Lopez Blogs

Hooray for hump day Wednesday I say. Of course, once again England will be obsessed today with watching the World Cup, but at least that longest day malarky is over with and Govan is up for eviction on Big Brother so there are little silver linings to the white fluffy clouds floating by. If you haven't checked out the first summer songs post, you should probably do so now. Done it? Super, let's move on to some more lovely tunes to brighten your day (ps, I'm still utterly obsessed with the new Maroon 5 track. Bliss!

Scissor Sisters - All The Lovers: From the moment the insanely gorgeous Kylie single hit the airwaves, it became the effortlessly breezy soundtrack for the long summer months. Somewhere between the Scissor Sister penned "I Believe In You" and criminally not number one amaze tune "The One", it floated in the ether and became one of my favourite tracks of the year. The Scissters performed the magnifico number yesterday on Live Lounge and a) made live lounge interesting again & b) managed to give the number a little twist (although a straightforward rendering would have been fine). It's somewhere in between their fire with fire sound and a Jason Mraz version of Somewhere Over The Rainbow/Rainbow Connection with a decidedly appealing country twist. Everything about it worked delightfully and I can't wait wait wait to see what their live shows bring this week. Essential listening and viewing.


Gravitonas ~ Shameless: Super! The 'Tone are back. Sort of. They are still plugging away with their glorious Kites single (that just seems to get better and more euphoric with each listen) but they have also been performing a new song 'Shameless' at some live dates in Sweden. And very marvelous it is too. It's electro tinged pop with a full rocking chorus that reminds me ever so slightly of Alice Cooper's brillo Poison. What I really like about this project is that it is brimming with pop sensibilities and the other influences are seamlessly weaved in to create a sonic, engaging listening experience. That hook is aces too; "i'm shameless/fast and furious/i'm shameless/get on board/i'm shameless" all delivered with a devil may care sneer... Andreas is a totally dynamic front man and yet charming and polite (from what I gather) in his contact with blogs and radio. Their album is going to be immensicles...

Sam Taylor ~ It's A Mistake (Ricardo Autobhan remix): One of my biggest hopes for Samuel of the Taylor is that he will record a balls to the wall pulsating disco classic. Something utterly dancey yet completely riddled with camposity and pop majesty. That, my friends, would be bleeding brilliant. In the meantime, the current tune from Sammy (see review here; poptrash love here; dluv luv here; fabtastic approval here) continues to reveal hidden depths with each listen and I frankly do enjoy a song that keeps giving. Well now there is a perfectly beat-tastic dance remix of the aforementioned ballad which transforms it like a butterfly into something totally foottapping and groove ridden. Remember when Toni Braxton utterly reswizzled Unbreak My Heart into a dancefloor classic? Well you are absolutely on the right lines. Gives the song a new dimension. Aces - proper dance tune now please Sammy!!

Still to come: Christophe Willem, Moto Boy, The Like & The Pipettes!!

VanShe - V:

Question: Is it Van SHE with the emphasis on the second syllable or VANshe rhymes with banshee? Anyway! It's the album that has been far too long in the making. Since the release of their debut EP in 2005, VanShe have kept fans titillated and teased with the delayed release of their debut album, but whether you are a long term fan or a newbie to the band, it - on the whole - does not disappoint. It's an eclectic mix of sounds and styles that inhabit the disc - from industrial beats to summery pop vocals to alternative rock, there is definitely almost something for everyone. It's getting everyone to like the whole package that might be tricky. The easiest way to start this review is to look at the three singles released so far from the disc. Cat and the Eye has a laid back groove with an almost experimental middle eight that launches into some sonic guitar work, yet the pop vocals continue to shine through. Changes has a great melody underscoring it, and clearly the influence of tour buddies, French band Daft Punk is baked into the core of this challenging pop tune - challenging in that it isn't your out and out instant pop smash, but it is definitely rewarding with a great chorus with subtle harmonies. Strangers is a synth filled, 80s homage paying pop smash that has one of their most soaring choruses to date - a chorus that highlights this isn't just a vocally driven group; the instruments are given equal place in the importance of the song as are the computer effects that make this song so appealing. And of course, the well known Kelly is a delightful addition to the album. It's an 80s Melt With You movie soundtrack song waiting to happen as this generation's Molly Ringwald runs from the prom in the rain, her heart breaking as her corsage falls down the sewer. It's that type of song, and one that quite rightly catapulted them into the limelight.

I practically floated listening to It Could Be The Same so laid back and spacey is the track despite it's fuzzy guitar sounds and rollicking chorus. It's one track that makes me feel they have a very slight over reliance on restrained verses and power choruses. It works well in certain songs but could get to be overkill if they use it too much. No matter- tracks like indie tastic The Sea which has some excellent drum work that is going to rock live and the stripped back beauty of A Sharp Knife show there is plenty of creativity in these boys yet. They could certainly build a strong live following should they tour the UK, and they are welcome to stay at my place if they need somewhere to crash :P There were four in the bed and the little one said....
Potential (UK) Singles: Kelly, Strangers, Changes, Cat and The Eye

The Script - The Script:

