The coronavirus pandemic has necessitated a change in lifestyles across the world. Big events in shared spaces where people are packed in close proximity aren’t a thing anymore, so the world is adapting. As cinemas everywhere are closed, drive-in movie theaters are experiencing a bit of a renaissance. It’s the perfect idea for these times, and now somebody in Denmark has finally applied it to the concert space as well: Danish musician Mads Langer recently hosted an honest-to-goodness, in-person concert, but instead of fans crowding in in front of the stage, the attendees were all in their cars, parked in front of it.

On the outskirts of Aarhus (Denmark’s second-largest city), Langer put up a stage and performed a sold-out show; In this case, “sold out” was 500 tickets, since there’s less room for people at a drive-in concert. The show’s audio was transmitted on FM radio, so attendees could hear things well in their cars. Additionally, fans could also interact with Langer via a Zoom call.

Logistically, it seems like things went pretty well, as local police told Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, “There are only positive messages from our people on the spot. It has been controlled. People have behaved the way they should, and all the cars were out of place within half an hour.”

Now, we wait for At The Drive-In to reunite.

Finding the best bourbon is a lifelong endeavor. There are so many bottles on the shelves these days from big-name producers to small-time local craft distillers that it’s hard to know where to start. We’re not complaining. All we’re saying is that it’s a good time to be a whiskey drinker. Still, the dearth of choices can lead to a lot of head-scratching. That’s why we write about bourbons so damn much.

This time, we’ve gone to the masses to find out which bourbons they think are the best. Over on Ranker folks cast a whopping 54,000 votes, and a clear top ten bourbons emerged. It’s a mainstream list, for sure. But all things considered, it’s a solid selection, too.

Hopefully, this list will help you the next time you find yourself perusing whiskey pages from your local delivery service. The bourbons featured are all winners and each has a little twist or nuance that makes it special.

10. Booker’s

Entry Bottle: Booker’s Bourbon
Distillery: Jim Beam, Clermont, KY (Beam Suntory)
ABV: 63%
Average Price: $79.99

The Whiskey:

Booker’s makes great bourbon overall. This heady bourbon from Jim Beam is a blending of six and eight-year-old barrels from deep in their rickhouses. The quality is top-notch, making this a bottle that won’t disappoint even the snobbiest of whiskey “lovers.”

Tasting Notes:

There’s a sweet toffee nose that gives way to bright cedar, stewed apples, spicy red and black pepper, and a flourish of sour cherries. It’s as complex as it is satisfying and will linger on your senses with all that spice and fruit.

9. W.L. Weller

Entry Bottle: Weller Special Reserve Bourbon
Distillery: Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, KY (Sazerac Company)
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $39.99

The Whiskey:

This expression from Buffalo Trace’s distillery is billed as the “Original” wheated bourbon. The wheat replaces rye in the mash bill and creates a subtly softer bourbon that’ll entice your senses.

Tasting Notes:

Caramel shines brightly on the opening. That caramel ebbs towards butterscotch and then rich notes of fresh honey as florals and sweet fruits kick in. The sense of oak and vanilla help those sunny spring flowers mingle with the honey on the long, warming finish (that classic “Kentucky hug”).

8. Eagle Rare

Entry Bottle: Eagle Rare 10-Year Bourbon
Distillery: Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, KY (Sazerac Company)
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $37.99

The Whiskey:

This expression is a blending of ten-year-old Buffalo Trace whiskeys, giving this one a deep nature. The master blenders look for well-known bourbon flavors in each barrel in the rickhouse so that they can dial those notes into one of the tastiest bottles of bourbon available today. It’s a fascinatingly complex whiskey in this price range.

Tasting Notes:

This one opens boldly with orange rind and maple syrup sweetness. Then the oak char and vanilla kick in, giving it a classic old-leather-chair-in-a-smoky-library vibe. There’s a very distant tartness on the back end that hints at very big red fruits. The finish is short but sweet in all the right ways.

7. Elijah Craig

Entry Bottle: Elijah Craig Small Batch Bourbon
Distillery: Heaven Hill Bernheim Distillery, Louisville, KY
ABV: 47%
Average Price: $31.99

The Whiskey:

Elijah Craig is one of Heaven Hill’s premier brands. The bourbon is a blend of eight to 12-year-old bourbons from Heaven Hill’s rickhouses, each hand-selected. The end result is a whiskey that’s as drinkable as it’s affordable.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a rush of a cedar forest just after a rain shower alongside echoes of honeycomb. That turns into honey-soaked baked apples with spicy cardamom and cinnamon. Finally, that charred oak kicks in — tying the whole drink together wonderfully.

6. Maker’s Mark

Entry Bottle: Maker’s Mark Bourbon Whisky
Distillery: Maker’s Mark Distillery, Loretto, KY (Beam Suntory)
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $29.99

The Whiskey:

Maker’s Mark cuts the corn mash with red winter wheat, giving it a subtlety that makes this bourbon very drinkable and mixable. This is a good bourbon to use as a base for any cocktail application from an old fashioned to a Manhattan to a mint julep.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a burst of spice, botanicals, fruit, and honey sweetness that lean towards sweet vermouth. There are clear bourbon notes of oak char, vanilla, and a slight, wheat-y spice that all give way to a rich butterscotch. The sip draws to a close rather quickly with a nice return of the spice, fruit, and warmth.

