Album Reviews

Surfer Blood
Astro Coast

Feb 01, 2010 Issue #29 - Year End 2009 - Best of the Decade

A timeless pop song never goes out of fashion. From The Beatles, to R.E.M., to The Shins, a simple three-chord track that raises goose bumps is perhaps the most alchemical device in music. Florida's Surfer Blood are acutely aware of these possibilities, and on their debut Astro Coast, they shimmy and sway through 10 tracks copiously laden with chill-inducing hooks.

Classic Interviews

Minus Story

Jul 01, 2007 Web Exclusive

With My Ion Truss, Lawrence, Kansas’ Minus Story have left behind their trademark “Wall of Crap” home recording approach. Assisted by producer John Congleton, whose credits include Modest Mouse, Explosions in the Sky, and many more, the band entered the studio to emerge with their purest, most dynamic recording to date.

Comic Book Reviews

Green Lantern: Agent Orange
DC

Feb 02, 2010 Web Exclusive

These days, Geoff Johns' work for Green Lantern (vol. 4) is almost beyond reproach in comcidom and even eclipses DC's Batman and Superman series. Agent Orange is no exception. It stopgap miniseries further illustrates the blockbuster scribe's adeptness for the comic medium after successful runs for 52, Infinite Crisis, Justice Society of America, and Teen Titans. And even as a prelude to the still continuing Blackest Night tentpole event, it is well written and expertly visualized space opera of the emotional spectrum.

Book Reviews

Dave Thompson
Your Pretty Face Is Going to Hell: The Dangerous Glitter of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, and Lou Reed

Jan 22, 2010 Web Exclusive

While the glam rock era of the early 1970s could arguably be one of the most scrutinized, mimicked, analyzed and ultimately eviscerated scenes in books, media, and copycat bands in recent years, Dave Thompson manages to put a new spin on his examination of glam by primarily focusing on that essential period from 1970-1973 when the lives of David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed—arguably the triptych of vitality in glam rock—neatly dovetailed to create a monumental shift in the face of rock music.

Video Game Reviews

Bayonetta Xbox 360/PlayStation 3
Sega

Jan 19, 2010 Web Exclusive

Bayonetta is the most talked about game of the season. It's not hard to see why, after being slapped back and forth by the titular sexy female demon (with dark hair that covers her body and sexy librarian glasses), who sucks on lollipops and spreads her legs every which way while kicking angelic ass.

 

Interviews

Clare and the Reasons

Jan 22, 2010 Web Exclusive

"We're a bunch of idiots! We definitely mix that into what we do because that's who we are," confesses Clare and the Reasons' frontwoman Clare Muldaur. "We take the music we do very very, very seriously, but we don't take ourselves that seriously."

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Pleased to meet you

Nurses

Dec 10, 2009 Web Exclusive

The history of psych-pop outfit Nurses and its core members, Aaron Chapman and John Bowers, reads like a musical travelogue of sorts. Having grown up in Idaho Falls, Idaho, Chapman and Bowers took their love of music to California, Chicago, back to Idaho, and finally to Portland, Oregon, where the pair, along with drummer James Mitchell, has taken up permanent residence. The result of all their travel can be heard on the band's sophomore album, Apple's Acre. Under the Radar caught up with Chapman to discuss Apple's Acre and the origins of a band that was built upon discovery, musical and otherwise.

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Galleries

Yeasayer
First Fridays at the Natural History Museum, February 5, 2010


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Live reviews

Hotrats at Spaceland, Los Angeles, CA

Jan 22, 2010 By Lily Moayeri

You are in between albums. You are bored. You are fooling around in the studio. A side project is born. This is the story behind The Hotrats, comprised of Supergrass' persona, Gaz Coombes (vocalist/guitarist) and powerhouse, Danny Coffey (drummer).

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Blog

Austin City Limits Festival 2009 - 3-Day Recap

Oct 09, 2009 By Stacie Leonard

This was my eighth ACL (Austin City Limits) Festival to attend (the idea was born in '02) and although I'm not one for reading festival "recap" posts, for those that missed this year's festivities here's a little summary of the day's events. Includes coverage of The Dead Weather, Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, Phoenix, Girl Talk, Pearl Jam, The Dodos, The Walkmen, Passion Pit, Here We Go Magic, The B-52's, Ghostland Observatory, The Decemberists, Andrew Bird, Kings of Leon, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Daniel Johnston, Blitzen Trapper, School of Seven Bells, and more.

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