Alternative Music
Letter From the Publisher: 15 Years of Sound
Well, we made it 15 years. A decade and a half ago, Consequence was launched with the goal of bridging the worlds of the underground and the mainstream. At that time, the indie music blogosphere was still a vast wonderland of limitless opportunities, where an undiscovered band could break overnight due to a single song upload on Hype Machine. Yet, it was also unwelcoming space for fans of already-established mainstream artists. Coverage of acts like Phish, Foo Fighters, and Beyoncé was all but nonexistent. I started this publication (then known as Consequence of Sound) to provide a platform for likeminded listeners whose iTunes playlist showed no music prejudice. I grew up on Springsteen, tattooed my arm with The Clash lyrics, and soundtracked my wedding to the sounds of Kanye West. At the...
My15: José González Shares the Playlist of Songs That Have Been on Repeat Since 2007
It’s Consequence‘s 15th anniversary, and all September long we’ll be sharing artist-curated playlists that reflect the evolution of their music taste throughout the last 15 years. For today’s inaugural My15 playlist, folk musician José González shares his selections. Since his very first solo album in 2003, José González has operated with patience. His material is never rushed or forced, always heartfelt and honest, and crafted with the utmost care. His most recent LP Local Valley, released back in September 2021, saw the Swedish singer-songwriter retain his usual meditative folk, but with a new emphasis on electronic beats, and even a cover of his band Junip’s song “Line of Fire,” known for its use in promotional materials for Breaking Bad‘s historic finale in 2013. Needles...
Sudan Archives: Natural Brown Prom Queen
Black women artists so rarely receive credit deserved for technical innovation in music-making, outside of vocal talent. Aretha Franklin’s discerning ear for melodies made her a fierce arranger who knew just where to place the instruments that formed the scaffolding of her hits. Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s guitar melded the sonic waves of Delta blues with the amorphous dissonance of a nascent rock sound. Patrice Rushen is a skillful piano player who can add classical notes to an explosive pop moment. Too often, their capacity as instrumentalists, mixers, and curators of sound at a diasporic and deeply intimate level is nudged to the side, the breadth of their accomplishments equated to the range of their voices. Sudan Archives’ work resists this flattening at every turn. Brittney Parks, the Oh...
My Policeman Review: Harry Styles and Cast Arrest in Essential Queer Story
This review is part of our coverage of the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. The Pitch: In 1950s Britain, same-sex relationships are illegal. Gay men are arrested and thrown in jail for “unlawful” acts, or beaten by a hateful public. Those who pursue relationships must do so in secret or risk everything — their careers, families and maybe even lives. Enter a handsome but simple policeman named Tom (Harry Styles), who falls in love with an educated museum curator named Patrick (David Dawson). The pair hide their affair until Tom meets a schoolteacher named Marion (Emma Corrin) and decides to marry her in pursuit of a “normal” life. Related Video Fast forward several decades and Marion (now played by Gina McKee) takes in Patrick (Rupert Everett) following a stroke, angering Tom (Linu...
Pearl Jam Take Over Apollo Theater for SiriusXM’s Small Stage Series: Recap, Photos and Setlist
Pearl Jam have stayed vital in their fourth decade. Their most recent albums, like 2020’s Gigaton and 2013’s Lightning Bolt, feel sturdy and reassuring — music for functional adults, performed by functional people. They’ve successfully dodged the demons that tragically felled their grunge-era peers. You get the sense that these industry linchpins have shiny trucks, adorable dogs, loving families and spectacular homes — all while enjoying the love and respect of their global music community. So it was appropriate that their first-ever performance at Harlem’s beyond-historic Apollo Theater, which took place on Saturday, September 10th, was thrown by SiriusXM, for subscribers, contest winners and other assorted VIPs. Prior to the show in the lobby, aproned waitstaff handed out IPAs and rosé w...
Pyro, Guitar-Smashing and Massive Pop Hits: Post Malone’s “Twelve Carat Tour” Is a Spectacle Worth Seeing
Since last year, Post Malone has performed at a smattering of festivals, but on Saturday (September 10th), the rapper played his first proper arena tour date in more than two years for the “Twelve Carat Tour” kickoff at Omaha’s CHI Health Center. (Grab tickets to upcoming dates here.) And he was grateful. Every few songs, he’d pause to hoist another red Solo cup filled with beer — dutifully handed to him after nearly every song by a barely seen stagehand — and toast the audience with an f-bomb-filled thank you speech. “Omaha, how the fuck are you feelin’ tonight? Holy fuck, man. Cheers to each and every single one of y’all motherfuckers,” he said. “I just want y’all to know how fucking grateful I am.” Advertisement In jean shorts, white sneakers and a black T-shirt depicting the flaming Ey...