5. Knob Creek

Entry Bottle: Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Distillery: Jim Beam Distillery, Clermont, KY (Beam Suntory)
ABV: 50%
Average Price: $34.99

The Whiskey:

Jim Beam’s Knob Creek is a blend of bourbons from the Beam rickhouses that have aged up to nine years. That’s a good amount of time for bourbon in this price range, especially given that bottles just ten to 15 bucks cheaper are usually only aged four years.

Tasting Notes:

The dram starts with a sense of buttery toast and echoes of rye spice. That rye leads to charred oak and maple syrup essence that mellows into delightful hints of apple orchards. The oak, spice, and fruit bring about a long finish with plenty of warmth.

4. Pappy Van Winkle

Entry Bottle: Pappy Van Winkle’s 15 Year Family Reserve
Distillery: Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, KY (Sazerac Company)
ABV: 53.5%
Average Price: $1,399.99

The Whiskey:

Pappy Van Winkle is the mountaintop of “great” bourbon. The bottles are only released twice a year and will set you back — checks notes — over $1,000 since they’re bought up quickly by retailers and collectors who hold on to them, increasing their “value.” Look, if you have an extra $1,300 laying around for this, more power to you. But, let’s be honest, there are very good bourbons on this list you could buy ten or more bottles of for that same price. Do that, instead.

Tasting Notes:

Having had the pleasure of tasting this expression, there’s a richness from the present-yet-subtle oak next to a nutty toffee essence. Caramel and vanilla mingle with echoes of sharp spice, toasted oak, wild florals, and orchard fruit. Everything in this bottle just works as the finish sits on your senses and reminds you why you love bourbon in the first place.

3. Buffalo Trace

Entry Bottle: Buffalo Trace Bourbon
Distillery: Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, KY (Sazerac Company)
ABV: 45%
Average Price: $29.99

The Whiskey:

The low-rye mash bill lets the corn shine with a softer nature and smoother experience. The price point also makes this a very accessible bottle to have on hand for pretty much any application — from a neat nip at the end of the day or a longer cocktail-making-session over the weekend.

Tasting Notes:

The dram starts off bold with caramel, dark chocolate pastry butteriness, Christmas spices, and malt-forward earthiness. Then bursts of raw sugars, wet oak, bitter roasted coffee beans, and apple orchards shine through. The end tends to linger without overpowering on the warmth.

2. Woodford Reserve

Entry Bottle: Woodford Reserve Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
Distillery: Brown Forman Distillery, Shively, KY
ABV: 45.2%
Average Price: $37.99

The Whiskey:

The whiskey has a slightly high rye content (18 percent) which gives it a unique drinkability and a nice hit of spice. It’s twice distilled in pot and column stills before being mellowed in oak for six to eight years. The final blend tends to be complex yet a very easy-drinking whiskey.

Tasting Notes:

There’s a clear feel of old leather, rich pipe tobacco, raw cacao, and creamy vanilla-laced butterscotch. That’s followed by marzipan, darkly roasted coffee beans, rye spiciness that’s more fresh ginger than pepper, and an aged rum sweet edge. The final notes let you know it’s bourbon — with more spice, vanilla, bitterness, and oak resting on your senses.

1. Blanton’s

Entry Bottle: Blanton’s Single Barrel Bourbon
Distillery: Buffalo Trace Distillery, Frankfort, KY (Sazerac Company)
ABV: 46.5%
Average Price: $79.99

The Whiskey:

Blanton’s bourbon is taken from the best cuts from the stills. The hot juice then goes into barrels and is stored in Buffalo Trace’s famed warehouse H. Singel barrels are hand-selected to represent the deep virtues or a great bourbon. The result? This is one unique bottle of booze.

Tasting Notes:

This is a single barrel expression, so results will vary. Still, in my experience, this bourbon is dialed into damn near perfection. There’s a bold caramel depth that gives way to just the right amount of peppery spice. There are hints of barrel char, toasted vanilla, bright fruit orchards, and fields of malts. Everything is balanced as the warm embrace of the finish adds wisps of tobacco smoke and a hint of worn leather to the mix.

Doja Cat’s Hot Pink track “Say So” recently became a hit after rising in popularity on TikTok. To celebrate its viral success, Doja Cat enlisted Nicki Minaj to breathe new life into the vibrant track. While the remix is a clever, lighthearted rework of the song, fans combed through Minaj’s lyrics and concluded that she is throwing shade at a particular celebrity through a particular verse. The rapper noticed her fans’ speculations and quickly addressed the rumors.

During her outro, Minaj seemingly throws shade at an unnamed person: “Why you talkin’ ’bout who body fake? / With all them fillers in your face, you just full of hate / That real ass ain’t keep your n**** home / Now you lookin’ silly, that’s word to silicone.” After the remix dropped Thursday night, Minaj’s fans immediately took to Twitter to analyze her bars. Eventually, the Barbz deduced that the lines are directed towards Wendy Williams, who recently criticized the rapper’s recent marriage to longtime boyfriend Kenneth Petty.

After fans began buzzing about the line, Minaj hopped on Instagram to shut down the rumors. While the rapper didn’t reveal her inspiration behind the verse, she announced that the shade was not directed at Williams. “The line ain’t about Wendy tho,” she wrote.

Minaj’s fans have been active lately, as they recently tried to cancel Doja.

In America alone, 30 million people have filed unemployment claims in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. Establishments are closed (for the most part), and people need help. Hip-hop artists like Cardi B, Kanye West, Eminem, Jay-Z and Meek Mill, DJ Khaled, and many more have stepped up with fundraisers, donations, and other good deeds to assist those in need.

