FLOOD

FLOOD is a new, influential voice that spans the diverse cultural landscape of music, film, television, art, travel, and everything in between.
Jason P. Woodbury
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Art & CultureIn Conversation
In Conversation: Neil Hamburger Is Giving the Vocal Performance of His Life

Gregg Turkington on the intersection of punk rock and easy listening and bringing absurdist sincerity to the masses.

December 17, 2018
Film + TV
D’Arcy Carden Will Tickle Your Funny Bone

The actress best-known as a bubbly tour guide in heaven is learning a lot from playing non-human.

November 28, 2018
Art & Culture
A Visit to Wayne Kramer’s America

Fifty years after the MC5 played the Democratic National Convention, hoping to jumpstart a new era, things don’t look much different in the USA. But Wayne Kramer knows that it’s still on us—and him—to change.

November 05, 2018

27465_001 Joe Pera Series Unit

Film + TV
In Conversation: Joe Pera Just Wants to Watch the Trains Go By

Set and filmed in the cozy Midwest, “Joe Pera Talks with You” isn’t your typical Adult Swim fare—though it is still on really late (and Joe will understand if you tape it for later). 

June 12, 2018
Art & CultureFilm + TV
Parents, Assimilation, and BET: Jimmy O. Yang Wrote the Book on It

The stand-up comedian and “Silicon Valley” actor discusses his new memoir “How to American” and the life lessons and empathetic tone behind it.

May 18, 2018
Film + TVIn Conversation
In Conversation: Judah Friedlander Is a Person Talking

The famously behatted standup took on Trump and made a Netflix comedy special his own way.

January 23, 2018
Reviews
Gun Outfit, “Out of Range”

It’s in the way the hidden reveals itself that Gun Outfit finds its surest footing.

November 20, 2017
In Conversation
In Conversation: Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith on the Beauty of Hayao Miyazaki

The composer and synthesist dives into the visually rich world of the greatest anime filmmaker of all time.

November 08, 2017
The Uncanny Empathy of Open Mike Eagle

The rapper, comic, and podcaster on what he learned in one of Chicago’s most notorious housing projects.

September 28, 2017
Art & Culture
The Magazine of Champions: On the Shabby Brilliance of “Grand Royal” Magazine

In conjunction with the label of the same name, the Beastie Boys launched “Grand Royal” magazine without much of a plan. But with the help of a ramshackle editorial team that included Spike Jonze and Bob Mack, they didn’t need one.

August 11, 2017
Reviews
Gary Bartz Ntu Troop, “Harlem Bush Music – Uhuru”

Bartz was interested in broadcasting a particular worldview, one that was stridently African, anti-war, and cosmically enlightened. He wanted to make music that reflected his experience.

August 10, 2017
Reviews
Randy Newman, “Dark Matter”

Now that he’s settled into his seventies and is releasing his eleventh studio album, it’s a remarkable comfort to see how unflinching Randy Newman remains.

August 10, 2017
Reviews
Popol Vuh, “Agape-Agape Love-Love” and “Spirit of Peace” [reissues]

Popol Vuh Agape-Agape Love-Love (8/10) Spirit of Peace (9/10) ONE WAY STATIC Of all the disparate figures grouped incongruously under…

August 08, 2017

photo by Una Blue

Don’t Miss: S U R V I V E

Abstract horror soundscapes: coming soon to a festival near you.

August 01, 2017
Reviews
Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, “Diaspora”

Scott makes synthesizing a century of jazz seem easy.

July 14, 2017
Reviews
Vince Staples, “Big Fish Theory”

Staples remains unconvinced at his own soirée.

June 29, 2017
Digital Cover
Vince Staples at the Margins

What does it all mean? The Long Beach native isn’t telling.

June 20, 2017
Reviews
B Boys, “Dada”

Though they play clumsy rubes, there’s no hiding the Brooklyn trio’s combined smarts.

June 12, 2017
Reviews
U2, “The Joshua Tree: 30th Anniversary Edition”

“The Joshua Tree” is a record so universal, so full of modern pop hymns, that people probably wouldn’t have minded it showing up automatically on their iPhones.

