Lopez Blogs

It's Christmas in a week and a day, and I just can't figure out what I'm gonna say... oh wait, that's coming up in a moment. I'm right enjoying this Christmas posts me. And I was dead excited today when it started to snow and it settled on the ground outside the office window. I absolutely had to tear myself away from The Morning Jolt (more on that later too) and run out to frolick in the snow and live the life of riley. Unfortunately, it was the life of Mavis Riley so it all went a bit shit really, because the snow was dead slushy, so when I was attempting a snow angel (what was I thinking? Was I even thinking at all?!)I just got really wet and cold and had to spend the rest of my work afternoon just looking like I had pissed myself. Classy. Anyway, on with today's post. Yay to snow! Boo to snow if it delays my flight on Christmas Day!!

CHRISTMAS FUTURE:

Ah, Dangerous Muse. They seem to have been floating around the periphery of being massive for quite some time now. I was entirely obsessed with Rejection and Give Me Danger, and thought Everyday is Halloween was quite nice. Then they sort of disappeared and I was all worried they would just disappear like so many great "buzzy" acts before them. But no! They are back with a song called I Want It All which isn't a Bananarama cover, but actually a seductive synth tune with more of a rock edge than their previous stuff. It's a sizzling hot tune that is dark and dangerous in it's intent, and furiously agressive in it's execution. What results from this is a great tune that shows they haven't lost their touch at all. Disappointingly no album news yet, but they did pop up for a great chat with Larry Flick today where Larry fully probed the boys and compared their work of a few years back to the kind of stuff Lady Cuckoo is getting kudos for now. You're preaching to the choir! Testify! Anyway, great to have DM back and this will sound amaze at festive parties all around the country. Plus the boys continue their obsession with bondage images in their work, and who is gonna complain about that?!

CHRISTMAS PRESENT:

Oh em gee. The Saturdays are probably one of the most schizophrenic groups around when it comes to pop. This can be quite off putting. But when they get it right (and aren't being absolutely desperate on twitter), they don't half belt out a corking tune. Not only did they do a rather good version of their new single Ego today acoustically on Live Lounge, but they whipped out a slinky version of Winter Wonderland which made me feel peppermint mocha=ish from my head to my toes. It's moments like this that a) make me thank god it's Christmas in a dramatic Freddy Mercury fashion and b) think hmmm, if they just got it together and were a bit more cohesive, they still have the makings of a fine pop group. But for now I'll actually just enjoy trolling through their winter wonderland (which is about 3 times less impressive than the Jason Mraz or Annie Lennox version, but still quite good in today's pop climate...) Check with Ken for more detail :P

Another Christmas treat for this year that has appeared in the ether of online music today is a rather marvelous new tune from the very lovely Adam Tyler. It's called Ghost of Christmas Past and is a rather downbeat tune with overtones of gothic magic to it. His voice sounds absolutely tremendous in the lower register as he toasts the lost love from christmases gone by. It's very melancholy, and there are some great adlibs in the background of the chorus that all add to the haunted atmosphere. I think the image above is a great representation of the music. I've said before that loneliness at Christmas seems so much sadder and that's encapsulated in the line "while all the world is celebrating/I stand alone" My only complaint is it's only a clip of a song and I need to hear the full version. Definitely worth 1m48secs of your time though...

CHRISTMAS PAST:

Ah, right. Here is where "it's Christmas in a week and a day" comes in! Partly because it is! And partly because I simply can't do a cavalcade of Christmas posts without mentioned the santa of sweden, mr Magnus Carlsson! Much like myself, he's hugely invested in Christmas and has probably churned out as many festive tunes now as he has regular ace pop malarkies. Two of my favourites that I keep returning to are the sumptuous 60s influenced Wrap Myself in Paper (where the blog post title/quotes come from) and coca-cola-esque Wonderful Dreams (Holidays Are Coming). Both quite decent pop tunes in and of themself, he comes across like a male Emma Bunton (from her last 2 albums), a 60s chantreuse but in confident male form! And as luck would have it, he's done a few new Christmas songs this year that don't really break his mould. The best of these in the jingle bell shuffling beat of Christmas With You and singalong festive chorus "a star is falling from the sky/make a wish at christmas time" ~ written down it sounds cheesy, heck it is but it works insanely well :) This Night is a more sombre affair but another lovely piece that is worthy of your time. You can get the deluxe edition of his festive album for a whole host of Carlsson Christmas faves ;

Back soon! Don't go anywhere!