Listen Up

Favorite New England music videos of 2021

Victor D. Infante

Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

It seems like there were fewer music videos by local and locally-tied artists this year, probably because of the pandemic, but the ones that did come out were excellent, and many of them were extremely intense. That’s OK. It was a good year for music to reflect some of the strong emotions most of us are feeling these days. It was difficult to limit myself to just 10 favorites, but these are the ones that stayed with me the longest.

Note: Some of these videos contain adult language and imagery.

“Mysterious Maiden,” by K’Nen & Jafet Muzic: “Mysterious Maiden” was the first offering from the collaborative hip-hop ensemble, Stanton Capitol Records, which centers on K’Nen, Jafet Muzic and Danny Fantom. Here, K’Nen and Jafet deliver a love letter to hiphop, and the parts of the music that they feel are near in danger of being lost. The video itself captures images of the artists and their friends which seem joyous on the surface, but there’s something about shooting the video in black and white that casts a shadow on the music, accenting lyrics such as, “It’s my soul we used to play the ciphers off the tip-top ‘til dawn/Yeah baby I’m gone.” The sense of something fading into memory is palpable.

“Run Away” by Ralph Weah”: Worcester-native hiphop artist Ralph Weah manages to capture and intensify the heat of his song “Run Away” with this brightly lit video. It’s a song that captures the push and pull of a disintegrating video, driven by a sizzling beat visuals that contrast the persona’s distress against images of what are at first clearly pleasant memories. It’s a beautifully shot video, one that makes the heartbreak at the song’s core just a little more painful.

“Not Like Other Girls,” by Zola Simone: The 18-year-old rising star from the Boston area Zola Simone absolutely crushed it with her debut album, “Now You See Me,” and a lot of the qualities that make her so magnetic can be found in this video: A youthful pop sensibility, a sense of honesty in the music that leaves it open to the listener, and a biting wit: “She reeked of privilege and Urban Outfitter’s perfume … you’re not like other girls/ you’re worse.” The video wellpackages those qualities and gives the listener a glimpse of what’s making this young artist so exciting.

“My Baby,” by Abbie Cotto: The video starts with an absolutely hilarious skit of the Worcester R&B singer being shut down hitting on a woman in an elevator (note: don’t do this in real life), before transitioning to more steamy – hon-

Zola Simone. CHRISTINE

PETERSON/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

Stanton Capitol Records artists, from left, Jafet Muzic, Danny Fantom and K’nen.

CHRISTINE PETERSON/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

Videos

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estly, just this side of explicit — action. Cotto pulls it off with immense charisma and sizzling vocals, and while the steam might be a bit much the workplace, there’s no denying that Cotto manages to create sizzle like few others.

“She’s Outside,” by Gene Dante: With the music video “She’s Outside” – really, with his whole album, “DL/UX” –Dante proves that there’s still life in the glam rock sound. This is an exhilarating song, one that piles riff upon riff. The video takes that energy and shines a psychedelic light on it. In a lot of ways, it’s a pretty simple video, just the band playing and close-ups of Dante singing, but there’s something about it that takes the song’s hooks and pushes them into overdrive.

“Papi,” by Louie Gonz with Mr. Pacheco: Honestly? This video is straight-up wild, super-imposing the faces of local rappers Louie Gonz and Mr. Pacheco riding dinosaurs, being operated on by space aliens, being turned into spider-like robots and more. The song itself benefits from Gonz’s ability to work in multiple layers: On the one hand, it’s an unrepentant party song, a little dirty but with an inescapable beat. On the other, there’s a sadness there, as the persona wrestles with an inability to settle down, about choosing a career in music above all else. It can be enjoyed as straight-up pop hiphip, but honestly, once you have Gonz on a velociraptor, it’s hard not to be hooked on the video.

“LeBron,” by Oompa: “You do what you can/I do what I want,” raps Boston hip-hop artist Oompa in the video for her song, “LeBron.” Every inch of the song radiates swagger, and the video takes that vibe and amplifies it, particularly with shots of the rapper playing basketball. The whole thing seems casual, and there’s something about that light hand which just brings the song’s sense of confidence to the fore. The video, the song and the artist all come off as effortlessly cool, and let’s be honest, that’s not something many music videos manage to achieve.