Here’s a look at just some of their efforts:

Cardi B

Cardi B may have been a bit skeptical about the coronavirus at the outset of its arrival in the US, but she’s still giving back. In April, she donated 20,000 bottles of the OWYN plant-based meal supplement drink to healthcare workers in her native New York. Later that month, the Bronx rapper teamed with fashion brand FashionNova for the #FashionNovaCARES initiative, which is giving away $1 million dollars, or $1,000 every hour until May 20. to people affected by the pandemic. She also gave proceeds from iMarkkeyz’ catchy “Coronavirus” single (which sampled her) to relief efforts.

Eminem

Eminem referenced two of his biggest hits in his relief efforts. A week ago, his Marshall Mathers foundation teamed with Detroit catering service Union Joints to distribute tubs of “Mom’s Spaghetti” to healthcare workers on the frontlines of the crisis. The spaghetti is a reference to a famous line in his “Lose Yourself” track. He’s also auctioning off a pair of his Jordan 4 Retro Eminem Carhartt sneakers for the for the World Health Organization’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. While announcing the initiative on Instagram, he said he was “Cleanin’ out my closet.”

Drake

Drake contributed to the #AllInChallenge, which is imploring celebrities to enter items in an auction supporting charities such as Feeding America, Meals On Wheels, World Central Kitchen and No Kid Hungry. The Toronto rapper offered a lucky auction participant a weekend party package, which includes VIP treatment at LA nightspot Delilah and a ride on his private jet.

Kanye West

In April, Kanye West worked with We Women Empowered and The Dream Center to donate thousands of meals to affected families in his hometown of Chicago and his current home base of LA. Josephine Wade of We Women Empowered noted to Access Online that, “today when I got that call, that Kanye West wanted to help the elderly in Chicago and he chose his hometown in the South Side, his old neighborhood, I was beyond words.”

2 Chainz

Georgia governor Brian Kemp made the controversial decision to loosen restrictions on Georgia businesses, which laid the way for shops like Killer Mike’s barbershop and 2 Chainz’ Escobar Restaurant and Tapas to re-open. Both artists decided they weren’t re-opening their establishments, and 2 Chainz actually used the restaurant to feed 120 people experiencing homelessness a meal. His Tru foundation also donated 200 McDonalds meals to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

Meek Mill

Meek Mill and Jay-Z’s Reform Alliance sent 100,000 masks to American jails and prisons, where the pandemic is ravaging people who literally have nowhere to go to escape it. He also contributed to the #allinchallenge by offering his 2018 Rolls-Royce Phantom to a lucky winner.

Post Malone

Genrebender Post Malone embraced his rock roots by getting up with legendary drummer Travis Barker and performing a Nirvana tribute on YouTube live stream. The fundraising concert grossed $4.3 million dollars, and Google doubled the first $2.5 million in contributions, bringing the total contributions to $9.3 million for The United Nations Foundation’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund for The World Health Organization (WHO).

Megan Thee Stallion & Beyoncé

Houstonites Beyoncé and Megan Thee Stallion stopped the world on Wednesday with the swaggering remix to Meg’s “Savage” track. The song may kick off a savage summer for women (if we actually get to go outside), and the proceeds are going to the Bread Of Life, a Houston-area disaster relief organization feeding Houston families during the pandemic. Earlier in the month, she had the #HealthcareHotties and #HottiesAtHome hashtags trending on Twitter while sending disadvantaged people money via cash app.

Diddy

The big news a week or so ago was that Diddy and Jennifer Lopez reunited during Diddy’s live stream Dance-A-Thon. But lost in the hysteria was the reality that the Dance-A-Thon was a fundraiser that raised over $3 million for healthcare workers in underserved areas all over the country.

Pitbull

Pitbull raised some eyebrows in April with a pretty vague Twitter response to the pandemic, but there was no confusion about the affirming “I Believe That We Will Win,” a rousing song he released earlier last month. The proceeds from the song benefit organizations like Feeding America and the Tony Robbins Foundation, according to Billboard.

Hip-Hop Loves NY

Some of New York’s finest came together for the Universal Hip-Hop Museum and Mass Appeal’s Hip-Hop Loves NY benefit concert, which featured legendary acts like Nas, Ice-T, Wu-Tang Clan, Chuck D of Public Enemy, LL Cool J, Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie, De La Soul, and Kurtis Blow performing for over three hours on YouTube and other social media platforms. Billboard reports that the concert’s proceeds went to SOMOS Community Care, a network of nearly 2,500 health care providers for Medicaid members in the Bronx, Queens, Manhattan, and Brooklyn. It also helped The Bronx Community Relief Effort in their efforts to raise $10 million for the hard-hit Bronx, which has lost many people including local legend Fred The Godson.

DJ D-Nice

For the past two months, DJ D-Nice’s Club Quarantine has had many houses jumpin’ with his marathon DJ sets. In April, he collaborated with MTV’s #AloneTogether campaign to relaunch the Club MTV series and create Club MTV Presents #DanceTogether with D-Nice. Viewers of the DJ sets are urged to donate to The Save The Music Foundation, which, according to a press release, is “working rapidly to ensure students in underserved communities severely impacted by this pandemic, particularly New York, Los Angeles, Newark, and New Orleans, have access to remote music education.”

Birdman

Rap legend Birdman further cemented his reverence in New Orleans with his offer to “pay everybody rent for [the] month of May (for those who in need} [in the area] of Uptown New Orleans where I was born and raised.” Birdman’s offer is a noble gesture that will be much appreciated in the hard-hit city.