June 05, 2017
Reviews
Yorkston/Thorne/Khan, “Neuk Wight Delhi All-Stars”

On their second LP, the Scottish/English/Indian trio of guitarist James Yorkston, double bassist Jon Thorne, and sarangi player Suhail Yusuf Khan demonstrate a subtle mastery of fusion.

April 26, 2017

photo by Clayton Cubitt

Art & CultureIn Conversation
In Conversation: Hari Kunzru Talks “White Tears,” Cultural Appropriation, and Record Collecting

Some questions are more complicated than they seem.

April 25, 2017
Reviews
Chicano Batman, “Freedom Is Free”

The LA quartet has crafted one of the most pleasurable sounding records you’ll hear this year, the idea of personal liberty permeating the record’s warm grooves.

March 29, 2017
In Conversation: Thundercat Has a Thunderchat About “Drunk,” Yacht Rock

Plus: You’ve been calling Kenny Loggins by the wrong name all these years.

March 02, 2017
Reviews
Dirty Projectors, “Dirty Projectors”

“Dirty Projectors” can at times be exhausting, and its density can feel crushing, but at their best, David Longstreth’s songs center on connection.

March 02, 2017
Reviews
Mind Over Mirrors, “Undying Color”

While so often synthesizer music seeks to make the listener feel weightless, Jaime Fennelly finds beauty in binding, securing forces.

February 08, 2017
Reviews
Avec le soleil sortant de sa bouche, “Pas pire pop, I Love You So Much”

On their second album, the Montreal quartet drill deep into the concept of groove.

January 25, 2017
Don’t Break Up Your Band: Matt Sweeney and Clay Tarver of Chavez Talk “Cockfighters”

Indie vets Chavez return after a twenty-year recorded absence with a surprising, vital set of songs.

January 17, 2017
Art & CultureIn Conversation
In Conversation: Thomas Dolby Drops Science Like Galileo Dropped the Orange

After pop stardom, the “She Blinded Me with Science” singer set his sights on the intersection of music and technology.

December 16, 2016
Reviews
Childish Gambino, “‘Awaken, My Love!'”

Like so many retro-leaning artists before him, Donald Glover riffles through classic sounds for a lens through which to view his modern anxieties.

December 09, 2016
Film + TV
I Was That Kid, Too: Twenty-Five Years of Nickelodeon’s “Doug”

How a comic about an anxiety-ridden “little gentleman” with a serious aversion to liver and onions became one of the most beloved cartoons of its era.

December 05, 2016

YOU’RE THE WORST — “Talking To Me, Talking to Me” — Episode 310 (Airs Wednesday, November 2, 10:00 pm e/p — Pictured: Chris Geere as Jimmy Shive-Overly. CR: Byron Cohen/FX

Film + TV
In Conversation: “You’re the Worst”’s Chris Geere on Our Duty to be Empathetic

The co-star of FXX’s alchemical comedy talks the season three finale, what to expect next—and the special linguistic privileges afforded the British.

November 18, 2016
Art & CultureEvents
Oil City Lights: How Houston’s Day for Night is Putting the “Arts” in “Music and Arts Festival”

The Gulf Coast humidity means things often get melded in Houston, but one gathering is blurring the line between music festival and art installation in a new way.

November 17, 2016
Art & Culture
Breaking: Elsa Hansen

This isn’t your grandmother’s cross-stitching. Unless your grandmother has a thing for Paul Thomas Anderson and has sold work to Ai Weiwei.

October 24, 2016
Reviews
John K. Samson, “Winter Wheat”

As he did throughout the tenure of The Weakerthans, Samson on his second solo record resolutely resists the tropes that so often plague singer/songwriters.

October 24, 2016
American Land: Mike Cooley of Drive-By Truckers Sets His Sights Beyond the South

On their eleventh LP, our finest chroniclers of life below the Mason-Dixon explore the duality of the American thing.

October 06, 2016
Reviews
Preoccupations, “Preoccupations”

Death has always loomed over Canadian post-punk band Preoccupations.

September 19, 2016

Nathan_Bowles-2016-Whole_and_Cloven

Reviews
Nathan Bowles, “Whole & Cloven”

The elements here are simple, but in Bowles’s capable hands these common tools are utilized in marvelous ways.

