Oct 08, 2010
By Chris Tinkham
Web Exclusive
In Stone, Edward Norton plays Gerald "Stone" Creeson, a prison inmate who's served the majority of his sentence for covering up the death of his grandparents. Jack Mabry, played by Robert De Niro, is the parole official who holds the keys to Stone's future. As a series of erratic and increasingly contentious confrontations ensue between the two characters, questions about spirituality and the right to judge come to the fore. Under the Radar spoke with Stone director John Curran (We Don't Live Here Anymore, The Painted Veil) last week about working with two of today's most respected actors. More
Oct 07, 2010
By Jeremy Nisen
Issue #33 - Fall 2010 - Interpol
Jeff Lemire, the writer/artist behind Sweet Tooth, refers to his creation as “lo-fi sci-fi.” “I always consider Sweet Tooth something you draw in the basement, not a glossy sci-fi comic,” he says."
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Oct 07, 2010
By Hays Davis
Web Exclusive
Neil Hannon has been happily plowing his particular furrow of witty, theatrical pop for more than two decades as The Divine Comedy. After years of freely employing horns and strings to a pop framework that has avoided seeming dated thanks to the alternately current/timeless sense of his lyrics, Hannon is presently preparing songs for an upcoming U.K. musical based on the children's book, Swallows and Amazons. We spoke to Hannon about Swallows, the new Divine Comedy album (Bang Goes the Knighthood), extremely long vocal notes, the future of The Duckworth Lewis Method, and Doctor Who.
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Oct 06, 2010
By Laura Studarus
Web Exclusive
Some countries are known exporters. The U.K. has been a rock giant ever since the Fab Four busted out of their borders, Sweden has carved out a notable Scandinavian pop niche, and Canada has been busy breaking social scenes and setting arcades on fire for some time now. But what about other countries whose bands don’t always make it to stateside indie stardom? In such an interconnected world, why are there still large places on the musical map with question marks? On a recent visit to Poland to cover the OFF Festival; Under the Radar set out to fill in some of those blanks. Assisting our exploration were musicians Natalia Fiedorczuk, Jacek Kąkolewski. Both scene stalwarts, and members of Happy Pills—a six piece who take cues from Pixies, Sonic Youth, and Smashing Pumpkins among others—they told us about the Polish music scene, cultural expectations, and their big break in the U.S. that didn’t happen. More
Oct 06, 2010
By Kyle Lemmon
Issue #33 - Fall 2010 - Interpol
"This is not good.” Those are the foreboding first words you read in the debut issue of Image Comics’ The Walking Dead. There is no over-the-top internal monologue from a main character, or omnipresent narrator clueing you in to the overall through-line. It’s just a bleak, monochromatic landscape, punctuated by telephone poles and a pivotal police shootout. More
Sep 30, 2010
By Stephen Humphries
Web Exclusive
Legend has it that the apocalypse will be preceded the sound of the hooves of four horsemen. But the British trio BEAK>, fronted by Portishead's Geoff Barrow, creates a Krautrock sound so exquisitely doom-laden that you'd be forgiven for thinking that the end of days are near. More
Sep 30, 2010
By Kyle Lemmon
Web Exclusive
Summer Camp is not a chillwave band. Despite the warm, analog indie-pop tunes coming from the North London-via-Surrey duo, their catchy blend of hazy nostalgia has legs beyond the warm months of June, July, and August. It's the soundtrack to compassionate first kisses, awkward prom portraits, dancing all night long, stupid keggers where you go out of complete boredom, and well, high school in general. Read our interview with Jeremy Warmsley and Elizabeth Sankey. More
Sep 27, 2010
By Chris Tinkham
Web Exclusive
The Fall 2010 issue of Under the Radar includes a feature on Philip Seymour Hoffman, who has made his screen directorial debut with Jack Goes Boating. The film, written by Bob Glaudini, is an adaptation of Glaudini's off-Broadway play, which was produced in 2007 when Hoffman and John Ortiz were artistic directors for the Labyrinth Theatre Company. Hoffman and Ortiz both starred in the play and reprise their roles on screen. More
Sep 10, 2010
By Frank Valish
Web Exclusive
On the final night of his New York City art show, The Public Hi-Fi Balloon, Robert Pollard agreed to give Under the Radar a glimpse into the process of his collage work and explain what's behind his other artistic passion. More
Aug 23, 2010
By Kyle Lemmon
Web Exclusive
It's hard to think that !!! (Chk-Chk-Chk) have been together for 14 years. That's quite the feat in and of itself. In anticipation of their danceable (of course) fourth LP, Strange Weather, Isn't it?, streeting this week (August 24), we talked to Nic Offer, singer and leader of the NYC/Sacramento/Portland/Pittsburgh band. More
