Lopez Blogs

I'm fully into my new year post Christmas blues funk. I get it every year. Annually you might say. This year as well as flattening my spirits, it has chosen to manifest itself physically too! I have a rash all over my hands (mmm, attractive) and my back is aching like a mother. Plus i think i'm getting a cold sore. Form an orderly queue fellas! New years was quite nice (see pic above) - not too hectic, just fun in a not too crowded bar with some friends. Of course I had Jools Holland on record and got to witness some simply stunning performances over a cup of Horlicks on new years day. Read on my pretties, read on!!

Kylie ~ Try Your Wings (Blossom Dearie cover):

You can always rely on Kylie. I'm still in love with All The Lovers and the entire Aphrodite album six months on (my top single and album of 2010), and have been completely smitten with her additional performances that have come about on her promotional stints for the album. Her cover of Hurts Wonderful Life was effortlessly elegant; her studied reading and new version of Can't Get You Out Of My Head bought new meaning and nuance to an extremely familiar tune; her festive couplet of tunes were both cheeky and warming at the same time. She's topped off the year with a completely wonderful performance of an already delightful tune by the legendary Blossom Dearie. Looking stunning on top of a grand piano, she sweetly sung a darling melody and surrounded herself with a tempered arrangement that let her vocal and the delicate tune fly. Imagine a full album of tunes done in this style! Bodes exceptionally well for the Aphrodite tour...

Rumer ~ Aretha:


Oh Rumer. How captivated I am by your deliciously smooth vocal style that evokes memories of sadly gone but not forgotten greats such as Karen Carpenter and Dusty Springfield. How magical I am finding your debut album, which is filled with timeless torch songs and emotive, evocative melodies. The Rumer sings Bacharach at Christmas EP was definitely an added treasure to tag onto something that was already totally an understated triumph. So what a way to top off the year - a mesmerising performance of the gorgeous single Aretha on Jools Holland, that showcased the gorgeous vocal totally in it's element against a sumptuous backdrop of orchestra and horn section. 2011 is going to be an amazing year for this singer and this is one album you should lock into now...

Bette Midler ~ Glory of Love:


New Years Eve 2009 was one of the best ever. Darren and I were having a marvelous little sojourn in Vegas and scored tickets to see the divine Ms M at her new years eve show which was absolutely spiffy. Fast forward a year and the taping of that very show airs on HBO on New Years Eve 2010. Utterly amazing. I'm sure you can see my ear at one point :) This means it is very likely to come out on dvd very soon. Please. Anyway, for those of you who can afford a subscription to HBO in these credit crunch times, you will know that one of the highlights was a stripped back, ukelele version of the Glory of Love. It was heartfelt, it was earnest and it was poignantly beautiful. The perfect message with which to ring a new year of hope, joy and people being kind to each other. Sniffle...

Back soon with more new music!

As a sage young singer once said, you know it's Christmas in a week and a day! Yay! And it's snowing up a storm outside which is entirely lovely (when you are inside watching it. It was not as pleasant yesterday when I was driving back from Dorset in it. Hideous, though copious plays of Glee's We Need A Little Christmas kept me going). I think I shall celebrate the festive season being in full swing by watching Love, Actually and maybe The Holiday depending on how tired I am. But without further ado, here are 3 new Christmas marvels I came across (sadly not literally in the case of number three) this week in a little feature I like to call...

We Three Sings...

1. DeeDee ~ WinterWonderland: I adore DeeDee. You already know this. She has more swagger in her than Cher(yl) Lloyd possesses in her bratz doll little finger. She is the reason the proclamations about Cher being the most inventive artist in the UK bugged me because actually we already have DeeDee. But I digress. Not only has this essential for 2011 singer covered Winter Wonderland, but has put together an entirely charming video to go along with it that has stills flashing up that totally and wittily correspond with the lyrics. My faves include the smiling cow ("we're happy tonight"), the priest on a swing set ("then pretend that he is Parson Brown"), the gay assless chaps couple and lovely lesbian wedding scene ("we'll say are you married, we'll say no, man" - in your face Prop 8!), a terrified little girl ("face unafraid") and a much welcome appearance from WonderWoman. There are many more guffaw worthy moments in there, but I won't spoil them all for you. Watch, enjoy and repeat. Then come back on New Year's Day to see DeeDee in my "Big Pop Hopes for 2011" post. It will be amaze.
2. Rumer ~ Sings Bacharach At Christmas: Now this isn't strictly Christmas, other than the title of a new two track EP that the silky smooth vocals of Rumer has graciously presented to the world this week. If you haven't already checked out her debut album, you are missing a trick - it takes you back to an era when the voice (no autotune here) and sumptuous arrangements made a timeless pantheon of tunes that lift and soothe the soul. Two new tracks not on the album feature on this EP including the heavenly recording of Alfie. It's frankly all too beautiful for me to find words for, I just keep listening over and over again and letting the magic wash over me. Do check out Some Lovers as well. Equally as delightful as I gaze onto the gentle snowfall outside. It's the type of music you genuinely feel like saying "thank you" for...
3. The Overtones ~ Good Ol' Fashioned Love (SE): It's only been out a couple of months, but for iTunes purchasers, the rather adorable Overtones boys (my fashion gurus for Christmas parties) have added some additional acoustic tracks, some videos and *scream* 3 new recordings of Christmas classics! YAY! Their debut album is already a giddy treat of 50s-60s doo-wap harmonising with a modern twist and they weave their tightly knit vocals round the festive selection perfectly. While White Christmas and Winter Wonderland are particularly fine, Sleigh Ride definitely stands out with a resonant intro from Lachie before launching into a finger clicking, string aided edition of one of the most joyous seasonal tunes around. And check out the performance below - there are ties, cravats and bow ties, all too cute dance moves, leaning in with the microphone and a genuine impression that they are having the time of their lives. Absolutely magnificent :)