It's probably a good representation of everything Script that they are allegedly writing for Leona Lewis. For like the preordained goddess of reality tv, The Script are quite good indeed but not particularly exciting. Still, they have produced a perfectly decent debut album that is brimming with melodies and sweet vocals, polished off by smooth production values. It's an album that may be performed by the Irish, but is certainly LA at heart. Again, the easiest place to start is with their singles. Free download song Before The Worst spits out the verses in a manner that is reminiscent of One Republic before that soaring chorus that details the good times in a relationship before it all turns to shit. Lovely piano and Danny's striking vocal made this a good introduction to the band that deserved a wider platform in the UK top 40. Luckily that was to come with the epic first single proper We Cry - there are definite elements of rock and r'n'b, a formula that has certainly stood my beloved Maroon 5 in good stead. The verses are far more reminiscent of Jason Mraz's Wordplay than the U2-meets-Timbaland label that plagues the band and that sits far more comfortably with me than giving tired Timba a minute more publicity than he needs. It's The Man Who Can't Be Moved that has caught the attention of the nation. It's a lovely song, with an effortlessly flowing midtempo groove and, like many of The Script's songs deals with either coming to terms with failed relationships or falling in love. "I'm not moving" works well as a forlorn refrain and is perhaps the prettiest ballad of this genre since Won't Go Home Without You.

There are at least a couple more singles hidden within the album. Rusty Halo would make a decent change of pace from Man Who Can't Be Moved, and percolates nicely in an 80s rock sort of way. I'm pretty sure Danny should be sporting a poodle perm singing this song. It's very Men At Work (which could probably be a porn website nowadays). The highlight of the album is the lyrically intense Talk You Down - about "relationship suicide" and how people can often only work through their problems if they do it together. It's a pulsating song, that gives an additional urgency to the vocal delivery and everything about it works perfectly. There are a couple of misses on the album - If You See Kay is pretty unnecessary, and final ballad I'm Yours veers a little too close to More Than Words for comfort. And therein lies the problem. There's an awful lot of potential within the Script, and most of this is great. One can't help wish it was a little less scripted though. Perhaps they'll really shine forth on their second album...
Potential singles: Before The Worst, We Cry, Man Who Can't Be Moved, Talk You Down, Rusty Halo
MP3 Bonus: Their cover of Lose Yourself.

other man band albums I am looking forward to...

• Travis - Ode to J.Smith
• Keane - Perfect Symmetry
• Kaiser Chiefs - Off With Their heads
• The Killers - Day and Age (?)

Some reasons why I couldn't be bothered to blog on Monday (lundi - i'm feeling all francais this week)

1. My car had to go into "the shop". I now have a "courtesy car" which rattles like Joan Rivers walking onto the stage and doesn't even have a bluetooth connection for mp3 play let alone a cd player. It has a cassette thingy!! Lordy!
2. I still haven't beaten Spider Solitaire on all four suits despite having wasted many hours at work trying.
3. I have doubled my daily step aerobics (how effing 80s) routine and am knackered, but increasingly buff.
4. Amazon dot co dot uk pissed me off. So did dvd dot co dot uk but they were ultimately quite nice to me.

Some reasons why I can be bothered to blog today (mardi - i'm still feeling all francais).

1. I heard Will Young singing "changes" on the radio and it is very jazz laid back and lovely in the extreme.
2. *Had* i been privvy by some miraculous means of listening to a Will Young "Let It Go" album sampler, I would say that it is largely indicative of the album, though there is a "Your Game/Switch It On" waiting to break free which would be a bonza second single.
3. Popjustice have finally picked up on the brilliance of Juvelen. Read my review of the album here, and his placing in my best albums of 2008 so far here...
4. I had a lovely chat with portuguese pop sensation Ryan Ferrada yesterday. He thought Darren looked in his early 20s which made Darren's head swell and had me questioning his eyesight :P

Finally, before I launch into a live lounge extravaganza of very varying quality, does anyone know the name of the song in the youtube video from a drunken night out above? It's probably an oldie but quite catchy in the extreme...

LIVE LOUNGE BLOWOUT!

Doing a cover version of a recent pop song used to be a cool and unique way of promoting your own single (see Arctic Monkeys doing Love Machine; Girls Aloud doing Rehab, etc). Now it's as necessary and ubiquitous as going on CD:UK was for Steps at the turn of the millenium. Basically everyone and his dog are at it. Some are brilliant. Some are ok. Some are ear bleeding representations of awful. All are here for you to enjoy. Take a look at McFly doing Born To Run above - everyone looks like they are having a whale of a time rather than trying to be uber cool. And that is what it's about for me :) So in order of brilliance here we go:

