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Deerhunter vs. Stereolab

Oct 11, 2010 Web Exclusive

Deerhunter and Atlas Sound’s Bradford Cox has long professed his love for Stereolab, in particular 1999’s Cobra and Phases Group Play Voltage in the Milky Night, his favorite album by the band. He went so far as to effusively explicate upon its merits on a Deerhunter blog post back in 2007. In an impassioned manner akin to the prime years of the fiery late gonzo journalist Lester Bangs, he also excoriated the publications that panned the album. More

Happy Pills

Oct 06, 2010 Happy Pills

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

Wasted on the Youth: Geoff Barrow of Portishead and BEAK>

Sep 30, 2010 Portishead

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

Summer Camp

Sep 30, 2010 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

Robert Pollard: A Portrait of the Artist

Sep 10, 2010 Guided By Voices

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

Taken By Trees

Sep 10, 2010 Taken By Trees

Victoria Bergsman’s music doesn’t seem like the work of a thrill seekerher melodies float about on gossamer wingsbut when she thought of traveling to Pakistan to record East of Eden, her second album as Taken By Trees, she decided to act on it. “Where others may hesitate, I go all the way,” she says from her home in Sweden. “I guess it also helps that I’m extremely curious and stubborn.” More

!!!’s Nic Offer

Aug 23, 2010 !!! (Chk-Chk-Chk)

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

Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell

Aug 06, 2010 Camera Obscura

I think Grease was the first film I actually was taken to the cinema to see, which seems kind of bizarre to me because I must have been about three or four years old. More

The Antlers’ Peter J. Silberman

Aug 04, 2010 The Antlers

When I was six years old, Friday night was important. More