Julien Baker Announces New Album, Shares “Appointments”

Aug 17, 2017 Christopher Roberts

Singer/songwriter Julien Baker has announced her new album, Turn Out the Lights, and shared its first single, "Appointments." Turn Out the Lights is due out October 27 via Matador, her first for the label. Below is "Appointments," followed by the album's tracklist and cover art, as well as her upcoming tour dates.

Downtown Boys - Victoria Ruiz and Joey La Neve DeFrancesco on “Cost of Living”

Aug 17, 2017 Web Exclusive

On tour, it's not unusual for Downtown Boys' frontwoman Victoria Ruiz to wake up at 6 a.m. and field conference calls for the Center for Popular Democracy, all day, until show time. Day jobs are a fact of life for almost anyone in a band, minus pop stars and rock and roll fossils, but vary rarely do they align so purely with a group's philosophy.

Avey Tare on “Eucalyptus”

Aug 16, 2017 Web Exclusive

Avey Tare's new solo album of unexpected spacious delights should actually come as no surprise to anyone who has followed Animal Collective since the wild rumpus days of their broadly experimental records such as Danse Manatee; Spirit They've Gone, Spirit They've Vanished; and the wild live jaunt Hollinndagain. 

Middle Kids

Jul 21, 2017 Issue #60 - Father John Misty

The band name chosen by Sydney, Australia trio Middle Kids also describes the upbringing of singer Hannah Joy and multi-instrumentalist Tim Fitz. "Tim and I are both middle kids," Joy explains. "I think it's common to find middle kids being a little bit unsure of their place in the family.

Under the Radar’s Top 50 Albums of 2017 So Far

Jul 13, 2017

In the past we've avoided posting midyear best albums lists. It seemed somehow impatient and premature to evaluate the year's albums halfway through. And how do you decide which period the list covers, which arbitrary release date do you work out is the cut off point, as every midyear list seems to cover a different period? But 2017 is a year that demands a partial evaluation. The first half of the year has already produced enough strong albums to easily fill a Top 50, but also the second half of 2017 is stacked with so many high profile releases that threaten to overshadow some of the gems released so far. For example, we've already heard some August and September releases that we're certain will make the upper echelons of our final best albums of 2017 list come December.

To make this list an album had to be released for the first time (no reissues) somewhere between January 1, 2017 and last Friday, July 7. That means there are some good albums out tomorrow (such as Waxahatchee, Japanese Breakfast, and The Dears) that may made this list had we extended the period that far. Fourteen of our writers and editors (including myself and my co-publisher/wife Wendy Redfern) each submitted a list of their 20 favorite albums released this year thus far. Their number one album was worth 20 points, their number two worth 19 points, and so on until their number 20 album and any honorable mentions were worth one point each. All of that was calculated into the final list. By the way, this year we've interviewed 38 of the artists in the Top 50 and reviewed almost all these albums, so continue reading Under the Radar, both in print and online, for further proof that in-depth music journalism is far from dead. By Mark Redfern

Panorama 2017: Highlights & Observations

Aug 04, 2017 By Austin Trunick

NYC’s Panorama is a relatively young festival, which makes the smoothness with which it ran very impressive.

Reissued and Revisited: The Television Personalities on Fire Records

Aug 14, 2017 By Austin Trunick

Too often overlooked, Fire Records has admirably sought to rectify the situation by reissuing the Television Personalites' first four LPs on vinyl and CD.