Kodak Black

Kodak Black is currently incarcerated as the American prison population is facing a hellish experience during the pandemic. Still, the young, controversial artist is looking to give back. In March, he donated books and essential school supplies for over 600 students in his native Broward County.

BET Fundraiser

On April 22nd, BET aired Saving Our Selves: A BET COVID-19 Relief Effort which featured guests like DJ Khaled, Kelly Rowland, Chance The Rapper, Fantasia, Kirk Franklin, and more participating in the United Way fundraiser.

CDQ

Coronavirus is a world plague, and artists from all over the world are doing their part to ease the burden during the pandemic. Count Nigerian artist CDQ as a model landlord, as he provided rent relief to his tenants in Nigeria.

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

As our current situation continues, the wave of charitable efforts for pandemic relief fortunately persists. On the entertainment front, that includes the #AllInChallenge that’s allowing people the chance to walk into movies and/or host a lemonade stand with the likes of Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. Parks And Recreation recently held a hope-filled reunion special for Feeding America, and now, NBC is following up with news of an upcoming two-hour special aimed toward funneling donations to that same organization.

The Hollywood Reporter reveals that Sunday, May 10 will be the day when an enormous (virtual) line-up of comedians will come together for the cause, which will officially fall under the name of the Feeding America Comedy Festival. Not only have the legendary Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, and Tiffany Haddish pledged their talents for this event, but the rest of the lineup is simply staggering. All involved will pretape their segments, of course, but this is still quite the list of names to behold:

Louie Anderson, Judd Apatow, Jack Black, Wayne Brady, Adam Carolla, Cedric the Entertainer, Margaret Cho, Andrew Dice Clay, Deon Cole, Billy Crystal, Whitney Cummings, Tommy Davidson, Bill Engvall, Mike Epps, Billy Gardell, Brad Garrett, Whoopi Goldberg, Kevin Hart, Taraji P. Henson, Kevin James, Jim Jefferies, Jamie Kennedy, Keegan-Michael Key, George Lopez, Jon Lovitz, Howie Mandel, Sebastian Maniscalco, Marc Maron, Tim Meadows, Caroline Rhea, Chris Rock, Sarah Silverman, JB Smoove, Kenan Thompson, Sheryl Underwood Marlon Wayans, and Allen.

Funny or Die and Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group are also helping to produce this special, and Allen has declared that “laughter is often the best medicine,” which will hopefully go a long way toward motivating donations for Feeding America.

(Via Hollywood Reporter)

It’s a lot to take in.

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The 1975’s new album Notes On A Conditional Form comes out towards the end of this month, but Matty Healy is already looking ahead: In a new interview, the frontperson described what he thinks the band’s fifth album will be like.

He said of the Notes On A Conditional Form follow-up:

“This isn’t necessarily the last record, I don’t think it is the last record, but it’s the end of this era, whatever’s next will be very different and it will be a different time. I bet you we will just do a new record and I bet you it’s dope. I think it’s going to be quite violent. […] Even though NOACF is really sprawling, the later statements are ones like ‘People.’ We’re still in a place of agitation and anxiety, we’re voyeurs of violence on a geopolitical level and we’re a band, so we feel a duty to talk about that. And now we’re in a pandemic, so if you don’t make a record, what the f*ck are you doing?”

Healy also hinted at some upcoming collaborations, but didn’t give too much away: “There’s a couple of people I’m working with remotely, but it’s difficult to talk about because I don’t know if it will happen. If it does then it could be exciting, everybody’s looking to collaborate at the moment.”

He also summarized Notes On A Conditional Form, saying of the album, “I hope people like it, but the most important thing to me is that I’m really proud of it and I stand by it. This record is very different to all our other records, it’s very meandering, very long, but not in a boring way. It’s quite succinct, but it still manages to be very all over the place.”

Notes On A Conditional Form is out 5/22 via Dirty Hit. Pre-order it here.

As he loves doing so much, Drake dropped a new project in the middle of the night to general acclaim and wound up once again dominating the online conversation. By most accounts, it seems the Dark Lane Demo Tapes mixtape hit all the right notes to sway public opinion back in the Torontonian superstar’s favor after the lackluster reception for his 2018 album Scorpion — all except one track, the most highly-anticipated one of all.

Back in the beginning of April, Drake previewed “Pain 1993,” an unexpected collaboration with fan-favorite, genre-bending, Atlanta rapper Playboi Carti and sparked a wave of anticipation for the new track. However, fans’ curiosity has seemingly curdled into disappointment as the collaboration left many unimpressed. Contrary to the reception for some of Drake’s more recent work, this time it seems as though the problem is on Carti’s side, as listeners broke out the memes and took over Twitter with reactions that raked Carti’s… let’s say “experimental” verse over the coals.

Fans’ reactions are understandable, if you squint. Thanks to Playboi Carti’s breakout in 2017 with “Magnolia,” he became a superstar, with all the accompanying expectations. However, since then, he’s had an unconventional approach to making and releasing music, coasting through his innovative — and controversial — 2018 album Die Lit with sheer charisma and a whole lot of ad-libs. Maybe that’s why fans anticipate so many of his releases — including the one for his upcoming follow-up full-length Whole Lotta Red — with so much fervor — and why they can feel let down when it doesn’t seem like he’s offering the sort of artistic growth expected of a superstar.

On the other hand, there may be one benefit to the backlash:

Listen to “Pain 1993” above.

