This week's top 20 Swedish student radio chart:

01. (NY) Mando Diao - "TV & Me"
02. (05) The Mary Onettes - "Lost"
03. (04) The Streets - "Prangin' Out"
04. (08) The Plan - "Walk for Gold"
05. (01) The Knife - "Like a Pen"
06. (06) Depeche Mode - "Martyr"
07. (09) Fat Joe med Lil' Wayne - "Make It Rain"
08. (02) Jet - "Bring It on Back"
09. (NY) Salem Al Fakir - "Good Song"
10. (07) Supersci - "Move On"
11. (03) The Lost Patrol Band - "Automatic Kids"
12. (12) Tingsek - "World of It's Own"
13. (11) Melody Club - "Destiny Calling"
14. (10) Deportees - "Missing You, Missing Me"
15. (14) Peter, Bjorn & John - "Let's Call It Off"
16. (17) David & the Citizens - "A Heart and a Hand and the Love for the Band"
17. (19) Asha Ali - "Fire Fire
18. (18) [ingenting] - "Punkdrömmar"
19. (ÅT) Psapp - "Hi"
20. (15) Universal Poplab - "Heart apart"

Leaving the chart:
Wolfmother - "The Joker and the Thief"
The Long Winters - "Rich Wife"
Camera Obscura - "Let's Get Out of This Country"

MP3: [ingenting] - Hollywood dreams

I rarely make any attempt to hide my disdain for all things Labrador. Their particular brand of precious twee indiepop just isn't my thing. It's not that I find it unappealing, I just think all sounds so boring and uninspired - something far worse than being polarizing like, say, The Tough Alliance. However, I still give them the benefit of the doubt with every new release, especially since they appear to be so highly regarded. I figure that there's always the chance I'm missing something, but more often than not, I find that my initial hesitations have proved correct. Of course there are exceptions: I've often expressed my respect for Pelle Carlberg and now we can add [ingenting] to list. Simon's review from the other day echoes my own sentiments fairly well, though I'd probably use different artists as reference points. The important points: the guitar work is fantastic and yes, this is truly Swedish indie at its best. And yes, "Hollywood dreams" really is the best song on the record.

[ingenting] - Hollywood dreams

[ingenting]
Mycket väsen för ingenting
Labrador

This is the second album from [ingenting], and they still sound a bit like Kent and a lot like Velvet Underground (the guitar riffs!). The Swedish press hasn't really taken to this album, something I don't really understand since these songs are highly infectious and the more I listen to them, the more I want to go on a road trip with them playing on the stereo. The lyrics are wonderful and the music's ace. [ingenting] are terrific at doing slower ballad-type of songs ("Bergochdalbanan" being my favourite 'slow song' on here), but what they really do best is fast and catchy (such as "Punkdrömmar", "Suzanne", "Släpp in solen" – listened a lot to this last summer, and "Hollywood dreams", the latter being the strongest track on "Mycket väsen för ingenting"). This is Swedish indie at its very best, even if [ingenting] have taken some obvious references points to create their sound like The Hives, instead of being more original like someone such as The Knife.
- Simon Tagestam

This week's top 20 Swedish student radio chart:

01. (01) The Knife - "Like a Pen"
02. (04) Jet - "Bring It on Back"
03. (02) The Lost Patrol Band - "Automatic Kids"
04. (NY) The Streets - "Prangin' Out"
05. (11) The Mary Onettes - "Lost"
06. (05) Depeche Mode - "Martyr"
07. (13) Supersci - "Move On"
08. (07) The Plan - "Walk for Gold"
09. (NY) Fat Joe - "Make It Rain"
10. (15) Deportees - "Missing You, Missing Me"
11. (19) Melody Club - "Destiny Calling"
12. (NY) Tingsek - "World of It's Own"
13. (NY) Wolfmother - "The Joker and the Thief"
14. (03) Peter, Bjorn & John - "Let's Call It Off"
15. (09) Universal Poplab - "Heart Apart"
16. (14) The Long Winters - "Rich Wife"
17. (12) David & the Citizens - "A Heart and a Hand and the Love for the Band"
18. (18) [ingenting] - "Punkdrömmar"
19. (NY) Asha Ali - "Fire Fire"
20. (08) Camera Obscura - "Let's Get Out of This Country"

Leaving the chart:
(06) Mates of State - "Fraud in the 80's"
(09) Psapp - "Hi"
(10) The Magic Numbers - "Take a Chance"
(16) Dukes Special - "Last Night I Nearly Died"
(17) Otur - "Enough"
(20) Shareefa - "Need a boss"

This week's top 20 Swedish student radio chart:

01. (01) The Knife - Like a pen
02. (05) The Lost Patrol Band - Automatic kids
03. (15) Peter, Bjorn & John - Let's call it off
04. (NY) Jet - Bring it on
05. (NY) Depeche Mode - Martyr
06. (06) Mates Of State - Fraud in the 80's
07. (19) The Plan - Walk for gold
08. (10) Camera Obscura - Let's get out of this country
09. (17) Psapp - Hi
10. (03) The Magic Numbers - Take a chance
11. (NY) The Mary Onettes - Lost
12. (04) David & the Citizens - A heart and a hand and the love for the band
13. (NY) Supersci - Move on
14. (NY) The Long Winters - Rich wife
15. (02) Deportees - Missing you, missing me
16. (12) Dukes Special - Last night I nearly died
17. (NY) Otur - Enough
18. (13) [ingenting] – Punkdrömmar
19. (14) Melody Club - Destiny calling
20. (20) Shareefa - Need a boss

