January 9, 2021
This week’s premium episode features Caitlin White, the pop critic for Uproxx and the founder of CNMN. We talked enough that I decided to split the conversation into two parts, and in this episode we discuss Ariana Grande, Adele, Taylor Swift, Bob Dylan, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Dua Lipa, Phoebe Bridgers, Guided by Voices, Fiona Apple, Rihanna, SZA, Ingrid Andress, Morgan Wallen, Luke Combs, Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, and Lee Brice. This preview chunk features that last bit with all the country stars.
January 6, 2021
This episode features Nick Sylvester, a producer, musician, and songwriter who co-founded the artist development company Godmode. In this conversation we discuss Nick’s transition from critic for Pitchfork and Village Voice to musician in the band Mr. Dream to the evolution of Godmode. We also get into his apprenticeship with LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, how working with Shamir was a turning point in his career, an anecdote about a somewhat disastrous experience being called in to potentially contribute to Beyoncé’s Lemonade album, developing LoveLeo from TikTok fame to viral pop star, how his work process has changed through the pandemic, and how we’re both amazed and confounded by Playboi Carti’s music. We actually recorded a lot for this, so a second episode with Nick that goes deeper into technical music stuff will come out next week as a Patreon exclusive.
January 2, 2021
This is a snippet from a premium Patreon episode of Fluxpod. This episode is a Q&A in which I answer a series of questions largely dealing with music trends and "irony" in relationship with making and appreciating music. The question presented here is basically "Why didn't Electronica stay big in the US?" If you want to hear the full episode and every other premium episode, you should hit up the Fluxpod Patreon page.
December 26, 2020
This is a segment from a Patreon premium episode featuring Sean T. Collins. Unlike our previous episode together, which was focused on industrial music, this is more of a free-flowing conversation that gets into Tears for Fears, Human League, Roxy Music, Aerosmith, Nirvana, Lenny Kravitz, and in this part of the conversation, Guns N' Roses. If you'd like to hear the full episode and get 4-5 premium episodes every month, you should hit up the Fluxpod Patreon.
December 19, 2020
This week's premium episode is an interview with Ronen Givony, the promoter behind the Wordless Music series, about his new book Not For You: Pearl Jam in the Present Tense. If you're not particularly into Pearl Jam this is still worth checking out as we talk a lot about his background in instrumental and modern classical music and creating the Wordless Music series, and the discussion of Pearl Jam is - like the book – really more about the culture of the '90s in general. If you want to hear the full episode, you can subscribe to the premium feed on the Fluxpod Patreon.
December 16, 2020
This episode features the writer Sean T Collins – the Original Bad Boy of TV Criticism! We recently collaborated on a playlist called Burning Inside: Industrial 1986-1994, which we made as an introduction to and celebration of the genre. This episode is basically a live "liner notes" for the playlist in which we discuss all the major figures and songs featured in the mix.
You can find the playlist on both Spotify and Apple Music.
December 14, 2020
Cates Holderness, the managing editor of Tumblr, is here to break down what music was popular on Tumblr in 2020. Gen Z kids make up a huge portion of Tumblr's user base, so some of what's big there is about what you'd expect – K-pop, Harry Styles, Taylor Swift – while other things, like the huge popularity of sea shanties and the singer-songwriter Hozier, may come as a surprise.
Here's a list of all the songs featured in this episode:
Agust D "Daechwita"
The Mechanisms "Drunk Space Pirate"
The Amazing Devil "The Horror and the Wild"
Hozier "Wasteland, Baby!"
The Longest Johns "Oak & Ash & Thorn"
Harry Styles "Sunflower, Vol. 6"
Orville Peck "Drive Me, Crazy"
K/DA "Pop/Stars"
CNCO "Tan Enamorados"
Blankpink/Selena Gomez "Ice Cream"
BTS "ON"
