| Under
the Radar unleashes 2008’s Protest Issue, using
the time-honored connection between politics and music to promote
political dialogue and awareness. The Protest Issue features
two alternating collectable covers: one with R.E.M.’s
Michael Stipe and Modest
Mouse’s Isaac Brock, the other with Death
Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla, The
Decembrists’ Colin Meloy, and Spoon’s
Britt Daniel. Inside the issue, you’ll find
in-depth interviews and photo shoots exploring the intersection
of music and politics as artists tackle issues ranging from Darfur
to the environment to the upcoming 2008 U.S. presidential election.
This is a pivotal era in America’s history and never has the
time to utilize musicians’ voices through the media been more
apropos.
As with Under the Radar’s
2004 Protest Issue, we have asked an eclectic array of
artists to contribute to the 2008 issue. For the issue we have conducted
photo shoots with musical artists holding protest signs of their
own making that will be auctioned for charity (we provided the materials
and the artists painted a message of their own choosing on the signs).
Artists interviewed for one of the political
articles and photographed with a protest sign include:
British Sea Power, Jarvis Cocker,
The Dears, Death Cab for Cutie, The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy,
Michael Franti, Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock, OK Go, Peter Bjorn
and John’s Peter Morén, Public Enemy’s Chuck
D, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, R.E.M.’s
Michael Stipe, Shout Out Louds, Spoon’s Britt Daniel, Stars,
and Tomas Young
(of the documentary Body of War).
Artists just photographed with protest
signs (but not interviewed) include: Akron/Family,
Billy Bragg, Built to Spill, The Dresden Dolls, The Duke Spirit,
Elbow, Fleet Foxes, The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne, Foals,
Sharon Jones, Talib Kweli, Les Savy Fav, Jamie Lidell, Lightspeed
Champion, Metric, My Brightest Diamond, My Morning Jacket, Neon
Neon, Okkervil River, Rilo Kiley’s Pierre de Reeder, Rogue
Wave, Sons and Daughters, St. Vincent, and
Supergrass.
Artists just interviewed for one
of the political articles (but not photographed) include: Bright
Eyes’ Conor Oberst, Cadence Weapon, Justin Townes Earle, Extra
Golden, Tim Fite, The Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir, Emmanuel Jal,
Damien Jurado, Seun Kuti, Moby, Superchunk’s Mac McCaughan,
System of a Down’s Serj Tankian, and
Caetano Veloso.
Each protest sign has been autographed
by the artists and will be auctioned off on eBay, with proceeds
going to War Child International, www.warchild.us,
a nonprofit that helps children in areas of conflict across the
globe. The auction will go live on September 30th.
The special Protest Issue
section features these political articles:
Body
of War: Veteran Tomas Young’s
Fight Against the War in Iraq
An article on the acclaimed documentary Body of War, which
is about paralyzed Iraq War veteran and anti-war protestor Tomas
Young. The article is based on an interview with Young and is written
by Jim Scott.
“We need to show the human
side of the cost of war. What’s not on the six o’clock
news.” – Tomas Young
Issues
Around the World: International
Musicians Speak Out
This article covers various political issues around the world and
touches on Africa, Canada, China, Iraq, the U.K., Sweden, and China.
The article incorporates interviews with: British
Sea Power’s Martin Noble, Jarvis Cocker, The Dears’
Murray Lightburn, Extra Golden’s Alex Minoff, Emmanuel Jal,
Eddie Moretti (co-director of the documentary film
Heavy Metal in Baghdad, which is about the Iraqi heavy
metal band Acrassicauda), Peter Bjorn
and John’s Peter Morén, Kyle Shaefer of the Chinese
indie label Tag Team Records, Shout Out Louds’ Ted Malmros,
Stars’ Torquil Campbell, and
Joewi Verhoeven (the half-Dutch/half-Chinese lead
singer of the China-based band Arrows Made of Desire). The nine-page
article is written by Marcus Kagler.
“China is taking oil from
Sudan and bringing in guns. The reason I protest the Olympics is
to stand up to the world and say, ‘China is also responsible
for genocide in Sudan.’” –
Emmanuel Jal
“All the industry has been
outsourced to poorer countries where it doesn’t cost as much.
