Lopez Blogs

The internet is probably going to go a bit bonkers in the next few days with the seemingly forever delayed Lady G'Gah video and more excitingly (for me) the probable youtube rip of the new Sophie Ellis Bextor single. The latter I'm postively kvelling for - heartbreak may have made me a darnsar, but Bittersweet makes me want to run through a shower of glitter and sparkles in a tight tank top. Or something. While the world holds it's collective breath for any of the above to happen, there are two very different, but very familiar sounding albums i've become VERY obsessed with...

The Gentlemen Thieves present MaDonna Summer:

Sometimes the best ideas are the ones that are staring you right in the face. Two blokes (DJ Shy Boy and DJ Freddy King of Pants - not to be confused with DazPanteloons) have become the Gentlemen Thieves and thought, hey, if we put Ma in front of Donna Summer it sounds jolly familiar. And if we take some of their respective greatest tracks, smoosh them together and make them sound all new but like an old friend visiting with a new haircut, it might well just be blooming marvelous. And in the most part they are right. Donna Summer's work with Moroder in the 70s remains seriously exquisite. And Madonna has put together some of the most memorable songs of the past 25 years. Separately they both have had brushes with brilliance (repeatedly so) - together it's a sometimes bonkers sometimes amazing collection of work. Feel Like A Virgin is now an intense, echoing, pulsating disco epic that sounds throbbing and dirty, where Madonna sings over Donna's insinuating bass. She Works Hard For Material sees Donna sing over Madonna's Material Girl - it's a bit abrasive at first, but it soon gels together and works fairly well, particularly with the "ow, ow, living in a material world" juxtaposed over the background of the chorus. Secret Affair becomes a lush, sumptuous, warm, engaging girl group affair with woooo's in the background of the chorus and those lovely strings mixed with funky guitar. It's the clever matching of song themes that make this an above average collection of mash-ups ~ Heaven Knows A Prayer loses some of the religious solemnity from the music but merges from a hand clapping gospel epic into a hand clapping swirl that worships at the altar of disco. Dance Another Day gets a bit confusing but there's almost nothing you could do to Last Dance to make it any less enjoyable and the Madonna song loses it's electro current, but gains a gorgeous whirling string laden, tambourine banging instrumental background. Not everyone will like everything here, but there's certainly enough for curiosity factor, it's free and some of it is pretty bloody entertaining!

The Bird & The Bee ~ Interpreting The Masters:

Covers albums are sometimes a bit hit and miss aren't they? For every Susannah Hoffs with Matthew Sweet, there's an Eoghan Quigg. Sigh. Still, Bird and the Bee have blooming gone and outdone themselves with a love letter to Hall & Oates that includes 8 of their songs and something new that seamlessly blends in. In the past, Bird and the Bee have proved themselves to be whipsmart lyricists of the jazzy synth-pop variety, often funny, always meaningful. Here they show that they have a great knowledge of how to arrange songs - whether they are their own or borrowed from someone else. That original tune (Heard It On The Radio) sounds so in sync with their production values on the covers that it's hard not to assume it's a little known Hall & Oates b-side. The rest of the tunes are a great reminder of what terrific melodies the oft-maligned, mustachioed duo could come out with and presented here in a sometimes peppy pop format and a sometimes a wistful stroll down memory lane. Tracks like Rich Girl are as fresh as a delicious crisp salad while Maneater positively fizzes with sass and exuberance. The more melancholy stuff like She's Gone and One on One are also a sweet treat, lovingly delivered and perfectly crafted. Such a delightful project and one i'm going to enjoy for a long time to come.

Tomorrow: ABCD-D

EDIT: Possibly the best blogger post ever...
EDIT2: SPECTACULAR leaps to #44 on the Billboard 200!!
I know I said I was going to do some more singles reviews today of "exciting" songstresses like Lenka, Laleh, Marit and Eloise, but I just wasn't in the mood. Plus like a proper numptee, I realised I had already written about Lenka singing the glorious Trouble Is A Friend and Marit chirping about The Chase here. Eloise deserves a post of her own such is her magnificence, and Laleh, well I'm sure i'll get around to her at some point. Instead, here are 5 albums that I was aware of and listened to when released but for whatever reason got shoved onto the "discard" pile until I was drawn back to them with a vengence this past couple of weeks (and no, Lady Gaga isn't on the list!)....

