Alternative Music
Denzel Washington to Receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Denzel Washington is among 17 recipients of the 2022 Presidential Medal of Freedom, Joe Biden announced on Friday, July 1st. Marking the nation’s highest civilian honor, the Medal recognizes individuals who have “made exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors.” During his four-decade career, Washington has received Academy Awards for his performances in Glory and Training Day while winning three Golden Globes, one Tony (for his revival of Fences), and the 2016 Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment. Advertisement Related Video Washington has also won a whopping 17 NAACP Image Awards since first being nominat...
Stranger Things Season 4, Part 2 Serves Up Oversized Blockbuster Cheese for the Fourth of July: Review
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers through the Season 4 finale of Stranger Things, “The Piggyback.”] The Pitch: This year’s super-sized season of Stranger Things felt, if anything, a confirmation of Netflix’s confidence in the series — marking it as their true blockbuster tentpole, the thing to keep people subscribing amid price hikes and a nagging sense of doubt in their catalog. The first seven episodes (all nearly feature-length) set up our rapidly growing set of chess pieces along four branching storylines: Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) and her attempts to get her powers back, Joyce’s (Winona Ryder) quest to get Hopper (David Harbour) back from Russia, Mike (Finn Wolfhard) and crew fleeing from the authorities in California, and the kids of Hawkins facing down a sp...
R.I.P. Joe Turkel, The Shining and Blade Runner Actor Dead at 94
Joe Turkel, the prolific character actor best known for his roles as the bartender in The Shining and creator of replicants in Blade Runner, died on Monday, June 27th at the age of 94. The actor’s death was announced by his family, who said he died peacefully at Providence St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica with his sons Craig and Robert by his side. Born July 15th, 1927 in Brooklyn, Turkel saw action in the US Army during World War II before moving to California to pursue an acting career upon his return. His first credited film role was 1948’s City Across the River, but perhaps one of the main catalysts for his career was an appearance in the 1953 B-picture Man Crazy. Advertisement Related Video Stanley Kubrick spotted Turkel in the latter film, as the actor tol...
Day N Vegas 2022 Cancelled
Day N Vegas 2022 has been cancelled, organizers Goldenvoice announced on social media. The third annual event was set to take place September 2nd through 4th, and be headlined by SZA, J. Cole, and Travis Scott, who would have made his first festival appearance since the tragedy at Astroworld in November of 2021. “We’re sorry to announce that a combination of logistics, timing, and production issues have forced us to cancel Day N Vegas for 2022,” Goldenvoice’s statement read. “The refund process will begin immediately, and funds will appear back to your account within the next 2-4 weeks. All orders will be refunded to the credit card used to complete purchase.” The cancellation continued, “If you purchased a festival pass(es) via AXS and have questions about the refund p...
Sufjan Stevens in 10 Songs
This article originally ran in 2015; we’re dusting it off in celebration of Sufjan Stevens’ birthday on July 1st. Ever felt overwhelmed by an artist’s extensive back catalog? Been meaning to check out a band, but you just don’t know where to begin? In 10 Songs is here to help, offering a crash course and entry point into the daunting discographies of iconic artists of all genres. This is your first step toward fandom. Take it. It’s been nearly 30 years since Sufjan Stevens first appeared on the music scene as a solo artist, but it’s still difficult to think of him as a real person. The man films videos of himself playing banjo on a farm with a curled baseball cap on his head. He dances awkwardly in neon duct tape and strands of lights. He faces audiences with a set of feathered wings strap...
Song of the Week: Cardi B Heats Up the Summer with “Hot Shit” Featuring Ye and Lil Durk
Song of the Week breaks down and talks about the song we just can’t get out of our head each week. Find these songs and more on our Spotify Top Songs playlist. For our favorite new songs from emerging artists, check out our Spotify New Sounds playlist. This week, Cardi B enlists Ye and Lil Durk for some “Hot Shit.” “I’m nervous. I’m so nervous. I don’t even know what’s going on,” Cardi B told Apple Music about her new song, “Hot Shit,” effectively capturing how just about everyone feels about… well, everything these days. Cardi B is beloved for a multitude of reasons, and her complete lack of filter and insistence on being wholly herself in any situation is definitely an important one. The lead single to her upcoming sophomore album might not be as much of an earw...