“I Sing the Body Electric,” by Sapling: This song was a Bside to the 7” single of Sapling’s song, “Maria Vs. Machine Maria,” which perhaps makes it an odd choice for a video, but then, Sapling doesn’t always make predictable artistic decisions. The video itself is a wildly eclectic array of video footage of the band – sometimes performing, sometimes prepping for other music videos, sometimes pantomiming in front of the mirror or cooking. The clips are interspersed with images of old black and white cartoons, and when set to the discord of the song’s escalating cacophony, can make for an unsettling experience.

“Legend of the Fall,” by Slaine: Boston rapper Slaine’s 2021 album, “The Things We Can’t Forgive,” is an intense experience, overwhelming at points, and a lot of the reasons for that intensity can be found distilled into this video. “Legend of the Fall” finds Slaine facing himself across the table at a diner. “Out of everybody, you were who I hated most,” raps Slaine, directing the verse to himself. “A (expletive) grown man who’s afraid of ghosts.” The song is unrelenting all the way up to the end, when the tone changes slightly: “So I forgive you for all the (expletive) that you lived through/For all the (expletive) that was done to you, everything that you did too.” Ultimately, it’s less a song about recriminations and guilt, and more one about healing and moving forward. It’s emotionally brutal, and still extremely moving.

“She Closed Her Eyes,” by Ricky Duran: This song by local favorite Ricky Duran is an earnest and affecting portrait of grief, written in the wake of the 2018 death of his mother. It’s a simple video in a lot of ways, but it conveys both the song’s sense of loss and acceptance. There’s a sense of intimacy about the video, a sense that this is a conversation between the singer and the listener, and that sense of intimacy is what drives the song’s emotional content. It’s an honest, sweet and sad little song, but it resonates terribly deeply.

Gene Dante. CHRISTINE PETERSON/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE

Oompa. PROMOTIONAL PHOTO From left, Amber Tortorelli, Rainy Logan, and Jonathan Cordaro of Sapling in Kelley Square. CHRISTINE PETERSON

Louie Gonz. PROMOTIONAL PHOTO

Slaine. TOMMY LEMERISE/DUMONT MEDIA GRP

CONNELL SANDERS

My year-end entertainment list

Sarah Connell Sanders

Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK

I’ve just finished watching “Don’t Look Up,” a satirical story of two astronomers hellbent on saving mankind from a catastrophic comet hurtling toward Earth. The only problem is, no one will listen. The film was written, directed and produced by noted Worcesterite and Academy Award-winner Adam McKay. Although his script was conceived during the “before” times, much of its content feels all-too-familiar.

“Don’t Look Up” points to our tendency to direct emotional energy at entertainment rather than the world’s problems. I am certainly guilty of this. In a year filled with great suffering, I relished red carpet photos of Bennifer 2.0, dug for the details of Kim and Kanye’s divorce, and parsed Olivia Rodrigo’s lyrics to “drivers license.” I found it especially hard to listen to the news on my ride to work and began regularly turning the dial to Top 40 radio at the mere mention of COVID-19. McKay’s film understands this behavior in a way that both acknowledges its flaws and feeds the beast.

Balance is important. Here are a few of the books, movies, songs and shows that I found not only digestible but also intellectually stimulating:

Book: “Who is Maud

Dixon?”

Author: Alexandra Andrews Plot: Florence feels underappreciated in her low-level publishing job. When literary darling Maud Dixon takes her on as an assistant, Florence feels as if she is finally getting the chance she deserves. The duo travels to Morocco and where the writer mysteriously vanishes. Rather than reporting the disappearance, Florence takes it upon herself to see what it’s like to live as Maud.

Why it’s important: My feed is filled with TikTokers preaching the Law of Attraction and encouraging me to manifest wealth. “Who is Maud Dixon?” reminded me that confidence alone is not enough. Hard work is a pivotal piece of the success equation.

Straight-laced Sunny (Kuhoo Verma, left) and her rebel BFF Lupe (Victoria Moroles) are South Dakota high schoolers on an epic trip to find a morning-after pill in the comedy “Plan B.” BRETT ROEDEL/HULU

Movie: “Plan B”

Director: Natalie Morales

Plot: Two South Dakota teens, Sunny and Lupe, embark on an unpredictable road trip in

“Who is Maud Dixon?” by Alexandra Andrews.