Leaving the chart:
The Pipettes - Pull shapes
Timo Räisänen - Let's kill ourselves a son
Gnarls Barkley - Smiley faces
Tingsek - I love you (part 1)
Jet - Put you money where your mouth is
M Ward - Tog go home

This week's top 20 Swedish student radio chart:

01. (01) The Knife - Like a pen
02. (03) Deportees - Missing you, missing me
03. (20) The Magic Numbers - Take a chance
04. (02) David & the Citizens - A heart and a hand and the love for the band
05. (NY) The Lost Patrol Band - Automatic kids
06. (06) Mates Of State - Fraud in the 80's
07. (04) The Pipettes - Pull shapes
08. (09) Timo Räisänen - Let's kill ourselves a son
09. (05) Gnarls Barkley - Smiley faces
10. (12) Camera Obscura - Let's get out of this country
11. (11) Tingsek - I love you (part 1)
12. (NY) Dukes Special - Last night I nearly died
13. (NY) [ingenting] - Punkdrömmar
14. (NY) Melody Club - Destiny calling
15. (NY) Peter Bjorn & John - Let's call it off
16. (19) Jet - Put your money where your mouth is
17. (NY) Psapp - Hi
18. (18) M Ward - To go home
19. (NY) The Plan - Walk for gold
20. (07) Shareefa - Need a boss

Leaving the chart:
(08) Sugarplum Fairy - Last chance
(10) Björn - Son of a gun
(13) Duels - Brothers & sisters
(14) Justin Timberlake - Sexyback
(15) Marit Bergman - No party
(16) Promoe - Headache
(17) The Roots - Don't feel right

Download the new [ingenting] single "Punkdrömmar": http://www.labrador.se/punk/Punkdrommar.mp3

[ingenting]
Sommardagboken
Labrador

Forget about the Kent-like live track (which is actually a Radio Dept. cover, sung in Swedish) and the ambient (and "watery") remix, and concentrate on the first three normal tracks on the new EP from [ingenting] (which is Swedish for "nothing"). The two first songs are poppy summer songs and then it slows down with the third track "Så varm, så kall", but it's still good stuff. [ingenting] are labelmates with Acid House Kings and The Radio Dept. but since they sing in Swedish, I doubt their music will travel outside Scandinavia. This is a damn shame, since their songs are as good as aforementioned bands', it's just a bit less twee/shoegazing and more pure indie pop. Try it, you might like it even if you don't speak Swedish.
- Simon Tagestam

Labrador has posted a song from the new [ingenting] EP: http://www.labrador.se/mp3/ingenting-slapp_in_solen.mp3

Labrador has announced that Sambassadeur's new EP "Coastal affair" will be released on May 3 and the new [ingenting] EP "Sommardagboken" one week later on May 10.

Various Artists
Songs we have learned to sing
Klubben Velvet

In case you needed more proof of the depth of talent in Swedish pop and indie rock, here are 19 fine examples assembled by the Velvet Rock Klubb and the student radio station in Uppsala. This one has a bit of everything, from the snappy pop of The Sunshine's "Love" to the darker, Siouxsie Sioux-style sounds on "Pasadena" by Le Muhr to the slow-burning, Swedish-language folk number "Allting ni gör" by [ingenting]. Other standouts include the Joan Jett-on-helium garage of Chick Habit's "Too much is not enough" and yet another track from Convoj, recently given the thumbs-up by my IAT! colleague Navy Keophan. The revelation to me is "Sound of sirens", an insanely catchy slice of indie rock by The Horror, The Horror. I had never heard of them before but will be on the lookout for more of their stuff. I'm not sure you can buy "Songs we have learned to sing" outside of Sweden, but for anyone who can get their hands on it, pick this one up!
- Matthew W. Smith

Top fives: 2005 so far

Labrador Records is offering the new [ingenting] single "En bättre dag" as a free download: http://www.labrador.se/news.php3?lab=050408.025833

Various Artists
Kingsize vol #2
Labrador

At the moment, together with Service, Labrador is one of Sweden's most interesting labels. The bands on Service might be more exciting and they also cover a wider range of musical styles, but with such amazing bands such as [ingenting], The Radio Dept., and Suburban Kids with Biblical Names on their roster, every new Labrador release comes along with the promise of being tremendous. What we got here though is an extensive 25 track sampler that came out last year. Labrador has very successfully managed, like other great record labels, to create their own "sound" (which could be described as a bit poppy, shoegazing, and a lot twee), and most bands on this cd stay within this niche, but there are also a handful of songs that really stand out, such as Corduroy utd's "Daddy's boy" which is pure Dexy's. There are so many great songs on this disc that it's hard to say anything against it, but the fact that most of these songs are on other releases is a shame because then the compilation is really only interesting for people who haven't got too many Labrador releases. But all in all, this is an amazing bunch of songs, and a perfect introduction for anyone who wants to check out some great Swedish indie music that isn't garage rock.
- Simon Tagestam

Legendary Swedish pop act Popsicle will be reuniting once again for a special exclusive concert at Cirkus in Stockholm on April 4. Support will come from [ingenting] and El Perro Del Mar and tickets go on sale February 4.