Lopez Blogs

My my. Doesn't the above look positively yummers. And I'm not just talking about pop star extraordinnaire, Donal Skehan (ho ho). If you fancy making some absolutely delicious Christmas cupcakes to spice up your life, then you could do far worse than following the latest scrummy recipe over on Donal's Good Mood Food blog. It's the perfect edible accompaniment to today's lovely online advent calendar entry. Tuck in!

CHRISTMAS FUTURE:


Good lord. It's been quiet since Spectacular, then the 8Bit Heart campaign kicks in, Delusional drops, quite rightly sets the blog world alight and it's now all go. And now Simon is releasing a new track today, which isn't the marvelous sounding Super Pyscho Love (see here) but a previously unheard track called Diablo. It's sizzling hot and has amazing lyrics like "You're the Devil, you're a filthy piece of trash. Gotta brush you off my shoulder, gonna let you kiss my a$$. You're a Diablo". How absolutely brilliant does that sound? Keep checking Simon's twitter for the download link, and I'll update with a further review of this future Christmas party hook up classic in the very early morning!!
EDIT: It's dropped and twitter has gone crazy over it. Basically it's a kiss off song to some nasty person who's not down with Simon. God knows why they wouldn't be with this corking piece of pop - it mixes elements of Max Martin, Lady Gaga, and the signature clever Simon lyrics that are just so wry, like "Here's the thing, we started out friends but this is not a Kelly Clarkson song and not how it ends!" If Delusional is the club stomper, then this is a genius moment of massive pop, hugely enjoyable chorus and will have the world singing "el diablo" on repeat for months to come. The game has been raised for 2010 pop and it's Simon Curtis who is setting the bar. Incredible. Imagine a world where this was the X Factor winner's song and we'll all be in a happier place :)

ALSO: Aaron checks it out in tweet form! Mel is spot on!

CHRISTMAS PRESENT:

God bless The Killers. The Great Big Sled festive release has now become an annual tradition, continued this year (once again in support of World Aids Day) with the mariachi flavoured Happy Birthday Guadalupe. As D'luv points out, it's not quite as glorious as their first offering, but for me it's another alternative festive gem that mixes their audacious swagger with some spoken breakdowns and an catchy enough hook (that almost cancels out the rather forceful message within the lyrics). And the video is quite brillo - not only has Dylan left the Peach Pit (but has his flop show Jeremiah beard back), but the band have created a video that showcases an eerie tale of lost love in a When We Were Young-esque desert filled with angels, spirits and uh, skeletons. It's all quite visually mesmerising. Not a bad effort and one that I suspect will grow on me. Check out my previous Killer festive track reviews below...

• Joseph, Better You Than Me
• Don't Shoot Me Santa Claus
• A Great Big Sled

CHRISTMAS PAST:

Why oh why is the world getting so excited about a George Michael (December)song that he actually gave away, ahem, last Christmas? (I'm sure everyone has already come up with that "joke")! And not only that, but it wasn't really good enough for him first time around because he wanted to give it to the Spice Girls, which would have been far superior to the dullard Headlines. Anyway, I think the excitement stems from the PR emailing everyone under the sun and the rather delightful video that accompanies the song. And it still remains a lovely tune - here is what I wrote last year... "it's more of a gentle grower than an in your face pop classic, but that's fine. I prescribe one listen per day, increasing to two the week before Christmas and by the time it's available to download for free on the 25th you will be loving this very understated, yet moving beautiful piece of work. I've not really kept up with Georgie lately, but I am really appreciating this. Gorgeous piano work, and a haunting vocal really make it work on many levels...." Marv.

More Christmas stuff tomorrow with added movie and tv shows :)

Oh what a less than festive day at work I've had. We moved into our offices over the weekend (I did, of course, not help out being too busy watching Mean Girls and insulting national sweetheart Cheryl Tweedy-Cole) which meant I got lumbered with overseeing vital tasks today. Boo those whores. Clearly it was down to me to sort out the poo that someone did in the toilets that are clearly marked "DO NOT USE - NOT PLUMBED IN" (it wasn't me) and get safety stickers for all the floor to ceiling glass panelling until the frosting is put on it to save anyone else walking smack into one and hurting their nose and pride (yes, tragically, that was me). And amid all this chaos and nonsense I asked myself "self. this does not feel like Christmas. I need to be FEELING Christmas. Is it Christmas?" Proving that God/Santa does not hate a Cheryl Cole disser (she was excellent in the tv show special i'll grant you, but not as amazing as Nicola & Sarah - more here), a little mp3 floated my way to cure what ails me...
I was belabouring the fact the other day that my beloved Feeling hadn't actually done a proper Christmas song of their own. Oh sure, they covered the very vaguely seasonal, definitely inspirational classic Don't Give Up, but to have a proper self penned Feeling tune to add to their fabbo collection of songs would be a Christmas dream come true. Well, as slightly nauseating Alexandra (who i AM warming to) X Factor said "never give up on your dreams" (is she sponsored by Hallmark or what?!) And i didn't - and to cheer my rubbishy day up, I get rewarded with an amazing piano driven new tune from Dan and the boys called Feels Like Christmas. Before I tell you all how magnificent this festive ditty actually is, let's see what Dan has to say about it in the mass email sent to The Feeling Mailing List today...

"I'm the opposite of the 'Bah Humbug' Christmas grump. I've always loved Christmas and the surrounding hullabaloo - especially the songs from Bing to Slade to Wizzard to Bing and Bowie. I wrote and recorded this one several years ago on the piano, but never intended it to be released so I kept it a secret. We added the drums and strings this year and then we thought it might be a good time to let people hear it to see what they thought."

Melodically it reminds me a bit of the utterly butterly gorgeous 12 Stops and Home (hidden) track I Miss You. It starts with a delicate piano refrain and Dan singing about cold fingers and hands, when this just beautiful little chime pipes in at 25 seconds and the orchestra gives it a more elegant feel. The chorus asks "is it Christmas or am I just going insane?" before deciding that being with the one that you love does indeed feel like Christmas ("and baby I ain't even religious"). Add a lilting flute in the background at verse two, and you almost go into Christmas overdrive. More bells are forthcoming and you end up with a beautiful yet somehow still restrained seasonal tune that will sound quite perfect all year round. The piano at the end is so floating and whimsical that it almost makes me want to cry. Marv and a half without a doubt :)

Other new Christmas tunes:

George Michael - December Song I Dreamed Of: While nothing will probably top Last Christmas as one of the festive tunes of all time, George pulls it out the bag with this sombre seasonal offering available to listen to on youtube right now... it's more of a gentle grower than an in your face pop classic, but that's fine. I prescribe one listen per day, increasing to two the week before Christmas and by the time it's available to download for free on the 25th you will be loving this very understated, yet moving beautiful piece of work. I've not really kept up with Georgie lately, but I am really appreciating this. Gorgeous piano work, and a haunting vocal really make it work on many levels....

Coming tomorrow: the best pop-Christmas songs of recent years...