MP3: McFly - Born To Run (the boys can do no wrong. Except perhaps buy pets as a gift! Beloved at the last G-A-Y on Saturday)
MP3: Ida Maria - Nothing Sweet About Me (my new scandanavian obsession. Bloody love her)
MP3: Alphabeat - Black and Gold (turn Sam Sparro's existentialist classic into a rather beguiling love song. Well done indeed)
MP3: David Jordan - Stop and Stare (the charts may have abandoned him a la The Feeling but this One Republic cover is just shy of epic)
MP3: One Reublic - Mercy (talking of which, with Ryan Tedder at their helm they have no need to cover other's songs, but this rendition of Mercy sounds nice wrapped around male tonsils)
MP3: Kate Nash - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend (much like Lily Allen, Kate does rather well when making others songs her own. Plus she says darnce.)
MP3: Ting Tings - Standing In The Way of Snap's Control (ooo the Shampoo of the new millenium mix Snap with last years critical darlings biggest and hopefully only hit)
MP3: Last Shadow Puppets - SOS (their latest b-sides are quite elegant and fine additions to the album but this is a bit of a mess to be honest.)
MP3: Dizzee Rascal - That's Not My Name (amusing for a few seconds then increasingly irritating until you want to rip your ears off to make it stop)
MP3: Kooks - Violet Hill (Didn't like the original, don't like this)
MP3: Black Kids - No Substitute Love (failing to reflect the high quality of their album, this is a bit of a disaster all round. Don't let that put you off their general aceness though).

More live lounges by clicking here...

HOUSEKEEPING:

• Hello dudes. Thought i'd do a bit of a summer clean up around the blog this weekend, during a hot sticky summer night bit of insomnia. Same Difference (looking lovely in green) now have their own fizzypop page. Woohoo! Their latest webpage redesign is freaking adorable and i literally cannot wait for their music. I think i only anticipate Spectacular more highly :) Be sure to check it out as there are 3 - yes 3! - exclusive fizzypop videos of them on there from last Christmas :)
• I've also spruced up the live lounge index. If you click here, pretty much all the posts now have active and working download links to the songs. Expect a huge live lounge update later this week where you can hear my fave acts pay tribute to/butcher your favourite songs. It;s gonna be bonza...
• Finally, I've updated all the indexes and page tabs, so that if you click on them, there will be lots of recent links taking you to my not very important in the big scheme of things opinions. Click away my pretties.

THE WEEKEND THAT WAS:

Hurrah for the arrival of the latest in aussie bum underwear. It's ubiquitous in it's poking-out-the-top-of-far-too-low-slung-jeans in the clubs, but they are so so comfortable and look brilliant when i'm pulling them off Dazpecs with my teeth :P TMI?



Big Brother 2008 gets more and more boring by the second. If it weren't for the homoerotic exercise activities of Dale and Stu, I'm pretty sure I would turn off all together instead of being turned on. God this heat is making me rambunctious...



...maybe I should do what Sergey Lazarev is doing and do a bit of Blue Pearl (dancing naked in the rain)? I think I would right now, only i'm carrying a little barbecue weight so need to work on my side abs a little bit more.



Finally, in the latest band update (that niftly sidesteps the appalling record company promotion of the second album), Paul from The Feeling suggests that there will be a dvd of the concert available at Christmas. Hurrah! I'm pretty sure everyone should start dressing like this for work (check out Live Lounge for lots of Feeling covers!)

WHAT I LEARNT/IMPARTED THIS WEEKEND:

• At first I was very nervous when Imogen whatsit came out with her Pop Babylon book. Everyone seems to have a boyband media project on the go at the moment, but they haven't really permeated the world of books yet. Would my novel "Disco Lemonade" suffer? I think it's fair to say that our respective approaches to the boyband tale are very different, with hers being all about the business side and mine being... well I don't want to give away the farm! March 20th 2009. That's all i'm saying :P
• On a night out with Burn-Ice, I had to inform her that liking Katy Perry is absolutely not ok. Being able to show posts from Yuri and Chartrigger confirming this on my mobile phone? Priceless :P
• It's fine to do a spot on impression of scenes from Muriel's Wedding (seemingly my latest revived obsession, though when drunk i do like my old-lady-throwing-diamond-off-boat schtick from Titanic) at work focusing on the "Nicole's having an affair with Chuck" speech, until someone overhears and comes in looking all shocked saying "nicole from accounts?" Blimey!
• Oh my. There was a fire in our building this weekend. Luckily no one was hurt other than the trauma and smoke inhilation, and it didn't come anywhere near us. Some goon left the chip pan on while they went to the shops! The building manager's response? Banning chip pans. Now i don't use one (dirty greasy things) as they are for common people (unless you reading this have one, then you are the most lovely exception to this rule) and they do a nice bag of chips at Mr Egg up the road (luring in the pink pound with their "Eat like a queen, pay like a pauper" slogan. Classy) but I own my fucking apartment and they wouldn't sell chip pans if they were that dangerous. I'm glad the foolish dude is ok, i wouldn't wish burns on anyone but i may have to start a poster campaign "chip pans don't start fires, careless goons do". Oh if this were a wealthy pair of old sisters living together, the daily mail would have been all over this
• Boo to McFly for doing the usual and plummeting to 21.
• Boo to Whitney - please don't let that dross with Akon be her comeback single! It's dire. It sounds like a demo from her 1997 years.
• Yay to Entertainment Weekly on their 1000th issue. Boo to them for putting X Files ahead of Buffy, Lost and Twin Peaks as top shows of past 25 years. I love the X Files but at least the other shows seem to know what they are doing unlike Chris 'oh fox will cancel me after 3 episodes so i;ll make it up as I go along' Carter. No wonder the "stand alones" were always the best (the new movie is quite good too!0
• Yay to Abbacadabra for coming out with almighty fantastic disco version of two hidden abba stompers. Download below at your legal peril :P

1. MP3: If It Wasn't For The Nights (2008 Almighty Radio Edit)
2. MP3: Just Like That (2008 Almighty Radio Edit)

Back soon with album reviews, a massive live lounge update, and some career retrospectives on Madonna, Erasure, Buffy and Party of Five. Any preference on who goes first? Oh and maybe some Beverley Craven, and Tom Baxter at the iTunes festival...

