Lopez Blogs

Oh my days and a half! It is actually only five days til Christmas! And I am in full festive spirit. The weather outside is genuinely frightful (snow snow and more snow), i've decked my halls, i've hung my stockings with care, etc. I've trudged into work through the (centi)metres of snow and ignored all around me while singing festive faves at the top of my voice, regardless of who else was around (my walk is usually quite deserted)... I've played a fair few of them on Larry Flick's Morning Jolt t'other day, but this weekend decided that there had been such a delightful plethora of brand new Christmas recordings this year, I would kick off my Best Of lists (singles coming Dec 27th, then lists all that live long week) with the best new songs of Christmas 2010. Magnifico!

20= ~ Big Time Rush, Beautiful Christmas: Hurrah! Boy band mania rules. Not content with covering Mariah's All I Want For Christmas as part of their festive episode, the foursome managed to whip out an original tune full of perky rock-pop jolliness and good times.
20= ~ St Etienne, Come On Christmas: Frankly this would probably be much higher up the list if my postman (sort of hot, so forgiveable) hadn't taken two weeks to deliver the Christmas album it features on. Still, it arrived today so I have a full week of playing it non-stop until next year. This track is vair good and DanP76 approved...
19 ~ Todd Alsup, This Christmas (above): Todd is all sorts of quite lovely as it happens. His music has serenaded me all throughout 2010 and then to top that off, he records a cover of the 1970 Donny Hathaway classic This Christmas. With backing singers. And a video. And looking like he's having a rollicking good time around the piano doing it. In amazing glasses. Watch it. Love it. Worship the ground he walks on.
18 ~ Gavin Mikhail, Evergreen: Gavin is frankly one of the most underrated singer songwriters out there, and I've been a fan of his since I heard Brave in 2006. He has released a Christmas EP this week with some covers on, some instrumentals and this soaring piano-vocal only track that he penned himself. Gorgeous piano work, lovely to listen to over and over again. And interestingly, sounding as classic as any of the other tunes on the EP...
17 ~ Wilson Phillips, Warm Lovin' Christmastime: Oh glorious. Wilson Phillips get back together with Glen Ballard (of their debut album fame) and produce a festive album of material that is like a lovely steaming cup of hot cocoa. With marshmallows. Their harmonies are still exquisite and produces an aural alchemy that just keeps on giving...
16 ~ Glee Cast, Baby It's Cold Outside: I wasn't hugely taken with this at first but having actually seen the Christmas episode and my continuing (and growing) obsession with lovely Darren Criss has put the tune in a whole new light. Expect to find my Darren (non-Criss but obviously equally as lovely) and me miming to it at any given point over the next week...


15 ~ Puppini Sisters, All I Want For Christmas Is You: You may think there are more than enough Mariah cover versions out in the Christmas marketplace as it is and you are probably correct in that assumption. However, when a unique take on this perennial fave emerges it's a joy to behold. It's a jazzy-tinged, Andrews Sisters-esque marvel that holds up to many repeated gleeful listens :)
14 ~ Hurts, All I Want For Christmas Is New Years Day: Hurts have had quite a good year haven't they? Duetted with Kylie, covered by Kylie and produced a sombre but elegant seasonal tale which they have generously given away for zero pennies. And it mentions New Years Day which so many people (other than Abba and Sugababes) forget about. Plus they look proper good in suits. (PS embedding disabled by request? Bah humbugs!)
13 ~ Coldplay, Christmas Lights (above): I felt that Viva La Vida was quite festive sounding anyway, so an actual proper bonafide Christmas tune from Chris and the guys has proved to be incredibly welcome. It sounds immense, gets better with every listen and has lovely festive themes such as sadness, sorrow, hope and redemption. Plus an amazing to the power of balls video (as evidenced above). Tremend.
12 ~ The Killers, Boots: And for the fifth year in a row, the lovely Killers manage to whip out an altogether amazing Christmas single to raise money and awareness for HIV charities. And this is their second best of all their efforts to date (Don't Shoot Me Santa Claus still remains their finest festive moment). And the video has an entirely lovely story to go along with it. Absolutely delightful and as charming as anything on Brandon's still quite good solo album...
11 ~ Mans Zelmerlow, December: Mans does big band at Christmas and the results are both surprising and delicious. Mans remains as genetically perfect as you can get and this swinging little tune does nothing to dampen my need to smooch him ferociously underneath the mistletoe. Here's to more Mans in 2011...


