Alternative Music
Danny Elfman Celebrates His Decades-Long Career at Marathon Hollywood Bowl Show: Video + Setlist
This is Halloween, of course, but Danny Elfman’s October 28th show at the Hollywood Bowl was more than just a Nightmare Before Christmas theme party. During a whopping 32-song set, the artist celebrated all the phases of his career, from his Oingo Boingo days to his film compositions and his latest solo album, Big Mess. Elfman played a ton of Oingo Boingo songs — “Insects,” “Just Another Day,” and “Grey Matter” among them — for his OG fans, while also throwing in enough film suites (Spider-Man, Batman, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands) to remind you that he’s had a hand in more iconic soundtracks than you may remember. Backed by both a regular rock band and an orchestra, a choir joined Elfman for classics like “This Is Halloween,” effortlessly running through all the voices of the gho...
Director Phyllis Nagy on Releasing Call Jane in a Post-Roe v. Wade World: “Women’s Rights Are Always Under Attack”
Phyllis Nagy knew it was coming. When the director was initially doing press for her new film Call Jane last January, during the Sundance Film Festival, she had a good sense that a looming Supreme Court decision would be bad news for American reproductive justice. “If you were in a sort of political activist space at all regarding women’s rights, you did know that something not very good was coming of that decision,” she tells Consequence on the eve of the film’s release. “What we didn’t know — what I certainly didn’t know was the violence with which it would be dispatched and the number of states that moved to implement already draconian reproductive rights laws. So this did send me reeling, and probably a whole lot of other people who worked on this, too.” Call Jane is a period piece tha...
Kanye West Now Sympathizes With George Floyd’s Family After Losing adidas Deal
Kanye West is facing a $250 million dollar lawsuit from the family of George Floyd after spreading the false conspiracy theory that Floyd died from fentanyl, and not from the actions of arresting Minneapolis police officers. In an impromptu press conference with paparazzi on Friday night, West attempted to apologize for his recent comments about Floyd and his death. “When I see that video as a Black person, it hurts my feelings,” West said. “And I know that police do attack [sic] and that America is generally racist. And I understand that when we got to say Black Lives Matter, the idea of it made us feel good together as a people. Now, afterwards there was some things where the money went in order to push us to the Democratic vote.” “So when I questioned the death of George Floyd, it hurt ...
Patti Smith’s “Rock and Roll N*****” Yanked from Streaming
“Rock and Roll N*****,” the closing A-side track of the Patti Smith Group’s 1978 album Easter, has quietly disappeared from streaming services, Rolling Stone was first to report, including the platforms Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal, and Amazon Music. “Rock and Roll N*****” attempted to move the epithet away from its racial context to describe anyone who is an outsider, including Jimi Hendrix, Jackson Pollack, Jesus Christ, and even “grandma.” “I was lost and the cost, and the cost didn’t matter to me,” Smith sings. “I was lost and the cost was to be outside society.” Neither Smith nor the song’s co-writer, guitarist Lenny Kaye, have offered comment on the decision. But Smith has been defending her use of the slur since the song’s release, writing in the Ea...
Beyond the Boys’ Club: Kat Keo and Kim Coffel of Hoaxed
Beyond the Boys’ Club is a monthly column from journalist and radio host Anne Erickson, focusing on women in the heavy music genres, as they offer their perspectives on the music industry and discuss their personal experiences. Erickson is also a music artist herself and has a new EP and single out, “Last Love,” with Upon Wings. The latest edition of Beyond the Boys’ Club features an interview with Kat Keo and Kim Coffel of Hoaxed. Hoaxed have just released their debut full-length album, Two Shadows, available via Relapse Records. Bringing together singer-guitarist Kat Keo and drummer Kim Coffel, Hoaxed walk the line between heavy melodic rock and gothic metal, with captivating lyrics, catchy hooks, sharp guitars, and a heavy, pulsating rhythm. While Two Shadows is Hoaxed’s debut full-leng...
Busta Rhymes Links Up with Big Daddy Kane and Conway the Machine on New Song “Slap”: Stream
Busta Rhymes has linked up with the legendary Big Daddy Kane and Buffalo spitter Conway the Machine for his new single, “Slap.” Produced by Queensbridge icon Marley Marl, “Slap” feels like an old school freestyle session as each rapper demands respect for their accomplishments. After shouting out the late Biz Markie and PnB Rock, Busta pops off with a fiery verse announcing his return. Conway the Machine picks up the mic with a verse boasting about his impact with lines like, “Hall of Fame and we’re just analyzin’ my old stats/ Glidin’ on those tracks, my catalog in its entirety all slap,” before Big Daddy Kane shuts down the track. Decades after helping to define the sound of hip-hop, the New York MC shares some wisdom for up-and-comers while proving he still has something left in th...