Oh my. It's been a while since I wrote about my fave Mormon Las Vegas based popstars (Sorry, Panic-no-explanation-mark-any-more At The Disco), probably because the divine - bearded or not - B-Flo and the boys have been busy bumming around with Stuart Price to create their no doubt epic 3rd album, which will be out sometime in the future! Now that's breaking news! However, despite living in a whirlpool of creative genius (hey, i rather loved their second album - it was a brave step forward towards the greatness that they so often hint at), B-Flo has time to get his inner metrosexual on and do a rather jolly cover of the Cyndi Lauper classic "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun". Not only does he look like he is having the time of his life belting his little heart out on stage, and not only does he look sartorially elegant and rather understated than his usual flamboyant outfits, but the song sounds totally Killers. Next - a cover of Electric Youth please...

More Killers here...

Boy the weekend sure does go quick. That sounded frightfully American (not that there is anything wrong with that) and I don't want to abandon my British culture so I shall continue in "letter home to mumsy from boarding school style". Saturday went awfully slowly despite lashings of strawberries and cream to pass the time. I think this was because I was dreadfully excited to have dazzywazzy home, but his aeroplane didn't land until frightfully late at night - way past my bedtime, and even past the time for midnight raids on cook's pantry! I learnt from bible studies that idle hands are the devil's playtools so I kept mine everso busy playing piano and watching more of that everso lovely show Everwood. Finally, I got to pick dazzy up and it was as heavenly as I dreamed. Though frankly I expected a huge buggering, but a tummy ache from all the common plane food put paid to that. Darn it. Oh well, on with the post...



There's been a few acts I've wanted to write about for a while now, and as they have all done live lounges in the past few weeks, I thought I'd combine two classic zapping features - new talent covering old songs! I've been embracing my inner rock god for a while now (it balances out with my insane need for pure pop) and been nursing a musical crush on the rather fantastic Elliot Minor. Anyone who has ever happened on my musings will know that I like my guitar music embued with melody and great harmonies (a la McFly, Britain's most underrated guitar pop band) and Elliot Minor has that in spades. Threading their classical training into their songs and ensuring tight harmonies at all times must have been task enough - add to this their knack for creating storming pop tunes that practically bite (like the fantastic Parallel Worlds which is definitely the love child of McFly and Queen) and I can't wait to get my hands on their aces debut album (out today fact fans). A full review will be coming soon, but for now check out their rather brillo cover of Take That's Rule The World...
MP3: Elliot Minor - Rule The World


Sam Sparro must have been having a "what can i wear that will make me look quirky and individual" moment, rather than a "what can i wear that will make me look sane" moment. But much like Roisin Murphy, I think the boy can get away with his kooky looks thanks to his driving talent and hipster sensibilities. It's hard to know what to write about such a massive blogger fave other than I'm hoping that his soul-meets-pop-having-an-affair-with-electro is allowed to blossom like the wonderfully hypnotic and existential Black and Gold before the record companies try to homogenise him. Thanks to DanUK for pointing out this rather ace live lounge version of the UK's number one single by Estelle. ModFab will be pleased...
MP3: Sam Sparro - American Boy

Other new act live lounge tracks of note
(neither of which i know much about but i do like their choice of covers):

• Newton Faulker doing a rather decent version of Foundations. I love how he sounds when he says "why don't you have another glass of wine then" and his adlibs at the end. Marv
• The Courteeners (surely not a play on spelling of the 80s Ford motor?!) do a great version of About You Now. I forget who, but someone said this song was for McFly fans, and well I'll take that as a huge compliment as should the Babes as this proves how endearing and well constructed a tune it is :)
• I will also be writing about hipster fave The Black Kids whose single Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend is music to my ears. Oh. Sort of literally. Check out their cover of a Clash song here...

Finally, here is someone with a nice piano and good fingernails doing a decent piano version of Madonna and Justin's latest tune (and yes i remain the only person in the world who thinks Justin looks decent in the official vid!)

PS ~ I'm sure Madonna will be crying in her sleep over Robyn's comments on her new single. Riiiiiiiiiiggggghhht......

Ooo, that picture is tiny isn't it? Welcome to fizzypop, which has been spawned tentatively from the ashes of another website. Really it's just a place to hang out with my friends, no pretensions and discuss all things pop and all things pop culture. Thought i would start off with a little post about the adorable Feeling. While my man stick affections may have transferred from Mr Gillespie (sex) Sells to Mr Ellis Bextor, there is no change in my love for their 70s power rock inspired good time music. And they seem to be sticking to the "if it ain't broke don't fix it" formula for their (seemingly to me, underpromoted) second album. The lead off single "I Thought It Was Over" is a typical slice of pulsating pop, dripping in sunshine and optimism. Their album drops Monday (18th) and has yet to leak on the internet. Boo you whores. For now, why not check out the rather lovely Live Lounge songs they did including the new single and a rather filthy arousing version of Kelly Rowland's "Work". Oh. My. Days.