September 02, 2016

Thee Oh Sees “A Weird Exits” cover

Reviews
Thee Oh Sees, “A Weird Exits”

John Dwyer’s long-running powerhouse builds on the expansive sound of last year’s “Mutilator Defeated at Last.”

August 24, 2016
Reviews
Morgan Delt, “Phase Zero”

The Topanga Canyon singer/songwriter/producer’s second LP—and Sub Pop debut—is defined by an immaterial dreaminess.

August 23, 2016

Pylon “Live” cover

Reviews
Pylon, “Live”

Chunklet releases a live recording of the vital Athens band’s final live performance before their 1983 breakup.

August 03, 2016

Mick Harvey / photo by L. J. Spruyt

In Conversation
En Conversation: Mick Harvey of The Bad Seeds Talks Serge Gainsbourg

“Delirium Tremens,” which dropped last month, is the third in a series of albums that finds Harvey taking on the catalog of the French provocateur.

July 14, 2016
Reviews
BADBADNOTGOOD, “IV”

“IV” serves as the best example yet of the Toronto jazz quartet’s ability to synthesize their disparate influences.

July 06, 2016

Rhys Darby / no credit

Film + TVIn Conversation
In Conversation: Rhys Darby Wants to Believe

The Kiwi actor/comedian/writer (“Flight of the Conchords”/”What We Do in the Shadows”) ponders the New Zealand film renaissance and the Paranormal.

July 05, 2016

Band of Horses / photo by Andrew Stuart

Band of Horses: Honest Themes

Ben Bridwell is working from home.

June 10, 2016
Reviews
Band of Horses, “Why Are You OK”

Teaming with Grandaddy leader Jason Lytle, the South Carolina band confidently turns the wheel in another direction with their fifth studio album.

June 09, 2016
Reviews
Kaytranada, “99.9%”

Following breakout remixes and production on material by Mobb Deep, Freddie Gibbs, and Katy B, the Haitian-born DJ seems intent on making multiple statements with his debut LP.

May 13, 2016

Volcom art by Don Pendleton

Art & Culture
The Outsider Art of Don Pendleton

Originally just a kid who liked doodling on notebooks and reading “Thrasher,” the award-winning artist has turned into a force to be reckoned with both inside and out of the skateboarding world—all from Dayton, Ohio.

May 13, 2016
Reviews
Drake, “Views”

In light of recent blockbuster records like the expansive “Lemonade” and the constantly shifting “Life of Pablo,” “Views” feels anticlimactic.

May 06, 2016

Photo by Alice O’Malley

The Radical Futurism of Anohni

With her new electronic pop album, the singer formerly known as Antony Hegarty unpacks the meaning of “HOPELESSNESS.”

May 02, 2016
Art & CultureFilm + TV
Hey Bulldog: In Conversation with Alex Ross

The legendary comics artist takes on The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine,” plus talks the current crop of superhero movies.

April 29, 2016

2016. Brian Eno The Ship

Reviews
Brian Eno, “The Ship”

Vessels have long served as a reference point in the works of Brian Eno. But on his new ambient album, “The Ship,” he evokes one of the most symbolically loaded boats in history: the “Titanic.”

April 27, 2016

Wimmen’s Comix header

Art & Culture
Go Your Own Way: Talking Feminist Toons with “Wimmen’s Comix” Founder Trina Robbins

Bringing together the likes of Phoebe Gloeckner, Lynda Barry, Aline Kominsky-Crumb, and Alison Bechdel, Robbins’ series blazed a trail for female comic artists.

April 12, 2016
Reviews
Glenn Jones, “Fleeting”

The former Cul de Sac guitarist’s alternately tuned acoustic guitar and banjo tug and pull on the conventions of American Primitivism.

March 25, 2016

2016. Iggy Pop Post Pop Depression cover hi-res

Reviews
Iggy Pop, “Post Pop Depression”

If Iggy’s going anywhere, it won’t be quietly.

March 16, 2016

2016. Mount Moriah How to Dance cover hi-res

Reviews
Mount Moriah, “How to Dance”

What’s this new breeze blowing over North Carolina group Mount Moriah?

