Lopez Blogs

In some respects, it's been a bloody awful week. I started running every day before work, and my leg muscles have seized up from lack of proper stretching, so I am walking around like I couldn't catch a bull between 'em in an alleyway. Also my most favourite ever person at work is leaving. Which is just so bloody tragic I could cry right here on my packard bell keyboard. Oh my effing god, my keyboard is Hewlett Packard! I didn't even know. And finally the American Kath & Kim was very disappointing (though the American Brett - now Craig - is much hotter than the ozzie version!) Still, all this stuff was perfectly balanced out by some good stuff this week - A Lion Among Men (the latest book in the Wicked series) was delivered not once but twice by Amazon (buy the second book that wasn't charged on ebay! It's a credit crunch people!!); My running is already making me look less like a bloated pork pie; Darren had his beautiful long locks cut and looks even more buff and handsome; and there is an amazingly huge amount of brilliant new music floating around the ethernet on an almost daily basis. Check out this week's contributions below (hint - links will take you to the music)...

Darin ~ Breathing Your Love: Ah 2008 has been a good year for love. If it's not bleeding, then it's breathing and my favourite elfin faced turned hottie Swedish pop dude has returned with a song that is part r'n'b clubster (the type Chris Brown does) mixed with those electro vibes that made Insanity so irresistable. Add a dash of europop and a dollop of rave and you pretty much have this "grab the one you love and shimmy down with your bad self" down. It's very glorious indeed. Two things - one, it makes me wish people who mattered paid Shayne Ward's career more attention. Secondly - I'm still a sucker for the amazing Darin tune B What U Wanna Be. Still convinced that would be an ace Gareth comeback ve-hick-cal! More Darin on PPG...

Ace of Base ~ Wheel of Fortune 2008: Ooo look. You wait for one amazing swedish anthem to come along and then two come at once. Yes Ace of Base are back and frankly I thought I would have a major le sigh moment over their "re-imagining" of their classic track (James Leon's fave AOB track fact fans) from their debut album because quite honestly old tracks reswizzled to try and recapture former glories do not work. Kudos then to the Acers for making this sound like a new track. Love the "i'm in love with you, i like your style" moments. Now bring on the new stuff.

Alesha Dixon ~ Boy Does Nothing: A very lovely friend of mine pointed out today that Popjustice has been rather brilliant. And you know what? He was quite right. From their flip flopping over the new Christina single to giving us a taste of S'Diff, they have been on top form lately. And one of their latest "heralds" is this perfectly bonkers piece of Mambo Number 5 sampling xenomania ragamuffin styl-ee pop lusciousness. Alesha does a fine job of creating a fun "get off your arse you lazy fucker" type anthem, that actually when i am out running, I start shaking my hands in the air in despair to the "he does nothing the boy does nothing" so into the song I get. Check out the ace of base (not the group the expression) middle 8 which i can TOTALLY hear Girls Aloud singing... and it's adem approved/auspop approved :)

Killian Wells ~ Flatline: Ah Killian. He has amazing cheekbones. Quite good popstar hair (I haven't discussed popstar hair in a while, PPG - we should definitely start doing this more often!) and very decent dress sense. So all in all a good start. Luckily the music is ridiculously catchy too. Check out Flatline on Killian's myspace page. It samples his favourite song "I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight" and is a solid pop tune that transforms the sample into a modern and catchy chugging dance tune. It's quite a clever sample actually as it keeps the familiarity of the original tune and works in a new tune on top that is equally as addictive. Two more important future potential popstar things - one is that he was in a Kelly Rowland video and to be fair, one of Kelly's better songs. Two - he is remixing songs from his debut album to add a bit more magic and swizzle. Can't. Wait.

Britannia High ~ Start of Something: Another PJ covered track that is available for free, gratis, nothing on the BH website. Yes this is the Gary Barlow involved series which is a bit like Kids From Fame but without the bow legged cello girl or the scary haired piano man. This first single is like a much chirpier version of Alphabeat (if that's possible). Basically it's S Club meets High School Musical meets Same Difference meets Hairspray. In other words, it's entirely too sugary and catchy and therefore everything I adore about pop music. Plus they say bitch and cheesy within 2 lines of the second verse. Marvelous. I do not like the bloke from the amazing Skins curly hair though...

And in other major news, Take That are premiering their new single "Greatest Day" on radio 1 at 8.15am on Monday morning! How freaking frilling!

Top 21 songs of the week:

21 ~ Daniel Powter, Next Plane Home
20 ~ Miley Cyrus, 7 Things
19 ~ Leon Jackson, Don't Call This Love
18 ~ Infernal, Whenever You Need Me (NE/Vid)
17 ~ Rongedal, Hello Euphoria (NE)
16 ~ Alphabeat, What Is Happening
15 ~ Lenka, The Show
14 ~ Miley Cyrus, Driveway
13 ~ Darin, Breathing Your Love (NE)
12 ~ Alesha Dixon, Boy Does Nothing (NE)
11 ~ Annie, My Love Is Better
10 ~ William Young, Changes
09 ~ The Feeling, Join With Us
08 ~ Ben Folds/Regina Spektor, You Don't Know Me
07 ~ McFly, Lies
06 ~ P!nk, So What
05 ~ Jason Mraz, Make It Mine
04 ~ Sugababes, Girls
03 ~ Marit Larsen, If A Song Could Get Me You
02 ~ The Killers, Human
01 ~ Girls Aloud, The Promise (2 weeks)