In our launch episode, we discuss new albums from The Thermals and Ihsahn, Observe & Report, the “Mockbusters” phenomenon, and disappointing new shows from talented people (e.g. Sit Down, Shut Up and Kings).

[Updated: now includes link to subscribe in the iTunes store.]

Over here at Under Culture, we watch a lot. We read a lot, play a lot, listen to a lot. But when it comes to posting, we go for quality, not quantity. There just isn’t a feature article worth writing about every single thing we’ve been up to. Also, we’re busy people who would sometimes rather grab a beer than write an essay — hard to believe, I know.

Then we had the genius idea: since on the nights we do go out for drinks, we end up talking about the same shit anyway, why not make our own drinks and record the conversation? It’s cheaper to drink at home, plus you get the added thrill of trying not to spill on your iMac. A little more debate, a few more jokes, and before you know it we have an hour-long podcast to fill in the gaps between articles. Genius.

The plan for now is to record a new episode every couple weeks, but for starters, please enjoy our first Under Culture podcast. The topics discussed are linked below in the Notes.  Join the conversation in the comments, or suggest topics for future discussion.

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Notes:

The Thermals’ new album, Now We Can See, is out now on Kill Rock Stars.

You can stream the title track as well as some others on The Thermals Myspace page.

And my guess was right, the lead singer’s name is in fact Hutch Harris.

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The latest Ihsahn album, Angl, is out now on Candlelight Records.

Several tracks are available on the Ihsahn Myspace page, or stream the whole album on Lala.

A clip from the Emperor live DVD Spencer mentioned is here on Youtube. Rumors of former bandmate, Mortiis, getting surgery to appear more gnome-like appear to be incorrect, but he does have a history of wearing freaky prosthetic masks and being generally gnomish.

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You can read our quick review of Observe & Report, or check out more reviews at Rotten Tomatoes.

Does 50% mean only half good, or 100% divisive?

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The Asylum is the company behind the mockbusters discussed on the show.

As mentioned, you could be watching Transmorphers as we speak via Netflix, but you may want to check out some Youtube clips before putting yourself through the whole thing.

HG Wells’ War of the Worlds and AVH: Alien Versus Hunter are even airing on the SciFi channel in May, if you are so inclined. And that’s pre-Syfy.

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We previously posted a Sit Down, Shut Up preview trailer which caused the initial fears, or you can watch the first episode on their Fox site to confirm those fears for yourself.

Kings is also streaming episodes on the NBC site, which is helpful since they recently decided to postpone airing the rest of the season until June. The forecast for Swearengen’s new show does not look good.