Last Updated: May 1st

A good conspiracy theory gets the blood running hot. It should be equal measures absurd and just-believable-enough — meaning that you’re definitely entertained, even if you don’t take the ideas espoused seriously. Or maybe you do take them seriously. Maybe you get hooked on more and more increasingly batshit insane ideas until you reach “holy-Jesus-this-is-ALL-real” levels of lunacy. Then you ascend to the next level of conspiracy doc watching, spending hours with videos that are only found deep at the bottom of YouTube rabbit holes.

Hopefully, it won’t come to that. The docs presented here are a little more reasonable. Many of them have some undeniable truth at their core. They get you saying, “You know, that makes a lot of sense.” You might even corner someone at your next cocktail party and bounce these ideas off them. God knows people are tired of hearing about your sourdough starter.

The docs below are sensational and fun, but we’re not here to speak to their veracity. That’s for you to decide. Unroll the tin foil and enjoy!

Related: The 25 Best Documentaries On Netflix Right Now

The Great Hack (2019)

Run Time: 114 min | IMDb: 7.0/10

This is the sort of documentary that you wish was a batshit crazy conspiracy theory. But, no, it actually happened as a conspiracy to steal our data and sell it to the highest bidder and then let them at us personally, emotionally, and politically. The results have not been … ideal.

The Great Hack is the sort of viewing that feels mandatory to understand what’s going on with our social media accounts and the companies behind them. On the flip side, it’s harrowing to watch how easily the conspiracy to manipulate the masses was carried out and how little has been done in the wake of these revelations.

The Family (2019)

1 season, 5 episodes | IMDb: 6.4/10

The Family is a limited-run series that’s easily bingeable over five, 45-minute episodes. The docuseries outlines the conspiracy conducted by The Fellowship, originally led by Doug Coe, who set out to turn American politics towards fundamentalist evangelicalism through the backdoors of Washington, DC. The Fellowship eschews any teachings or the actual words of Jesus Christ in the pursuit of power, domination, and pure greed on the national stage to make America into their version of fundamentalist nation.

It’s a chilling portrayal of how a religious power-conspiracy reached the highest echelons for decades. It’s even more chilling that it hasn’t seemed to stop.

Bob Lazar: Area 51 & Flying Saucers (2018)

Run Time: 96 min | IMDb: 5.5/10

Bob Lazar is a legend in the UFO community. The former scientist (now pyrotechnician) actually worked at Area 51’s S-4 facility. A military installation where, allegedly, Lazar and other “top men” were reverse-engineering extraterrestrial tech. What stands out most in this whole story (and doc) is that over time — as some documents have become unclassified — some of Lazar’s claims have been proven. Most notably that element 151 (a specific nuclear isotope) exists.

That doesn’t mean Lazar’s decades-long claim to extraterrestrial technology isn’t an Andy Kaufman-level performance artist bit, but it’s certainly enough to get you into the movie.

Behind the Curve (2018)

Run Time: 95 min | IMDb: 6.5/10

This is perhaps the most frustrating entry on the list. There’s little fun to be had here and more grimacing. Luckily, the doc takes a very tongue in cheek approach to the rise of flat earth conspiracy by showing those who believe the lie and fail over and over again to prove themselves right.

Where do the grimaces come in? No matter who much evidence and failed tests the flat earthers seem to find or run into, they remain unwavering in their belief. If anything, the documentary is a testament to the current age of social media bubbles and YouTube echo chambers people can fall into.

Oliver Stone’s Untold History of the United States (2012)

1 season, 12 episodes | IMDb: 8.6/10

Oliver Stone has settled into a role as an agent provocateur of the American film world. He’s become known for his documentaries that take off-kilter looks at world figures like Chavez and Putin. In this series, Stone examines why so much of our history has been largely erased from the national narrative. It’s a conspiracy that’s harrowingly based on real-life events that we should know but rarely do.

Unacknowledged (2017)

Run Time: 103 min | IMDb: 7.1/10

There are so, so many docs about the existence of extraterrestrials out there. What’s interesting about Unacknowledged is that it’s less about the existence or contact with otherworldly beings and more about how governments — the U.S. in particular here — are able to manipulate the masses and create their own realities/narratives. The film lays out with evidence from the government, newspapers, and very high-level sources that we have contact and technology from extraterrestrial life. It’s a given. It’s compelling, sure. Where it really gets deep is how the government allegedly operates with that information. This is the sort of film that leaves saying, “hum…” at the end.

Cowspiracy (2014)

Run Time: 90 min | IMDb: 8.3/10

It’s not necessarily a conspiracy that the cattle industry is a very bad thing for the planet. Yet, the film treats the whole industry like one huge conspiracy that goes all the way to the top, man! You can perhaps get some interesting information from a lot of the posturing about secrets and lies, but it’s still a very sensational — and fun to watch — look into the cattle industry from a very skeptical point of view.

A Gray State (2017)

Run Time: 93 min | IMDb: 6.2/10

Erik Nelson and Werner Herzog first teamed up to make the much-lauded documentary Grizzly Man with Nelson producing Herzog’s directing. In A Gray State, those roles were reversed to tell the story of aspiring filmmaker David Crowley’s untimely death by apparent suicide in his Minnesota home. That’s the easy part of this documentary. The story gets wild from here on out.