In other Feeling news, Ruthiepoos will be going to their concert in my place on 7th March as I will be in Las Vegas (woohoo, etc) so I expect she will be giving a full report. What a gal. And oh! I was one of the lucky 1000 to get a slightly disappointing Feeling box set to keep all the 7" releases from Join With Us in. How lovely.

Download: I Thought It Was Over (Live Lounge MP3)
Download: Work (Live Lounge MP3)

Essential Link: The Feeling official website
Essential Link: BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge

Many many people thought the Sugababes were over when Mutya announced her retirement to look after her little baby (read: launch more lucrative solo career without any split of profit and instead hoist boring debut album on the world). How could the girls carry on with the gruff looking Amelle? Well it turns out very nicely indeed actually. Not only has the rather glorious About You Now single quite rightly topped the UK charts with it’s darling yellow video, perfectly constructed melody and rocking chorus, but if the (hopefully) next single is anything to go by (Change) then this looks like being a corker of an album. Change is an absolutely epic song that deserves to keep any X Factor winner off the top of the Christmas charts and as someone in a “round robin” email today, Amelle’s contribution to the group absolutely cannot be underestimated. It’s interesting to note that while Girls Aloud are content to go down the same road and pump out their (admittedly quite catchy) brand of electropop, the Sugababes sound is maturing and while the songs don’t have the immediate impact of songs like Freak Like Me and Hole In The Head, ultimately they are more lovely and more rewarding. And if that wasn’t enough, the little darlings popped into see Jo Wiley this week and knocked out an utterly charming version of Hey There Delilah. For the first time ever, I’m more excited about an upcoming Sugababes album than I am about an upcoming Girls Aloud album...(not surprising considering Girls Aloud butcher of With Every Heartbeat was d-r-e-a-d-f-u-l!)

MP3: Sugababes ~ Hey There Delilah

MP3: Girls Aloud - With Every Heartbeat

I always had this theory that McFly were a cheeky little indie band dressed up in boyband sensibilities to ensure a healthy launch to their career. And it certainly worked. They knocked out tunes similar enough to Busted that they quickly worked their way into gays and girls hearts, but underneath all that beat the hearts of talented musicians and increasingly gifted songwriters. If my theory is correct, it’s tragically backfired because they are now finding it difficult to break out of their initial fanbase. Examine their choice of cover versions and it shows a break from Busted’s choices (Build Me Up Buttercup, Lola ~ both with McFly) and a toe dipping exercise into indie singer songwriter waters. Perky energetic acoustic covers of I Predict A Riot and Mr Brightside don’t deviate too much from the originals, yet have an energetic youthful charm to them that somehow stands out. Bombastic 70s rock-opera choices that clearly inspired Translyvania pop up in the form of two excellent Queen covers (the finger clicking Crazy Little Thing Called Love and the pounding Don’t Stop Me Now) and an earthy home recording of Pinball Wizard. Eclectic 90s college rock also works its way into their repertoire with On My Own and Baby’s Coming Back. A slight worrying “clearly in it for the money” choice popped up on a homoerotic cover of Grease You’re The One That I Want and lately for that much lauded Radio One album, they did a rather aces version of Town Called Malice. Now if compiling those as a bonus cd with the greatest hits package isn’t a great idea, then I don’t know what is. Oh yes I do ~ releasing a limited edition Christmas edition Greatest Hits with their four seasonal tunes tacked on ~ Rockin Robin, Happy Xmas, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town and Deck The Halls. Seriously, you can’t go wrong!

It’s rather fitting that I write about Travis today (it wasn’t planned, generally these blogs are just thrown together, much like Sharon’s X Factor outfits) as it was their radical interpretation of Baby, One More Time that kickstarted my obsession with Live Lounge. More recently Dermot O Lovely has gotten in on the act too and current chart stars are practically falling over themselves to cover something or other in the chart. Here are the latest crop from the last few months ranging from the awful (Editors doing Acceptable In The 80s) to those that make a song interesting for me (Athlete doing Robyn) to the quite good actually (James Blunt) . Enjoy my little lovelies and let me know what you think…

MP3: James Blunt – Young Folk (Peter Bjorn & John Cover)

MP3: KT Tunstall – The Prayer (Bloc Party Cover)

MP3: James Morrison – It Stoned Me (Bob Dylan Cover)

MP3: Editors – Acceptable In The 80s (Calvin Harris Cover)

MP3: Athlete – With Every Heartbeat (Robyn Cover)

EDIT! 25th June ~ Hello gang! I'm preparing two really big features for Weds, working on my novel and got some work stuff going on, so you are just going to have to put up with an edit today! Boo you whore. And by you I mean me. Confused? You will be. Haha, Just kidding. Anyhoo, folks, it has done nothing but rain all day so I thought i would cover up with some cover versions! And trust me, lately the lovely Dermot O'Leary has become the new Live Lounge. Check out some great mp3s below and then scroll down to see more photos at the bottom from the weekend. Viva Walk Like An Egyptian! Let me know what you think of them :)

MP3: Athlete - God Only Knows (Beach Boys)

