Lopez Blogs

Ooo, this month's fizzypop chronicles is a weird one. On the one hand, it has lots of brilliant songs on it. On the other hand it doesn't seem to flow quite right for some reason. So I'm not entirely happy with it, though I emphasise I think the song choices are - once again - flawless. They are here, presented in no particular order, except the first one and last one tend to be favourites so the playlist begins and ends on the most euphoric of highs with more euphoria on each song in between. Glad that's cleared up then, innit?

• Sophie Ellis Bextor-Jones ~ Bittersweet: It's really all sorts of magnificent isn't it? If this song were a person, I'd want to hug it while shaking a groove thang in glitter-infused hot pants. The chorus is an insane belter of a tune, and Sophie sounds as marvelous and gorgeous as ever. I didn't think it was going to be possible to top the ever so wonderful Heartbreak Makes Me A Dancer, but good gracious me, she's only gone and done it. If this peaks outside the top ten, my whole world may implode quite heavily...
• Gabriella Cilmi ~ On A Mission: Tip - I was walking my usually deserted early morning route to work whilst this was blaring out in my earphones and I think I was actually quite audibly strutting along singing "I am a woman, on a mission" whenst I came across these old women and we all gave each other quite a start. I mean I didn't literally come across them, because that would be frightful, but I think you get the gist. The song is excellent, by the way. Love the faux bad girl rap. I sound well 'ard when I do it...
• Michaela Wright ~ Never Gonna Give In: There are multiple reasons to adore this heavily addictive song. Michaela seems rather lovely on twitter. It's a Larry Flick show staple. It has some rather amazing dance remixes of the song that send it soaring to the glitter ball and then bounce like little shards of multi-coloured lights around the dance floor. And whatever genre you hear it remixed into, it still has an ace melody and chorus. Bonus - it features the rather handsome Alex Kordek in the video. Yum yum pigs bum.
• Kimberley Locke ~ Strobelight: I worship Kimberley Locke. I still think that the heavenly 8th World Wonder is one of the best pop songs to come from American Idol. Her Christmas album was just a retro dream. And her last album was a corker that was criminally ignored. So I'm all ready for her new single, which is produced by Cutfather - who apparently has worked with Kylie and, er, the Pussycat Dolls so he's half way there. All of this is a very long way of saying, I haven't heard the song yet because the release dates been pushed back but I'm so eager to hear something dancetastic from l'il kim...:P
• Ke$ha ~ Blah Blah Blah: Hmmm, it seems a bit criminal to follow these classy dames with the dubious morality that is Ke$ha. However, I did quite like Tik Tok (did you hear it blended with Kylie's Love At First Sight? Almost as genius as MaDonna Summer!) and while this follow up single isn't nearly as brillo, it does have me blah blah blahing along sometimes. Though everyone knows Marina blahs better in the Girls song she has :)
• The Bang Bang Club ~ Chemistry: Rather brilliantly, I have heard this track described as Erasure on testosterone. Not much has changed since I last wrote about it - it remains a rather charming little 80s pop synth ditty with an excellent chorus, great production, enticing vocals and yummy boys. For a more grown up opinion than that, why not check out Nick Alien Hits, where you can download the track for free as well! Jonas Bonus - it's released on my birthday. Wizard!
• Adam Tyler ~ Schizophrenic: I actually had another Adam Tyler track which is really out of this world, but I don't think I'm allowed to write about it yet, so I'd rather draw everyone's attention to a down and funky Dirty Dasmo remix of this track which has just surfaced on his myspace page. It's a trip down the rabbit hole (for the overstimulated puppy!) as the remix adds mind-bending beats and effects to the slick electro club banging original. As with all Adam songs it's firmly focused on delivering a chorus so pleasing that you end up pinching yourself to check it's real. It is. Amaze and a half.
• Kyle Brylin ~ If They Only Knew: I wrote about this track quite recently, and quite frankly it's a pleasure to write about it again for two reasons. One is that the more you listen to it, the more the insinuating beats hook into your memory and the chorus creates a heady atmosphere of synth and song that is just delicious. Two - Kyle is quite dishy so any excuse to visit his myspace page as he looks quite nice in a shirt and tie. With good popstar cheekbones and hair.
• Sergey Lazarev ~ Alarm: On the one hand I remain intensely disappointed that this song isn't quite as brilliant as it should be. By Sergey standards, it's not one of his finest and actually rather generic sounding. On the other hand (for I have two), it's such a fun tune that fits in with "today's sound" so jolly well that it's hard to be peeved for long because you are having such rollicking good fun singing along to it. So what's the harm? To be fair the video above (ghastly sound) really enhances it with a fun dance routine and energetic performance :) The album better be superb though...
• Quentin Mosimann ~ Gimme A Break: Ah franglais! Quentin follows up his exciting single Toc Toc with a song that has the chorus mostly in English, the verses in French and tests my translation skills to the limit. He's a rather giddy mix of bonkers electro-pop though and utterly contemporary and fab. It's always nice to sing along in French too, even if you don't know what you are saying. And from SUCH a great album. Go check him out now. Bonkers and wonderful, possibly unofficial clip below - but exuding such fun and energy! Go! Tout de suite...
• Magnus Carlsson ~ A Little Respect: Oh my days. If Bang Bang Club are Erasure on testosterone, Magnus' version of A Little Respect is Erasure doused in perfume and poppers and kept in a handbag for a week. It's more festive than me at age 11 when I dressed action man Julian in a barbie evening gown and stuck him on the Christmas tree. It's totally europop, and fairly faithful to the original but with even more glitter and bells added. If that is at all possible. Too much, yet not enough...

