Under the Radar Magazine Under the Radar | Music Blog for the Indie Music Magazine
Thursday, March 28th, 2024  
Michael Stipe

Jun 02, 2008 Michael Stipe

For the better part of the last three decades, Michael Stipe has passionately melded his rock and roll with his activism. From R.E.M.’s early days as Athens, GA indie-rockers through their big ’90s hits and the subtler explorations of their later work, Stipe and company have always had their hands in politics, whether teaming with Rock the Vote in the early ’90s, playing the Vote for Change tour in 2004, or supporting causes from hunger relief to women’s rights and Greenpeace. More

Lykke Li

Jun 02, 2008 Lykke Li

In 2002, when indie kids in the U.S. looked to Sweden as a hotbed for new music upon the emergence of bands such as The Hives, 16-year-old Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson was devising her escape from Stockholm. More

Elbow

Jun 02, 2008 Elbow

Given all the obstacles Elbow has faced over the past three years, it’s quite an accomplishment that the veteran Manchester, England, quintet were able to write an album at all, let alone one that is arguably the best of their decade-long career. The sinking of their long-time record label, V2, and ensuing legal battles left Elbow doubting the fate of their fourth album and contemplating getting day jobs in order to survive. More

Conor Oberst

Jun 02, 2008 Conor Oberst

“In the kind of world where everything is readily available to everyone, information-wise, I think there’s something nice about a little bit of mystery,” says Conor Oberst, describing the hype or lack thereof surrounding his new, eponymous solo album.
More

Manuela Vellés

Jun 01, 2008 Web Exclusive

Although 21-year-old Spanish actress Manuela Vellés dreamed of starring in films while growing up in Madrid, she could not have anticipated the unique demands and challenges of her screen debut as the title character of Julio Médem’s latest film Chaotic Ana (Caótica Ana). More

Spiritualized

Jun 01, 2008 Spiritualized

Jason Pierce was in a good mood until I asked him about the Coachella festival. It’s only three days after he played the finale in a succession of “acoustic mainlines” shows, the widely acclaimed concert series where Pierce reinvented the Spiritualized canon with a string section and backing vocalists, and he’s still frustrated over how badly the set went. More

Céline Sciamma

May 02, 2008 Web Exclusive

27-year-old French writer-director Céline Sciamma treaded familiar cinematic territory in conceptualizing her debut film Water Lilies, an achingly lyrical examination of teenage social structuring, friendship and desire. More

Joachim Trier

May 02, 2008 Web Exclusive

There appears to be a perpetual gleam in the eye of Norwegian director Joachim Trier. Although he remains politely soft-spoken and composed when discussing his directorial feature debut Reprise, his enthusiasm is nonetheless contagious as he gushes about the influence of artists as disparate as Alain Resnais and Bad Brains, whose work he both describes as punk. More

Plants and Animals

Apr 02, 2008 Plants and Animals

The three members of Montréal’s Plants and Animals might be Music Studies graduates, but theirs is not the sound of intellectual snobs. Graduating from Montréal’s Concordia University in the early part of the century with degrees in electro-acoustic music, Warren Spicer, Matthew Woodley, and Nicolas Basque have, with their sophomore album, Parc Avenue, hit upon a sound that is at once smooth, complex, and organic, with touches of ’70s rock and soul and an expansive musical palette that includes everything from flutes to violin and choirs of voice. More