Interviews
Mar 12, 2014
By Austin Trunick
Web Exclusive
Scottish post-punk quartet Casual Sex will play the first of Under the Radar’s three SXSW 2014 parties today (Wednesday, March 12th) at 3:15 PM. Guitarist and lead vocalist Sam Smith took some time to answer a few questions for us ahead of the event.
Feb 18, 2014
By Lily Moayeri
Web Exclusive
Most Anglophiles tend to worship from afar. Three of the London-based Cheatahs did just the opposite—vocalist/guitarist Nathan Hewitt originally hails from Edmonton, Canada, bassist/producer Dean Reid is from San Diego, California, and from Dresden, Germany is drummer Marc Raue. The only local, so to speak, from Leicester, U.K., is guitarist James Wignall. More
Feb 13, 2014
By Chris Tinkham
Jess Williamson
There’s a cinematic quality to the music of Austin folk singer/songwriter Jess Williamson that makes the seven tracks on the 26-year-old’s debut LP, Native State, feel pivotal, whether she’s singing in a gently aching voice over hypnotic instrumentation or howling in a falsetto during dramatic pauses. The ominous guitar notes that open the first track, “Blood Song,” bring to mind a widescreen shot of a barren landscape in a western. More
Jan 29, 2014
By Laura Studarus
Issue #48 - November/December 2013 - HAIM
It’s traditional to start the story of any band featuring a set of siblings with tales of family sing-alongs, impressive parental record collections, and mandatory music lessons. But Woman’s Hour founders Fiona Jane Burgess and Will Burgess swear that there are no such events in their shared timeline. More
Jan 24, 2014
By Mike Hilleary
Society
In the summer of 2012 a song titled “All That We’ve Become” surfaced as an extremely limited 7” single across various U.K. record stores. Though attributed to the name Society, the track itself might have well been made by a figment of fans’ imaginations, as numerous blogs and press outlets were unable to determine who was responsible for the song’s pleasing mix of sampled beats and classic soul. More
Jan 22, 2014
By Chris Tinkham
Courtney Barnett
Last May, Melbourne-based singer/songwriter Courtney Barnett earned an APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) Song of the Year nomination for “History Eraser,” a lyrically vivid composition that she recorded with her band and released on her own label, Milk! Records. More
Jan 17, 2014
By Laura Studarus
Snakadaktal
“We often play games like creating our alter-ego animals,” says Phoebe Cockburn, vocalist for Melbourne-based quintet Snakadaktal. “I’m a squirrel because I like nuts a lot…. Our drummer was a sea elephant. Like a seal type of thing.” More
Jan 14, 2014
By Selena Fragassi
Big Scary
The opening song on Big Scary‘s new album Not Art (on Barsuk) begins with a list of all the things Tom Iansek is not (a painter, a poet, a teacher, a preacher), but it is clear that the frontman of the Melbourne, Australia duo is selling himself short of his many talents—music and all. More
Jan 10, 2014
By Frank Valish
Painted Palms
Google the name Chris Prudhomme and you might be surprised by what you find. Prudhomme, one half of Painted Palms, the electro-pop duo he fronts with his cousin Reese Donohue, dubiously shares a name with another more sinister character. More