Lopez Blogs

If you are in England, you are probably working a very short week and Wednesday lunchtime means only one and a half days of work until the royal wedding. Are you all planning something magnificent? Are you going to host a princess party, with croquet games, bunting and a huge blow up my little pony or is that just me?! Anyway, seeing as you have so much time on your hands, here are 3 more new (to me) acts for you to check out and appreciate this very sunny week...

Mark Ballas ~ Hotwire If you are British, you may very well not be aware of Mark Ballas. What you need to know about him (not necessarily in order of importance) is that a) he is one foxy, buff dude; b) he dances professionally on the phenomenally popular Dancing With The Stars in the States and c) he also sings. The singing is what I will concentrate on today - and in particular, his absolutely charming song, Hotwire. Taken from his new album HurtLoveBox, it's a sparkling, effervescent pop tune that just shines from start to finish. Lyrically, it's the tale of how some lucky lady essentially corrects everything that is wrong with Mark just by being with him. Musically, it's a feelgood vibe of strumming guitars and a perky beat powering the chorus to memorable, singalong goodness. Fun production values and a confident vocal from Mark all add to the appeal, making you want to fling open your windows, welcome in the summer and shout out romantic intentions to the world :) Adorable video too, with Mark and dance partner Chelsea Kane getting up to all sorts of naughty shenanighans. Hunt down the album - if it's as strong as this single, it's gonna be a summer time blast!


Bradley Say ~ Wasted:Bradley Say (found via fabtasticmusic and twitter of course) has quite amazing eyebrows. And a nice fringe. The first few seconds of the above video will attest to this fact. His new single Wasted is a rather funky little ditty that weaves together elements of Lily Allen (plinky plonky piano riff), Mel & Kim (little bit street) and even Justin Timberlake (little bit cool). It's a bounce a long number that revels in it's sparse production values and relies (wisely) on the melody and bradley's vocal to bring the song alive. The video matches every bit of energy and tomfoolery in the music and lyrics by having young Bradley prance around the streets, with a ne'er do care attitude while some stalker maiden follows him around. It's all ridiculous and absolutely bonkers brilliant at the same time. Listen. Watch. Love. Then dance around Bradley style like a loon on loon tablets at loon camp. Amen :)


Matt Webb ~ Bad Girl: I don't really know a lot about Matt Webb. What I do know is that I quite like his hair do and may take his pic into the barbers when i go in a few weeks :P Other than that, i've had his filthy little synth groove, Bad Girl (not the Madonna classic), stuck on repeat for a good few days now and it's pulsating my world. As I said, it's based around a dirty little synth groove that invades all your senses with it's insistence. Add to this a handclap beat and some wicked "oh oh ohs" in the chorus and it all makes a funky, modern, fun pop tune that is screaming out for a whipsmart dance routine. Corking chorus, nice unaltered vocal and a great middle 8 all make this one to watch out for. Like a male Ke-dollar sign-ha, but with less glitter and more clothes. Amazes.

Coming soon: More Pop Whispering. The RuPaul album. Royal Wedding shenanighans. Anything else that catches my fancy.

Cor blimey, it's been a week and a half hasn't it? I'm so behind with absolutely everything at the moment and in a bit of a mood right now, because it's early on a Sunday morning and I've just been awoken from a deliciously naughty dream about Ben from Secret Diary of a Call Girl to go and do Mother's Day duties!! Ah well. Anyway, something I'm very behind with is all the amazing new albums I've been adoring lately (Gabriella Cilmi, Matt Dusk, Goldfrapp, Alien Beat Club, Caro Emerald, Ellie Goulding, Rongedal), doing an interview with my beloved Elouise to celebrate the official release of her Stardust EP and some posts about new songs (including a very lovely Stargate produced ballad by Shayne Ward called Crash). I've a week off work in a week so will catch up on the albums then - the rest will hopefully come this week! Alrighty then, on with two amazing new acts to make your weekend spaff like a chuffing firework :)

Deedee:

It's not very often you get to write about someone so blooming new that they don't even have music on the internet yet. However, when I first got asked for my opinion on a song called Endure I fell irrevocably in love with the sultry, quirky sounds of this young up and coming singer. She has this organic, earthy sound to her music that is reminiscent of Nelly Furtado's first album and Martika's second. Her vocal is distinctive and strong - often there is a lot of layers musically to her songs, yet her voice never gets lost in the mix; indeed it was of the most charming aspects of her music. Endure (Edit: Now available for listening on her myspace!) is just chomping at the bit to be a single - it's actually built around a funky guitar riff, with added electro, synth and beat twinges running throughout (including a rather brilliant Sound Of The Underground-esque riff before the rollicking chorus). Lyrically it's a rather dramatic song, about liking the bad boy when the perfectly pleasant chap from next door thinks you are the bees knees. I love a bit a drama in music, particularly when the music is built to match the mood. There also seems to be a classical element to the song; or at the very least it's posh pop performed with passion and intensity. Love Down (excellent production from Ian Masterson and Terry Ronald) is an equally intense peek into relationships ~ the song's protagonist has abandoned one relationship for some excitement elsewhere ("confused arrived when my eye spyed another one"). It's yet another dark but brilliant pop tune - somewhat darker musically than Endure, but equally intoxicating. I'm reliably informed that Deedee has taken on another character when she performs this song as she loves acting like a villain in her music. It's smart, addictive pop - and all produced while she is Ancient World Studies degree at University of Central London. So she's just as smart outside the musical world. I'm impressed, and a little intimidated... but oh so addicted :)

Bradley Say:

Bradley seems to be one of those acts that has been floating around forever, on the periphery of making it big but never quite got there. He's a somewhat regular on the crowded London pop-club night scene and has been busy polishing off his debut album - an introduction that proves to be a mix of pop, urban and electro all rolled into one. His single "Wasted" is reminiscent of David Jordan (where IS he?!) and is a restrained little number that showcases Bradley's vocal as well as his ability to knock together a more-ish tune that percolates nicely with a gentle reggae-pop hint bubbling in the background. His next song, "Say What, is a far more in your face electro-pop stomper that first dropped about a year ago, but has since been polished up and had a video added to promote it too. It has fuzzy synths, a beat that just won't quit, some vocoder vocals and a great chorus that will sound as good on the dancefloor as it will blasted loud and proud in your car on the way to work. It's all self penned and promises to be quite the enticing debut (particularly the rather good indeed Killed Your Ego and Murderer)...

Top 21 songs of the week:

21 ~ Hurts, Blood Tears & Gold
20 ~ Simon Curtis, Diablo
19 ~ Diana Vickers, Once
18 ~ Sergey Lazarev, Alarm
17 ~ Marina & The Diamonds, Hollywood
16 ~ Ola, Unstoppable
15 ~ Alex Gardner, I'm Not Mad
14 ~ Mika, Rain
13 ~ Boyzone, Gave It All Away
12 ~ Magnus Carlsson, A Little Respect
11 ~ Darin, You're Out Of My Life (Acoustic Vid)
10 ~ Robbie Williams, Morning Sun
09 ~ Donkeyboy, Ambitions
08 ~ Alcazar, Headlines
07 ~ Neo, Human Frontier
06 ~ The Pipettes, Stop The Music
05 ~ Simon Curtis, Super Psycho Love (NE)
04 ~ Bjorn Johan Muri, Yes Man
03 ~ Music Go Music, Light of Love
02 ~ Elouise, Fireman Of My Dreams
01 ~ Gabriella Cilmi, On A Mission (2 weeks)

Coming next week: Lemar vs Shayne via JLS; the April Fizzypop Chronicles; maybe one album review if I have time!!