Lopez Blogs

I'm flying back! Have you missed me? Here is the alternative musical tributes to the festive season. Still to come - best of Christmas tv and movies, comedy christmas and more new tunes :) Is the Coldplay one any good?! See you tomorrow!!

An Alternative Christmas View #2

• Matt Dusk ~ White Christmas: Before Mans charmed the pants off me with his swinging Christmas album, Matt Dusk was there with his finger clicking goodness and all round good guy charm. His version of White Christmas is one of those timeless tunes that sounds good whatever trends are dominating the charts and the dramatic horns, lolloping piano and elegant strings are just the icing on this very delicious cake. Plus how delightful does Matt look? Yummers.
• Barenaked Ladies ~ Elf's Lament: Love this song - it's basically a tongue in cheek look at what would happen if the elves of santa's workshop had a union to oversee their probably quite disgraceful working conditions. This song actually inspired a short story that i gave to my neices and nephews one year about Santa actually being a crook who stole all toys all the year round like some sort of festive Robin Hood. The link is to a more live version of this song but it doesn't lose any of it's endearing charm or humour...
• Blues Traveler ~ Christmas: I'm not a massive fan of Blues Traveler but after hearing this song several years ago on one of those A Very Special Christmas compilations, I've been a smitten little kitten with the tune ever since. It's got a tremendously earnest vocal and just shines with it's tambourine bells and lovely message. I love an optimistic tune to make you feel a bit thoughtful but also a bit more hopeful...
• Rockapella ~ It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas/Glowbug: It's not a mash up before you rob this Glee :) What it is is a flawlessly harmonised acapella tribute to the glowbugs that light the sky intertwined with the classic Grinch song. Fun to try and match the harmonies as you sing along and one of the most feelgood songs on this list :)
• Lenka ~ All My Bells Are Ringing: Tribute to the girl groups of the 60s with all the "oo ba ba" and swoony whoas set to a handclapping, bell chiming tune where little Lenka offers her love to her beau in a dreamily romantic festive tune. Rebecca would do an amazing version of this on the X-Factor. Jus' saying...

Top 21 songs of the week:

21 ~ McFly, Shine A Light
20 ~ Shayne Ward, Gotta Be Somebody
19 ~ JLS, Love You More
18 ~ P!nk, Raise Your Glass
17 ~ Deborah Gibson, I Love You
16 ~ A1, In Love & I Hate It
15 ~ Bjorn Johan Muri, Nobody Knows (NE)
14 ~ Erik Hassle, Standing Where You Left Me (NE)
13 ~ Gabriella Cilmi, Defender
12 ~ Joe McElderry, Someone Wake Me Up
11 ~ Andrea Lewis ft Simon Curtis, Talk To Me
10 ~ Eric Saade, Break of Dawn
09 ~ Darin, Drowning
08 ~ EMD, What Is Love
07 ~ Kylie, Better Than Today
06 ~ Le Kid, We Should Go Home Together
05 ~ Take That, The Flood
04 ~ Tove Styrke, Standing Where You Left Me
03 ~ Gravitonas, You Break Me Up
02 ~ Daniel Boys, To Make You Feel My Love (VID)
01 ~ Elouise, You'll Never Walk Alone (3 weeks)

back properly! Tomorrow! With part one of a massive x factor weekend :)

I totally subscribe to the voice as an instrument so I'm always partial to an acapella take on christmas classics, especially when they are as layered and complex as this! Straight No Chaser are one of those university frat bros type barber shop quartets that throw everything and the kitchen sink into their songs. Not only do they all sing different parts of 12 days of Christmas simultaneously, but they also throw in other festive ditties here and there before culminating in a Toto-Africa tune version of the song they were originally trying to sing! It is all quite entertaining, very clever, and while possibly not going to be my favourite festive ditty of all time, their album Holiday Spirits is a real charmer and available in all good record stores now (how quaint and old fashioned that now sounds!!)

One song that charms me every year however, is Rockapella's It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas/Glow Worm medley. It's all whistles, gorgeous deep baritone ba-boom bass noises and harmonies so luxuriously layered that it's almost like tucking into a lovely Marks and Spencers White Cranberry Cheesecake. It's that decadant. The two songs work incredibly well together, and they never fail to put a smile on my face as I weave my way in and out of panicked christmas shoppers on my way to a traditional dark cherry mocha at starbucks with it blasting thru on my mp3 player. Oooo i want an acapella band for Christmas!!