Stuarto Glasser, host of the All Around the World Music Show, called me up a little after 5pm Friday and asked if I could fill in for him. Thinking it would be a great way to attract a few more listeners I agreed. I headed home and put together a playlist of some of my favorite indie artists from around the world.

The first half of the list below aired as the split show: The Indie Music Show from All Around the World. I began with some lovable indie pop and transitioned into something a bit more energetic and beat-heavy. This was good, as 4 hours by myself in the booth is a bit exhausting, especially for someone with a fairly early bedtime (around 10:30pm).

“Orienteering” by Little Name off How to Swim & Live
“The Ground Falls Away” by The Zebras off New Ways of Risking Our Lives
“Smokers In Love” by The Lucksmiths off Staring At The Sky

“When Sun Falls On My Feet” by Starlet off When Sun Falls On My Feet
“Mad World” by The Snowdrops off Mad World
“A Lighthearted Lovesong” by The Pets off Love & War

“Boat Behind” by Kings of Convenience off Declaration of Dependence “Piazza New York Catcher” by Belle & Sebastian off Dear Catastrophe Waitress
“My Maudlin Career” by Camera Obscura off My Maudlin Career

“Where Have We Been?” by Acid House Kings off Music Sounds Better With You
“Slapp Inb Solen” by [ingenting] off Labrador 100 “Soviet.se” by The Lovekevins off Max Leon

“Velveteen” by Still Corners off Creatures of an Hour
“Waving Surface” by Anois off Foreign Tragedies

“Shed Like An Hour” by Snails off Shed Like An Hour b/w Daylight Ends
“Drover” by Bill Callahan off Apocalypse

“Western Hospitality” by Club 8 off The People’s Record
“Your Cover’s Blown” by Belle & Sebastian off Books
“1517″ by The Whitest Boy Alive off Rules

“Only Love Can Break Your Heart” by Saint Etienne off Foxbase Alpha
“Verdens største land” by Casiokids off Topp stemning på lokal bar
“Unessa” by Regina off Soita Mulle

“Bad Street” by Twin Sister off In Heaven
“What Became of You and I?” by Treefight for Sunlight off A Collection of Vibrations for your Skull
“Olio” by The Rapture off Echoes

“Another Heaven” by Pallers off The Sea of Memories
“Raise Me Up” by Hercules And Love Affair off Hercules And Love Affair
“Eyes Be Closed” by Washed Out off Within And Without

“Our Own Dream” by Keep Shelly In Athens
“Honey Mine (feat. Victoria Bergsman)” by Korallreven off Honey Mine 7″ Single
“Good Evening” by The Concretes off WYWH
“Who Do You Love” by Museum of Bellas Artes off Force Majeure

“New Violence” by White Williams off Smoke
“Courtship Dating” by Crystal Castles off Crystal Castles
“In Heat (Javelin Remix)” by Health off Disco2

“Guys Eyes” by Animal Collective off Merriweather Post Pavillion
“Photojournalist” by Small Black off New Chain
“Walkabout (with Noah Lennox)” by Atlas Sound off Logos

“17″ by Youth Lagoon off The Year Of Hibernation
“Natural” by Okay off Huggable Dust
“While We’re Young” by Inspired And The Sleep off Teenager

“Run Through My Hair” by Oneida off The Wedding
“The Wayward Granddaughter” by The Fiery Furnaces off Rehearsing My Choir
“I Was Never Young” by Of Montreal off The Sunlandic Twins

“The Messiah Is Falling” by Ulrich Schnauss & Mark Peters off Underrated Silence

Why does Sweden stand out more than other countries when it comes to laying down pop tracks? The Swedes definitely know how to make pop music. The Lovekevins are a light bouncy pop group from Malmo, Sweden and such heritage means beautifully crafted pop songs. This Blame the English 7-inch single comes with four tracks and album info provided in English, Russian and French.

