Lopez Blogs

Woohoo, I hear you cry (not literally because that would mean you were probably within my earshot and that would be a little bit stalkery wouldn't it? Get back!) - back to the music after your whistlestop tour through a week in Vegas. Well fear not Vegas fans, those adventures will conclude shortly! But lots of new music has been coming my way, including ace new stuff from two of my fave acts of the "now" - Simon Curtis & Elouise! It's enough to make me giddy :P Anyway as Kylie (and then Paula Abdul) once said "i'm just here for the music" (uh, I really didn't mean to turn you on, I can't help it, it's my inherent sexiness!) so I'll stop waffling (impossible!) and get on with it!!

The Elouise Ep...

Did anyone see this week's episode of The Simpsons? With Princess Penelope (it's when Lisa shouts "UNICORN" at the end - so me!)?! To me, that encapsulated the charm of Elouise. In a music world where every female singer is currently vying to be the next Lady Gaga, it's a breath of fresh air to find someone who is willing to march to the beat of their own drum. Elouise brings all the glamour, drama and intrigue of your average Dynasty episode to her music. It's timeless, it's elegant and it's the modern day torch song sound that totally sucks me in everytime. Not that long ago I was pleading for a studio version of Fireman of My Dreams and lo and behold, Bobbypops debuted it on Larry Flick's show this week. And it's absolutely more than I dreamed - it's been fleshed out from the live version thanks to the incomparable MrSteveAnderson and is a heavenly piece of music. It retains the gentle humour of the original yet is placed firmly as a sweetly delicious piece of 60s pop candy - the musical arrangement veers from Beauty School Drop Out and Tears On My Pillow (at the beginning) to I Will Always Love You at the end. Elouise's vocal is nicely restrained - there's no need for her to belt this romantic tune out and the swoony backing vocals are just a delight. The EP also features the power ballads Pretender and Another Day (click titles for reviews). All 3 are on Elouise's myspace and she will be supporting Miss Polly Rae at the Hurly Burly Burlesque Show in February. Amazing!

Simon Curtis - 8BitHeart preview...

So I've been eagerly anticipating it for a while now and it's finally here. Well, I was lucky enough to get a preview copy anyway!! While Diablo still sits pretty at the top of my chart, and Simon's twitter follows continue to grow (416 til the next single; 816 til the album as of today) I'm going to save a full review for when the album is made available to everyone (above art is fan art from here). In the meantime, to whet your appetite, here are a few quotes I put up on twitter:

• I may have been an Alter Boy, but now it's ALL about 8BitHeart. So much more than an album, it's a sky hi sci fi adventure!
• Title track to 8BitHeart by SimonCurtis may be the best post millenial boyband uptempo ballad ever made. Solo, it's exquisite :)
• Super Psycho Love (previewed by Simon Curtis here) must be a single! Imagine the video! Plus that chorus? Aces

Jason Mraz ~ Kicking It With You:

The thing I love about Jason Mraz is that you don't really have to wait very long for new music from here. Sure, I'm Yours took up waaaay more time than anyone anticipated but most recently there has been the ever so optimistic Try Try Try which surfaced on the internet last year and now he has contributed to the When In Rome soundtrack with a great laid back ditty called Kicking It With You. There are some great island horns in the background that really power the chorus and Mr A-Z sounds like he is having such a great time with the track that it's incredibly hard not to feel good by the end of the song. It's like the aural equivalent of playing in crashing waves on the beach on a hot summers day ie lots of fun and something everyone needs. Brillo!

Best of the rest:

• Dandy Andy ft Carmen Castro ~ My Lonely Valentine: From the folks who are now pushing the new sound of the adorable Same Difference comes this funky dance ditty that is a waltz through 90s house verses, sweet pop chorus and a surprisingly delicious middle 8. Future pop anthem in the making and just brilliant! (I suspect D'Luv and Bobbypop will love it!)
• Scouting For Girls ~ This Ain't A Love Song: Did anyone else hear this on Scott Mills yesterday? It's surprisingly delightful! You've got to hand it to the guys - they certainly know how to create memorable choruses that stick in your head for eternity and beyond. Their comeback single isn't a million miles away from tunes like She's So Lovely but bounces along merrily considering it's quite a lyrically downbeat song. There's some great piano and it feels quite anthemic. This is going to sound marvelous in the summer shouted out by thousands at festivals across the country...
• Kiss In Cities ~ UR My Girl: I really should have posted about this before Christmas, but I got so caught up in the festive rush that I totally forgot. It's a gloriously giddy gem of a song layered with soaring synths, a heavenly chorus and a big handclap moment at around 2m40s. So SO much fun, plus a great video - it somehow reminds me of Too Good To Be Forgotten. Je t'adore. Plus the press release had a great line in it ~ "Listening to them is like reading a diary on a packed dance-floor" Now that's poetry :)

TOP 21 SONGS OF THE WEEK

This week it definitely is the chart of change! Pet Shop Boys Christmas song disappears altogether, while ballads I was enjoying over the festive period either drop out of site or are clinging on by fingertips. JLS replace themselves at 15 - the No Air-esque Close To You is now the next single "rave" anthem One Shot (see also Chartrigger & Aaron), while Marina & The Diamonds gets her 4th top 20 hit with the effortlessly brilliant and still growing on me Hollywood (see also The Beat Review). Oh and I finally succumb to Fireflies (with free remix if you click the title)! It's all go, eh?

21 ~ Alcazar, Thank You
20 ~ Leona Lewis, Stop Crying Your Heart Out
19 ~ Industry, My Mistake
18 ~ Jason Mraz, Kicking It With You (NE)
17 ~ Marina & The Diamonds, Hollywood (NE)
16 ~ Robbie Williams, You Know Me
15 ~ JLS, One Shot (NE/VID)
14 ~ Natalie Imbruglia, Scars
13 ~ Nerina Pallot, When Did I Become Such A Bitch?
12 ~ The Saturdays, Ego
11 ~ Blake Lewis, I Left My Baby For You
10 ~ RyanDan, I Can't Help Falling In Love With You
09 ~ Agnes, Love Love Love
08 ~ Dangerous Muse, I Want It All
07 ~ Alphabeat, Hole In My Heart
06 ~ Alexandra Burke, Broken Heels
05 ~ Owl City, Fireflies (NE)
04 ~ Elouise, Fireman Of My Dreams (NE)
03 ~ Ryan Ferrada, Room 501
02 ~ Barenaked Ladies, You Run Away
01 ~ Simon Curtis, Diablo (3 weeks)

Blimey, I really should blog music more regularly because that was a bit of an immense post. Back next week with more vegas diaries and maybe more music!