Jun 14, 2013 By John Everhart Michael Shannon

Michael Shannon‘s been acting since the early ‘90s: he cut his teeth in Chicago’s theater community and showed up in a small scene in 1993’s Groundhog Day, as the enthusiastic recipient of WrestleMania tickets as a wedding gift from Bill Murray’s character Phil Connors.

Jun 11, 2013 By Austin Trunick The Lonely Island

The Lonely Island—comedians Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, and Akiva Schaffer—shot to fame in 2005 when they introduced the digital short format to Saturday Night Live. The first such video, “Lazy Sunday,” wasn’t just the highlight of the episode but a viral hit.

Jun 07, 2013 By Chris Tinkham Web Exclusive

With three films in U.S. movie theaters this spring, English actress Andrea Riseborough suddenly is seeing her visibility gain ground on her reputation as one of the U.K.‘s finest and most versatile actresses. In the futuristic sci-fi adventure, Oblivion, she appears opposite Tom Cruise as the navigator of his character’s drone-repair mission. She plays an ambitious television reporter in the Internet-focused cautionary tale, Disconnect. And for Shadow Dancer, director James Marsh cast her as Collette McVeigh, a single mother who is an accomplice to an IRA bombing plot.

Jun 07, 2013 By Lily Moayeri Web Exclusive

Undercover is our new recurring series where we talk to bands about the genesis of one of their album covers. Here we talk to Nightlands’ David Hartley about the cover of Oak Island, as well as to Catharine Maloney, who photographed the cover.

Jun 06, 2013 By Austin Trunick Web Exclusive

Seabed, the full-length debut from London-based trio Vondelpark, slickly melds dance grooves, sample-heavy guitar pop, and sweet R&B-influenced vocals for a sound that’s remarkably difficult to place in any one genre or era.

May 31, 2013 By Laura Studarus Is Tropical

It’s Gary Barber’s birthday, but he’s not in a rush to leave his London area flat to celebrate. During our Skype session the Is Tropical member, one of two guitarist/keyboardist/singers, pauses from answering a question about his band’s most recent album to hold his cat Oven Mitt up to the camera for examination. Unperturbed, the oversized feline stretches, showing off an abnormal extra toe that makes her paw look like a human hand.

May 30, 2013 By Jamie Lidell Jamie Lidell

When we asked Jamie Lidell to take a self-portrait, he provided several. We also asked him to write a list of personal things-interesting facts that perhaps Lidell’s fans may not know about him. Earlier this year the British soul singer/songwriter/musician released his latest album, simply titled Jamie Lidell, on Warp. He’s currently based in Nashville.

May 29, 2013 By Lily Moayeri Web Exclusive

The Twitterview, in which we interview an artist live via Twitter. We recently interviewed Black Moth Super Rainbow‘s Thomas Fec via Twitter, and here is the full exchange.

May 24, 2013 By Chris Tinkham Web Exclusive

At this year’s Cannes Film Festival, French actress and singer/songwriter Soko is the face of La Semaine de la Critique (Critics’ Week), a section of the festival that showcases films of first- and second-time directors. The image used for the Semaine de la Critique poster was taken from Soko’s performance in Augustine, the debut feature of writer/director Alice Winocour. Augustine premiered as part of last year’s Critics’ Week at Cannes and now is opening in U.S. theaters.