Crowley was a libertarian filmmaker working on a feature film about America being a police state and getting overrun by a foreign authoritarian regime. He was spending his time raising cash for his film by touring the far-right and libertarian circuits with the likes of Alex Jones and Ron Paul. He had gotten far enough in the filmmaking process to produce three trailers for his film and raise $60,000 for the budget. Then, Crowley along with his wife and young daughter were all found murdered in their home. From then on, right-wing conspiracy theorists latched onto the deaths with wild ideas about what “really” happened to the Crowleys — something no one can know for sure. The film explores all of the conspiracy-making along with the filmmaking by Crowley in a head-scratching documentary about an event ripe for conspiracy theorists.

America’s Book of Secrets (2012)

1 Season, 10 Episodes | IMDb: 7/10

This docu-series from the History Channel is conspiracy theory-lite. Each episode covers a mainstream conspiracy theory in a very introductory way. They hit on the main talking points from “experts” but rarely draw any conclusions, which is kind of the point of conspiracy theories as entertainment. The ripple here is that each episode is based around a place like Fort Knox, Area 51, the White House, and so on. There are three exceptions with episodes about Free Masons (naturally), the FBI, and Black Ops.

In the end, this can be a mild way to scratch that conspiracy theory itch without too much investment.

Wormwood (2017)

1 Season, 6 Episodes | IMDb: 7/10

Speaking of rabbit holes, MKUltra is a deep one. Fake hippy communes and brothels, Charles Manson, the CIA dosing people randomly for decades, a massive institution-spanning coverup in the highest offices of the land, MKUltra has it all.

Wormwood — from acclaimed documentarian Errol Morris — dives into the very dodgy 1953 “suicide” of CIA employee Frank Olson who was part of the LSD-dosing experiments under the umbrella of MKUltra. The docuseries uses dramatic reenactments to fairly decent effect with Peter Sarsgaard and Tim Blake Nelson turning in believable performances. Those flashbacks are inter-spliced with a present-day investigation that looks into CIA handbooks on assassination and how deeply MKUltra seeped its way into American society.

Keeping track of all the new albums coming out in a given month is a big job, but we’re up for it: Below is a comprehensive list of the major releases you can look forward to in May. If you’re not trying to potentially miss out on anything, it might be a good idea to keep reading.

Friday, May 1

• Abrams — Modern Ways (Atypeek Music)
• Alanis Morissette — Such Pretty Forks In The Road (Epiphany Music)
• Alex Henry Foster — Windows In The Sky (Hopeful Tragedy Records)
• Alina Baraz — It Was Divine (Mom + Pop Music)
• American Aquarium — Lamentations (New West Records)
• Ben Lukas Boysen — Mirage (Erased Tapes Records)
• Boardgame James — Daydream EP (1000 Doors)
• Boat — Tread Lightly (Magic Marker Records)
• Boston Manor — GLUE (Pure Noise Records)
• Caleb Landry Jones — The Mother Stone (Sacred Bones Records)
• Car Seat Headrest — Making A Door Less Open (Matador Records)
• Chad Lawson — Stay EP (Universal Music Classics)
• Chicano Batman — Invisible People (ATO Records)
• Country Westerns — Country Westerns (Fat Possum Records)
• Damien Jurado — What’s New, Tomboy? (Mama Bird Recording Co.)
• Dark Morph — Dark Morph II (Pomperipossa)
• David V Britton — Qualia (Oof Records)
• Dead Lakes — New Language EP (SharpTone Records)
• Denzel Curry And Kenny Beats — Unlocked (Instrumentals) (Loma Vista)
• Devon Williams — A Tear In The Fabric (Slumberland Records)
• Diana Gordon — Wasted Youth EP (Warner Records)
• Diet Cig — Do You Wonder About Me? ()
• Dramarama — Color TV (Pasadena Records)
• Dwayne Kennedy — Who The Hell Is Dwayne Kennedy? (Oak Head Records)
• Field Works — Ultrasonic (Temporary Residence Ltd.)
• FRND CRCL — Internet Noise (FCMedia)
• Geographer — Down And Out In The Garden Of Earthly Delights (self-released)
• Go Banana Go! — Hi-YA! (self-released)
• GoGo Penguin — GoGo Penguin (Blue Note Records)
• Hey, Chels — Everything Goes (Brainworm Records)
• Hot Country Knights — The K Is Silent (Capitol Records Nashville)
• Houses Of Heaven — Silent Places (felte)
• Joan As Police Woman — Cover Two (Sweet Police)
• Jody Wisternoff — Nightwhisper (Anjunadeep)
• Joe Chester — Jupiter’s Wife (Bohemia Records)
• Johanna Warren — Chaotic Good (Wax Nine)
• JoJo — Good To Know (Warner Records)
• Josie Cotton — Invasion Of The B-Girls (Scruffy Records)
• JR JR — August And Everything Prior EP (Love Is EZ Records)
• Kid Froopy — Silver Silver (Deadbeats)
• Konradsen — Rodeo No. 5 EP (Cascine)
• Laser Background — Evergreen Legend (self-released)
• Laura Cortese & The Dance Cards — Bitter Better (Compass Records)
• Leven Kali — Hightide (Interscope Records)
• Lil Baby — My Turn (Deluxe Edition) (Quality Control)
• Loren Oden — My Heart, My Love (Linear Labs)
• Man Man — Dream Hunting In The Valley Of The In-Between (Sub Pop)
• Mark Allen-Piccolo — Word Of The Day (BotCave Records)
• Markus Floats — Third Album (Constellation Records)
• Miro Shot — Content (All Points)
• Noah Kahan — Cape Elizabeth EP (Human Re Sources)
• ONO — Red Summer (American Dreams Records)
• Pinewood — All Things With Symmetry (self-released)
• The Rad Trads — 99 In October EP (Wombat Squad Records)
• Rileyy Lanez — Beautiful Mistakes EP (Columbia Records)
• Sawyer Fredericks — Flowers For You (Windrake Recordings)
• Slow Dakota — Tornado Mass For Voice & Synthesizer (Massif)
• Sophia St. Helen — None The Wiser (1489366 Records DK2)
• Sunshine Boys — Work And Love (Room F)
• Surf Rock Is Dead — Existential Playboy (Surf Rock Is Dead)
• Symba — Don’t Run From R.A.P. (Atlantic Records)
• Tigerwine — Nothing Is For You (Tooth & Nail Records)
• Wendy James — Queen High Starlight (Cobra Side)
• Will Bernard — Freelance Subversives (Ropeadope)