In a way, the working class has become the consuming class, buying
up needless shit to keep the system rolling along. I think that’s
sad.” – Jarvis Cocker
Musicians and Politics
in 2008:
Can It Work?
Election time is nearly upon us. And once again, disaffected citizens
are calling for reform. Seven and a half years of George W. Bush’s
policies have led Americans of all stripes to anticipate the day
of regime change in the United States, and, as usual, musicians
are speaking out. The presidential race will be pitting Illinois
senator Barack Obama against presumptive Republican nominee John
McCain in the ultimate fighting championship of political discourse
and a veritable shitstorm of confusion, dishonesty, and questioning.
The artistic community is organizing in response, but politics is
tricky business.
It is probably no great surprise
that most musicians (at least those within Under the Radar’s
demographic) are Democratic-leaning, and of those who have pledged
an allegiance this time around, most are supporting Barack Obama,
save your high-profile endorsements of Hillary Clinton by Elton
John and Elvis Costello and some vaguely defined support of John
McCain from composer Burt Bacharach. Artists including R.E.M., Arcade
Fire, The Decemberists, Bright Eyes, Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy,
and Superchunk have all voiced support for Obama in some form or
fashion.
Yet many artists came out in support
for Democratic nominee John Kerry in 2004, and little changed in
the way of executive control. So as we venture down this well-trodden
road once more, we must examine the issue of artist advocacy with
an eye toward effectiveness. The issues at hand are of the utmost
importance, but by what means can change be truly effected? What
is the best way for an artist to use his or her voice? How can music
spur debate or action? Or are people too cynical at this point to
even care?
This article tackles whether musicians
and protest songs can really influence politics and political opinion.
The article touches on those artists who out on the 2008 campaign
trail actively supporting Barack Obama and also reflects on the
2004 Vote for Change Tour for John Kerry. The eleven-page article
incorporates interviews with the following: Andy
Bernstein of HeadCount (an organization that encourages
young people to register to vote at concerts), Bright
Eyes’ Conor Oberst, The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy, Justin
Townes Earle (Steve Earle’s son), The Grateful Dead’s
Bob Weir, Damien Jurado, Moby, Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock,
OK Go’s Damian Kulash, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom
Morello, R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, Heather Smith of Rock the
Vote, Spoon’s Britt Daniel, Superchunk’s Mac McCaughan,
and System of a Down’s
Serj Tankian. The article is written by Frank Valish.
“What we end up with is essentially
a spokesperson. We’re voting for the fucking class president,
but we’re not actually voting for the principal.” –
Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock
“I don’t think anyone
out there is thinking, ‘I need to end the crisis in Darfur.
I’ll start a rock band.’” –
OK Go’s Damian Kulash
“People should be
cynical about the electoral process. All you have to do is look
at its history. But I don’t believe people should be at all
cynical about the possibility of creating real, substantive change.”
– Rage Against the Machine’s
Tom Morello
“Naïve, idealistic people
like me think that showing up and playing a concert and spouting
a few political platitudes is somehow going to change things. And
unfortunately, it doesn’t.” –
Moby
Protest
Q&As with Isaac Brock, Britt Daniel, and Colin Meloy
Short politically themed Q&As with The
Decemberists’ Colin Meloy, Modest Mouse’s Isaac Brock,
and Spoon’s Britt Daniel.
“I’ve always watched
other people use their ‘celebrity’ as a platform, and
there’s two ways to look at that. Either you can see it as
a viable way of shining a light on a certain issue or an agenda,
by using that platform, or you can also see a disingenuousness about
it, that potentially you’re just using it as an opportunity
to show how aware you are.” –
The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy
“If you think about all the
energy and the time that’s spent on covering
elections, we could actually be talking about issues.” –
Spoon’s Britt Daniel
The
Pump Don’t Work, ’Cause the Vandals Took the Handles
A political essay written by Death
Cab for Cutie’s Chris Walla about Mark McKinnon,
who, until recently, was a campaign advisor to John McCain.
Reclaiming
the Mic: Hip-Hop and Protest
An article written by Matt Fink that examines how Hip-Hop has lost
its social conscious and activist roots, and that incorporates interviews
with: Cadence Weapon, Tim Fite, Michael
Franti, and Public Enemy’s Chuck D.