Ladyhawke - Ladyhawke: Why on earth I metaphorically shoved the Ladyhawke cd to the back of the closet is a mystery. A mystery that may never be solved. I listened to her album on a whim a couple of weeks ago when I was hankering for an ear burst of the glorious My Delirium. Beyond that anthemic fist pumping classic, I found that I had been missing out on a whole bunch of equally beautifully produced, 80s inspired pop tunes that are positively shimmering with 80s allusions, yet still sound fresh and inspired. So this isn't Stefy 2.0 at all then. Magic is a ballsy pedal to the metal type singalong track that just rattles along like an out of control rollercoaster, while Another Runway and Crazy World are delicious 80s throwbacks dripping in nostalgia. However, current favourite has to be the soon-to-be-rereleased Paris Is Burning ~ like most of the tracks here, it's steeped in 80s influences but still innovative enough to sit alongside popstars du jour such as Little Boots and LaRoux. Utterly cracking.
Coldplay - Viva La Vida: I've always had a bit of a cool relationship with Coldplay, possibly because i think it borders on child abuse to call your child Apple for crying out god's sake. However, when I put my ridiculous prejudices aside, I begrudgingly admit that Mr Martin is one of Britain's best singer songwriters. I'm STILL obsessed with the title track and think that it is one of the best songs to come out of Britain in the past five years. Those strings, the soaring chorus, the near perfect vocal delivery - it's all cosy enough for radio but epic enough for huge stadium performances too. And so I thought I would give the album a bit of a try. The hallmarks of their previous albums are there (emotive lyrics, strong melodies, gentle rock rhythms) but are mixed with a more experimental Coldplay than we've previously seen - african and latin influences, mixing up the structure of songs, instrumental tracks, kitchen sink, etc. It's all entirely pleasing, and as I may have mentioned before, I'm rather taken with the XO track listing which mixes the best from the album with the best from the Prospeks March EP. Genius...
Pink - Funhouse: The thing about Pink is she is always there isn't she? Solid, reliable, churning out fairly regular albums and hits, so I don't always give her time she is entitled to this far into what has been a fairly decent career. It's the lovely new single Please Don't Leave Me that has drawn me back to this album - yes, So What is a great thrusty pop song, but it always seemed a bit gimmicky to me (though the remixes are aces) and that put me off the album a little bit. Retitle this album to it's rumoured original ("Heartbreak is a motherf***er!") and it perfectly sums up the range of emotive pop song and rock balladry contained within. The eventual title track is demonically destructive - there's bitterness in the breeziest of her pop tunes, and that I like. Mean puts most of Kelly Clarkson's most recent album to shame with it's southern fried chicken rock roots and an amazing vocal performance. And the entirely romantic Glitter In The Air evokes gorgeous imagery and is simply more powerful for it. I'm kicking myself for not having the whole album on repeat earlier :(
Cyndi Lauper - Bring Ya To The Brink/Donna Summer - Crayons: Frankly I wasn't sure that Donna could top the mighty SAW produced album Another Place and Time. And I'm not sure Crayons does, but my yen this month to revisit Donna has made me realise what an upbeat, unapologetic, in your face album this is. Similarly, the latest dance epic from Cyndi is perfectly designed for the clubs and puts many of her younger peers to shame. Neither album is deliberately rooted in the past and neither do they pander to current trends (except when Donna gets a bit vocoder-ised which can be slightly annoying) - instead they mix the sounds they are most comfortable with from their respective pasts with intoxicating rhythms, beats and melodies that make for two should-have-been career revitalising sets. Play Cyndi's gyrating pulsing synths of Into The Nightlife with it's cheeky flirtatious lyrics alongside Donna's fun, frothy and respect commanding Stamp Your Feet and this twofer whammy makes me even more incredulous of some of today's leading electro-dance ladies successes. I know DanUSA, XO and Chartrigger all liked these in the past, so I am once again chagrinned for not enjoying these on the whole mostly super albums earlier...

Other more recent albums I'm still loving: Take That "The Circus"; Lily Allen "It's Not Me, It's You"; Same Difference "Pop"