Under the Radar | Music Blog for the Indie Music Magazine

Album Reviews

Karen O and Danger Mouse
Lux Prima

Mar 19, 2019 Web Exclusive

Any doubts that one may have about Karen O (enigmatic lead singer of Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and artist/producer Danger Mouse (Gnarls Barkley, Broken Bells, Gorillaz, etc.) making strange bedfellows are quickly dismissed upon hearing the imaginative and gratifying Lux Prima.

Strand of Oaks
Eraserland

Mar 18, 2019 Issue #65 - Mitski and boygenius

In a robotic world, genuine rock 'n' roll is still worthy of acclaim. These days, the household names are Kurt Vile, The War on Drugs, and Courtney Barnett, but we might want to add Strand of Oaks to that list.

Foals
Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost - Part 1

Mar 15, 2019 Issue #65 - Mitski and boygenius

While listening to this latest dour record from UK art-rockers Foals, it is tempting to wonder what might have happened if they'd lent into the goofier side of their sound ("Cassius, it's over!"/"One step!

Classic Interviews

The End: Richard Hawley on Endings and Death
"[I'd like to be reincarnated as] a very old guitar, owned and loved by many."

Feb 05, 2016 Issue #55 - November/December 2015 - EL VY

To end out the week, we ask Richard Hawley some questions about endings and death. The Sheffield, England-based singer/songwriter/guitarist recently released his seventh solo album, Hollow Meadows, on Warner Bros.

Comic Book Reviews

Ye
Top Shelf

Mar 15, 2019 Issue #65 - Mitski and boygenius

Ye, by Guilherme Petreca, is a really gorgeous book; the art is idiosyncratic—both cartoony and lush—and lends itself very well to the fable/fairy tale-esque storytelling regarding a mostly mute man who is grappling with the influence of The Colorless King—which is revealed, at least for Ye, to be something close to PTSD.

Book Reviews

Peter Benjaminson
The Story of Motown

Feb 23, 2019 Web Exclusive

Originally released in 1979 and reissued here with a forward by Greil Marcus, The Story of Motown is a riveting introduction to the famous record label.

News

Watch Sharon Van Etten Give It Her All in Tight “Comeback Kid” Performance on “Fallon”

Mar 19, 2019 Christopher Roberts

Sharon Van Etten released a new album, Remind Me Tomorrow, in January via Jagjaguwar (it was our Album of the Week). Last night she stopped by The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to perform the album's "Comeback Kid." Van Etten really gave it her all in an impassioned performance that was aided by her tight backing band.

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Interviews

16th Annual Artist Survey: Piroshka

Mar 17, 2019 Issue #65 - Mitski and boygenius

For Under the Radar's 16th Annual Artist Survey we emailed some of our favorite artists a few questions relating to the last year, plus some fun personal questions.

The End: Jake Webb of Methyl Ethel

Mar 15, 2019 Web Exclusive

To end out the week, we ask Jake Webb of Methyl Ethel some questions about endings and death.

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Pleased to meet you

Pip Blom Share Video for New Song “Daddy Issues”

Mar 06, 2019

Pip Blom are a four-piece band from Amsterdam, but it's also the name of the band's frontwoman. They are releasing their debut album, Boat, on May 31 via Heavenly/[PIAS]. Now they have shared another song from the album, "Daddy Issues," via a video for the track.

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Lists

Ranked: 2019 Oscar Nominated Documentary Shorts

Feb 24, 2019

Best Documentary Short is routinely one of the strongest categories, perhaps because the natural, open-ended approach to documentary filmmaking sees incredibly ambitious projects peter out. Certainly the reverse happens, as with Hoop Dreams. Unfortunately, this year includes two entries that might technically fall within the parameters of documentary filmmaking, but are too calculated and told from the benefit of hindsight to have the typical effect of nonfiction storytelling. No, not every documentary needs to be vérité, but every documentary should create a sense of the present tense. The two that do not heavily dilute the category.

By Shawn Hazelett

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Galleries

elrow
elrow NYC

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Live reviews

Inside the Extraordinary World of teamLab Borderless, Tokyo, Japan

Mar 04, 2019 By Laura Studarus

I honestly don’t know why, when I ordered my chamomile green tea at the café inside of teamLab Borderless, I thought I’d just be drinking tea.

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Blog

Forgotten Songs: Matt Eaton of Pram on Algebra Suicide’s “True Romance at the Worlds Fair”

Mar 15, 2019 By Matt Eaton

Forgotten Songs is our recurring series where a musician or one of our writers examines a song they love that they feel has been overlooked. It could be a song by an artist who never made it big, or it could be a B-side/rarity or unheralded album track by a more well known artist.