Album Reviews
Lana Del Rey
Born to Die
Feb 10, 2012 Web Exclusive
It's hard not to be put off by the hype. Before Lana Del Rey (née Lizzy Grant) had even released her debut album, she had accumulated nearly half a million Facebook "likes," was the musical guest onSaturday Night Live (in two vocally challenged performances devoid of much stage presence), and announced the re-release of what was essentially Born to Die's prequel, an album she made under her own name that failed to garner much attention upon its initial release in 2010.
Classic Interviews
2010 Artist Survey Bonus Answers: Sharon Van Etten
Jan 18, 2011 Web Exclusive
For Under the Radar’s 8th annual Artist Survey we emailed some of our favorite artists a few questions relating to 2010. However our printed pages weren’t enough to hold all the great responses we got. Pick up a copy of Under the Radar’s Year End issue for interviews with: The Antlers, Bon Iver, Caribou, Club 8, Delphic, Rose Elinor Dougall, Gayngs, Hot Chip, Lost in the Trees, Love is All, The Love Language, Mogwai, of Montreal, Okkervil River,Yoko Ono, Owen Pallett, Plants and Animals, Mark Ronson, Superchunk, Tame Impala, Vampire Weekend, Sharon Van Etten, and Vivian Girls. Then check here for bonus responses not found in the magazine. Here are additional answers from Sharon Van Etten.
Comic Book Reviews
A.D.D.
Vertigo
Feb 08, 2012 Web Exclusive
A.D.D. The title doesn't stand for Attention Deficit Disorder. Instead, readers are introduced to a futuristic society that obsess over a group of teen gamers known as The Adolescent Demo Devision.
Book Reviews
Debbie Nathan
Sybil Exposed: The Extraordinary Story Behind the Famous Multiple Personality Case
Jan 16, 2012 Web Exclusive
Sybil Exposed is a fascinating examination of the truth behind the subject of the 1973 bestseller Sybil and the "multiple personality" case that revolutionized the psychotherapy industry and the study of psychology.
Video Game Reviews
Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim (Android)
HeroCraft Ltd
Aug 12, 2011 #37 – St. Vincent
The purest measure of any game on a phone or tablet is addictiveness, and Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim ends up somewhere right around crack.
News
Listen: Chromatics Cover Neil Young
Feb 11, 2012
Just to make the remainder your Saturday night a bit more atmospheric, about an hour ago Chromatics posted a haunting cover of Neil Young’s “Into the Black.”
Interviews
Zola Jesus
Feb 10, 2012
Nika Roza Danilova—who writes and performs as Zola Jesus—first appeared to the music world with her 2009 debut full-length, The Spoils. Under the Radar caught up with the musician in a park near her West Hollywood home to talk about her new album Conatus, friendly neighborhood critics, and why calling her Zola instead of Nika might not be such a leap in logic.
Pleased to meet you
Body Language
Jan 26, 2012 Web Exclusive
Body Language’s squiggly, headphone-worthy electro-soul feels very... 2011-ish. Social Studies, the band’s excellent EP (with its sugary synth pads and smooth percussion), may harken back to the glistening, disco-lite pop of the early ’80s, but the songs seem linked genetically to this decade, if for no other reason than the music press’s fascination with genre trends.
Lists
Under the Radar’s Top 40 Debut Albums of 2011
Feb 08, 2012
It may have been a difficult year for many people for a multitude of reasons (not least of all, the weak economy), but 2011 was certainly a great year for music. Here at Under the Radar we'd argue that it was an even better year for music than 2010 was, which is why this year we've come up with a Top 40 best debut albums of 2011, versus last year's Top 30.
Each of Under the Radar's writers submitted a list of their Top 20 favorite debut albums of the year. Those lists were all combined and tallied up to form Under the Radar's master Top 40 debuts of 2011 below.
Galleries
Gardens & Villa
Gardens & Villa at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. Photos by Robert Redfield.
- The Civil Wars February 1, 2012 at Ponte Vedra Concert Hall
- Akron/Family Backbooth, Orlando, FL. January 12th 2012
- David Bazan Cafe Eleven, St. Augustine, November 29, 2011
- Morrissey Morrissey at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA, November 26, 2011
- Mister Heavenly Cafe Eleven, St. Augustine, November 8, 2011
Blog
Frengers en français
Feb 06, 2012
Frengers first crossed my ears in January of 2005. Entering the final stages of a degree in Film Production, I considered myself an “artist”—a dreamer of dreams, a hoper of hopes, and journalier of all matter of poetic crap (wherein the previous two phrases actually made an appearance). Having recently suffered the combined reality check of film school classes run amuck and mind-numbing internships, it became imperative to study abroad.
Cinema Reviews
In the Land of Blood and Honey
Dec 24, 2011 Web Exclusive
It's not that the amateurish directing is at fault in Angelina Jolie's debut as a writer/director: it borders on competent. But her atrocious script and misguided approach to the subject matter render In the Land of Blood and Honey odious.
DVD Reviews
Some Girls Live In Texas 1978 Blu-ray/DVD
Studio: Eagle Vision
Jan 20, 2012 Web Exclusive
Live in Texas 1978 is a wonderful complement to the recent deluxe reissue of Some Girls, finding the Stones stripped down to its essential elements in a concert that featured seven songs from that album. Don't be fooled by the disco song. This is rock and roll at its most vital.
Television Reviews
Comic Book Men
AMC, Sundays 10/9 Central
Feb 12, 2012 Web Exclusive
Comic Book Men is a new reality series focused on a New Jersey-based comic book shop, Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash, which is owned by Kevin Smith (Clerks, etc.). Smith appears in the series via narrative interstitials of a sort, wherein he and the shop's employees gather to record a podcast, but the show focuses on the shops three employees and a non-employee who's perpetually hanging out at the store (and looks disturbingly like a shaggier version of Paul Giamatti). It's better than I thought it would be.