Mistakes, etc.

>> Featured Artist: Lonely, Dear

Oh, Sweden! You do so many things so well. I had danced around Loney, Dear's latest release Lonely, Noir for a while and never really honed in on any tracks.

Then one accidentally got left on my iPod. "I Am the Odd One," which brings us Brian Wilson-esque melody and arrangement with the lyrical idiosyncracies of a Sondre Lerche. Normally, these iPodial mistakes would be quickly rectified. But after a listen or two, I decided to keep it on their as my leaving-the-house-in-the-morning song. If you tune out the apologies and self-degrading lyrics, it's quite pleasant.

Two earbuds in!*

>> Album Lookout: It's a Bit Complicated

Art Brut - Released: June 19, 2007 Downtown

Even though I've loved this band's irreverent rock for a while, I've been slow to digging up It's a Bit Complicated.

"Direct Hit" is just as spot-on as the title indicates. Everything I've appreciated about this band - the conversational lyrics, subtle (and not-so-subtle) humor and social commentary along with damn-catchy hooks and powerful rhythm sections.

More to come, I'm sure. For now, it seems to be another winner.

>> Reverting to: 1985 (not 1982)

Speaking of Apple products, I was browsing the iTunes store yesterday and found a personalized list of songs that iTunes "recommends" for me. Looking down the list, I saw a bunch of indie-rock songs - most of which I already owned or had roundly dismissed every owning.

And then I spotted the No. 2 recommendation - Heart's "These Dreams."

After playing the :30 teaser, I decided, "Yeah, I guess they're right. I do need to own that '80s classic." (I cannot tell a lie.) But how did they know? HOW did they know?!



* This is not, and never will be, the Toaster's rating system.