NEW ON DVD

Moses (Benicio del Toro, center) is a criminally insane painter and prison guard Simone (Léa Seydoux) is his muse in Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch.”

SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

Wes Anderson reports in with ‘French Dispatch’

The latest offering from director Wes Anderson tops the DVD releases for the week of Dec. 28.

“The French Dispatch”: Anderson’s new film, an ode to the glory days of The New Yorker, follows a fictional American magazine set in an equally fictitious French village. The movie is structured as a series of vignettes, each representing an article in the upcoming French Dispatch insert of the Kansas City Evening Sun.

Featuring a cast stuffed with stars, “‘The French Dispatch’ could easily be a parody of a Wes Anderson film because it is too Andersonian for its own good,” writes Tribune News Service critic Katie Walsh in her review. “It features many of his regular repertory players: Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton, Saorise Ronan, Tony Revolori, Adrien Brody, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, Lea Seydoux, plus some new pals: Timothee Chalamet, Benicio del Toro, Elisabeth Moss and Jeffrey Wright.”

Each vignette follows a different piece of writing for the upcoming issue of The French Dispatch and features different cast members. The publication itself is the pet project of the publisher’s son, played by Murray, an Anderson regular.

“It’s hard to be critical of a film and filmmaker that seem to have pure intentions, seeking to craft a charming love letter to the golden era of (generously funded) print media,” Walsh concedes. “But the tics and habits that make up Anderson’s often imitated, never duplicated aesthetic have reached the point of actively working against him as a filmmaker.”

ALSO NEW ON DVD DEC. 28

“Castle Falls”: Dolph Lundgren directs and stars in this action thriller about a building scheduled for demolition that happens to have $3 million in cash hidden inside, with various factions vying to secure the illicit bounty before detonation.

“Mayday”: In this modern fantasy, Grace Van Patten plays a young woman who is transported to a coastline where she joins an all-female army and is trained to kill men, though she begins to have misgivings about the cause.

OUT ON DIGITAL HD DEC. 28

“The Gardener”: Home invasion thriller about a wealthy family gathered at a manor in the English countryside for the holidays, taken unawares by a vicious gang bent on robbery and mayhem. Now the only thing standing in there way is the estate’s unassuming gardener, a former soldier.

“Who Is Amos Otis?”: After assassinating the president, a man pleads selfdefense and must convince a jury his actions were just, that by acting he saved the country and world from its unhinged leader.

List

Continued from Page 23

their quest to find emergency contraception after Sunny loses her virginity.

Why it’s important: “Plan B” is a sharp buddy comedy, never making light of reproductive rights while still managing to address the issue alongside plenty of laughs. Song: “Nothing New”

(Taylor’s Version)

Artist: Taylor Swift featuring Phoebe Bridgers

Memorable Lyric: “How can a person know everything at 18 but nothing at 22?”

Why it’s important: Swift has taken on the monumental task of re-recording her early works in order to regain ownership of them from her former record label. This undertaking gives Swift the opportunity to include tracks that had originally been scrapped, like “Nothing New” — a reflection on the music industry’s inclination to treat aging female artists as disposable. As per usual, Bridgers is an unbelievable addition to the track.

Show: “Maid”

Streaming Service: Netflix

Premise: Alex flees an abusive relationship with her young daughter and tries to make ends meet by working as a house cleaner. In addition to her own struggles, Alex must support her own mother who is refusing mental health treatment and living out of her car.

Why it’s important: It took me months to get through all 10 episodes of “Maid.” The show brings on deep feelings of frustration that are ultimately rewarded as you watch Alex grow into a strong and independent woman.

I would be remiss not to mention the absolute pleasure I took this year in watching the deplorable characters of two brilliant dark comedies on HBO, “Succession” and “The White Lotus.” What works of entertainment got you through 2021? Find me on Instagram at @sarah_connell and let me know.

TOO TOO TOO TOO TOO TOO TOO

Margaret Qualley plays single mother Alex in Netflix’s “Maid,” an adaptation of the best-selling memoir by Stephanie Land. RICARDO HUBBS/NETFLIX

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5 THINGS TO DO

TWIDDLE, NEW YEAR’S AT THE ECOTARIUM AND MORE ....