Rap Song of the Week: City Girls and Usher Get Freaky on “Good Love”
Each Friday, Rap Song of the Week rounds up the hip-hop tracks you need to hear. Check out the full playlist here. Today, City Girls return with “Good Love” featuring Usher. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Usher’s breakout album My Way, but the R&B legend is still capable of blowing minds, as demonstrated during his stunning 25-minute Tiny Desk concert to close out Black Music Month. In addition to maintaining his silky smooth voice through the years, Usher hasn’t lost his inner freak, either. His hook on City Girls’ new single “Good Love” confirms as much. “All the freaky things that I can do,” the 43-year-old boasts. “I can freak you ’til the mornin’/ Get on top and ride on it/ Eighty ways, I’ll keep you comin’.” After all, age ain’t nothing but a number and there’s...
Conservatives Lash Out at Disney for Depicting a Trans Man Buying Period Products
Since American conservatives aren’t too worried about the Supreme Court’s disbelief in global warming or dismantling of abortion rights, they have to find some nit-pickier topics to get their panties in a wad — like a man shopping for menstrual products in a children’s television show. This week, infamous right-wing writer Christopher T. Rufo — aka the guy who drummed up last year’s partisan uproar over critical race theory. — tweeted his outrage over Disney+’s Baymax! for one very brief inclusion of an openly transgender background character, sending much of conservative Twitter into a pathetic tizzy. Baymax!, a spinoff of the film Big Hero 6, is a six-part series in which the titular “personal healthcare companion” extends his helpful deeds to the youths of San Fransokyo....
Yard Act Recruit Fan Sir Elton John for New Version of “100% Endurance”: Stream
Sir Elton John is just one of many who have hopped on the Yard Act bandwagon. The Rocket Man himself features on a new version of the UK band’s single from May, “100% Endurance.” John sang praises for Yard Act while speaking to NME back in October, specifically complimenting frontman James Smith’s distinctive speak-singing: “I can’t do it but I love it and I wonder how they do it.” Yard Act thanked John in return a couple months later by covering “Tiny Dancer,” essentially confirming what would become a real-life friendship. In a press release, Smith explains how a series of phone calls led him to giving John a spur-of-the-moment invitation to the studio with Yard Act: “Within our camp we have a saying: ‘Mad shit happens when you do art,’” Smith adds. “You make stuff becaus...
The Princess Review: The Raid By Way of Tangled, With a Kick-Ass Joey King
The Pitch: What if there was a princess — only she’s not like a regular princess, she’s a cool princess, meaning she can do crazy fight moves, which no one expects because she’s a princess? Girl power! If you’re thinking this sounds a bit like a hacky Matrix-referencing scene from the movie Shrek, you’re right. It does. And Shrek was far from the first or last movie to spoof princess tropes. At this point, Disney has been deconstructing and reclaiming its own fairy-tale princesses for multiple decades, growing from the shallow parody of Enchanted to the multifaceted reimagining of Frozen or Moana. Over this same period, the Disney kingdom has expanded, to the point where it now owns the formerly grown-up movie studio 20th Century Studios (formerly Fox), who have produced their own princess...
Momma Break Down New Album Household Name Track by Track: Exclusive
Momma, Consequence’s July Artist of the Month, return today (July 1st) with the release of their third studio LP, Household Name. Spearheaded by longtime friends Etta Friedman and Allegra Weingarten, Household Name is the Brooklyn act’s fuzziest, catchiest album yet. Initially bonding over a mutual obsession with Alex G, Friedman and Weingarten began writing music together while attending high school in California. Even as they graduated and subsequently attended colleges multiple states apart, the two continued creating under the name Momma. Now rounded out with Aron Kobayashi Ritch, Momma continue to ascend with Household Name. Inspired by the absurdities of the music industry, different relationships, and the archetype of the ‘90s rockstar, Household Name finds Momma embracing the influ...
Spielbergs Preview 2022 Mad Cool Festival Performance: “We’re Going To Try and Make as Much Noise as Possible”
Norwegian rock trio Spielbergs were set to have a massive 2020. After their 2019 debut LP This is Not the End received some rave reviews, the band was scheduled to hit the road in Europe over the summer, complete with an appearance at Madrid’s Mad Cool Festival. Of course, everyone’s 2020 plans were diverted and postponed, but luckily, Spielbergs maintained their spot on Mad Cool’s 2022 lineup, which features Metallica, Florence + The Machine, The Killers, Jack White, Glass Animals, Muse, Alt-J, The War On Drugs, Carly Rae Jepsen, CHVRCHES, Nathy Peluso, and many, many more. Even better is the fact that Spielbergs have new music in tow — and they’re some of the most powerful songs the trio has ever released. The anthemic “When They Come For Me,” which we recently named as an honorable ment...
