Under the Radar | Music Blog for the Indie Music Magazine

Album Reviews

Lo-Fang
Blue Film

Apr 16, 2014 Web Exclusive

Lo-Fang tries to do too much on his debut album, Blue Film. The project of classically trained multi-instrumentalist cum co-producer Matthew Hemerlein, Blue Film packs in every musical tendency and ability he has.

Architecture in Helsinki
NOW + 4EVA

Apr 15, 2014 Web Exclusive

Moving from indie oddballs to pop pleasure-seekers should have been easy for Architecture in Helsinki, but the Australian ensemble are hampered by a desire to be taken seriously on their appallingly-titled fourth LP, NOW + 4EVA.

Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks
Enter the Slasher House

Apr 14, 2014 Web Exclusive

Animal Collective's Dave Portner said his new solo effort, Avey Tare's Slasher Flicks, was inspired by horror films, like the name implies. The bad news is that if he meant Enter the Slasher Houseto sound scary, he pretty much failed. 

Classic Interviews

Dent May: My Firsts

Dent May: My Firsts
Dent May on His First Car, First Time Getting Drunk, and Early Musical Experiences

Aug 27, 2012 Web Exclusive

My Firsts is our new email interview series where we ask musicians to tell us about their first life experiences, be it early childhood ones (first word, first concert, etc.) or their first tastes of being a musician (first band, first tour, etc.). For this My Firsts we talk to Mississippi native Dent May. Read on as May discusses the first album he bought, an Air-assisted car crash, the '90s boy band he loved, and a creepy coworker.

Comic Book Reviews

Sucker Bait and Other Stories and Zero Hour and Other Stories
The EC Comics Library

Apr 01, 2014 Issue #49 - February/March 2014 - Portlandia

The EC Comics Library showcases the heyday of William Gaines' EC Comics publishing company during the golden age of comics.

Book Reviews

Bruce Pavitt
Experiencing Nirvana: Grunge in Europe, 1989

Feb 11, 2014 Web Exclusive

In Experiencing Nirvana, SubPop Records co-founder Bruce Pavitt documents the 1989 Mudhoney and Tad/Nirvana tours through Europe in 1989. 

Interviews

I Break Horses

Apr 16, 2014 Issue #49 - February/March 2014 - Portlandia

Sweden's I Break Horses broke out in 2011 when their debut, Hearts, was met with critical acclaim across Europe and North America. Within a year, singer Maria Lindén and collaborator Fredrik Balck were invited to support M83 on a tour across the United States.

Mogwai

Apr 11, 2014 Issue #49 - February/March 2014 - Portlandia

Back in 1997 on their first-ever U.S. tour, in support of Pavement, Mogwai was anointed by no less an authority than Stephen Malkmus as "the first band of the 21st century." When reminded of this, their guitarist Stuart Braithwaite says with a laugh, "We're getting old! But that was a very nice thing for him to say." 

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Pleased to meet you

Casual Sex

Mar 12, 2014 Web Exclusive

Scottish post-punk quartet Casual Sex will play the first of Under the Radar's three SXSW 2014 parties today (Wednesday, March 12th) at 3:15 PM. Guitarist and lead vocalist Sam Smith took some time to answer a few questions for us ahead of the event.

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Lists

Ranked: 2014 Oscar Nominated Live Action Short Films

Feb 28, 2014

The 86th Annual Academy Awards ceremony will happen this Sunday, March 2nd. This week we've taken a look at this year's short film competitions. The Academy defines a short film as an original motion picture running 40 minutes or less, and excludes all advertisments, unaired or unsold television episodes, or credit sequences from feature-length films. Our critic, Shawn Hazelett, watched and ranked all of this year's Oscar-nominated shorts. In this final installment, he'll look at this year's live action category. 

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Galleries

Elbow
at The O2 in London, England, April 16, 2014


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Live reviews

Future Islands at The Southern Café and Music Hall, Charlottesville, VA, March 23, 2014

Mar 25, 2014 By Cody Ray Shafer

It's been a pretty great month for Future Islands. It started with a now-viral performance on Letterman, followed by a buzz-worthy string of shows at SXSW (including our own showcase), and now they're kicking off their cross-country tour to support their latest album, Singles, which dropped this week.

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Blog

Game of Thrones: “The Lion and the Rose” (Season 4: Episode 2) Recap/Analysis

Apr 14, 2014 By Cody Ray Shafer

After an already strong start, HBO's Game of Thrones ups the ante with one of its best hours yet. Last week's premiere was ominous, and while I counted off the characters most clueless to the oncoming storm as the most likely to suffer, I was not expecting this.

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Current Issue

Issue #49

Feb 21, 2014 Issue #49 - February/March 2014 - Portlandia

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Cinema Reviews

The Railway Man

Apr 15, 2014 Web Exclusive

The Railway Man is an ambitious, well-intentioned film plagued by flat, predictable storytelling.

DVD Reviews

The Wolf of Wall Street Blu-ray/DVD
Studio: Paramount

Mar 31, 2014 Web Exclusive

The Wolf Of Wall Street plays like the hyper-tweaked third act of Goodfellas, and while Henry's final day turned off certain audiences in 1990, extended to 3 hours in Wall St., it's almost like an endurance test to excess. To some, that may sound like hell. To this reviewer, it's the best film of the year, and possibly the movie of the decade.

Television Reviews

Game of Thrones: “The Lion and the Rose” (Season 4: Episode 2) Recap/Analysis
HBO, Sundays 9 p.m.

Apr 14, 2014 Web Exclusive

After an already strong start, HBO's Game of Thrones ups the ante with one of its best hours yet. Last week's premiere was ominous, and while I counted off the characters most clueless to the oncoming storm as the most likely to suffer, I was not expecting this.