Nov 03, 2010 By Danielle Sills Web Exclusive

Conor J. O’Brien has been making music for years, but for the first time, he’s leaving his Dublin hometown to play around the world. He started Villagers the day after his previous band, The Immediate, dissipated. While O’Brien is used to touring the pubs in Ireland, his stateside tour with Villagers is an entirely new experience for him.In the couple short years since he started writing songs under the name Villagers, O’Brien has been nominated for the U.K.’s prestigious Mercury Prize, and his debut album, Becoming a Jackal, has shot to the top of the Irish Albums Chart and the indie charts in the U.K. More

Nov 03, 2010 By Laura Studarus Web Exclusive

One man band Ernest Greene—aka Washed Out—found unexpected success last year when the blog-endorsed rise of chillwave coincided with the release of his debut Life of Leisure EP. Now, having completed tours with Beach House, Yeasayer, and Small Black, Greene is diving back into the recording process for his next big trick—Washed Out’s first full-length. Greene spoke to Under the Radar from his bedroom studio about the creative process and expectations for what’s in store.  More

Oct 27, 2010 By Frank Valish Web Exclusive

If it seems to you that Irish trio Two Door Cinema Club has been on the road almost constantly since its debut, Tourist History, came out in early 2010, you'd be pretty much right. As guitarist Sam Halliday reports, from the road (surprise) prior to an October gig in Philadelphia, the band can count its days off since the album's release on one hand.  More

Oct 22, 2010 By Frank Valish Web Exclusive

Last month, Rose Elinor Dougall spoke with Under the Radar about her participation on the new Mark Ronson album, Record Collection (see our current issue). However, she was kind enough to also spend some time giving us the scoop on her own new, fantastic solo debut, Without Why.  More

Oct 22, 2010 By Laura Studarus Web Exclusive

Kisses take their name very seriously. The Los Angeles duo Jesse Kivel (vocals) and Zinzi Edmundson (keyboards) spin Baltic-style pop laced with shamelessly sweet lyrics—sung with a conviction that would make Jens Lekman proud. Theirs is a world of martinis served straight up, drives under a starry sky, and retro interiors untouched by hipster hands. More

Oct 18, 2010 By Chris Tinkham Web Exclusive

Klara Söderberg of First Aid Kit would like people to know that she and her sister Johanna were an active duo performing shows in Sweden before folks in the U.S. discovered them through their cover of Fleet Foxes' "Tiger Mountain Peasant Song" on YouTube. "I don't want them to think we were not making music and then did the Fleet Foxes cover and were like, 'Oh, we can make music,'" Klara explains. "We've always been doing our own songs, and that has been the main thing." More

Oct 12, 2010 By Frank Valish Issue #33 - Fall 2010 - Interpol

Going into the follow-up to his 2007 smash album Version,  Mark Ronson knew he needed to do something different. Although Ronson's previous production work with Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen catapulted him to the forefront of prestigious DJs/producers worldwide, Version established him as an artist in his own right, with its danceable, horn-filled reinterpretations of seminal British songs from the likes of Radiohead, The Jam, and The Smiths. The album was cutting edge, but with its success came a backlash, especially from those who took offense to his genre-hopping covers of what Ronson refers to as beloved sacred cows. More

Oct 11, 2010 By Mike Hilleary Issue #33 - Fall 2010 - Interpol

While he's never engaged in a down-and-out brawl before, actor Simon Helberg can throw a mean punch, having earned a black belt in karate by the time he was 10 years old. That's not to say, however, that he won't feel really, really bad about it. More

Oct 11, 2010 By John Everhart (Intro by and Moderated by) Web Exclusive

Deerhunter and Atlas Sound's Bradford Cox has long professed his love for Stereolab, in particular 1999's Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night, his favorite album by the band. He went so far as to effusively explicate upon its merits on a Deerhunter blog post back in 2007. In an impassioned manner akin to the prime years of the fiery late gonzo journalist Lester Bangs, he also excoriated the publications that panned the album. More