Lopez Blogs

Madonna was wrong. Time does not go by. So Slowly. In fact it whizzed by at a million miles per hour this week, which of course is way too fast and you probably experienced some motion sickness. So once again, blog posts got thrown out the window and I sometimes wonder why people stick around for such sporadicus! But you do and hurrah for that, etc. So here are lots of things I meant to do longer blogs on this week, but didn't get the time. It's your fizzypop weekend supplement!!

There is very much a need in the world for sparkling, uplifting, sunshine drenched pop music that makes you feel quite marvelous from your head to your toes. The Candle Thieves provide such music, delivering a realistic world view yet one saturated in optimism, dancing keyboard melodies and sing a long choruses. They had an EP out last year called The Sunshine EP which has four great songs on, but standouts in the summery The Sunshine Song (with a great hook "you can't stay young forever but we can stay young for the rest of our days") and the brilliantly titled Love Will Clap Its Hand For You. The latter is a cross between the genius of Sound of Arrows and immediacy of Owl City (but without the twee factor and always remaining effortlessly cool and lovely). Amazing. And double hurrah, they have a new single coming out soon called We're All Gonna Die. It's as upbeat and joyous as anything they've done before (whatever the title might lead you to believe) and if there is any justice this will be the first massive hit of the burgeoning spring weather, with thousands of people simultaneously crying "everybody just clap your hands". Heaven.

I'm rubbish with getting press releases and promotional e-mails. I always seem to forget to check them out/write about them, but still they keep a -coming :) And this is ok too because every so often one will stand out. This week it was the unique approach of The Dirty Disco who fair made me smile with a genuine mistake. But it also made me take notice so kudos to them :P Their debut single, Sista! (above) is a stand out slice of fuzzy synth driven pop that is full of theatrics, glam influences, energy and a massive dose of in your face personality. Vaguely reminiscent of the amazing Fuzzbox, the song grabs you by the short and curlies, swings you around the room and leaves you a bit breathless before you've even got to the brain-infecting chorus. Play it loud and let your freak flag fly. Oh and because they are lovely, there is a free remix version of the song to download here and a cover of Florence + The Machine's epic Rabbit Heart here. Brillo on toast.

Quick bits:

• Hurrah - it's time for melodifestivalen again! I'm not as dedicated a follower as some and usually live vicariously through Nick, PPG and ScandiPop. However, once again some of my fave artists are competing this year which means brillo new music from them. I'm particularly watching out for Alcazar, Darin, Ola, Erin Lanto, Salem Al Fakir and of course Neo. Ola and Salem have already previewed their clips here and I currently stand at satisfied with what I hear...
• Remember Steve Appleton? There was a bit of noise about his Uk-surfer boy brand of pop last year but then it all went a bit quiet despite a couple of quite good songs. He's making waves again at the moment, currently with a free download of his acoustic version of Fireflies, which is a pleasant way to pass a few minutes if you so have the desire. Check out his previous singles too, they weren't half bad...
• I've written about Waterloo a few times, and they are busy polishing their pop sound for the world at large. A plethora of remastered clips and new tracks are available to listen to on their myspace page. Four Letter Word is still a top notch tune, while Live Your Life sounds like it is quite the singalong disco-reggae pop song in the making (a bimbo jones remix of this could be entirely titillating). Excited to hear more from this band. Go check out their music and let me know what you think of the latest...
• Finally click here to see a promo for new Nickelodeon show Victorious. The stars of Spectacular are certainly making a name for themselves this year and while this could be the usual tween fare, Victoria Justice seems so charming and witty in it, plus sings rather good pop star songs as well so it's zipping up my boots and going back to my youth for this one. Hurry up March... :P

TOP 21 SONGS OF THE WEEK:

21 ~ Hugh Sheridan, All About Me (NE)
20 ~ Donkeyboy, Ambitions (NE/VID)
19 ~ Alexandra Burke, Broken Heels
18 ~ Dangerous Muse, I Want It All
17 ~ Alphabeat, Hole In My Heart
16 ~ The Saturdays, Ego
15 ~ Leona Lewis, I Got You
14 ~ Mika, Rain
13 ~ JLS, One Shot
12 ~ Hurts, Blood Tears and Gold (NE)
11 ~ Jason Mraz, Kickin With You
10 ~ Matt Morris, Money
09 ~ Owl City, Fireflies
08 ~ Natalie Imbruglia, Scars
07 ~ Nerina Pallot, When Did I Become Such A Bitch?
06 ~ Ryan Ferrada, Room 501
05 ~ Marina & The Diamonds, Hollywood
04 ~ Simon Curtis, Diablo
03 ~ Barenaked Ladies, You Run Away
02 ~ Boyzone, Gave It All Away
01 ~ Elouise, Fireman of my Dreams (1 week)