Friday, May 8

• AC Sapphire — Desert Car (GrindEthos Records)
• Amanda St. John — The Muscle Shoals Sessions (1397853 Records DK2)
• Astari Nite — Here Lies (Negative Gain Productions)
• Beauty Pill — Please Advise (Northern Spy Records)
• Black Taffy — Opal Wand (Leaving Records)
• The Black Moods — Sunshine (The Fuel Music)
• Blesson Roy — Time Is A Crime EP (Slow Start Records)
• Butch Walker — American Love Story (Ruby Red Recordings, Inc.)
• Chelsea Williams — Beautiful And Strange (Blue Elan Records)
• Choir Boy — Gathering Swans (Dais Records)
• Cryptex — Once Upon A Time (Steamhammer)
• Daedelus — What Wands Won’t Break (Dome of Doom Records)
• David Myles — Leave Tonight (Little Tiny Records)
• Deau Eyes — Let It Leave (EggHunt Records)
• Eve Owen — Don’t Let The Ink Dry (37d03d)
• Evvol — The Power (Evvol)
• Hailee Steinfeld — Half Written Story (Republic Records)
• Hayley Williams — Petals For Armor (Atlantic)
• I Break Horses — Warnings (Bella Union)
• Joshua Speers — Human Now EP (Warner Records)
• Kansas Smitty — Things Happened Here (Ever Records)
• Kayleth — 2020 Back To Earth (Argonauta Records)
• Kehlani — It Was Good Until It Wasn’t (Atlantic)
• Kill The Giants — Drones, Clones & Bio Machines (Nub Music)
• Lil Durk — Just Cause Y’all Waited 2 (Alamo)
• Luke Elliot — The Big Wind (ferryhouse productions)
• Mark Lanegan — Straight Songs Of Sorrow (Heavenly)
• Matty Stecks & Musical Tramps — Long Time Ago Rumble (Ropeadope Records)
• Middle Distance — Blueshift (No Sleep Records)
• Monteagle — A Colorful Moth EP (Fire Talk)
• The Naked And Famous — Recover (Somewhat Damaged)
• Nav — Good Intentions (Republic)
• Phantom Planet — Devastator (Gong Records)
• Radnor & Lee — Golden State (Flower Moon Records)
• Reliant Tom — Play & Rewind (Diversion Records)
• Ric Wilson & Terrace Martin — They Call Me Disco EP (Free Disco/Sounds of Crenshaw)
• Rob Moss Wilson & Cool Maritime — Big Lunch (Touchtheplants)
• Rufus Coates & Jess Smith — Not For The Gallery (The Famous Gold Watch Records)
• Same — Plastic Western (Lauren Records)
• The Sinclairs — Sparkle (Cleopatra Records)
• Sylvia Rose Novak — Bad Luck (Due South Records)
• T. Gowdy — Therapy With Colour (Constellation Records)
• Watch Clark — Backscatter Effect (VTwin Media)

Friday, May 15

• Alma — Have U Seen Her? (RCA Records/Sony Music)
• Arthur — Hair Of The Dog (Honeymoon)
• Callum Beattie — People Like Us (3 Beat Records)
• Charli XCX — How I’m Feeling Now (Atlantic Records)
• Chatham County Line — Strange Fascination (Yep Roc Records)
• The Coo — Amsterdam Moon EP (Just Listen Records/Native DSD)
• The Dears — Lovers Rock (Dangerbird Records)
• Emily Wells — In The Dark Moving (This Is Meru)
• Glenn Thomas — Reassure Me There’s A Window (Palace Flophouse Records)
• Go For Gold — Color Me EP (inVogue Records)
• Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit — Reunions (Southeastern Records)
• The Jerry Cans — Echoes (Pheromone Distribution / Fontana North)
• Jerry Paper — Abracadabra (Stones Throw Records)
• Jess Williamson — Sorceress (Mexican Summer)
• Joe Wong — Nite Creatures (Decca)
• Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith — The Mosaic Of Transformation (Ghostly International)
• Lila Iké — The Experience EP (RCA Records)
• The Magnetic Fields — Quickies (Nonesuch)
• Marshall Chapman — Songs I Can’t Live Without (Tallgirl Records)
• Mei River — Tall Trees That Never Fell EP (Columbia)
• Moneybagg Yo — Time Served (Deluxe Edition) (Roc Nation)
• Moses Sumney — Grae (Jagjaguwar)
• Nick Hakim — Will This Make Me Good (ATO Records)
• Noah Cyrus — The End Of Everything EP (Columbia Records)
• Off Road Minivan — Swan Dive (Tooth & Nail Records)
• Pattern-Seeking Animals — Prehensile Tales (InsideOut Records)
• Perfume Genius — Set My Heart On Fire Immediately (Matador Records)
• Public Practice — Gentle Grip (Wharf Cat Records)
• Retirement Party — Runaway Dog (Counter Intuitive Records)
• Rose City Band — Summerlong (Thrill Jockey)
• Sleaford Mods — All That Glue (Rough Trade Records)
• Smokey Brights — I Love You But Damn (Freakout Records)
• Sparks — A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip (BMG)
• Taali — Were You Busy Writing Your Heart Out? EP (Rainbow Blonde Records)
• Thao & The Get Down Stay Down — Temple (Ribbon Music)
• Willie Nile — New York At Night (River House Records)
• Yair Elazar Glotman & Mats Erlandsson — Emante (Fat Cat Records)
• Yung Lean — Starz (YEAR0001)

