Lopez Blogs

Ages ago, long before thezapping or fizzypop were twinkles in my eye, I used to do a monthly mix tape and catch up newsletter (on paper!!!) for all my friends and send it round. As the years went by, this merged into a mix cd, then a download file with email. It's a bit like Now That's What I Call Music but with more personalised liner notes :P I sort of got away from doing it last year, but want to get back into the habit this year, so without further ado, here are the best singles and album tracks that should be singles for the month of January (in no order of preference!):

1. JLS - Hallelujah (Why? Well for starters I do like a nice and dapper dressed boyband, and ultimately they were a far more interesting winning X Factor proposition than Leona MkII the nation was eventually stuck with...)
2. The Killers - Spaceman (Why? Corking second single from the delicate B-Flo and his increasingly hairy boys. Not quite as amazing as Human, but still a stirling effort nonetheless...)
3. Girls Aloud - Loving Kind (Why? It was everyone and his dog's favourite GA track of last year and while it's not quite storming the charts a week before release like it should, this spiritual successor to Call The Shots can't fail...)
4. Sugababes - No Can Do (Why? Disasterous and unbeloved choice of second single from the Desperate Housewives still has a chorus that charms the pants off me. Not literally you will be pleased to know...)
5. Britney - Circus (Why? Well the video's about as subtle as a sledgehammer and even though lyrically she's done this before, it's still quite an entertaining tune. It's not a patch on the annoyingly catchy Womaniser though...)
6. Lily Allen - The Fear (Why? Triumphant comeback single from the mouthy Ms Allen who constantly says "fucking" in the most pleasing way in her tracks. Reminds me a little of All Saints Pure Shores, which is a good thing of course...)
7. Danny - Radio (Acoustic) (Why? I've held back on this track until I had the album and while the uptempo is quite rightly amazing - much like Darin's laid back rendition of his BYL, this brings a new level to the song...)
8. What's Up - Such A Fool (Why? It's quite old, but i methodically ploughed through their album all of last year and chose this as the fifth and final single as a gorgeous flashback to a time when boybands roamed the earth...)
9. The Saturdays - Issues (Why? I was a little alarmed that The Saturdays weren't going to do very well after the huge success of Up, but their midweeks has them placed firmly in the top ten with this shuffling mid tempo ballad. Hurrah....)
10. Cyndi Lauper - Set Your Heart (Why? Far more interesting an album than Lady Gaga or Katy Perry, Cyndi rocked her disco shoes all of last year and I am far too late to the party. Making it up for it now by howling this out on a daily basis in the shower...)
11. Anastacia - I Can Feel You (Why? I wasn't going to return to the career of Trannystacia, but over the past couple of months I would hear this song in the most random of places and now it has sucked me right in. Yes, I am utterly ashamed...)
12. Leon Jackson - Creative (Why? poor Leon. Utterly jipped in the winner of X Factor stakes with a crappy winners single, but he's getting better and this is one of the highlights of his debut album. Almost Will Young-esque in it's brilliance, but not quite...)
13. Bryn Christopher - Fearless (Why? Because I am just stunned that the powerful The Quest and dark and dirty Smile didn't make him a star. Will this? It should do, but I have given up trying to predict what the fickle British public will buy next...)
14. James Morrison & Nelly Furtado - Broken Strings (Why? Unassuming comeback single aside last year, this has gradually and subtly insinuated itself into British public consciousness and quite rightly so. It sounds quite delightful...)
15. James Blunt - Love Love Love (Why? God he's reviled isn't he and yet I am still drawn to his tunes. Not quite as incredible as Give Me Some Love but a nice gentle way to break in the new year...)
16. Val Emmich - Get On With It (Why? He looks cute in a waistcoat? He has nice dimples? He's on his sixth album and still isn't a huge star? All of the above? Plus the track is one of those rollicking singalong anthems that hooks you in before you know it...)
17. Maroon 5 - Pleasure Fucker (Why? Well I am now preprogrammed to automatically love all things M5, but this sparse funk-jam not only has the sort of dirty lyrics I appreciate, but Adam's voice sounds heavenly. God I bet he's riddled...)
18. Franz Ferdinand - Ulysses (Why? Because I don't write about double F enough. Loved the first album, loved the second one only slightly less and am quite excited about this comeback single... it's suitably urgent and catchy and very This Fire. Aces...)
19. Travis - Song to Self (Why? Because - as Fran probably quite rightly sings - "I don't belong any longer" and that may be true of travis after this disappointing album. So because i loved them so back in the day, I'll cling on for just a little longer...)
20. Keane - Perfect Symmetry (Why? Title track from their quite good third album passed the single charts by a little bit and really deserves a much wider audience. Of course it won't get one just by being on this list, but i like to contribute where i can :P)
21. Kaiser Chiefs - Good Days Bad Days (Why? Well they've become more of a "oh they are still going, and oh i quite like them still" sort of band, and I quite like the jolly colourful video. Ricky is quite good pals with Girls Aloud too...)

Back tomorrow with more nonsense no doubt. BTW, wasn't the return of Nip/Tuck quite good? I liked their use of Daniel Merriweather music :) Oh! And I have one chapter to go on the Sookie Stackhouse novel (the book that inspired True Blood) - it's very dirty in parts! Bye :)