10 ~ The Pipettes, Santa's On His Way: I'm still vaguely amused at the text that alerted me to this song "'av you heard that new Pipettes song Satan's On his Way?" marvelous. perhaps they can consider a bit of a downbeat dub remix of the tune to give away next hallowe'en?! This is as perky and bouncy as a ride on Rudolph's back and will no doubt be as essential at Christmasses to come as mince pie and milk left by the fireplace for old Saint Nick...
09 ~ DeeDee, Winter Wonderland: I wrote about this just a few days ago, so I'm not going to go on about it too much. It's brilliant. As is DeeDee. As is the video. It shows that people with swagger can do sweet just as brilliantly as they tackle pop-venom and errant lover bashing. Check out her interview on lovely Dontstopthepop...
08 ~ Mariah Carey, Oh Santa!: Oh it was never going to reach the levels of amazosity that All I Want For Christmas has attained but actually what transpired was a totally fun, quirky little ditty that got better upon each listen, got people hand clapping away (essential for those cold winter mornings) and made me feel like I could go outside and do some skipping rope contests to the tune along with the best of them :)
07 ~ Kylie, Let It Snow: A new version of Santa Baby and a feather coat filled appearance at Rockafella Centre in NYC performing this tune? Could Kylie give her fans a better Christmas present?! The answer to that question is no she could not, though the news that Steve Anderson is working on new Aphrodite tour arrangements is the bow on the present, the icing on the christmas cake if you will :)
06 ~ Indigo Girls, Feel The Christmas Spirit: Perhaps the most surprising Christmas album of the year came from one of my long time faves. Their bluegrass take on Christmas was often fun, often poignant but always excellent and this exuberant tune was a sheer joy from start to finish. Much like the Wilson Phillips song earlier in the list, it's a song that embodies the ethos of the title from first note...


05 ~ Luke Leighfield, So Confused By Christmas: Ok, I'm cheating. it's actually a song from 2006, but it's new to me and it's my blog so nuh! A vividly clever look at the self imposed rules of enjoying Christmas that hit home a little too hard at times (I'm sure I had a strop as a child over the colour of my hat from the cracker) and makes you want to concentrate on actually just being a better person. This song has actually made me do nice things for people so hopefully Luke's sense of hope isn't kicked too much. Do check out Luke's Christmas tour blog. It's rather brilliant...
04 ~ Pink Martini, Snowglobe Christmas (above): Thank you Starbucks for having this album by your delicious polar bear cookies while I was in Florida. This track in particular made me absolutely swoon over it's lovely islands lilting tune, it's dreamy Doris Day-esque vocals and the timeless beauty of it all that will be forever encapsulated in my heart, just like the flakes of snow in the globe they sing about. divine.
03 ~ Owl City, Peppermint Winter: This song basically lists everything that I love about Christmas in a musical wrapping that is so twee and glorious that it makes the already brimming with goodness festive season seem even better. It's just so so me. E.G. "I twirl down the driveway with angelic grace/til i slip on the sidewalk and fall on my face". Happened to me this morning and still i felt no need to complain. If you feel down this season, just listen to this. It's as good a tonic as Love, Actually. Yes, it's that good!
02 ~ Glee cast, We Need A Little Christmas: I initially was quite loyal to the lovely Kimberley Locke's version of this tune, but Glee have worn me down and won me over. There is something so wonderfully happy and innocent about the tune that is utterly in line with the theatrically needed to perform it. What I love about the version is that the backing vocals are as important in the mix of the track as the main vocal, there is actual delight in the voices of the singers (there is no way they were frowning when they were recording this) and some truly edifying instrumentals - particularly that instrumental breakdown before the end that makes you want to leap for joy. Is played every morning on my walk to work and never feels to imbue me with some Christmas magic :)


01 ~ Bananarama, Baby It's Christmas: Sigh. It's just so utterly glorious. Not only have Britain's still premiere girl group managed to whip out an absolutely edible teardrops on the disco floor christmas boogie on down number, but it's also one of the more amazing pop treats of the entire year. Entirely in line with their Viva sound, yet moving towards a new era of dancefloor dominance that absolutely must continue in 2011. Love the juxtaposition of the sad lyrics against a joyous grab the one you love and shimmy soundtrack. A deserved and brilliant number one :)

Back on Wednesday with the 5th annual Myfizzypop Online Christmas Card. It's going to be amazes!

