Here is the It's a Trap! listening group top 10 artists of the week, unique to our group:
01. Mew
02. Jenny Wilson
03. Kristofer Åström
04. Kent
05. Håkan Hellström
06. Montt Mardié
07. Love Is All
08. JJ
09. Sally Shapiro
10. The Bear Quartet
Do you listen to music on your computer or with an iPod? Please join us and make your playlist count! Go here to learn more: http://www.last.fm/help/
Pitchfork reviews Love Is All's new "Last choice" EP: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13093-last-choice-ep/
Check out a new Daytrotter live session with Love Is All: http://www.daytrotter.com/dt/love-is-all-simple-annoyances-should-still-make-for-a-dance-concert/20030515-3737795.html
Besides maybe Love Is All, Elenette are the only current act I can think of that absolutely nails the sound of 80s Swedish postpunk: rigid funk offset by off-kilter synths and jangly guitars, a sound firmly rooted in pure pop hooks, but also in straight-up oddness. That's probably what I like best about them actually, the subtle just-not-rightness of it all. Based on description alone, I would've never bothered. For real- slap bass and horns? It's a ghastly combo on paper, but I'm telling you that they make it work. They keep it weird, they keep me interested.
Elenette - Att göra en hit
Love Is All will be back in the US in June:
06/02 - Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ
06/05 - Music Hall of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY
06/08 - Neumo's, Seattle, WA
06/09 - Holocene, Portland, OR
06/11 - Bottom of the Hill, San Francisco, CA
06/12 - Echoplex, Los Angeles, CA
06/13 - The Casbah, San Diego, CA
Love Is All recently recorded a bunch of their favorite old Swedish pop songs from artists such as Tant Strul, Bob Hund and Magnus Uggla and have posted them all for listening at myspace: http://www.myspace.com/loveisall8
Pitchfork talks to Josephine Olausson from Swedish postpunk act Love Is All: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/148114-interview-love-is-all
Here's the playlist for this week's radio show:
01. Eric Beyond - Step off
02. TALK 1
03. Hanna Hirsch - Ingen kommer sakna oss
04. Francis - Bad to the bone
05. KA SO RE - Dramatically keep you
06. Susanna - Jailbreak (ft. Bonnie "Prince" Billy)
07. TALK 2
08. Love Is All - Give it back
09. Agent Side Grinder - Lashes of flashes
10. Parker Lewis - Bash the cynicals
11. TALK 3
12. Moto Boy - Pie Jesu
13. Down In June - The enemy within
14. Masshysteri - Tvivel
15. Underwater Sleeping Society - Saw you at my funeral
16. TALK 4
17. Viola - We owe love
18. Convoj - The shovel
19. Celestial - Crystal heights
20. TALK 5
21. The Deer Tracks - Yes, this is my broken shield
Reminder: my show airs every week on Sundays and Mondays at 11pm ET on Sirius XM U. That's channel 26 on Sirius, 43 on XM and 831 for DirecTV subscribers.
How did I sleep on this? Love Is All is a perfect continuation of classic Swedish postpunk, keeping it vital and alive. Less the darkness of, say, Cut City or other artists taking the darker path, but more the frenetic pop of Kitchen & the Plastic Spoons or other more new-wavey acts who toe the line without straying into new romance. More punk than post-, y'know? And here I was thinking they were yet another boring indie act. I should really pay better attention.
Love Is All - New beginnings
Pitchfork has a big guestlist feature with best-of lists from artists such as Luomo, Lindstrøm, Lykke Li, Air France, Sune Rose Wagner, Paavoharju and Love Is All: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/147687-guest-list-best-of-2008
Live music site nyctaper is offering a recent live set from Love Is All for free download: http://www.nyctaper.com/?p=465
The Washington Post Express talks to Love Is All: http://www.expressnightout.com/content/2008/12/love_is_all.php
Dusted weighs in on the new Love Is All album: http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/4659
Pitchfork recommends Love Is All's new record: http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/147229-love-is-all-a-hundred-things-keep-me-up-at-night