“Now you have a whole generation
of kids who grow up wanting to be 50 Cent. I remember when there
was a whole generation of kids growing up wanting to be Chuck D.
That’s a different philosophy.”
– Michael Franti
“Music has as much power as
a speech or a war chant. It can start wars and it can make peace.”
– Chuck D
Michael
Stipe: New Adventures in Activism
An article on R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe about his history of
political activism and his current political views. Written by Frank
Valish.
“You can see that [the TV
news journalists are] just talking out of their asses because they
get a fat paycheck out of it, or it strokes their ego to do so—possibly
even, as devil’s advocate, supporting a position that they
themselves don’t even hold.”
–
Michael Stipe
Tights and the Good
Fight: Politics and Comic Books
An examination of such political comic books as War Heroes,
DMZ, and Ex Machina that incorporates interviews
with these acclaimed comic book writers: Mark
Millar, Brian K. Vaughan, and Brian
Wood. Written by J. Pace.
“Books like Watchmen
and [The] Dark Knight [Returns] toyed
with the big political issues of the day, but dressed them up as
mainstream entertainment. We don’t get too uncomfortable when
the lines are delivered by a man in a cape, but we do pay a little
more attention.” – Mark
Millar
Top
10 Protest Songs of the 21st Century
In which Under the Radar’s writers pick the ten best
protest songs released in
the last eight years.
We
Sometimes Shall Overcome: Four Stories of
Imprisonment and Exile
An article about musicians who were either imprisoned, exiled from
their own country, or executed because of their political views
that incorporates interviews with Seun
Kuti (Fela Kuti’s son) and Caetano
Veloso. Written by J. Pace.
“We wanted to be part of the
international wave of counterculture and, thus, respond more effectively
to the violent oppression we suffered under a military dictatorship
in Brazil.” – Caetano
Veloso
(The following photographers conducted
protest sign photo shoots for The Protest Issue: Christophe
Collette, Crackerfarm, Steven Dewall, Aubrey Edwards, Jim Newberry,
Ron Newkirk, Sheri O’Neal, Wendy Lynch Redfern, Derrick Santini,
Andy Willsher, and Debra Zeller. Steven Dewall also shot both covers
of The Protest Issue.)

Elbow:
Weathering the Storm
Writer Laura Ferreiro interviewed Elbow’s Guy Garvey about
the Manchester, England-based
band’s fourth album, Seldom Seen Kid. Photographer
Aubrey Edwards conducted an exclusive photo shoot with the band
for Under the Radar in New York.
“There were certainly elements
of helping me through the grieving process where this album was
concerned, particularly the last song, ‘Friend of Ours.’
I wrote the beginning of the song the day after [my friend] Bryan
[Glancy] died and I couldn’t finish it. I wrote the end almost
a year to the day after he died. It offers a note of hope as all
our songs do, even the darkest ones. It’s important to offer
hope, especially in troubled
times.” – Guy Garvey
My
Brightest Diamond: Seeing the Sound
Writer Matt Fink interviewed My Brightest Diamond’s Shara
Worden about her new album, A Thousand Shark’s Teeth.
Co-Publisher Wendy Lynch Redfern conducted an exclusive photo shoot
with Worden for Under the Radar at the SXSW music festival
in Austin, Texas.
“I think in pictures maybe
more than in words.”
– Shara Worden
My Morning Jacket:
New Weird Soul
Writer Matt Fink interviewed My Morning Jacket’s Jim James
about the band’s new soul-influenced direction taken with
their fifth studio album, Evil Urges. Photographers Crackerfarm
conducted an exclusive photo shoot with the band for Under the
Radar in New York City.
“With some folk music—and
maybe rock music, too—you can get into a real cerebral place,
but you don’t necessarily want to physically move to it. You
just want to sit in your bed and cry. But I’ve been trying
to get into music that resonates emotionally but with an uplifting
power that also makes me want to jump around the apartment.”
– Jim James
Conor
Oberst: Mexican Getaway
Writer Frank Valish interviewed Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst
about his new self-titled solo album, which was recorded in Mexico.
Co-Publisher Wendy Lynch Redfern conducted an exclusive photo shoot
with Oberst for Under the Radar in Los Angeles last year.
