Lopez Blogs

Lots going on this week. I'm hoping to have some good news. But probably not til Tuesday (remember that group?) Anyhoo, I haven't put the second half of my holiday diary up yet (I will soon), I haven't done my top 20 acts of this millenium (i might soon) and I'm moving the weekly round up (often the only blog entry of mine for the week!) to Fridays so I can blog about the X Factor on a Sunday morning. So here are some of the things that have been absolutely super and lovely this very week...

You know, it seems like my very favourite group in the entire world (Abba) are even more prevelant this year than they were last year when Mammia Mia (the filmsical) ruled the world (or at the very least the UK). There's been the cheesetastic but entirely brilliant Second Best To None. And as that consumed every second of my waking life and I thought nothing could top it, along came my song of the year Story Of A Heart, which still remains as enchanting today as when I first heard it. Not quite as good as those but still better than most things out there is a lovely remix (via Popjustice) of Agneta's Wrap Your Arms Around Me. Basically this Belgian act Villa take the 27 year old song and make it sound utterly relevant and modern. And of course Agneta's voice is one of the best ever to exist. Absolute fact. Expect more "abba" on my weekly chart then...

You know, I used to blog about Live Lounge on radio one on a ridiculously regular basis. Frankly I should have been on commission. It's all got a bit meh of late, but of course nearly top 5 star Little Boots was enough to draw my attention back - and doing a JLS cover no less! Tops! It's not quite as brilliant as it should be, and it loses some of the genuine charm that JLS bring to it (plus no pointing to watch dance moves), but it shows that Victoria can give the tune an almost eerie gloss of indie cool that after too much listening becomes a bit creepy. Strangely moreish...

Ah Sliimy. I wrote about his rather interesting take on Womanizer and this single back in May, and almost tragically since then he has been signed to uh, a record label I can't bring myself to discuss (not least because it has the distasteful practice of adding "icious" onto the end of it!).Still the wonderful Larry Flick got me back into the song and there is something very novelty song about it, yet also oddly rewarding. A definite example of "earworm" and perhaps if Mika's We Are Golden is too brash for you this might be a slightly more straightforward pop alternative. I did have the opportunity to interview Sliimy on Monday, but honestly I can't think of anything to ask! Tell you what, all listen to the Sound of Arrows insanely astonishing new single Into The Clouds instead. It's honest to god proper decent. Who would've thought anything could be better than M.A.G.I.C?

TOP 21 SONGS OF THE WEEK:

21 ~ "Abba", Second Best To None
20 ~ Elouise, One Night Only
19 ~ Ola, Sky's The Limit
18 ~ BWO, Love Comes Crashing Down (NE)
17 ~ Lily Allen, 22
16 ~ Industry, Burn
15 ~ The Yeah You's, Getting Up With You
14 ~ JLS, Beat Again
13 ~ Marina & The Diamonds, Obsessions
12 ~ Erik Hassle, Don't Bring Flowers
11 ~ Blake Lewis, Sad Songs
10 ~ Whitney, Million Dollar Bill
09 ~ Benny Andersson Band, Story Of A Heart
08 ~ Bananarama, Love Comes
07 ~ Preston, Dressed To Kill
06 ~ Sugababes, Get Sexy
05 ~ Backstreet Boys, Soldier Down
04 ~ Little Boots, Remedy
03 ~ Same Difference, Better Love Me
02 ~ Madonna, Celebration
01 ~ Mika, We Are Golden (2 weeks)
Bubbling under: Julian Velard ~ steve mcqueen; sound of arrows - into the clouds; kelly clarkson - already gone; psb - all over the world