Lopez Blogs

Adam Levine is a tall glass of water. Oh sure he may be a complete man-ho, but he is super lovely to look at, I adore his voice and he was rather nice to myself and Ruthiepoos when we met him at a soundcheck a year ago. It's almost a solo performance of the Christmas perennial Happy Xmas (War is Over) - the piano is simple, understated and gorgeous (i love how the video shows the keys being played, i love visual piano playing) and completely frames Adam's distinctive and passionate vocal. Of course John Lennon's lyrics are as relevant today as they were nearly 30 years ago and the M5 version stirs my loins every time.

And how convenient - just in time for Christmas they have their remix album of hits out. A couple of tracks have been around for a while now - Mark Ronson's remix of Wake Up Call beefs up an already sturdy bassline and gives some vocal quirks to the chorus (the addition of Mary J Blige gives the song an interesting new perspective and she trades vocals well with Adam); the Paul Oakenfold mix of the Rihanna duet If I Never See Your Face Again adds a dance element that could be argued suits Rihanna better than it suits the 5ers. However, some of the new interpretations are quite glorious - a tiesto remix of Not Falling Apart completely deconstructs the rocky elements of the songs and sets Adam's vocal to a pulsating dark groove. The Swizz Beats mix of If I Never See Your Face ups the hip hop element of the tune - something which i normally jar against, but this works quite well (i'm not a huge fan of the rap in it but the tinkling beat is quite addictive). David Banner's remix of Wake Up Call takes it back to a sparse beat with the electro elements of the original tune pushed to the background. It's impossible to go into the creativity of all the tracks (i'm writing this at mid november from an 8 track sampler), but it's certainly the best mix tape type album by one artist since Robbie William's Rudebox or even Blake Lewis' ADD. Cynically one can assume that this is being pushed our for Christmas to add a few bucks to the boys bank accounts, but there are at least a few gems in here that should please the most casual of fans. Plus i'll lap up anything Adam shoots my way :P After all Maroon 5 are one of my top 5 favourite bands to emerge this millenium...

THE TOP 21 TUNES OF WEEK ONE IN FLORIDA (hopefully added in time for this pre-planned post!!)

21 ~ Rongedal, Hello Euphoria
20 ~ Madonna, Miles Away (NE) (No video though, lazy madge)
19 ~ Lenka, The Show
18 ~ Marit Larsen, If A Song Could Get Me You
17 ~ Marit Larsen, I've Heard Your Love Songs
16 ~ Jason Mraz, Live High
15 ~ Alphabeat, What Is Happening?
14 ~ Alesha Dixon, The Boy Does Nothing
13 ~ Darin, Breathing Your Love
12 ~ Mariah Carey, I Stay In Love
11 ~ McFly, Do Ya
10 ~ The Killers, Human
09 ~ Dannii/Kylie, The Winner Takes It All
08 ~ The Feeling, Won't Go Away
07 ~ Take That, Greatest Day
06 ~ William Young, Grace
05 ~ Britney, Womanizer (Z for the last week!)
04 ~ Britannia High, Start of Something
03 ~ Leona Lewis, Run
02 ~ Girls Aloud, The Promise
01 ~ Same Difference, We R One (4 weeks)