MP3: Jem - Maybe Im Amazed (Macca)

MP3: James Morrison - It Stoned Me (Van Morrison)

MP3: The Feeling - Walk Like An Egyptian (Bangles)

MP3: The Feeling - Shes Not There (Zombies)

Or even the Live Lounge – that bastion of acoustic jams with bands doing songs by other bands. It’s suffered a bit of a backlash recently, though god knows why as I love it just the same as ever. This week has been a little bit marv for Live Lounge fans as Jo Wiley has been whoring her wares to all Brit nominees resulting in some rather pleasant cover versions for us all to enjoy. Before I get into that howev., lets look at current media darling Mika (he tried to be like Grace Kelly) who recently covered Shakira’s Hips Don’t Lie (i feel dirty writing that it was Shakira’s song when it was really a quick knock off) and showing a modicum of taste also covered newbies The View and their catchy/dirty hit Same Jeans. Mika injects both with his already trademark showmanship and makes them sound like they were indeed written for him. No point in doing a carbon copy (yes Matt Willis and All These Things I’ve Done, I’m talking to you...) is there? Marv...
. Now onto the Brit nominees performing ~ Corinne Bailey Rae who charmed me last year with the delightful Put Your Records On and then bored me with everything else, has enchanted me once again with her cover of the overcovered Sexy/Back. Now it may be the element of surprise that had me, because of all people i wasn’t expecting CBR to bring sexy back. Shudder. We also had the ignored by me for possibly too long now James Morrison looking surprisingly foxy above doing a stunning acoustic Blur cover of Out of Time – which just shows a) how good the Blur song is – i sort of forgot and b) perhaps there is room in my life for James and Paolo.
. Another band i’ve rather criminally ignored is the always-catchy-when-i-randomly-hear-them Fratellis who did the almost impossible task of making the White Stripes accessible to me by covering their tune Hotel Yorba. As I’ve never heard this song before, I can’t say whether its brillo or not, but it’s certainly a perky little ditty as performed by the telli-tubbies here... And god bless indie-boyband The Kooks for not only providing a brilliant album of music but coming on Live Lounge again and topping their amazing cover of Crazy with an amazing cover of Roxanne by the Police. Just click, enjoy and let the goodness wash over you like foamburst shower gel. Incandescent!
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BONUS MP3: Amy Winehouse - Valerie (Zutons cover) (it all started here for the massive smash!)
BONUS MP3: Klaxons - My Love (JT Cover)
BONUS MP3: The View - Rewind (Paolo Nutini Cover)
LINK: Jo Wiley’s live lounge site

Keane are the old new feeling. Which is a bit of a confusing concept really so let me clarify somewhat. Keane started off as an amazing band with amazingly brilliant anthemic catchy piano-pop such as Somewhere Only We Know, Bend and Break and my fave track of theirs, Everybody's Changing (that still sounds fresh and wonderful today). Then they broke my heart by releasing their somewhat poo second album. However, it was lucky that The Feeling had debuted by then. The Feeling started off as a quite good covers band in a swiss ski resort. Everyone and his mom know claims to have seen them there, but frankly unless it was bloody woodstock, I seriously doubt it. From time to time The Feeling let us know how good they were as a covers band by throwing in things like Video Killed The Radio Star into their sets. Then Dan and the boys broke skiiers everywheres hearts and went pro and turned out a glorious album of pop tunes that just let their magnificence wash over you. So I didn't need Keane anymore. And suddenly Keane became good - as a covers band. They had already proved their worth by doing simply sublime versions of With or Without You and The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore. Since the release of the second poo album, they have managed to entertain me with their versions of Enjoy The Silence, Dirrtylicious and more recently Sanctuary. All reminding me of the glory of Hopes and Fears. So maybe Keane should pack up to Switzerland, where there is probably a vacancy at some ski lodge for a decent band to do some covers... they should start off with Fill My Little World and stay away from the booze...
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MP3: Dirrtylicious
MP3: Enjoy The Silence
MP3: With or Without You
MP3: Sanctuary
MP3: Your Song
MP3: What A Wonderful World
MP3: Sun Ain't Gonna Shine