Top 21 songs of the week:

21 ~ P!nk, Raise Your Glass
20 ~ Deborah Gibson, I Love You
19 ~ A1, In Love & I Hate It
18 ~ Joe McElderry, Someone Wake Me Up
17 ~ Gabriella Cilmi, Defender
16 ~ Andrea Lewis ft Simon Curtis, Talk To Me
15 ~ EMD, What Is Love?
14 ~ Erik Hassle, Standing Where You Left Me
13 ~ Bjorn Johan Muri, Nobody Knows
12 ~ Take That, The Flood
11 ~ Matt Cardle, When We Collide (NE)
10 ~ Eric Saade, Break of Dawn
09 ~ Le Kid, We Could Go Home Together
08 ~ Darin, Drowning
07 ~ Kylie, Better Than Today
06 ~ Same Difference, Karma Karma (NE)
05 ~ One Direction, Forever Young (NE)
04 ~ Gravitonas, You Break Me Up
03 ~ Tove Styrke, White Light Moment
02 ~ Daniel Boys, Make You Feel My Love
01 ~ Elouise, You'll Never Walk Alone (4 weeks)

PS - do check out the holiday Florida diaries here...

I recently read that facebook is for people who you forgot were your friends and twitter is for people who you would probably like to be your friends. This is very probably extremely high on the truth-o-meter, should such a thing exist. I have lots of twitter buddies, but very few of whom I have met in "real life". What is great about twitter is that you can guage lots of very instantaneous opinions without visiting lots of different websites. Such as this one! One of the great people to follow for musical tips is Steve Anderson (who I recently did a post on here - and check out his latest recommendation on twitter above! GLORIOUS!) Here are some of his latest suggestions - some he's working with, some he just adores. And quite rightly so...

• Rumer ~ there is just something magical about the power and emotion portrayed in each note and nuance of Rumer's stunning vocal style. It reminds me (although isn't just a replica of) the timeless vocalists like Karen Carpenter, Agnetha Falgstok and Joni Mitchell. Her simply wonderful debut single, Slow, is a lyrical tale of unrequited love (so topical and so in line with my John James-Josie BB11 obsession) that weaves it's glorious melody intricately with the yearning in her voice to create an incredibly emotive and powerful piece of work. Definitely worthy of you falling in love with...
• Lauren Pritchard (above) ~ Painkillers is a wonderful song. It's imbued with the hurt and pain of a relationship, all backed up by a doleful yet sparse rhythmic melody and a powerful, yearning vocal from Lauren. Like Rumer, it's the vocal that makes you sit up and take notice. It's both soulful and rock (particularly in the *fights back* middle 8) and is so intrinsically linked with the emotion of the song that it becomes a real story. be sure to catch her live because there is a joyous diversity in her music that creates a real landscape of musical enjoyment.
• Project A ~ ooo, new girl group alert!! Will they succeed where Mini Viva, Dolly Rockers, Girls Can't Catch et al have failed? I really hope so - the sneak peak of Girls Will Be Girls on youtube is a pop treat - sleek production, fun lyrics, catchy chorus and sensual dance moves. I'm already salivating for the finished product. PLUS! They are rehearsing next to two punching bags! For some reason, this makes me want a big superhero kick-ass-the-movie type video from them please. Definitely one to watch out for with some pop luminaries working on this project (A)...
• Elouise ~ Ah Elouise. of course I have written about her many times before. I find her voice, her music and her live shows just entirely enchanting. So rather amazingly there is another opportunity for UK folk to catch her live on September 11th at The Tabernacle in London. It promises to be a night where Elouise explores the emotions and passions of some of the greatest divas of our time and intersperses her own beautiful music into the mix too. I'm hoping a new EP will be available at the time too... so do be sure to book your tickets for a night of pure Stardust. Sounds magical!

Coming soon: Video breakdowns of Olly Murs and Hurts; Fizzypop Chronicles...