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I got the above compilation this morning and it's fucking brilliant.

Regular groinkers will know that I have developed something of an obsession for Swedie indiepop. Even before I gigged there, I loved the more famous Swedish indie bands like Komeda, The Wannadies, The Cardigans etc. And the best album of last year was this Swedish stunner.

As I've tried to find more Swedish indie and been educated by Swedes (and Finns!) who actually know that scene, I've fallen deeper in love with the Swedish sense of melody. At the same time, Brit indie has been going through one of its most lazy, self-referential and dull phases since the abomination that was "Britpop." Every week I hear some new Swedish band who have melodies to rival the Beatles and Beach Boys and every week I hear some new bunch of Mockney chancers doing Chas'n'Dave on guitars. Badly. The contrast could not be stronger.

And then Lintumies told me, via Last.fm, about a compilation he said I should check out. And that, my little fat tadpoles, is how I'm now listening to shedloads of gorgeous, shiny pop music, the atrocities of last night's MTV2 viewing fading into the distance.

Now, I'm sure hardcore Swedish indie kids will find many omissions and perhaps questionable inclusions. But, from my position of relative ignorance, this compilation is absolutely sublimely wonderful!

Here's the tracklisting:

Artist - Song
Happydeadmen - Silent Sigh City
The Wannadies - The Beast Cures The Lover
Easy - Cloud Chamber
Eggstone - Wrong Heaven
This Perfect Day - This Friendship Of Ours
Popsicle - Hey Princess
Brainpool - At School
Suredo - Average Cell
bob hund - Fem Meter Upp I Luften
The Cardigans - Rise And Shine
Hardy Nilsson - Hela Hjärtat Mitt
Broder Daniel - Luke Skywalker
Honey is Cool - Georgia
Kent - När Det Blåser På Månen
Fireside - Left Rustle
The Bear Quartet - It Only Takes A Flashlight To Create A Monster
Cloudberry Jam - Elevator
Souls - Expensive
Yvonne - Modern Love
Drowners - Summer Break My Fall
Bad Cash Quartet - Amuse You
Club 8 - Missing You
Doktor Kosmos - Le Punkrocker
Pluxus - Elektroplux
Håkan Hellström - Känn Ingen Sorg För Mig Göteborg
First Floor Power - We Are The People
David & the Citizens - Now She Sleeps In A Box In The Good Soil Of Denmark
Hell on Wheels - Soda
Silverbullit - Magnetic City
The Knife - Kino
The Embassy - It Never Entered My Mind
Marit Bergman - This Is The Year
Differnet - Conflictionary
Radio dept. - Against The Tide
Suburban Kids With Biblical Names - Rent-a-Wreck
Andreas Tilliander - Back In The U.S.A.
Jens Lekman - Maple Leaves
The Tough Alliance - Take No Heroes
Audionom - Dc2
El Perro del Mar - This Loneliness
Frida Hyvönen - Once I Was A Serene Teenage Child
The Concretes - On The Radio

The comp covers a lot of ground, going from twee singalongness through chugging Fugazi-esque rock to electropop. It's very varied but it's
all catchy!

So, if you've yet to discover the wonders of Swedish alternative music (or you're actually part of the Swedish Indie Mafia but haven't got every single track above), please search out and buy Svensk Indie 1988 - 2006. If you've ever loved the pop known as indie, you won't regret it! :-D