Friday, May 22

• The 1975 — Notes On A Conditional Form (Dirty Hit)
• A.O. Gerber — Another Place To Need (Hand In Hive)
• Anchor & Braille — Tension (Tooth & Nail Records)
• The Airborne Toxic Event — Hollywood Park (Rounder Records)
• Badly Drawn Boy — Banana Skin Shoes (One Last Fruit)
• Banfi — Colour Waits In The Dark (Kin Records)
• Best Ex — Good At Feeling Bad EP (No Sleep Records)
• Bill Nace — Both (Drag City)
• The Brazilian Gentlemen — L & L (Internet & Weed)
• Darren Hayman — Home Time (Fika Recordings)
• Dennis DeYoung — 26 East, Vol. 1 (Frontiers Records)
• Donny Benét — Mr Experience (Dot Dash Recordings)
• Dreamwalkers Inc — A Night At The Theatre (Layered Reality Productions)
• Duski — Make A Wish (Ropeadope)
• Dylan Menzie — Lost In Dreams (self-released)
• Ghetto Kumbé — Ghetto Kumbé (ZZK Records)
• Jah Sun — Magic & Madness (Listenable Records)
• Jarrod Dickenson — Ready The Horses (Decca Records)
• Katie Von Schleicher — Consummation (Full Time Hobby)
• Marhold — A Homemade World (iGroovemusic.com)
• Mother Island — Motel Rooms (Go Down Records)
• Nation Of Language — Introduction, Presence (self-released)
• One Desire — Midnight Empire (Frontiers Music)
• The Prototypes — Shadows (Kartel Dance)
• Roadside Graves — That’s Why We’re Running Away (Don Giovanni Records)
• Sister Species — Light Exchanges (Aura Vortex)
• The Sonic Dawn — Enter The Mirage (Heavy Psych Sounds)
• Steve Earle & The Dukes — Ghosts Of West Virginia (New West Records)
• Suburban Living — How To Be Human (EggHunt Records)
• Tim Burgess — I Love The New Sky (Bella Union)
• Woods — Strange To Explain (Woodsist)
• Zola Blood — Two Hearts EP (Akira Records)

Friday, May 29

• 2nd Grade — Hit To Hit (Double Double Whammy)
• Applescal — Diamond Skies (Atomnation)
• Bryde — The Volume Of Things (Easy Life Records)
• Christian Lee Hutson — Beginners (ANTI‐)
• The Coronas — True Love Waits (So Far So Good)
• Deerhoof — Future Teenage Cave Artists (Joyful Noise Recordings)
• Diplo — Diplo Presents Thomas Wesley Chapter 1: Snake Oil (Mad Decent)
• Dive Index — Waving At Airplanes (Neutral Music)
• Esther Rose — My Favorite Mistakes EP (Father/Daughter Records)
• Flying Lotus — Flamagra (Instrumentals) (Warp)
• Honey Lung — Post Modern Motorcade Music EP (Big Scary Monsters)
• Inventions — Continuous Part (Temporary Residence)
• Irmin Schmidt — Nocturne (Mute Records)
• Jack Garratt — Love, Death & Dancing (Island Records)
• Jade Hairpins — Harmony Avenue (Merge Records)
• Jaime Wyatt — Neon Cross (New West Records)
• Kevin P. Gilday & The Glasgow Cross — Pure Concrete (Iffy Folk Records)
• Kip Moore — Wild World (MCA Nashville Records)
• The Memories — Pickles & Pies (Axis Mundi Records)
• The National Honor Society — To All The Glory We Never Had (Chien Lunatique Records)
• New Found Glory — Forever + Ever x Infinity (Hopeless Records)
• Nicole Atkins — Italian Ice (Single Lock Records)
• Painted Zeros — When You Found Forever (Don Giovanni Records)
• PINS — Hot Slick (Haus Of Pins)
• Protomartyr — Ultimate Success Story (Domino)
• The Reflectors — First Impression (Burger Records)
• S.S. Goodman — Old Time Feeling (Verve Forecast)
• Sébastien Tellier — Domesticated (Record Makers)
• School Of X — Armlock (Tambourhinoceros)
• Sweet Spirit — Trinidad (Merge Records)
• Sweet Whirl — How Much Works! (Chapter Music)
• Teddy Thompson — Heartbreaker Please (Chalky Sounds)
• Tru Trilla — God Of Barz (New Dawn Records)
• Varsity — Fine Forever (Run for Cover Records)
• Vistas — Everything Changes In The End (Retrospect Records)
• White Tail Falls — Age Of Entitlement (Physical Education Recordings Limited)

Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.