Alternative Music
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Cast on Creating Tolkien’s World for TV: “It’s Mind Blowing, What They Did”
Middle-earth, if you weren’t aware, is a big place. The fantasy world created by J.R.R. Tolkien and brought to the screen numerous times, most famously in Peter Jackson’s Oscar-winning trilogy The Lord of the Rings, encompasses many different races scattered across different lands, from sunny forests to bleak winter landscapes to mines buried deep within the Earth — settings which all come to life in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, the epic new fantasy series debuting this week on Prime Video. During a recent press day for The Rings of Power, Consequence spoke with 12 members of the cast in groups of four, each group a mix of Elves, Dwarves, Harfoots, and Men. This meant that while everyone was friendly and familiar with each other, the separation between storylines meant that m...
Accessible Festivals Launches Free Concert Program for Disabled Music Fans
Accessible Festivals, a non-profit organization focused on creating safe, inclusive, and equitable experiences in the live music and events space for individuals with disabilities, has introduced a new grant program that will provide free tickets to over two dozen activities this fall and beyond. The Dan Grover Memorial Ticket Grant Program offers disabled music fans and their loved ones complimentary access to events like concerts, festivals, and conventions while supplies last. Grant recipients include any individual impacted by newly acquired, temporary, or lifelong disabilities, with applications available here. Accessible Festivals already began the process of distributing free tickets earlier this year at festivals like Bottlerock Napa Valley, Electric Daisy Carnival, Lollapalooza, a...
NYC Broadway Week Offers 2-for-1 Tickets to 21 Shows
The Great White Way requires an awful lot of green, but during NYC Broadway Week, 21 shows are offering 2-for-1 tickets, effectively halving the price for (even-numbered) groups. NYC Broadway Week runs quite a bit longer than seven days, from September 6th through September 25th. The bargain is available for 21 selected shows, including The Lion King, Wicked, Aladdin, MJ, and Beetlejuice. Tickets for those shows are available here (use code BWAYWK). Other eligible shows include Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Chicago, The Book of Mormon, Death of a Salesman, Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Into the Woods, Hadestown, and A Strange Loop, among others. You can find the full list and purchase tickets here. Advertisement Related Video This is the first time since the start of ...
Neil Gaiman Says Michael Jackson Wanted to Star in The Sandman
In the decades before Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman was successfully adapted as a hit Netflix series, Warner Bros. had been pushing the comic book writer to make a film. In an appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, Gaiman mentioned that an executive at the studio once mentioned to him that Michael Jackson wanted to star as the protagonist Dream (aka Morpheus) during the mid-’90s. According to Gaiman, he had previously come to an agreement with Warner Bros. executive Lisa Henson in the early ’90s to not make a Sandman movie because he was “just getting started on the comic” and “it would be a distraction.” In the mid-’90s, however, he took a meeting with a different exec and was told the property was one of Warner’s “crown jewels.” Not only that, Michael Jackso...
Chris Rock Says He Was Asked to Host Next Year’s Oscars But Turned It Down
Chris Rock famously became the talk of the 2022 Oscars after Will Smith slapped him on stage, but the comedian isn’t trying to be the talk of next year’s ceremony. In a recent stand-up set, Rock said the Academy asked him to host the 2023 Oscars, but he turned them down. According to the Arizona Republic, Rock told the crowd at a recent gig in Phoenix that returning to the Oscars would be like returning to the scene of a crime, comparing the offer to asking Nicole Brown Simpson to “go back to the restaurant” she ate at before being murdered. Rock also said he was asked to do a Super Bowl commercial in light of the slap, an offer he also refused. Elsewhere in the set, Rock said being slapped by Smith physically hurt, noting that Smith played Muhammed Ali in a movie. “He’s bigger than me,” R...
Arctic Monkeys Live Their ’70s Dreams in New Song “There’d Better Be a Mirrorball”: Stream
Arctic Monkeys have revealed “There’d Better Be a Mirrorball,” a retro new single from their upcoming album The Car. Drummer Matt Helders previously revealed that Arctic Monkeys’ next album “kinda picks up where” 2018’s loungey Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino left off, and “There’d Better Be a Mirrorball” certainly proves his point. Lush with swelling strings and piano, the song begins on an almost ominous note before fully acquiescing to Alex Turner’s most cinematic, Phil Spector-inspired desires. Even the track’s grainy, sepia-toned music video fits the vibe, as the band track the song in collared shirts and dress pants. Take a trip back to the ’70s below. The Car arrives in full October 21st via Domino, and pre-orders are ongoing. Shortly after announcing the album, ...