“We did a lot of recording
outside, which was great. We rented a piano from the city, and we
couldn’t fit it in any of the doors, so it just remained on
the porch. I did a lot of my vocals outside. It was a pretty unique
situation and I think because of that, the record sounds like it
does.” – Conor Oberst
Portishead:
Solving Silence
Writer Matt Fink interviewed both Geoff Barrow and Adrian Utley
from Portishead about Third, the Bristol, England-based
band’s first studio album in over a decade. Co-Publisher Wendy
Lynch Redfern conducted an exclusive photo shoot with Portishead
for Under the Radar in Los Angeles.
“We tried working on tracks
as early as 2001, but there wasn’t any direction for us in
any way.” – Adrian Utley
“A lot of magazines or TV
shows want their Portishead
or what they consider is their Portishead. They don’t really
want us, because we’re just difficult fuckers who don’t
want to do anything we don’t want to do.” –
Geoff Barrow
Spiritualized:
Searching for a Spark
Writer Matt Fink interviewed Spiritualized’s Jason Pierce
about the British band’s new album, Songs in A&E.
Pierce almost died of pneumonia and respiratory failure while recording
the album. Co-Publisher Wendy Lynch Redfern conducted an exclusive
photo shoot with Pierce for Under the Radar in Los Angeles.
“This album, the start was
more conceptual. All the songs were
going to be written about fictional characters to get outside of
myself. I thought if I could write about fictional characters I
could write songs that were unlike anything I had done before, but
they didn’t end up like that. They ended up being more personal
than anything I’d done before. The vision for it was quite
different from how it became.” –
Jason Pierce
Supergrass:
Back to Basics
Writer Matt Fink interviewed Supergrass’ Gaz Coombes about
the British band’s new album, Diamond Hoo Ha. Photographer
Derrick Santini conducted an exclusive photo shoot with Supergrass
for Under the Radar in London.
“Normally what makes a song
great isn’t the six other instruments you’ve got over
the guitar chords or the bit of vibraphone or bit of banjo that
appears on the middle eight. What makes a song great is what’s
underneath—the melody, the lyrics, and the chords. Once you
get all that right, you shouldn’t have to rely on loads of
other instruments.” –
Gaz Coombes

Our
section dedicated to the best and most exciting new artists.
The
Black Ghosts: The Princes Of Darkness
Writer Lily Moayeri interviewed both Theo
Keating (formerly known as Touché of The Wiseguys) and Simon
Lord (of Simian, the precursor to Simian Mobile Disco) of the British
duo The Black Ghosts about their eponymous debut full-length album.
“The Black Ghosts has happened
naturally without much struggle or angst. There are too many people
laboring over music. It’s
important to care about what you do, but not squeeze the life out
of it with nitpicking.” –
Simon Lord
Lykke
Li: Swede Revenge
Writer Chris Tinkham interviewed 22-year-old
singer/songwriter Lykke Li about her debut album, Youth Novels,
which was produced by Peter Bjorn and John’s Björn Yttling.
“I’ve been told a lot
of times that I’m not a good singer and I suck, and that I’m
crazy....You want to rebel against everybody who ever doubted you.”
– Lykke Li
Miles
Benjamin Anthony Robinson: Friends Like These
Writer Chris Drabick interviewed New York City-based singer/songwriter
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson about his self-titled debut album,
which was produced by Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor.
“Had I spent that time as
a productive college student, or more focused on something, sometimes
I think my life would be different. It’s only notable in that
it enveloped more of my years than it probably should have. It is
like I got a Master’s or something, like I got my degree in
burnout-ology.” – Miles
Benjamin Anthony Robinson
Reviews:
Over
200 albums, singles, EPs, books, films, TV shows, video games, comic
books, and DVDs reviewed, including the following releases:
Music:
The Accidental
Barry Adamson
Adele
Adem
Air
Ellen Allien
Animal Collective
Anti-Flag
Apes & Androids
David Axelrod
Au
The BellRays
Bitter:Sweet
The Black Angels
Black Francis
The Black Ghosts
Bobby Digital
Broken Social Scene Presents: Brendan Canning
The Chapin Sisters
The Charlatans
The Cinematic Orchestra
Cineplexx
Coldplay
The Cool Kids
CSS
Death to Anders
Pierre de Reeder
Dosh
Dr. Dog
The Dutchess & the Duke
Earlimart
Elbow
Everest
The Faint
Fern Knight
The Fiery Furnaces
Firewater
Fleet Foxes
For Against
Four Tet
Free Kitten
French Kicks
Frightened Rabbit
The Futureheads
Gazelle
Gentle Touch
Ghosty
Gregor Samsa
Neil Hamburger
Albert Hammond Jr.
