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Ludivine Sagnier

Sep 02, 2011 Ludivine Sagnier

U.S. audiences might know French actress Ludivine Sagnier best from her work with director François Ozon. Their three-film collaboration began with Water Drops on Burning Rocks, released in 2000, and culminated in 2003 with Swimming Pool, the half-English, half-French-language thriller that featured a bikini-clad Sagnier front and center on its advertising art. In a climate that’s been increasingly difficult for foreign-language films to find distribution in the States, Sagnier, one of France’s most well-known and respected actresses, has been a fixture in U.S. art houses over the last decade. Yet, she has resisted the lure of Hollywood; her occasional forays into English-language films have been for international directors. Sagnier’s dynamic, multilayered performance in Alain Corneau’s psychological thriller, Love Crime, will only amplify the overtures of American filmmakers. More

Mew’s Jonas Bjerre

Sep 01, 2011 Jonas Bjerre

Most fans know Jonas Bjerre as the dewy-voiced frontman of Mew. Since their inception in 1994, Bjerre’s show stopping falsetto has become a band trademark, soaring above the trio’s often-complex prog arrangements. Currently between albums (Mew released their ambitiously titled third album, No more stories/Are told today/I’m sorry/They washed away/No more stories/The world is grey/I’m tired/Let’s wash away in 2009) Bjerre stepped away to compose the delicate soundtrack for the Danish coming-of-age comedy, Skyskraber. More

Pallers

Aug 31, 2011 Pallers

Take a moment to consider your best friend. He’s awesome, right? Now imagine locking yourself in a room with him and beginning an artistic process that will take years to complete. The picture may start to look less than ideal. Pals and musicians Johan Angergård (Club 8, The Legends, Acid House Kings) and Henrik Mårtensson managed to do just that—and maintain a sense of humor about the process. Leaning on a bulletproof friendship, the two musicians slowly chiseled out their haunting electro take on love and loss over the course of two years (or three—depending on who’s telling the story), displaying a patience usually reserved for sculptors. More

Niki & The Dove

Aug 30, 2011 Niki & the Dove

Niki & The Dove seem somewhat otherworldly, delivering larger-than-life tunes built around multi-instrumentalist Gustaf Karlöf’s complex webs of electronics and singer Malin Dahlström’s oversized voice and ambitious storytelling. But, speaking from Dover, England over a cup of tea, the two best friends from Sweden chalk up their partnership not to the hands of fate or other supernatural forces, but rather a gradual evolution. “We had sporadically been making music together over the years,” says Dahlström, dispelling the idea that their current musical constellation simply fell from the heavens. More

Blitzen Trapper

Aug 19, 2011 Blitzen Trapper

Blitzen Trapper‘s gnarled musical roots are so diverse and far-reaching that when they make a “back to their roots” album such as American Goldwing it’s not a retread of past glories. Instead, the Portland, Oregon quintet’s sixth album is another delightful tinkering with the dusty engine of Americana music. These Pacific Northwestern mechanics aren’t interested in admiring from afar. They get on their backs and give the old jalopy a much-needed overhaul. (It comes as no surprise to learn that singer/songwriter/guitarist Eric Earley’s father was a musician-cum-mechanic.) More

SBTRKT

Aug 18, 2011 SBTRKT

SBTRKT‘s songs are nearly as cryptic as the persona he’s adopted, often mixing dark, digital beats over soulful-yet-haunting R&B grooves. The mysterious London-based producer keeps his face covered by colorful masks, and his real name separate from his growing body of work. More

Hercules and Love Affair

Aug 12, 2011 Web Exclusive

It’s been over three years since Hercules and Love Affair released their sophisticated and captivating self-titled debut. Hercules and Love Affair was one of 2008’s most talked about records; disco-revivalism at its finest, indeed. Their sophomore album, Blue Songs (released this past January in the U.K.) is finally coming to America on August 16th. Hercules and Love Affair’s mastermind, New York City-based DJ Andy Butler, was gracious enough to give Under the Radar a few minutes in between shows on their European tour to talk (briefly) about Blue Songs, its delayed stateside release, Greek mythology, and his personal affection for Chicago house. More

Soft Metals

Aug 08, 2011 Soft Metals

As what now could be considered an electro-pop power couple, Patricia Hall and Ian Hicks have been making music together as Soft Metals since 2009. He was looking for someone to add vocals to his catchy synth tracks, while she was writing songs in need of music. A prosperous relationship quickly bloomed, both creatively and romantically. Drawn together by a mutual love for early ’80s synth-pop and retro film scores, Hicks uses vintage gear to create rich soundscapes that are at times both addictively danceable and darkly cinematic, acting as the perfect backing for Hall’s airy vocals. Their self-titled debut LP, Soft Metals, is now available from Captured Tracks. More

Jonny

Aug 05, 2011 Jonny

Norman Blake (Teenage Fanclub) and Euros Childs (Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci) have been friends since the mid-‘90s, and their debut collaboration as Jonny is everything one might expect from the meeting of such songwriting minds. Blake and Childs spoke with Under the Radar about their self-titled debut and what’s next. More