Featured in the

Summer 2006 Issue

Cover Story:

The Dears: Beautiful Losers

Writer Matt Fink interviewed all six members of Montréal’s The Dears. Under the Radar was the first American magazine to interview The Dears, back in 2003, so it’s only fitting that we’re also the first American magazine to interview the band in-depth about their third album Gang of Losers. In the article Lightburn discusses racism, how the birth of his daughter with wife and fellow band-member Natalia Yanchak influenced the album, the prices of success, stripping down The Dears’ sound, the loss of romance, and much more. The seven-page article features photos of the whole band taken in Montréal exclusively for Under the Radar by Christophe Collette, with the cover photo of Murray Lightburn taken exclusively for Under the Radar by Derrick Santini in London. “The romance is just gone. It’s like the difference between losing your virginity in a special memory kind of thing, and being in a porno where there’s boom operators and gaffers, like, ‘Can you do that again Johnny?’ It’s all gone, there’s nothing left, and the battle is trying to get some of it back.” – Murray Lightburn “Look at us, we’re like the Benetton ad of bands. We’ve got a black guy, two girls, you’ve got some French people….We’re not four white guys playing angular chords.” – Natalia Yanchak

Main Features:

Camera Obscura:

Writer August Brown spoke to Tracyanne Campbell, front-woman for this charming six-piece Scottish band, about their third album, Lets Get Out of This Country, which was recorded in Sweden with producer Jari Haapalainen (The Concretes). The article features photos of the band taken exclusively for Under the Radar by Co-Publisher Wendy Lynch in Austin, Texas. “I have doubts about my ability to be a good friend, my abilities as a songwriter. I’m quite hard on myself.” – Tracyanne Campbell

Emily Haines: At the Crossroads

Senior Editor and Co-Publisher Mark Redfern interviewed Metric’s front-woman about her piano-based debut solo album Knives Don’t Have Your Back, the challenges of balancing a personal life with the touring life, the evils of the big pharmaceutical companies, Elliott Smith, innocence lost, and her need for a wife. The five-page article features photos of Haines taken exclusively for Under the Radar by Co-Publisher Wendy Lynch in a Los Angeles photo studio and at a piano store. “What I realized is that I need a wife. And I’m not a lesbian. It’s not a gender-based thing. And I feel like I totally understand why men need wives and why people need maids.” – Emily Haines

Muse:

Writer Marcus Kagler interviewed Muse’s Matthew Bellamy about the U.K. band’s fourth album Black Holes and Revelations, politics, the World Cup, and more. The four-page interview features photos of the band taken exclusively for Under the Radar by Derrick Santini in New York. “I’ve really woken up to the fact that we are actually quite manipulated as the general public by our governments and by the media as well.” – Matthew Bellamy

Sonic Youth: Rather Respectable

Writer Matt Fink spoke to both Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon about Sonic Youth’s 20th album, Rather Ripped, and twenty-five years of skirting the mainstream. The four-page article features photos of the band taken exclusively for Under the Radar in New York by Crackerfarm. “I’ve never fooled myself into thinking that we were a band that can exist too strongly in the mainstream, just because I think we’re too damaged for that musically.” – Thurston Moore

Sufjan Stevens: An Embarrassment of Riches

Writer Matt Fink interviewed Sufjan Stevens about The Avalanche, his album of outtakes from last year’s acclaimed record Illinois. The article features a photo of Stevens taken exclusively for Under the Radar in New York by Sean McCabe. “I think any time there’s a public interest in what you’re doing, you tend to start viewing your work suspiciously. Like, ‘Why do so many people like it? Maybe I’m not doing something correctly? Maybe I’m not taking enough risks.” – Sufjan Stevens

Other Main Features:

Comets On Fire (Words by John Srebalus / Photo by Jeremy Harris)
The Futureheads (Words by Bryan Borzykowski / Photos by Andy Willsher)
Grizzly Bear (Words by Gary Knight / Photo by Hugo Morris)
Lansing-Dreiden (Words by Marcus Kagler / Photos by Sean McCabe)
Juana Molina (Words by Chris Tinkham)
The Sleepy Jackson (Words by Shannon McCarthy / Photo by Jayme Thornton)
Tilly and the Wall (Words by Frank Valish / Photos by Derrick Santini)
The Walkmen (Q&A) (Interview by Gary Knight)
Zero 7 (Words by Bryan Borzykowski / Photo by Hugo Morris)
The Zutons (Words by Gary Knight)

Artists to Watch:

Candy Bars (Words by Gary Knight)
CSS (Words by Gary Knight)
Extra Golden (Words by Gary Knight)
Headlights (Words by Frank Valish / Photo by Michael Lum)
Jamie Lidell (Words by Bryan Borzykowski / Photos by Steven Dewall)
The Pipettes (Words by August Brown / Photos by Derrick Santini)
White Whale (Words by August Brown)

Reviews:

Over 175 albums, singles, EPs, books, and DVDs reviewed, including releases by the following artists:

Adem
The Aliens
Art Brut
A Sunny Day In Glasgow
Bardo Pond
The Beastie Boys
The BellRays
Bedroom Walls
Beirut
Be Your Own Pet
Big Star
Frank Black
Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy
Brightblack Morning Light
Broadcast
Camera Obscura
Candy Bars
Johnny Cash
The Church
Comets on Fire
Couch
The Court & Spark
CSS
Cursive
The Dears
The Delgados
Depeche Mode
Devotchka
The Diableros
Dirty on Purpose
The Electric Soft Parade
Elf Power
Erase Errata
Espers
Extra Golden
Fatboy Slim
Final Fantasy
French Kicks
Matthew Friedberger
The Futureheads
Lisa Germano
Gnarls Barkley
Gomez
Jose Gonzalez
Grizzly Bear
Robin Guthrie
Emily Haines
Happy Mondays
Headlights
The Heavy Blinkers
Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid
Micah P. Hinson
Holy Fuck
Hot Chip
Howlin Rain
Human Television
Islands
James Figurine
The Jesus and Mary Chain
Daniel Johnston
Kaada
Keane
The Knife
Ladytron
Lambchop
Ray LaMontagne
Languis
Lansing-Dreiden
The Late Cord
Jamie Lidell
The Long Winters
Luna
Matmos
Midlake
Amy Millan
Mission of Burma
Moby
Mojave 3
Alexi Murdoch
Muse
Nouvelle Vague
Of Montreal
Oneida
Gram Parsons
Peaches
Peeping Tom
Phoenix
Portastatic
Psapp
Radio 4
Rainer Maria
The Research
<<rinôçérôse>>
The Robot Ate Me
Carina Round
Rush
Say Hi to Your Mom
Shapes and Sizes
Shearwater
Silversun Pickups
Six Organs of Admittance
The Sleepy Jackson
Small Sins
Smoosh
Snow Patrol
Some Girls
Sonic Youth
Sound Team
Candi Stanton
Sufjan Stevens
Tapes ‘n Tapes
Mia Doi Todd
Tortoise
The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players
Twilight Singers
Chad VanGaalen
The Velvet Teen
Venice Is Sinking
Voxtrot
Scott Walker
The Walkmen
M. Ward
The Wedding Present
White Whale
Thom Yorke
Zero 7
The Zutons
And more…

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