Juliana Hatfield
Hayden
HEALTH
Hercules and Love Affair
I Love Math
Icy Demons
Indian Jewelry
The Interiors
Islands
Joan As Police Woman
Joan of Arc
Gladys Knight & The Pips
Lackthereof
Dominique Leone
The Little Ones
The Lodger
The Omar Rodriguez Lopez Quintet
Love As Laughter
Lykke Li
The M’s
Mass Solo Revolt
Mates of State
Matmos
Men Without Pants
Midnight Juggernauts
Midnight Movies
Midnight Oil
Mixel Pixel
Mogwai
The Morning Benders
Mudhoney
Muse
My Brightest Diamond
My Morning Jacket
Nana Grizol
Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head
Willie Nelson & Wynton Marsalis
New York Dolls
No Age
The Notwist
Conor Oberst
Odd Nosdam
Old 97’s
The Old Believers
Pas/Cal
Robert Pollard
Ponytail
Port O’Brien
The Raconteurs
Radiohead
Reckless Kelly
The Replacements
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson
Santogold
Sally Shapiro
Shearwater
Silver Jews
Sinkane
Sloan
Son, Ambulance
((Sounder))
Spiritualized
Stars Like Fleas
Steinski
Stereolab
Sunfold
Sunny Day Sets Fire
Sybris
This Is Ivy League
Tilly and the Wall
James Jackson Toth
Twin Tigers
Unicycle Loves You
Vetiver
Violens
The Virgins
Peter Von Poehl
Walter Meego
The War on Drugs
Water Fai
The Watson Twins
We Are Scientists
The Wedding Present
Weezer
Cassandra Wilson
Windmill
Windsor for the Derby
Wolf Parade
Wombats
Thalia Zedek Band
And more…
Film:
Baghead
Frozen River
Man on Wire
The Wackness
Television:
30 Days
Generation Kill
Intervention
Tim and Eric’s Awesome Show: Great Job!
Tony Palmer’s All You Need is Love
Yung Yeti
DVDs:
The Adventures of Baron
Munchausen
Castanets: Tendrils
Cloverfield
Control
Daft Punk’s Electroma
Heavy Metal in Baghdad
Jimmy Carter: Man From Plains
Joy Division: The Miriam Collection
King Corn
Mannequin/Mannequin 2: On the Move
New Order: Live in Glasgow
Serial Mom
Video Games:
Grand Theft Auto IV
Mario Kart Wii
Okami
Rock Band Wii
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
WiiWare
Books:
David Browne: Goodbye
20th Century: A Biography of Sonic Youth
Malcolm Croft: Little Black Book of Setlists and The
Little Red Riders Book
Ken Garner: The Peel Sessions: A Story of Teenage Dreams and
One Man’s Love of New Music
Farah Jasmine Griffin and Salim Washington: Clawing at the Limits
of Cool: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and the Greatest Jazz Collaboration
Ever
Amanda Petrusich: It Still Moves: Lost Songs, Lost
Highways, and the Search for the Next American Music
Robert Pollard: Town of Mirrors: The Reassembled Imagery
of Robert Pollard
Suze Rotolo: A Freewheelin’ Time: A Memoir of Greenwich
Village in the Sixties
Simon Spence: Immediate Records
Comic Books:
Basic Instructions:
Help is on the Way: A Collection of Basic Instructions
Black Adam: The Dark Age
Countdown to Final Crisis Volumes 1 – 4
Infinity Inc.: Luthor’s Monsters Vol. 1
Metal Men
Marvel 1985
The Perhapanauts
Screamland
Suburban Glamour Vol. 1
Superman: Escape from Bizarro World
Teen Titans: Titans of Tomorrow
The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite
Vinyl Underground Vol. 1: Watching the Detectives
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