critical but hopeful song is for this year.
“Things look so bad everywhere
In this whole world, what is fair
We will walk the line
And try to see
Falling behind in what could be
[MUSIC] Avenue Beat, “F2020”
The song “F2020”, put up in July on Tiktok by Nashville-based trio Avenue Beat, is still perfect in August.
December 31st, I grabbed a beer
Threw it up, said, “2020 is my year, bitches”
(Three, two, one, Happy New Year)
And I honestly thought that that was true
Until I gave this motherfucker like a month or two
This is getting kind of ridiculous at this point”
Also:
Put your hands in the motherfuckin’ air
If you kinda hate it here
And you wish that things would
Just like chill for like two minutes
Forbes and Nylon and Rolling Stone all describe how a song that the group tossed off onto their TikTok account became a viral hit, first on that platform then in mainstream culture. Their success is deserved: This is the sadly funny and melodic summer anthem that we really need.
[MUSIC] Martha and the Muffins, “Echo Beach”
I first blogged about the Martha and the Muffins 1980 hit “Echo Beach” back in May 2005, noting how the song resonated with me. The narrator, dreaming of an escape to an idyll beyond in the mid of a boring conventional job, speaks to me.
On a silent summer evening
The sky’s alive with lights
A building in the distance
Surrealistic sight
On Echo Beach
Waves make the only sound
On Echo Beach
There’s not a soul around
I was also amused to learn in 2011 that the song was going to give its name to a new performance space down at Ontario Place.
I heard the song again, sitting on my lunch break at patio of the Church and Wellesley Second Cup coffee shop when the song came on the speakers. Again, it resonated deeply: Who would not prefer a summer rather different from this one?
As I noted back in 2005, the song is a classic. It lasts; it not merely endures the decades, it thrives.
[MUSIC] Eurythmics, “Would I Lie To You?”
The Eurythmics song “Would I Lie To You?” is a perennial joy, a sound of self-assertion told with Annie’s imitable voice with joy and (among other instrumentation) a great horn section. The song and its album, Be Yourself Tonight, might be a break from the Eurythmics’ more experimental synthpop and New Wave material on earlier albums, but they carried it off.
Would I lie to you?
Would I lie to you honey? (oh honey, would I lie to you?)
Now would I say something that wasn’t true?
I’m asking you sugar, would I lie to you?
[VIDEO] The streets of Toronto, as seen by drone
CBC Toronto shared the below video at their Instagram account.
[URBAN NOTE] Seven Toronto links
- Urban Toronto looked at indigenous uses being proposed for the West Don Lands, here.
- That Toronto has become a major hub for Shopify is a significant economic factor. Global News reports.
- There will be an emergency exercise held at Union Station. Global News reports.
- Transit Toronto notes the opening of a new York Regional Transit bus hub at the Vaughan Metropolitan Centre.
- Transit Toronto shared video of a recent TTC public art project, “A Streetcar Called Toronto”, here.
- Venerable Toronto movie rental store Videoflicks will be closing. blogTO reports.
- The Evergreen Brickworks in the Don Valley will be hosting a winter village this season. blogTO reports.
[PHOTO] Leonard Cohen, “Happens to the Heart”
Pitchfork, among others, notes the release of a video for a new Leonard Cohen song, “Happens to the Heart” off of the posthumous album Thanks for the Dance. Both song and video are beautiful; recommended.
[MUSIC] Madonna, “Express Yourself” (live)
The live version of “Express Yourself” performed in 1993 by Madonna in Sydney and released to video on The Girlie Show: Live Down Under is a joy, an energetic disco reworking that is one of my early-morning energy songs.
A Bit More Detail 