Lopez Blogs

It's been an extremely crappy week for many reasons that I won't bore you with today. However, there is nothing like a batch of foxy new music to lift the spirits and help one feel better. So, my thinking man's boyband post is delayed yet again (though Aaron recently wrote about one of the bands!) for this feast of marvelosity...

SPECTACULAR OST - THE SIMON SONGS:

Ok, I will try not to be too excited about this although clearly there are several reasons why I should be. First reason is that come Tuesday, there will actually be a cd in stores across America that has Simon Curtis on the cover and features his songs! How amazing is that? (If you are pondering the answer to that question, it is "very"). Secondly, though I first fell in love with Simon's cool brand of electro-pop that peppers and directs his excellent Alter Boy album, it's rather thrilling for me to hear him sing songs that wouldn't sound out of place on a Same Difference or Britannia High album. Which is of course, a very high accolade indeed. Now, criminally Simon is not the main star of the movie but his 3 songs on the album sparkle and fizz with pop potential. Check out the inspirational On The Wings Of A Dream (4 weeks at number one as ????!). He and the quite charming Victoria Justice bounce off each other vocally over a rich piano led melody. The thing that struck me most about this song is, that stripped of the electro production values of his Alter Boy set, Simon has an incredible voice and you really hear him sing in a "pure" setting. That's not to say you couldn't hear the quality of his voice before, but it really shines here, particularly when he sings "one burning ember turns into a flame". Brilliant tune - I particularly love the line "here's an invitation to my own celebration". Sometimes songs don't make total sense until you see them in the context of the movie they are from, but this just effervesces from start to finish. Lonely Love Song has the most addictive chorus, and although the lyrics border on cliche, it is sung with conviction and a cheeky wink that makes the song totally work. The harmonies of Simon and Victoria work well against each other, particularly in the lovely middle 8 which then (of course, this is pop 101 people) leads into a rather pleasing key change. The real highlight (and the song that i've held back from playing too much in case my obsession wears it out) is a cover of The Things We Do For Love. From Simon's clear vocal to the harmonies to the kooky little piano trio of notes after Simon's first solo vocal to the oooo-ahhhhs of the chorus, everything about this song is utterly butterly delicious and bound to keep charmed for many moons to come. Just a delightful trifecta of tunes. That's not to say the rest of the album isn't bonza - it's just what you'd expect from a teen orientated moviscal and that's just a-ok with a big kid like me. I particularly like the cheese on toast cover of Eye Of The Tiger, and Something To Belive In which is baked from the same recipe as We R One and Breaking Free. (PS - my thoughts on Alter Boy 2.5 years later are coming soon...)
Check out Pop Reviews Now review of the album :)

Check our Simon's youtube channel - particularly the Just Dance vid. Not even The Curtis can get me to accept The Gaga (the last a is silent) :P

THE WAR CHILD SONGS:

As if a newly starry Simon wasn't enough, the new Scissor Sisters song "Do The Strand" has arrived and I am very pleased with it. Very pleased indeed in fact. Now Ta-Dah (also the name of the choir in Spectack fact fans)didn't exactly win over the fans of debut album Scissor Sisters (though I l-o-v-e-d it), so this song is being analysed closely. Popjustice has already given it the thumbs up and it's easy to see why. It completely reimagines the Roxy Music version much like they did with the ice cool Comfortably Numb. It's quite club-based and electro tinged and quite good indeed - and then Jake sings Rhodedendrum Is A Nice Flower at 3m15s and it's a rather spine tingling end to the song. I love the Ana Matronic whispering too. Just aces. And of course the Scissters aren't the only obsession of mine to feature on the album - Lily Allen does a casio cover of Straight To Hell (originally by the Clash)and it's very Lily with Mick Allen providing some nice backing and harmony vocals. And who doesn't love a bit of panting/heavy breathing in a song. Proof that Lily totally deserves to knock that more-gash-than-flash woman off the top of the british charts this coming Sunday.

OTHER POP FAVES:

• Good gravy - what is going on? I am incredibly fond indeed of a song I saw on music television the other day without knowing who it is? Turns out it is the ace Love Story that currently inhabits the top five in the US by country star Taylor Swift. I have a bit of a love hate relationship with country music, but the international radio mix of this song is quite brillo, and I do love a song with a great narrative. The radio mix amps up the guitar but the melody still shines through and really this could have been sung by Michelle Branch or Mandy "i-hate-my-pop-roots-and-spit-in-the-face-of-people-who-bought-it" Moore (I'm still bitter). A surprisingly little treat for my ears.
• A 4 month old album track is threatening to knock Simon Curtis from the top of my charts on Sunday.
• I'm quite excited about The Saturdays covering Just Can't Get Enough for Comic Relief this year. As long as they still release some remixes of Work of course...(and how strange that Red Blooded Women are going to release a cover of the more moody Enjoy The Silence too. Bring on the battle!)