Ooo it really is the most wonderful time of the year. The walk to work this morning was jolly freezing, the fields were glistening with frost and I get to go home tonight and pack for two weeks of Florida! How magnifico. I have lots of posts to keep you going over the next couple of weeks and hope you will keep me entertained with plenty of comments as although I am having a self imposed internet exile (it's so cleansing!), comments will come straight to my phone. Hurrah! In the mean time (and in between time - guess that pop reference, 90s disney group fans!), here are 10 lovely new Christmas songs and one extremely brilliant non festive treat (for more excellent Christmas stuff visit John's writing on top40about.com)...

The non-festive nugget ~ Dirty Disco return with Storyteller:

Sometimes, just sometimes at Christmas you need a bit of respite from the relentless cheer and good tidings that are almost rammed down your throat. Dirty Disco's excellent and thoughtprovoking new single is just the tune to do this. Following on from deliriously bonkers yet quality pop like Sista, Vulture and White Room, the innovative and artsy group have returned with an intense, brooding, gothic electro tune. It's tinged with eerie synth sounds and a stark strumming guitar and tackles aging, our obsession with youth and fitting into a restrictive society while remaining true to yourself. If you need a comparison, try Kidz or SOS on the new Take That album - yet it's different to those and has it's own Dirty Disco charm. Adam's distinctive voice consumes the lyrics to make them both angry and regretful at times without sounding aggressive (though there is a rather glorious "fuck" early on). The instrumental parts weave together and elevate an already good tune into a great one - little touches like the sounds of strings at the end or the guitar playing off the synth give little frissons of excitement throughout. Check the video above too as Adam and the boys in some haunting costumes seek down the Storyteller they wish to become. Tremendous stuff...