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2006 was the year that Live Lounge really came into it's own, thanks to Arctic Monkeys sparkling version of Girls Aloud's Love Machine, proving that the blurring lines between indie and pop were getting fuzzier by the day. Soon it seemed that everyone and his ferret was doing a live lounge, but here are my personal favourites from the year....
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13 ~ Panic! At The Disco - Maneater (Nelly Furtado Cover)
the las vegas kids took on Nelly Furtado's poptastic song and turned into a funk driven emo classic with just the right amount of pomp and audacity...
12 ~ Matt Willis - All These Things I've Done (The Killers Cover)
nothing will top the sheer genius of The Killers version which is one of my top ten favourite songs of the millenium. However, Matt has won me over with a better than expected debut and his acoustic, somewhat faithful version of the track manages to tick all the boxes...
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11 ~ L'il Chris - Sexy/Back (Justin Timberlake Cover)
not a huge fan of l'il Chris, but this rather tongue in cheek, irreverant cover of one of the years most talked about song rarely fails to bring a smile to the face. Now take it to the walrus!
10 ~ The Kooks, Crazy (Gnarls Barkley Cover)
in a year when this song took over the world and I never really got it, multiple covers abounded over the internet from Nelly Furtado to Sandi Thom to G4 to The Raconteurs. Kudos to new style boyband The Kooks for turning in a much more than passable version of the tune and making it bearable.
09 ~ Goldfrapp - Boys Will Be Boys (Ordinary Boys Cover)
Preston's spell in Big Brother bought this song back into the limelight, but it took Alison to turn it into the sleazy sounding back street jazz club ditty it now sounds like it should have always been. Gorgeous.
08 ~ William Young - Don't Cha (Pussyflap Trolls Cover)
Wisely steering clear of Crazy, William went for the other big fave and turned the PCD song into his very own plea to a straight boy to abandon his girl, with a lush arrangement of instrumentation and a laid back groove supplementing his lovely vocal.
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07 ~ Keane - Dirrtylicious (Beyonce/Christina Cover)
Keane broke my heart this year by putting out a rubbish (in my opinion) second album, but their choice of covers proves to be the most interesting thing from them. A cover of Depeche Mode's Enjoy The Silence was on over at Yahoo, but it was this mashup of two iconical dance tunes that made them sparkle all over again.
6 ~ Arctic Monkeys - Love Machine (Girls Aloud Cover)
aaah the song that bought Live Lounge to the masses. Arguably the biggest indie act in the country took the rather genius route of covering arguably the biggest pop group in the country. And it totally works, is a lot of fun and the muffled giggling in the middle eight just makes the track even more endearing...
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5 ~ Paolo Nutini - Rehab (Amy Winehouse Cover)
Another song that i didn't really get in it's original form until I heard covers of it. This isn't the premium version of the song, but it made me realise how much I love Paolo this year and how diverse his range is. Splendid.
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4 ~ Girls Aloud - Rehab (Amy Winehouse Cover)
But Girls Aloud did it better. It just seemed to click into place when they sang it - their vocals, their interpreation of the music, their image and lifestyle. Suddenly Britain's biggest female saucehound was perfectly at home in the company of 5 like minded girls. Splendid +1.
3 ~ Sugababes - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor (Arctic Monkeys Cover)
The northern lad had laid down the gauntlet with their pop cover, so it was almost perfect symmetry when Britain's other big girl group decided to return the favour and churn out a storming version of their biggest hit, that retains it frenetic nature but instantly makes it sound at home in the library of quality electro clash pop.
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2 ~ Simon Webbe - When You Were Young (The Killers Cover)
Who knew? Simon Webbe takes the Killers stellar comeback single, wraps his silky smooth vocal around it, ups the gospel quota in it and gives the song a whole new power as an r'n'b standard that could work this way for generations to come. The almost stopping of the song before the middle eight starts all quiet, before gently strumming into an anthemic finish is glorious. Suddenly Simon is relevant in my world...
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1 ~ Take That - Every Day I Love You Less and Less (Kaiser Chiefs Cover)
Of course my favourite boys are going to be my favourite cover of the year. Their choice of song and artist fits perfectly in with their new mature sound and they have never sounded so confident and full of beans.
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And just because I can - here is a pic of Jo with the rather lovely Jonas Armstrong (Robin Hood) who doesn't sing but sure looks pretty. Rar!
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LINK: Jo Wiley's radio one page
LINK: Buy the Live Lounge cd

It's quite nippy noodles out today which is one way of saying it is vair vair chilly and even my reiss polo neck cashmere wool sweater isn't keeping my nipples soft and flaccid. Which may be the biggest TMI this blog has ever witnessed so I will rapidly move on. I was talking about how marv the Live Lounge is over on the spinoff blog (it's no Frasier, but I'm hoping it's better than Joey) t'other day, when it got me to thinking, there have been some other mighty fine cover version floating around this very year. Just because artists can! Here are some of my 5 fave non-live loungey covers:
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~ G4-The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore: a b-side to some Mother's Day EP (what about gay sons day I once asked MamaZapping. "Every day is Gay Sons Day"she mysteriously yet sagely replied), it's a pop-operatic, vocally harmonised to within an inch of it's life cover version of The Walker Brothers classic. Quite morose, it works well under the bombastic production values here. And in my eyes and to my ears, every song G4 "re-interpret" is either sheer brilliance or inspired comedy lunacy. So you can't really lose…
~ Paolo Nutini-Daydream: Remember when Ani DiFranco recorded "Wishin and Hopin" for the "My Best Friends Wedding" soundtrack? No? sigh. Anyway, it was a million miles away from her "f*ck you and your untouchable face" style songs. Paolo's rather lovely meandering through Daydream isn't quite as shocking a departure from his normal style as that, but it does see him less growl-y than usual and brings a quite charming, innocent quality to the tune that almost makes it a predecessor to his bittersweet masterpiece, These Streets.
~ Jamelia-Take your Mama Out: Ok a bit of a cheat on this one as this was from a recent live lounge the lovely Jams did. (Sidebar: there are hundreds and hundreds of songs in the world, yet most recent live loungers have covered songs already done – in this case, The Zutons did this back in 05). Still, Jamelia is Britain's most exciting female solo singer at present so her cover of the Scissters classic is obviously a doozy. I still kinda wish she'd done the Veronica Mars theme tune though and dedicated it to Leona :)
~ Will Young-I Love You More Than You'll Ever Know: Ah, my lovely (and stroppy according to recent now evil Heat articles) William has done some stellar covers in his time and this, b-side to Heat Readers Single of the Year, All Time Love is one of his most serene. Classed as boring by Mama Zapping at the concert last year (she just wanted to throw her knickers onto the stage during Switch It On), it's a very relaxed, slow tempo ballad and William's voice is perfectly controlled with just the right amount of emotion. A perfect companion piece to ATL…
~ Maroon5-War Is Over: Thought I'd round up this little sesh with a festive fave of mine. Recorded last year for some Best Buy freebie, this kept me happy while I am still waiting for their bound to be brilliant sophomore album. A gorgeous piano version sees Adam's (RAR) voice at it's most vulnerable sounding and rather restrained. Resisting the temptation to go all out serves the tune well and it's a worthy addition to the M5 canon.