Blame The English

Rhetorically – What completes a pop group more than hand claps and non-conventional rock instruments like trumpets? The Lovekevins take the claps, utilize a trumpet or two in most tracks, and lose the snare for a delightful title track. This lazy, laid back tune has countless chords on an acoustic guitar, a supporting electric, and a feature in the foreign horror flick Frostbiten. Here’s a hint: the movie is about vampires.

Stop Being Perfect

This upbeat pop song is filled with trumpets and flutes and keys. One of the faster pop songs around, the punchy guitar leads to tapping feet and dancing chairs. I find it impossible not to move from side to side and hop up and down—even while sitting and typing this review.

Happy Happy

A wonderful shuffle featuring trumpets, back-up singers, and countless claps, “Happy Happy” has quickly become my favorite track from the single. There is a lo-fi quality to many of this group’s songs, enhanced by the powerful trumpets, light vocals, and soft catchy guitar riffs. I think I would fly to Sweden just to see The Lovekevins play this song.

Taking David (By Strategy)

An obvious reference to Brian Eno’s “Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)” if in title only, the song itself lends a slight nod to Elliott Smith and includes a heavier keyboard and less trumpet than the other tracks. Large bass drum kicks on one and three with slight shuffling snare taps between and a more produced, less indie-pop sound than the rest of the tracks make “Taking David” a perfect closer for this lengthy 7-inch.

I don’t know the answer to why those of Swedish descent are excellent pop songwriters (and super automotive designers as well), but I wouldn’t mind moving to Sweden to find out.

This review was originally published July 27, 2006 on the old version of FensePost.

The Lovekevins: Blame The English [mp3]

[7" Single, 2005]

1. Blame The English
2. Stop Being Perfect
3. Happy Happy
4. Taking David (By Strategy)

I get needs, you know? Sometimes I just need an ice cold microbrew. Sometimes, after a long and stressful day, I need to drink a glass or two of red wine (generally a cab-sauv or a cab-merlot) while listening to old jazz on vinyl. But there’s one thing I need more than all: to discover the catchiest pop music available. Enter The Lovekevins, a delightfully upbeat pop group from Sweden.

Their Max Léon EP is cased in a cardboard gate-fold slip with cover art from 1939 by Teo Lindau. Made up of Ola Lindefelt on vocals, drums, and stamps, and Fredrik Hultin on backup vocals, guitar, piano and Cornet. The title track begins with a shuffle in the percussion and a whistled tune atop a subtle bass-line and guitar strums. As the whistle fades, piano takes over. It’s soft and laid-back, as opposed to its follow-up, “Soviet.se”, which has a much quicker pace and relies much more on a jangly guitar, hand claps, and backup vocal tones. “Soviet.se” is joyous and has the ability to move feet and get audiences clapping along.

“The Big Nono” was a quick favorite of mine, from the undecipherable intro lyrics to the backup bop bop vocals to the catchy rhythm guitar chords. A flute and trumpet mix things up with a brief, out-of-tune solo in the middle of the song. Though the final track, “Blame the English”, is the only song by The Lovekevins to produce a single from Max Léon, each song is single-worthy in its own right. The EP version of “Blame the English” is also an alternate version from the single—it was recorded live at the Sporadic Live Internet Radio Broadcast “House of Kevins.”

The Lovekevins are a band that I listen to on a regular basis and, when they fall out of my rotation, they generally make a glorious return within a few month—and the process of re-discovering songs can be just as sweet as that first listen, no matter how many times they’ve been “re-discovered.” It is a trait I have come to associate with their label, Songs I Wish I Had Written.

This review was originally published December 29, 2006 on the old version of FensePost. The Lovekevins have since shortened their name to The LK. The duo is also responsible for the number one FensePost album of 2008 by Fredrik.

The Lovekevins: Soviet.se [mp3]

The Lovekevins: The Big Nono [mp3]

Songs I Wish I Had Written [CDEP, 2005]

1. Max Léon
2. Soviet.se
3. The Big Nono
4. Blame the English