Jerry Lee Lewis, Rock Music Pioneer, Dead at 87
Jerry Lee Lewis, the rock and roll innovator whose career stumbled after his marriage to his 13-year-old cousin Myra Gale Brown, is dead at the age of 87. Lewis’ passing was announced on Friday, October 28th by his publicist, Zach Farnum of 117 Group. His death had previously been erroneously reported by TMZ and other outlets on October 26th. According to an accompanying obituary written by Rick Bragg, the musician “suffered through the last years of his life from various illnesses and injuries that, his physicians have often said, should have taken him decades ago.” Advertisement Related Video “He is ready to leave,” his seventh wife Judith was quoted as saying before his death in his home in Desoto County, Mississippi, just south of Memphis. A trailblazing pianist, Lewis helped popu...
House of the Dragon Season 2 Probably Won’t Premiere Until 2024
And just like that, House of the Dragon Season 1 is over — but it’ll be quite a while before we get to find out what happens next in Westeros, as HBO and HBO Max chief content officer Casey Bloys confirmed that the series’ second season likely won’t arrive until 2024. House of the Dragon Season 1 has seemingly had all Game of Thrones fans and their mothers in a chokehold since premiering back in August. But, it takes quite a while to build a kingdom — let alone seven! — and showrunners don’t want to make a promise they can’t keep. “Don’t expect it in ’23, but I think sometime in ’24,” Bloys told Vulture. He went on: “We’re just starting to put the plan together, and just like last time, there are so many unknowns. It’s not to be coy or secretive, but you don’t want...
Nightwish Singer Floor Jansen Issues Update on Breast Cancer Surgery
Earlier this week, Nightwish vocalist Floor Jansen announced that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer. In the message, she shared the news that she was hoping to get the tumor removed this week and that her prognosis was “very good.” Now, Jansen has issued an encouraging update via social media, letting fans know that the surgery “went well.” “The tumor removal surgery went well without any surprises,” she wrote. “I’m recovering well and should be up and about soon. It will take a few weeks to know what the findings are regarding the tumor and lymph node that will be tested. I’ll keep you posted.” Advertisement Related Video She added, “I want to use this opportunity to thank the medical staff that took care of me. All done with so much care, empathy, and professionalism! I felt comp...
Song of the Week: Rihanna Returns to Music After Six Years with “Lift Me Up”
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, Rihanna returns with a song written for the new Black Panther movie. It’s been over six years since Rihanna released new original solo material, 2016’s ANTI. Contrary to what some might have expected, though, the latest from the artist and business mogul isn’t an explosive comeback to introduce us to 2022 Rihanna — rather, the gentle, tender “Lift Me Up” features her singing over a sparse instrumental. Co-written with rising Nigerian artist Tems, Oscar-winning composer Ludwig Göransson, and director Ryan Coogle...
Pope Francis Tells Nuns and Priests to Cool It with the Porn
Warning against the dangers of having “temptation in hand,” Pope Francis has urged nuns and priests to stop watching porn. According to the BBC, Francis was answering a question about digital and social media when he turned to the subject of explicit pornography. His Holiness called it “a vice that so many people have… even priests and nuns.” Francis has taken small steps to update the Catholic Church’s sexual mores, encouraging some forms of family planning and saying that followers don’t need to breed like “rabbits.” But the Church teaches that pornography is an affront to chastity. “The pure heart, the one that Jesus receives every day, cannot receive this pornographic information,” Francis said. Advertisement Related Video “The devil enters from there,” he added, ur...
Rap Song of the Week: Ice Spice Takes a Trip to “Bikini Bottom”
Rap Song of the Week breaks down all the hip-hop tracks you need to hear every Friday. Check out the full playlist here. This week, Ice Spice follows her viral hit “Munch (Feelin U)” with “Bikini Bottom.” This summer, Bronx rapper Ice Spice turned New York drill (and TikTok) on its head with her viral hit, “Munch (Feelin U),” a playful track featuring the incredibly catchy hook, “You thought I was feeling you?/ That n***a a munch.” At the surface, she seemed to be rapping about using a guy for sex, but “munch” eventually became a catch-all term for someone who’s corny or a loser. Unsurprisingly, Drake (who would probably admit he’s a munch) gave Ice Spice a co-sign, and so did Cardi B. After that, the 22-year-old rapper showed she could hang on fellow Bronx breakout B-Lovee’s pos...
