(Brushfire, 2006) Matt Costa’s Songs We Sing was originally released in 2005 on indie label Venerable Media, where it apparently caught the attention of Jack Johnson, so the album is being re-released (with a slightly different tracklist) in 2006 on Johnson’s own Brushfire Records. This is wholly appropriate, because Costa is quite comparable to […]

Today, March 10th, 2006, marks the first anniversary of the day MusicBeet was launched.

(New Line, 2006) Swedish rock band The Sounds are certainly not subtle about their love for ’80s American pop music. Virtually every song on their sophomore album, Dying To Say This To You, features an immediately familiar sing-song chorus, catchy synthesizer line, and patently ’80s aesthetic. The most obvious point of comparison for […]

(Modular, 2006) You’d better watch out, because Australian power-trio Wolfmother are coming for you! The Dimensions EP seems to be a direct homage to the greatest of the great rock artists in the ’60s and ’70s, from Andrew Stockdale’s Ozzy/Robert Plant vocals and Hendrix lyrics (”A purple haze is in the sky”) to the […]

(Filter, 2006) Push The Heart is an album that struggles mightily not to suck. Unfortunately, it almost completely fails. Dévics have tried so very hard to make a good, pretty album of indie chamber pop. There are strings and pianos and slow (slooooow) breathy vocals and lovelorn lyrics, but added together all […]

(Filter, 2006) The second album from Even Johansen’s Magnet moniker is one aimed straight at the college demographic, with its polished production, sensitive lyrics, and singer-songwriter aesthetic. Johansen is a Norwegian musician, but his music shows no hint of his background and he could easily be mistaken for an American or Brit. Each […]