Lopez Blogs

Blimey! I was far too lazy to do a weekly update last week, and I'm not sure I have much to write about this week! Darren and I did have a lovely date night last night. He cooked a delicious lasagne which was yummers beyond belief. I made a rather edible Crunchie Banoffee Caramel Pie (thanks to Donal Skehan) which tasted a lot better than my poor presentation skills (pic here) would have you believe! Plus really, I could have broken up the crunchies a little bit better couldn't I? Still those socks I am wearing are really warm and comfortable. Anyway, enough about me. Here is a whistle stop tour of what's been entertaining me this past week...

Frankie & The Heartstrings: Brillo northern England indie-pop combo who actually make rather excellent pieces of music that jangles with organic passion and infinite catchiness. Take the track "Hunger", performed above - part of it is very Dexy's Midnight Runners, mixed with Pulp. Amongst those rather lazy comparisons though lies a confident melody driven song that is full of cocky swagger and singalong anthem chorus. The band have chosen to do it all themselves, indicating that creating music as addictive as this is their chief goal rather than raking in the cash. With an engaging lead singer, a foppish look and putting a bit of pizazz back into indie-pop, it's an act I'm already fast becoming obsessed with...
The Drums: It's ridiculous that I've missed this band actually. Hidden among the Ellie Goulding and Erik Hassles on this years "next best things" list, this act actually have the description that makes me most want to check their music ("Mixing the surf pop of The Beach Boys, with the eerie romance of The Cure"). Tracks like the excellent Lets Go Surfing seem so effortlessly enjoyable, that it's hard not to sing along before the end of your first listen, while I Felt Stupid remind me of a slightly more cheerful Upper Room (who were amazing and are still lamented by me). Hurrah then for Park Fierce for reminding me to check them out :)

The Millionaires: Is it too early to have a feisty girl group that comes more from the school of Ke$ha than of anyone else? The Millionaires have been around for a little while now and have finally won me over with their frenetic, disco meets electro meets pop hybrid sound that smacks you right in the goolies with it's grab ya chorus rather than general seducing you. Take Your Shirt Off already sounds like it's been at the top of the US charts for a month while X Rated Christmas is just the right side of slutty and fun that I like. Look, it's fun, it's a bit kooky, it's rather engaging and I kind of unabashedly love them already. All sorts of trashy magnificence - look at the video below, they pretty much set out their stall with that one :)

A bit of culture: I sort of feel like I need something a bit tasteful on the blog after that, so imagine my joy when I found out that my beloved History Boys is touring again. For those that don't remember, I was pretty much obsessed with them back in the days of thezapping and went to see it a fair few times :) It all went quiet for the play after around late 2007, so I'm rather delighted that it's back, and although not coming to Birmingham, it's close enough by that I can persuade a few pals to drive down to see the new production with me. And just to whet my appetite is a "making of" production video from the latest cast (who should consider themselves lucky - previous cast members include Dominic Cooper, Ben Barnes, Russell Tovey, the grown up dude from Beautiful People and James Corden).

Top 21 Songs of the Week!

21 ~ RyanDan, Can't Help Falling In Love
20 ~ Leona Lewis, I Got You (NE)
19 ~ Blake Lewis, I Left My Baby For You
18 ~ Agnes, Love Love Love
17 ~ Mika, Rain
16 ~ The Saturdays, Ego
15 ~ JLS, One Shot
14 ~ Jason Mraz, Kicking With You
13 ~ Matt Morris, Money (NE)
12 ~ Marina & The Diamonds, Hollywood
11 ~ Natalie Imbruglia, Scars
10 ~ Nerina Pallot, When Did I Become Such A Bitch?
09 ~ Alexandra Burke, Broken Heels
08 ~ Dangerous Muse, I Want It All
07 ~ Alphabeat, Hole In My Heart
06 ~ Ryan Ferrada, Room 501
05 ~ Owl City, Fireflies
04 ~ Boyzone, Gave It All Away
03 ~ Elouise, Fireman Of My Dreams
02 ~ Barenaked Ladies, You Run Away
01 ~ Simon Curtis, Diablo (5 weeks)