Music

In Case

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If you’re looking for the perfect sad, sappy, yet amazing pop ballad, look no further than Priscilla Renea’s ‘In Case’. The subtle acceptance of defeat in her voice, the way she builds to the agony chorus, it’s really quite a beautiful, yet hauntingly heartbreaking piece.

Demi Levato just leaked this as a track on her upcoming album. I do like Renea’s version better, but I thought Demi did a great job as well.

If you liked Renea’s rendition, be sure to check out her 2009 EP ‘Hello My Apple’.

Somebody Loves You

I discovered Betty Who earlier this week thanks to Rdio, and now I can’t get this song out of my head, in a good way.

Vintage Thrift Shop

This ragtime cover of Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop” have been looping in my head for the past 24 hours. It’s pretty darn awesome:

If you haven’t heard the original because you hate top 40s, well, here it is:

TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival ’09 Lineup

TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival
I don’t know how it slipped my mind, but I missed the announcement for the TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival lineup by about three weeks! Thanks goodness today I had a memory jolt and cursed myself for not remembering.

This year’s headliners features some of the best and brightest in Jazz. Tony Bennett is obviously one of the highlight and will be closing the festival this year. If you’re looking for some retro funk, don’t miss Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings. Grandmaster Dave Brubeck and awesome saxophonist Sadao Watanabe will be making an appearance as well. So get your tickets today!

Strangely the one performance I’m looking forward to the most (and thus, has bought a ticket to) is the British Jazz pianist / singer Jamie Cullum. I’ve bought his past three albums, and so far they haven’t disappoint. I find his style in jazz so interesting and different (to the point where sometime it offends some jazz crowds) that I even wrote a final paper on his performativity to jazz and popular music in my fourth year course Music and the Body.
Read On…

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VIVA Youth Singer: A Simple Song Concert, & FYDP Symposium at University of Waterloo

Viva! Youth Choir, and FYDP @ Waterloo

If you are around downtown this Sunday, January the 18th at 3:00pm, then feel free to drop by the Trinity-St. Paul’s United Church on 427 Bloor St. West for some youth-choir awesomeness. Viva! Youth Singers are celebrating Jewish composers from around the world. I will be accompanying a choir as well as perform in a few others. Tickets are around $10 each I believe. If you’ve attended The Nutcracker with the National Ballet of Canada the past December, you’ve probably heard some of these kids in the beautiful music.

As well, a few of my friends, Alex, Dan, Adrian and Sherman are presenting their fourth year design project: Gesture Based Presentation System at University of Waterloo’s Design Symposium on Wednesday, January the 21st. From what I’ve heard, their system earned raved reviews from their professors. Catch their presentation, and this very cool hand gesture system in William G. Davis Computer Research Centre, room 1304 at 11:20am.