#36 - Music vs. Comedy | Under the Radar Magazine Under the Radar | Music Blog for the Indie Music Magazine
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Issue #36

#36 - Music vs. Comedy

May 16, 2011

Under the Radar has a special Music vs. Comedy issue that streets this week. In this issue indie rock musicians and comedians interview each other. Aziz Ansari (NBC’s Parks & Recreation) appears on the cover as David Bowie and for the issue he talked to both Toro Y Moi’s Chaz Bundick and TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek. Other such music vs. comedy interview matchups include The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne vs. David Cross (IFC’s The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, Arrested Development), Iron and Wine’s Sam Beam vs. Nick Offerman (NBC’s Parks & Recreation), Loney Dear’s Emil Svanängen vs. Ty Burrell (ABC’s Modern Family), and St. Vincent’s Annie Clark vs. Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille).

“Quick problem. I thought you were a professional figure skater, so I prepared a bunch of figure skating questions.” – Aziz Ansari to Toro Y Moi’s Chaz Bundick

“I’m a very intermediate sax player, but now that Rob Lowe is on my show, I had to cop to him. Like, ‘Dude your ridiculous fake sax playing [in St. Elmo’s Fire] inspired me to pick up a horn.’” – Nick Offerman

Ty Burrell: “In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that, at the moment, I’m wearing a wristband…from the Australian Open and nothing else.”

Loney Dear’s Emil Svanängen: “I will hereby take my pants off then.”

Other comedians interviewed in the issue include Carrie Brownstein (IFC’s Portlandia), Donald Glover (NBC’s Community), Ed Helms (NBC’s The Office, The Hangover Part II), Ellie Kemper (NBC’s The Office, Bridesmaids), Danny Pudi (NBC’s Community), Henry Rollins (Black Flag frontman and comedian), Charlyne Yi (Knocked Up, Paper Heart), Reggie Watts (Conan), and more.

“When you have Ken Jeong naked next to you when you’re doing a scene, it’s pretty easy to stay loose.” – Danny Pudi

“I think that music at inappropriate times with inappropriate volumes can be the funniest thing ever.” – Ed Helms

“I ended up majoring in English, which I’m not particularly fluent in.” – Ellie Kemper

Many of the articles feature hilarious photo-shoots with comedians dressed as iconic musicians: Aziz Ansari as David Bowie, LL Cool J, Nilsson, and Bruce Springsteen; Ty Burrell as Joni Mitchell; David Cross as The Who’s Keith Moon; Nick Offerman as Willie Nelson; Patton Oswalt as Prince; and Charlyne Yi as Elton John.

The issue also includes interviews with some exciting new artists in the “Pleased to Meet You” section: James Blake, Cat’s Eyes, EMA, Memoryhouse, The Stepkids, Still Corners.

“The Horrors sound the way they do because of personality clashes, five people in a room arguing, and that’s the way it works best. Cat’s Eyes sounds the way it does because of two people very much in agreement.” - The Horrors’ Faris Badwan on his Cat’s Eyes project.

“I would do a kindergarten class in Berkeley, and then I’d go to Emeryville, which is essentially West Oakland, and try and control a room full of teenagers with tats and grills.” – EMA’s Erika M. Anderson on her days as a substitute teacher

“I’m more worried about the way [hype] changes what’s important to me than what a guy says on a blog.” – James Blake

The issue also includes coverage of SXSW and Coachella; and 150+ reviews of albums, books, comic books, DVDs, films, TV shows, and video games including releases by: Adventure, Johan Agebjorn, Africa HiTech, Alexander, An Horse, The Antlers, About Group, Architecture in Helsinki, Arctic Monkeys, Art Brut, Augustana, Austra, Autechre, Bass Drum of Death, Battles, David Bazan, Beady Eye, The Bell Brigade, Bibio, Maggie Bjorklund, Black Lips, James Blake, Brown Recluse, Bill Callahan, Cat’s Eyes, The Cars, The Chemical Brothers, Cold Cave, Edwyn Collins, Crystal Stilts, Cults, Dag for Dag, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Death Cab for Cutie, Dengue Fever, Elbow, The Elected, EMA, Explosions in the Sky, The Feelies, The Felice Brothers, Fleet Foxes, Foster the People, Friendly Fires, Fredrik, Gang Gang Dance, Generationals, Glasvegas, The Globes, Hauschka, The Head and the Heart, Helvetia, The High Llamas, Holy Ghost!, Iggy Pop, I’m From Barcelona, Jessica 6, Joan As Police Woman, Joan of Arc, Jonny, The Joy Formidable, Booker T. Jones, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Ladytron, Sondre Lerche, Love, Low, Nick Lowe, Julian Lynch, Magnetic Man, Maritime, Mazes, Cass McCombs, Moby, My Morning Jacket, Thurston Moore, Peter Murphy, NODZZZ, Agnes Obel, of Montreal, Oh Land, Okkervil River, Roy Orbison, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Panda Bear, People Like Us, Ponytail, Prefuse 73, Queen, Quintron, Radiohead, The Raveonettes, Gruff Rhys, Ringo Deathstarr, The Rosebuds, Royal Bangs, Raphael Saadiq, The Sea and Cake, Secret Cities, Seapony, Sloan, Sonny and the Sunsets, The Sounds, Southeast Engine, The Strokes, Thao & Mirah, Timber Timbre, Times New Viking, Tindersticks, Alexander Tucker, TV on the Radio, Vetiver, Vivian Girls, Loudon Wainwright III, Wild Beasts, The Wooden Birds, Woods, Young Windows, Zomes, and more.

Under the Radar is distributed across the USA and Canada on newsstands, in independent record and book stores, and at such chains as Borders, Barnes & Noble, Hastings, and Books-A-Million. Click here for an interactive map of U.S. stores that carry Under the Radar, just enter your zipcode to find a store near you. And click here for an interactive mao of Canadian stores that carry Under the Radar.

More pull quotes from the issue:

“I want to be able to shoot laser beams out of my hands at people. That’s the kind of stuff that you think all bands should do, but they don’t, and I can’t understand why most bands don’t want to do it.” – Wayne Coyne

“I think that should be a mantra for every artist. We can do whatever the fuck we want, and why wouldn’t we?” – David Cross

“Any comedian who tells you how dark and dangerous they are, they’re not dark and dangerous.” – Patton Oswalt

“I could write 10 tone poems and turn it in, but [my label] probably wouldn’t be that happy with me.” – St. Vincent’s Annie Clark

“I wanted [our new album] to come with shoes, where the only time the music played was when you were stepping, so as you walked, you’d have to walk for like 16 miles to hear the whole record.” – TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek

“The next TV on the Radio [album] should come out in like the weirdest way, like an air freshener. When you spray it, you hear little bits of the song.” – Aziz Ansari to TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek

“You used to have to beg and be the busboy to do standup. I got on Community because people saw my videos on YouTube, which were free.” – Donald Glover

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News
Music vs. Comedy Laugh Tracks: Josephine Olausson of Love is All Tells Her Favorite Joke
Interviews
Garfunkel and Oates
Neil Hamburger
Reggie Watts
Still Corners
The Rosebuds’ Kelly Crisp
The Stepkids

 

Reviews
Codes and Keys
Eye Contact
Gloss Drop
It’s a Corporate World
Loud Planes Fly Low 
Pala
Sondre Lerche
The Belle Brigade
The Errant Charm
The Trip