10 New Christmas Tunes:

• Hurts ~ All I Want For Christmas Is New Years Day: Yay! Hurts top off a year of quality music with an exquisite new festive offering that examines the bleaker side of this time of year. With a familiar sounding shuffling beat, sound effects that sound like walking over freshly crunching snow and chiming bells through a soaring chorus, the boys look at how the hope can make one feel even more lonely and hopeless as the persevere to get through the season. I like a bit of bleakness at Christmas and this is one beautifully crafted tune that once again proves they are stars in the ascendency. Check out vinny vero's review also...
• Owl City ~ Peppermint Winter: It's Fireflies the festive edition and the complete antithesis of the Hurts track. It's a love letter to all the cheesiness of this time of year and how it's even more magical if you just embrace it. Full of feel good bon mots like "i troll through the driveway with angelic grace/til i slip on the sidewalk and fall on my face" & "the snowflakes are falling and I start to float/til my mean older brother shoves snow down my coat", it's built around a sleigh ride of bells and the glorious refrain "what's december without Christmas eve". Heavenly optimistic and joyful. Love.
• Mans Zelmerlow ~ Christmas (Baby Please Come Home): I shall return to Mans' festive album a few more times before the big day. His big band readings of yuletide faves are brimming with elegance and a genuine warmth and love for the genre and songs he sings. This is a classy addition to any Christmas dinner party soundtrack and gets you fingerclicking along. Brilliant orchestration of the music too. I'm loving Mans formal Christmas look too - you can just imagine him coming home, loosening his tie and smooching the face off you under the mistletoe. Now, that's magic :)
• Wilson Phillips ~ Warm Loving Christmastime: It's not the first time the Wilsons have done Christmas (indeed this song featured on the second Wilson linked Christmas album - Carnie's solo) but it is the first time they have all felt the seasonal pull together. And hurrah, it's glorious, particularly for a long standing Wilson Phillips fan like myself :) It's a swinging and fun pop song with enough added jingle and bells to make it feel as Christmas morn as possible. And those choruses are saturated in their amazing harmonies. So so lovely. Well worth the import charges!!
• Jessica Simpson ~ My Only Wish: Jessica gets a lot of stick and I'm not sure why. I'm glad she's done a Christmas album anyway. This single from it is a decent pop tune and a nice ode to her new fella. Showcases her great pop voice (come back from country music!) and reminds me of how fun some of her music has been. Bits of it are reminiscent of Darlene Love's Alone on Christmas (which Britney liberally borrowed for her christmas tune) but it's a catchy little number with a lovely intricate piano middle 8. marvy.
• Indigo Girls ~ Mistletoe: Who would have thought that a blue(grass) Christmas would be so enchanting? The Indigo Girls did - their Happy Holly Days album alternates between rollicking joy and reflective pauses. This is one of the most beautiful on the album - a stripped back lyrical poem, resonant in a superb tenor vocal and supported by subtle harmonies and a gentle guitar. Makes me stop and luxuriate in it's beauty each time I hear it. Reminds me a little of Bette Midler's The Folks Who Live On The Hill. Never thought i'd make that comparison, but it's a complimentary one :) Delightful tune that you should really check out...
• Pink Martini ~ A Snowglobe Christmas: It's like being transported to a simpler time when the movies were black and white and people wrote to each other using pen and paper. This is a timeless, hawaian tinged classic that would sound beautiful whatever time period you are in when sung like this. it's from a whole album of magical wonder and one that should really investigate. As close to Doris Day as you are going to get this snowglobe Christmas. Like a festive hug and kiss. Melts me every time.
• Mariah Carey ~ Christmastime Is In The Air Again: I'm sure I'll return to Mariah's new Christmas album again lots more before the 25th December. There are lots of fun moments on that but this is one of the slower, sipping mulled wine by the fireplace moments. It's a string laden track with a restrained and impeccable vocal from Mariah that enables the song to transcend genres and time. The pull of the tune is undeniable and I soon find myself having little memory flashbacks to the ghosts of my own Christmas past. Dickensian!
• Lady Antebellum ~ Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas: A lovely little reading of this classic tune from the country group du jour. The cd of Christmas faves is (I believe) only available at Target but it's worth tracking down as it's full of faithful renditions like this that just sparkle with sincerity. Plus the fellas look proper foxy on the cover :)
• Puppini Sisters ~ Step Into Christmas: SCREAM! The Puppinis are back! And they have stuck to their absolutely delightful Andrews Sisters for the new millenium mantra. This has led to an amazing album of jazz tinged, boogie woogie Christmas faves and their turn on this Elton John fave is a fizzy explosion of joi de vivre all wrapped up in their tightly knitted harmonies. So much fun yet put together so very cleverly, very carefully and very well. Check out their older christmas tunes too like Jingle Bells and Little Match Girl. Top drawer!

Top 21 songs of the week

21 ~ Gabriella Cilmi, Defender (NE)
20 ~ Jessie J, Price Tag
19 ~ Ola, Riot
18 ~ McFly, Shine A Light
17 ~ Shayne Ward, Gotta Be Somebody
16 ~ Joe McElderry, Someone Wake Me Up (VID)
15 ~ Darin, Drowning
14 ~ Eric Saade, Break of Dawn
13 ~ Westlife, Safe
12 ~ Kylie, Better Than Today
11 ~ A1, In Love & I Hate It
10 ~ P!nk, Raise Your Glass
09 ~ Deborah Gibson, I Love You
08 ~ EMD, What Is Love?
07 ~ JLS, Love You More
06 ~ Le Kid, We Should Go Home Together
05 ~ Andrea Lewis ft Simon Curtis, Talk To Me
04 ~ Take That, The Flood
03 ~ Daniel Boys, To Make You Feel My Love
02 ~ Gravitonas, You Break Me Up
01 ~ Elouise, You'll Never Walk Alone (1 week)

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)