Rayland Baxter Announces New Album If I Were A Butterfly, Shares Origins of Title Track: Exclusive
Origins is a recurring new music series giving artists the opportunity to share exclusive insights into their latest release. Today, Rayland Baxter breaks down “If I Were A Butterfly,” the lead single and title track of his fourth album. Nashville singer and songwriter Rayland Baxter has announced his fourth studio album and shared the title track, “If I Were A Butterfly,” on Tuesday (August 30th). The groovy, harmony-laden track is a fascinating foray into the sounds of If I Were A Butterfly, and its lush instrumentation compliments Baxter’s warm vocals and introspective lyrics perfectly. According to Baxter, the new album centers its themes on the loss of his legendary father, Bucky Baxter, who was a member of Bob Dylan’s band and Steve Earl’s Dukes, and who appears on several of&nb...
Plains (Katie Crutchfield and Jess Williamson) Don’t Talk About “Abilene” in New Song: Stream
Jess Williamson and Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield have shared “Abilene,” another new song from their project as Plains. Listen to the track — and watch Yoga with Adriene’s own Adriene Mishler star in its music video — below. The classic country waltz melodies of “Abilene” soundtracks Plains’ journey to distance themselves from the Texas city, and the lives it once housed. “Young lovers like to dream/ We’ll settle down and we’ll make a good team/ Well Main Street was cute and the rents there were cheap/ But I was too much for you and for your Abilene,” Williamson sings. Crutchfield shared the inspiration behind the latest Plains song in a statement. “The song ‘Abilene’ really solidified the vision of the album for me,” she said. “I’ll never forget how giddy I felt when Jess sent me t...
Roc Marciano / The Alchemist: The Elephant Man’s Bones
Rumor has it that, in 1987, Michael Jackson made a bid to buy the skeleton of Englishman Joseph Merrick. Merrick, known as the Elephant Man due to his severe physical deformities, spent his life as an object of ridicule and medical fascination before passing away in 1890 at age 27. A tragic figure with a kind heart, he would become the subject of multiple books, stage plays, and movies across the next century, most famously director David Lynch’s 1980 biopic The Elephant Man. Jackson was reportedly moved by the film, finding solace in a scene where Merrick—portrayed by actor John Hurt—is chased by an angry mob through Liverpool Street station and cries out to his attackers: “I am not an elephant. I am not an animal. I am a human being! I…am…a…man!” Over time, Jackson became fascinated by M...
Dirty Heads Unveil New Album Midnight Control: Stream
Dirty Heads have returned with their new album Midnight Control. The reggae-rock group’s eighth studio LP is out today via Better Noise Music. “Midnight Control is the culmination of almost twenty years of musical exploration, creativity, and our love for creating original impactful art and music,” vocalist Jared Watson said in a press release. “It’s the best album we’ve ever written, and I think that’s due to the fact we have been through so much, done so much, and are comfortable as songwriters, producers, players and human beings. And knowing who we want to work with to get what Sonics. We are so connected and on the same frequency with Ryan Ogren that it was just magic the whole time. We just wanna continue to make dope shit and push music forward and midnight control is exactly t...
Laufey Breaks Down Debut Album Everything I Know About Love Track by Track: Exclusive
Singer, composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Laufey (pronounced Lay-Vay) has introduced a new generation to the world of classic jazz through her intimate songwriting. Today (August 26th), the LA-based artist shares her debut album, Everything I Know About Love. Laufey, who is known to draw from her classically trained background, weaves pieces of Tchaikovsky and Bach throughout the record, creating a captivating symphony for the modern age. Everything I Know About Love — which follows her 2021 EP Typical of Me — explores Laufey’s story of falling in love with a new city and letting go of the old faces of a past life. The contemporary jazz artist navigates her recent move to Los Angeles and the start of a new chapter, but doesn’t shy away from the challenges that come with moving ...
Muse’s Will of the People is Vague, Jumbled, and Unimaginative: Review
At the end of Muse‘s third studio album, 2003’s Absolution, is a powerful ballad that, to this day, is one of the band’s best ever creations: “Ruled By Secrecy.” The song, rooted in Matt Bellamy‘s dueling arpeggiated pianos, is a patient exploration of an individual’s lack power against an unknown societal force, a stirring call to those who “are working so hard/ but [they’re] never in charge,” and a nod of suspicion towards society’s manipulative leaders. “Ruled By Secrecy,” along with the other dramatic, apocalyptic themes of Absolution, marked a new thematic highway for the British trio, and it’s one that they’ve followed staunchly since the album’s release in 2003. Black Holes and Revelations came next with a greater emphasis on sci-fi, but still found the band using a s...
