Lopez Blogs

Ah autumn, how I adore thee. You lead nicely into winter and the red cups from starbucks. You are sunny, but not in a sneezy headache way that the summer is; and brisk enough to prepare me for that chilly solstice bite. You bring me all those new wonderful "fall tv" shows - including the last two autumns delivering Pushing Daisies into my heart (which Spring rudely took away) and replacing it with Glee this year, gawd bless ya. And most importantly for some reason, the music industry spunks their (supposedly) best product into an overcrowded market place at your time of year. And while too much music is NEVER a problem, finding the time to enjoy it in the appropriate way before the next new album I want comes out is.

Remember being young? Time moved slower then. Birthdays took forever to arrive and Christmas was always a million years away. Grow up and time gallops along, leaving precious little of it to properly enjoy the incidentals such as a plethora of exciting new album releases. But enjoy them I will. It will just take a little more time than normal. So i'm in no hurry to give my indepth opinions of recently released albums until they have bedded in a little more with me. In the meantime here are some initial thoughts and links to those people who have summed up with wit, accuracy and passion how great some of this musical endeavours are...

THE KILLERS - GREATEST HITS (A WHITE DEMON LOVE SONG):

The Killers have always satisfied me. I've stuck by la delicate fleur B-Flo even when he was sporting that dodgy tache. I have loved all 3 of their albums and all the incidental Christmas singles inbetween. So I was jolly excited to listen to their new tune A White Demon Love Song and find out that actually it is very marvelous indeed. It begins as a restrained acoustic tune with a layered wall of sound that suits Brandon's deep seductive purr perfectly. It's all quite evocative of the Sam's Town era and builds gently into perhaps their most understated epic song yet. Ignore the supernatural trappings - this is a love song for everyone: "Let us fall in love/let's do old and grey/I won't make you cry/I will never stray". Who could ask for more than that? Sure, it falls short of the perfect vampire film love song standard set by Annie Lennox, but it's a grower not a shower and it's already gently prodded it's way into my heart. And while we are at it, I'm happy to get a live album and dvd from their Albert Hall "gig", but only if it covers all their greatest hits listed below (edit: it actually does a pretty phenomenal job of it all!)...
Mr Brightside/Somebody Told Me/All These Things I've Done/Smile Like You Mean It/When You Were Young/Bones/Read My Mind/For Reasons Unknown/ Tranquilize/ Human/ Spaceman/ World We Live In/Dustland Fairytale/A Great Big Sled/Joseph, Better You Than Me/A White Demon Love Song.

NERINA PALLOT - THE GRADUATE:

Due to the fact that a) Nerina Pallot is a goddess and b) I'm off to see her play live on Wednesday night, I've been immersed in this rather magnificent album more than any other in this post since last Monday. It's been a few years since the epic Fires album and since then there has been a musical progression that is reflected in a variety of styles, more upbeat tunes but still with Nerina's sweet vocals and engaging lyrical style. The bouncey piano pop of Real Late Starter is a brilliant single choice and a call to arms for all ex-slackers everywhere (Nerina has run marathons, got married and completed a degree since her last album!) - it's all encapsulated within a brilliant melody and potentially the best scissor sisters track never recorded. There's more energetic pop tunes in the form of The Right Side (more exquistely constructed piano pop with a hint of early Elton), the anthemic I Don't Want To Go Out (bold, brash, in your face, and perhaps a response as a 'mature student' to the crazy party days of university? Definitely not the type of tune you've come to expect from Nerina but good rollicking fun all the same) and of course the entirely amazing When Did I Become Such A Bitch? More brilliant pop melodies abound with a sharp lyrical edge that is both amusing and loveable. Surely contender for a future single. Elsewhere, a more melancholy Nerina takes the stage, particularly on the haunting Cigarette which could almost be about anything destructive in life, the Sheryl Crow-esque Human ("we are not our sorrows and we are not our scars" sings Nerina in a devastatingly accurate moment) and lovely It Wasn't Me (which works best in the I Digress sessions where Nerina tackles her songs in a different style - it instantly becomes a brilliant new song that sounds like it should have been around for years). Such a diverse range of music deserves to be celebrated and hopefully more and more people will realise the sheer genius of this wonderful piece of work.
Potential singles: Real Late Starter; When Did I Become Such A Bitch?; Human; I Don't Want To Go Out

THE REST:

Blake Lewis - Heartbreak on Vinyl: A departure from his sometimes brilliant debut, Blake continues to be creative and innovative on his second album. A few weak moments don't detract from a generally fun synth-pop dance set. Best tracks: Heartbreak On Vinyl; Left My Baby For You...
(Further reading: Alien Hits (ace track by track review); Melismatic loves the single; As does Poppostergirl!)

Dragonette - Fixin To Thrill: A couple of lines will not do justice to how great a pop album the Canadian group have produced here. They are deserving of far far more and if I have time I might do a proper write up examining the genius of this album soon. Let's just say it's jam packed with smart, catchy, progressive pop that is easy to adore. Best tracks: Pick Up The Phone; Liar; We Rule The World...
(Further reading: XO loves them big time; Will-W reviews them here; Another ace track by track review by Alien hits!)

Backstreet Boys - This Is Us: Hmmm, my philosophy with BSB is that each album since their greatest hits gives 3-4 quite good or better tracks that will eventually form another quite good greatest hits. This Is Us is no different. Mostly filler, some killer. Best tracks: Straight Through The Heart; Bigger...
(Further reading: J, Mensah's review is more flattering than mine!!)

Paloma Faith - Do You Want The Truth or Something Beautiful?: Quite simply a beautiful cohesive piece of work from start to finish. Far more satisfying than the first single suggested with layers of emotion, depth and complexity weaved into each song. Best tracks: Stargazing; Smoke and Mirrors; New York...
(Further reading: XO's early impressions; Dontstopthepop is smitten; Ken's views)

Guilty pleasures: The Nolans comeback album is amazingly fun from start to finish. It's not going to win any awards but it's almost the perfect compilation for a drunk Saturday Night :)

Be sure to let me know what you think of the albums :)