Lopez Blogs

Woohoo! It's life may be in the balance but Pushing Daisies continues to delight! And there had better be a darn good Christmas episode this year because i can't think of a show that could give good Christmas like I imagine Pushing Daisies can. In fact, it should do an Easter show too - my friend thinks someone with Neds powers touched Jesus after he was crucified. I may burn in hell for writing that (or at least heck, which is a suburb of hell and on the outskirts of heaven. It doesn't get HBO and Showtime as Heaven does but it certainly has better taxes than hell). Anyway, lovely but too skinny Olive Snook has released a Christmas album! Hurrah! And as Christmas albums go, it's quite delightful. Like the fire, when the weather outside is frightful. It's made up of Christmas standards as well as some lesser known numbers. Most are done in traditional arrangements with just the merest smidge of pop or country thrown in. For example, What Child Is This is fairly celtic and very softly sung, while Home On Christmas Day features some lovely piano-Kristin only work before a full orchestra brings the tune to a rousing climax. The production on Do You Hear What I Hear is done in a very similar way and it works incredibly well with Kristins theatrical vocal. Come On Ring Those Bells is about as country as it gets, and it seems very inspired by Dolly Parton. However, my favourite track on the album is the perky fun of the Sleigh Ride/Marshmallow World duet with John Pizzarelli. It's a little jazzy, a little west end wendy and totally makes me want to throw snowballs around. You'll either like Kristin Chenoweth's voice or you won't, but if you do this is a fine addition to any festive cd collection :)