House of the Dragon Episode 4: The Worst People in Westeros, Ranked
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for House of the Dragon, Season 1 Episode 4, “King of the Narrow Sea.”] Game of Thrones was a show that became famous for the shades of grey to be found in its heroes and villains alike, and so far the prequel series House of the Dragon has shown every indication of following in that proud tradition. Thus, Consequence is happy to introduce Who’s the Worst Person in Westeros, a weekly ranking of House of the Dragon‘s most important characters, and just how unsavory they ended up being each week. Everyone on screen, including dragons, is eligible for this list (though expect for the show’s series regulars to be heavily featured from week to week). Advertisement Episode 4, “King of the Narrow Sea,” is especially full of misdeeds, as a homecoming...
The Trailer for Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans Reels Out Legendary Director’s Rise: Watch
The first trailer for Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical feature film, The Fabelmans, has arrived and it looks to be quite the coming-of-age spectacle. Watch the preview below. Gabriel LaBelle stars as Spielberg’s teenage stand-in Sammy Fabelman, an aspiring filmmaker in post-World War II Arizona with a supportive, artistically-minded mother, strikingly inhabited by Michelle Williams, and a successful scientist father, played by Paul Dano. Over about a decade, the movie tracks Sammy as his budding hobby develops into a full-blown obsession that is simultaneously praised and judged by his parents, community, and family friend/”funcle” Bennie (Seth Rogen). The cast also features Judd Hirsch as Sammy’s biological Uncle Boris, Jeannie Berlin, Robin Bartlett, Julia Butters, Keeley Karsten...
The Santa Clauses Trailer Finds Tim Allen’s Potential Replacement in Peyton Manning?: Watch
Tim Allen may have been unceremoniously replaced in the new Buzz Lightyear movie, but he’s bowing out gracefully in The Santa Clauses, the Disney+ sequel series to his long-running Christmas comedy franchise. Watch the first trailer below. The preview opens with a solemn announcement from Allen’s jolly, ol’ Kris Kringle: “For the good of Christmas, for the good of my family, I, Santa Claus have decided to retire.” The news doesn’t exactly land with a warm reception from the elves in Santa’s workshop, who devolve into despair and lead their big boss man Mr. Claus to ask, “we have a grief counselor, right?” It won’t be a complete Blue Christmas though as Santa sets off to find his successor. Unlike the 1994 film’s fine-print fiasco that initially caused the unsuspecting Christmas curmudgeon ...
“There’s Still Not Enough”: The Serpent Queen Star Samantha Morton on Powerful Roles for Women
The new Starz series The Serpent Queen brings modern flair and an extremely unreliable narrator to the well-worn genre of period dramas, as an older Catherine de’ Medici (Samantha Morton) tells a servant girl (Sennia Nanua) about how her younger self (Liv Hill) came to control France for decades. In Morton’s hands, Catherine is a fascinating and complex character, and when speaking with the Oscar-nominated actress via Zoom, I really wanted to ask her about playing powerful women, a recent theme in her work. But I also admitted to her that I felt a little silly about it, as film and television currently feature a ton of examples of powerful, strong, and nuanced female characters. Morton, it turns out, agrees with that, but also says “there’s still not enough. I think in television, they’re ...
Tommy Lee Launches OnlyFans: “Cum Join Me Over There for Fun”
Tommy Lee really wants to keep showing his junk to the world, and doesn’t want anything getting in his way. At the final show of Mötley Crüe’s “Stadium Tour” at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Friday night (September 9th), the drummer revealed that he has joined OnlyFans — and he did so by mooning the audience. Last month, Lee posted a full frontal nude selfie on all his social sites. The “dick pic” was removed from Instagram and Facebook, but still remains on Twitter. The drummer later explained he was on a “bender” when he shared the photo online, but apparently he has no regrets about it. In fact he kept mentioning it at just about every Motley Crue show since, even telling a crowd at a Los Angeles show, “Let me show you my fuckin’ wiener” before jokingly pulling a real-life dachshund...
Marvel Unveils Secret Invasion Trailer Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Emilia Clarke, Olivia Coleman: Watch
Trust no one. Marvel unveiled the first trailer for the upcoming Disney+ series Secret Invasion during its annual D23 event this weekend. Watch it below. The seeds of Secret Invasion have been planted since Spider-Man: Far From Home back in 2019. In that film’s post-credits scene (spoiler) it was revealed that the Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) we’d seen throughout the movie were actually shape-shifting Skrulls (with Ben Mendelsohn’s Talos from Captain Marvel taking the place of Fury). It turned out that the real S.H.I.E.L.D. head was up in space aboard a Skrull ship on a secret mission. That mission, it turns out, was monitoring a… well, a Secret Invasion. Based on the popular Marvel Comics storyline of the same name, Secret Invasion...