Richard Duckett and Victor D. Infante Worcester Magazine | USA TODAY NETWORK

Vermont-based rock band Twiddle. JAY

BLAKESBERG

Jamming on New Year’s Eve

Spending your New Year’s Eve with Vermont-based jam band Twiddle seems like a pretty good time. The band’s music has some serious good vibes, with songs such as “Jamflowman” taking advantage of the inherent funk of a syncopated guitar riff, and “When It Rains It Pours,” which carries the listener away with its easy flow. The songs are hook-laden and immediately catchy, but really, it’s the feeling of joy that permeates everything that makes the music so appealing. (VDI) What: Twiddle Neon New Year’s Eve When: 8 p.m. Dec. 31 Where: The Palladium, 261 Main St., Worcester How much: $42.50

The Corvettes Doo Wop Revue. PROMOTIONAL PHOTO

Twistin’ the Night Away

The set list is a veritable cornucopia of the greatest hits of rock ‘n’ roll’s early days, including “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” “Twistin’ the Night Away,” “Palisades Park,” and “At the Hop.” The Corvettes Doo Wop Revue takes these ‘50s favorites and more and reminds the audience how fresh and exciting that music was, before it became all too familiar. Certainly, this show is an exercise in nostalgia, but it’s also a lot of fun. (VDI)

What: The Corvettes Doo Wop Revue When: 8 p.m. Jan. 7 Where: Bull Run Restaurant, 215 Great Road, Shirley How much: $25

Getting the drop on the New Year

Get an early start on ringing in the New Year at the EcoTarium on Dec. 31. At noon and 2 p.m. there will be a kid-friendly countdown and ball drop with bubble wrap “fireworks” (and a firework photo backdrop). Families can also make a time capsule for their past year, add a 2022 resolution to the resolution wall, make noisemakers, participate in “Fire and Ice” education programs, and more. (RD)

What: New Year’s Eve — EcoTarium When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Dec. 31 Where: EcoTarium, 222 Harrington Way, Worcester How much: $19 adults; $15 seniors; $14 children and students; free children under 2; free EcoTarium members. Guests are currently required to wear masks within the museum and within proximity of certain animals onsite. www.ecotarium.org. In years past, the EcoTarium’s Siegfried the Stegosaurus has been known to party for New Year’s Eve.

TELEGRAM & GAZETTE FILE PHOTO

On Exhibit

“Journey in Dry Medium,” colored pencil and mixed media drawings by Jim Palace, will be on display and for sale from Jan. 6 to 29 at Booklovers’ Gourmet in Webster. In his artist’s statement, Palace says that he is formerly a computer aided drafting and design designer. “For the last 2 years, under the tutelage of Ed Turner, (owner of Art and Frame Emporium) I have concentrated on my colored pencil and mixed media projects.” (RD)

What: January Art Exhibit — “Journey in Dry Medium” by Jim Palace Where: Booklovers’ Gourmet, 72 East Main St., Webster When: Exhibition Jan. 6 to 29. Regular business hours: Tuesdays-Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. An artist reception will be held 1 to 3 p.m. Jan. 22. How much: Free and open to the public. Call (508) 949-6232 for more information.

New Year’s Hike

Start your year off on the right foot with a New Year’s Day hike for families at Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center & Wildlife Sanctuary. Participants will hike or snowshoe the sanctuary trails looking for animal tracks and other signs of wildlife. The hike is about three miles total. Please bring water and dress for the weather. Bring your snowshoes or borrow a pair at the sanctuary. (RD)

What: Hike into the New Year for Families When: 9: 30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Jan. 1 Where: Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center & Wildlife Sanctuary, 414 Massasoit Road, Worcester How much: Members $20 adult, $15 child; nonmembers, $25 adult; $18 child. Registration is required. www.massaudubon.org/program-catalog/broad-meadow-brook/80216-hike-into-the-new-year-for-families

The Smiley Face Trail in Worcester is a link between Mass Audubon's Broad Meadow Brook and the Blackstone River Bikeway.

STEVEN H. FOSKETT JR./T&G STAFF FILE PHOTO