Part two coming tomorrow!

There's no denying that when I choose a pop act to adore, I tend to follow them through good times and bad. Hence 22 years after I bought Out Of The Blue, I'm still trotting after Deborah Gibson like a lost puppy dog. Sure, she hasn't done an album of original material since 2001's epic MYOB (though there was a broadway album, 2 demo albums and numerous one off tracks) but I live in hope that she will achieve an immense pop comeback a la Tina Turner. To tide me over, there is a video of her surfaced on youtube duetting with Jaron (from Evan and Jaron - those catchy ditty makers from late last century) on the Dawson's Creek-esque smash Crazy About This Girl. I just love to see her pound those keyboard keys and make pop sound so effortless. Plus, I quite like that Jaron calls her "my dear". For a more uptodate Deborah sound check out this website for a clip of a new (?) single by her called Cougar. It's very Britney via The Saturdays with a hint of Lady Cuckoo. Despite the autotuning in the verses, that I'm not a fan of, it's still got undeniably Deb moments ("give momma some sugar!") that make me want to hear more AND make it sound like a new top 40 smash. Yes I'm still that dedicated... Now before I get onto the chart of change (my top 21 always undergoes a bit of a revamp in January), here are some new songs I'm belatedly getting into...

• Ke$ha ~ TikTok: Oh I am so very late on this, but I haven't been able to escape it on Larry Flick lately, or while I was in vegas and I'm enjoying it quite a lot in this snowy weather. The album isn't quite a slam dunk but it's a lot of fun and I can see why D'Luv has luvved writing about her so much :)
• Adam Lambert ~ For Your Entertainment: Once again blame Larry for this one too (it's a lovefest!) - he has tirelessly promoted this album and got me into another American Idol when I swore I was only concentrating on XFactor. Plus Nick's enthusiasm didn't hurt either!
• Owl City ~ Fireflies: I thought actually that this would make one of those lovely surprise Christmas number ones like Mad World or that one about the JCB. It's not even out in the UK yet, but it's entirely cute, singable and lovely. And has already won over the rest of the world!
• Eva Simons ~ I Want To Make Love To The World: The title of it makes me think of that crazy actor from The Piano when he made his unforgettable oscar speech. The song makes me want to get up, dance, boogy, grab the one I love and shimmy. It's so much more than the addictive Silly Boy :)
• Barenaked Ladies ~ You Run Away: Thank heavens John reminded me they were still around. BNL (like Dashboard Confessional and Indigo Girls) are one of those groups I absolutely adore but don't blog about as much as I should. I have always thought they do quite brilliant ballads, but this is one of their more anthemic ones and I am already far more in love with it than I should be. Constant repeat. Lovely piano, lovely vocal, great layered harmonies, crescendos. EPIC.

TOP 21 SONGS OF THE WEEK:

21 ~ Mans Zelmerlow, A Stranger Saved My Life
20 ~ Simon Curtis, Delusional
19 ~ Whitney Houston, I Look To You
18 ~ Natalie Imbruglia, Scars
17 ~ Nerina Pallot, When Did I Become Such A Bitch?
16 ~ Alcazar, Thank You
15 ~ JLS, Close To You
14 ~ Leona Lewis, Stop Crying Your Heart Out
13 ~ Industry, My Mistake
12 ~ Pet Shop Boys, It Doesn't Often Snow At Christmas
11 ~ Blake Lewis, I Left My Baby For You
10 ~ Dangerous Muse, I Want It All (NE/VID)
09 ~ Alphabeat, Hole In My Heart
08 ~ The Saturdays, Ego
07 ~ Alexandra Burke, Broken Heels
06 ~ Robbie Williams, You Know Me
05 ~ Agnes, Love Love Love
04 ~ RyanDan, Can't Help Falling In Love
03 ~ Ryan Ferrada, Room 501 (NE)
02 ~ Barenaked Ladies, You Run Away (NE)
01 ~ Simon Curtis, Diablo (2 weeks)