Yes, the Take That adoration committee that is TheZapping continues... not only are my foxy elder statesmen of pop heading for a number one this sunday with Patience, but they are proving their musical "chops" with a visit to Jo Whiley's Live Lounge just yesterday...Check out their acoustic romp through the Kaiser Chiefs' Every Day I Love You Less and Less. Great choice of song and it's nice to hear Mark get some vocal time as this song is most suited to the type of music he was producing solo. I really think that their album will be huge, and while not every single will be a number one, i think they do have a solid base of old and new fans that could sustain them for a while yet. And thanks to poppostergirl and zapping reader Guy, here are the Shirley Bassey and Keane songs i referenced to yesterday... Thank you so much guys for sending me those! Plus some of those cool Charlotte Church show cover versions Zeon is raving about right now...
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MP3: Take That - Every Day I Love You Less and Less
MP3: Keane - Enjoy The Silence
MP3: Shirley Bassey - Get The Party Started
MP3: Charlotte Church & Alesha - Somebody Told Me
MP3: Charlotte Church & Nerina Pallot - Message In A Bottle

Up until today, I so thought the place to be for todays chart acts doing random covers was either Stripped or Radio One's Live Lounge. (click here to download Lily Allen cover the kooks. Now thats an mp3 worth having!) But no longer, for The Extra Venue has launched on dotmusic.com...

First up is The Feeling!! How bloody marvy is that? Cos I like the feeling and all...


they have done a pretty decent cover of Muse's Time Is Running Out and you can't help but realise how great they must have been when they were a covers band in Switzerland. This fits in nicely when you are listening to Strange or the melancholy Kettles On from their great debut album.

Check out the extra venue website to see the video as well as acoustic performances of Sewn and the still amazing Fill My Little World...

MP3: Our Time Is Running Out (med quality)

well, i was all excited that i could post Nelly Furtados live lounge track and every other blogger has beaten me to it! Which is ok - be sure to go and get it cos its pretty bon.

But there have been a few live lounge appearances recently that I have kinda liked in varying measures. First up - Patrick from Fall Out Boy doing a cover of Ne Yo's So Sick, very minimalistic, acoustic and who would have thought a gentle rock cover would suit this song?



MP3: Fall Out Boy - So Sick

Next up are Orson, who i tried to like but to be honest can't be bothered with. No Tomorrow is ok, but it in no way deserved to be number one. Their version of Sugababes Push The Button adds nothing to the Starsailor version from a few months back, but here it is anyhoo...



MP3: Orson - Push The Button

We Are Scientists recently did an acoustic set at the Live Lounge and choose to cover Hoppipola by Sigur Ros so points there for ingenuity and i find it strangely soothing...



MP3: We Are Scientists - Hoppipola

Fresh from reading this post about the 'Babes taking over trash rag The Daily Mirror, I decided I had to catch the Sugafever and put this cover version of Hard-Fi's Living For The Weekend that the girls did in Jo Whiley's exceedingly brilliant Live Lounge this week... the girls sure have their indie freak flag flying high (what beautiful alliteration) as this comes mere weeks after they covered I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor...

Sugababes ~ Living For The Weekend (Hard-Fi cover)

I got such positive feedback from my first lot of Live Lounge posts that I decided to raid my archives and do my biggest post yet...plus its an excuse to post a pic of the lovely Adam from Maroon 5. Sigh... Just click on the song titles to download :)

Maroon 5 - Don't Look Back In Anger (Oasis cover)

The Ordinary Boys - All The Things You Said (Tatu cover)

McFly - I Predict A Riot (Killers cover ~ I love those McFly scamps!)

KT Tunstall - Get Your Freak On (missy elliot cover)

Starsailor - Push The Button (sugababes cover)

Sugababes v3.0 - I Bet That You Look Good On The Dancefloor (Arctic Monkeys cover)

Scissor Sisters - Take Me Out (Franz Ferdinand cover)

The Zutons - Take Your Mama Out (Scissor Sisters cover)

Keane - With or Without You (U2 cover)

Natasha Bedingfield - Somewhere Only We Know (Keane cover)

Charlotte Church - Let Me Love You (Mario cover)

Enjoy folks - don't forget to leave your thoughts...