March 07, 2016

2016. Lucinda Williams The Ghosts of Highway 20 cover hi-res

Reviews
Lucinda Williams, “The Ghosts of Highway 20”

The road has long served as a symbol in American roots music, and few have sung about it as distinctly as Lucinda Williams.

February 05, 2016

Children’s Hospital Season 7 7/8/2015 EPs 701 & 706 ph: Darren Michaels

Film + TV
Tying Tubes with Rob Corddry: The “Childrens Hospital” Star Talks His Show’s Seventh Season

The medical-show parody returns to Adult Swim this Friday, January 22.

January 21, 2016

2015. Bruce Springsteen The Ties That Bind The River Collection box set cover hi-res

Reviews
Bruce Springsteen, “The Ties That Bind: The River Collection”

It’s a loose, effortless-sounding record, but new deluxe box set “The Ties That Bind: The River Collection” attests to the fact that as grand as the album is, its twenty-song track list only came after obsessive pruning and labored deliberation.

December 11, 2015

2005. Spoon Gimme Fiction cover hi-res

Reviews
Spoon, “Gimme Fiction” (Deluxe Edition)

The group’s friskiness wasn’t sacrificed for the sake of accessibility. It was enhanced.

December 07, 2015

Paul Scheer / credit unknown

Art & CultureFilm + TVIn Conversation
Lost in Thought: In Conversation with Paul Scheer

You might know him as Andre from “The League”—which ends its seven-season run this week—but Paul Scheer is cooking up many a strange brew.

December 04, 2015

2015. Boots Aquaria cover hi-res

Reviews
Boots, “AQUARIA”

There’s plenty of that same velvety lushness on his full-length solo debut, “AQUARIA,” but Boots is given more to menace than mystery on the album

November 17, 2015

2015. Bing & Ruth City Lake cover hi-res

Reviews
Bing & Ruth, “City Lake” [reissue]

On its own, “City Lake” is an enveloping listen.

November 13, 2015

Eugene Mirman // photo by Shawn Brackbill

Art & CultureIn Conversation
In Conversation: Eugene Mirman Will Keep You Warm

The stand-up comedian (and the voice of Gene on Bob’s Burgers) tells us why his new box set is ninety-three discs shorter than he intended.

October 28, 2015

2015. Gun Outfit, “Dream All Over”

Reviews
Gun Outfit, “Dream All Over”

They’re as capable of drifting up into space as descending into the canyons, cosmic like a midnight drive.

October 20, 2015

2015. Girl Band HOlding Hands with Jamie cover

Reviews
Girl Band, “Holding Hands with Jamie”

Though Girl Band spends the rest of the album matching “Umbongo” in volume and intensity, it never quite manages to equal that perfectly queasy equilibrium—push and pull, tension and release—with the same mastery.

October 12, 2015

Josh Gondelman // photo by Mindy Tucker

Art & Culture
Breaking: Josh Gondelman

One of the minds behind Modern Seinfeld on what the deal is with making a fool of yourself on the Internet.

September 22, 2015

2015. Slayer Repentless cover. high-res

Reviews
Slayer, “Repentless”

The lead up to Slayer’s eleventh album, “Repentless,” was as punishing as the thrash metal mainstay’s music.

September 11, 2015

2015. Deaf Wish Pain cover

Reviews
Deaf Wish, “Pain”

“In my heart, there is blood. In my heart there is only blood,” Deaf Wish guitarist Sarah Hardiman intones at the beginning of “Dead Air,” the thrashing penultimate track of the band’s serviceable full-length Sub Pop debut, “Pain.”

August 11, 2015

Penelope Spheris

Film + TV
In Conversation: Documenting the Decline with Penelope Spheeris

We chat with the legendary director about the reissue of her three-part documentary series, “The Decline of Western Civilization.”

July 23, 2015

2015. Jason Isbell, “Something More Than Free” cover

Reviews
Jason Isbell, “Something More Than Free”

These days, Isbell sounds like a man determined not to lose the things he loves.

July 15, 2015
Strong Love: The Defiantly Gay Rock of Smokey

Meet the band deemed “too gay” for the outré ’70s.

June 25, 2015