Alternative Music
Robert Glasper on Bringing His Multi-Faceted Piano Music to Austin City Limits, New Song with Mac Miller: “He Was a Trailblazer”
Austin City Limits might not be the first place you think of when you want to hear jazz, but if anyone could bring the genre to the wide-spanning music festival, it’d be Robert Glasper. The four-time Grammy winner is a renowned pianist, record producer, and songwriter, whose collaborations span roots-rock mainstays like Brittany Howard to modern hip-hop legends like Kendrick Lamar and the late Mac Miller; to call Glasper just a jazz musician would be immensely reductive. When Consequence caught up with him backstage at Weekend 2 of ACL just ahead of his set at the Tito’s Vodka stage, Glasper seemed relaxed, yet excited to return to his home state for the fest’s second weekend. It’s a little surprising given the circumstances; he’d just arrived from his current home base New York City, wher...
Rick Rubin Picks His Desert Island Discs
What items would you bring with you to a deserted island? It’s a classic question, and now we have Rick Rubin’s answer: the super-producer appeared on a new episode of the BBC show Desert Island Discs, and he chose tracks by The Beatles, LCD Soundsystem, Simon & Garfunkel, and more to tide him over in complete isolation. For track number one, Rubin pointed to The Beatles’ “Across the Universe,” which he said not only taught him the basics of songwriting, but inspired him to learn how to meditate. “From three years old to seven years old, The Beatles was everywhere, and everywhere in my home,” he recalled. “And it somehow imprinted what a great song is, in a very deep level, before I knew that I was looking for what that was.” Skipping ahead a few decades, Rubin chose LCD Soundsystem’s ...
Behind the Boards with John Congleton: Producer Talks St. Vincent, Angel Olsen, Tegan and Sara and More
Behind the Boards is a series where we spotlight some of the biggest producers in the industry and dig into some of their favorite projects. Here, we sit down with John Congleton to discuss his production work with St. Vincent, The Walkmen, Tegan and Sara, and more. When an indie band wants to level up, they work with John Congleton. The Texas-based songwriter and producer has been instrumental in helming records for some of the biggest indie artists of the last decade, from St. Vincent and Angel Olsen to The War on Drugs and David Byrne. He’s been particularly busy in 2022, with his hands on some significant releases: Tegan and Sara’s new album Crybaby, Death Cab for Cutie’s Asphalt Meadows, and Whitney’s Spark. But one thing that Congleton’s productions all have in common is his ability ...
Melissa Villaseñor on Why She Left Saturday Night Live: “I Had Little Panic Attacks”
When Saturday Night Live returned for Season 48 this fall, it was missing Melissa Villaseñor, who had been with the show since 2016 — her best bits showcasing her jaw-dropping impressions and sharp silly characters. For those missing her unique voice, though, there’s Whoops . . . I’m Awesome, her new book featuring stories about her life alongside her own original artwork and fun activities for adults (get your copy here). In the book, Villaseñor refers to her job as an SNL cast member in the present tense, because she finished writing the book this spring but made the decision to leave the show this summer. But, she says, “all these things were created during that time there. So I think it makes sense that it’s still present.” When it comes to the decision to leave the show, Villaseñor sa...
AC/DC’s Brian Johnson Quashes Rumor That Bon Scott Wrote Lyrics for Back in Black
AC/DC singer Brian Johnson has closed the book on long-running rumors suggesting his late predecessor Bon Scott penned lyrics for Back in Black. For years, hardcore AC/DC fans have wondered whether Scott wrote lyrics for the seminal 1980 album, being that he passed away only months before the album was recorded and released. Songs like “Hells Bells,” “Have a Drink on Me,” and of course the legendary title track certainly share some of the imagery and themes of Scott’s lyrics. But Johnson insists that it was he himself who penned the words. Johnson laid the rumors to rest in Chapter 22 of his new memoir, The Lives of Brian: “It was me at the end of the pen, writing every night and every morning, with only the title to work with. That’s what happened. That’s the truth and I really hope that ...
House of the Dragon Showrunner Confirms Time Jumps are “Done”
[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for House of the Dragon.] The Season 1 finale of House of the Dragon may have seen peace in Westeros go up in smoke, but the show itself seems to have finally found some chronological stability after its continuity was disrupted by several time jumps. Following Sunday’s season finale, showrunner Ryan Condal put any fears of further narrative leaps to rest, saying “they are done.” In an interview with Deadline, Condal reflected on the first season of HBO’s Game of Thrones prequel series and addressed fan concerns like the show’s recurring lighting issues. An even more encouraging acknowledgment came when he confirmed that the Targaryen’s chronologically uneven march to war — which has required different actors to portray key characters like Em...
Quasi Announce New Album Breaking the Balls of History, Share “Queen of Ears”: Stream
After six years away, Quasi are returning soon with their perfectly-titled new album Breaking the Balls of History, which they’re teasing today with the new single “Queen of Ears.” Their debut for Sub Pop is slated for release on February 10th, 2023, and they’ll also celebrate the occasion with a North American tour. Quasi’s Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss co-produced Breaking the Balls of History alongside longtime punk go-to John Goodmanson (Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill, Unwound, Treepeople, Team Dresch). They figured their 2013 record Mole City would be their last and were content to move on — that is, until Weiss broke both legs and her collarbone in a 2019 car crash, just months before that pesky pandemic began. So along came Breaking the Balls of History, an a...
Kanye West Lost $1.5 Billion in a Matter of Weeks and Is No Longer a Billionaire: Report
Kanye West has talked himself out of more than $1.5 billion, according to Forbes, after weeks of bigoted comments caused adidas to terminate their partnership. Ye, as he is now legally known, began the year with an estimated net worth of $2 billion, and after the release of Donda 2 and a summer of high-profile fashion rollouts, that number had likely grown. But a lot of that value came from branded partnerships that he has since shed. In September, he and Gap agreed to end the Yeezy Gap line, and that came before antisemitic posts led to restrictions on West’s social media accounts. Afterwards, as more reports began to surface that Ye had praised Hitler, JP Morgan Chase unbanked him. In October, he also wore White Lives Matter apparel and spread the conse...
Leland Whitty of BADBADNOTGOOD Announces Solo Album Anyhow, Shares “Awake”: Stream
BADBADNOTGOOD multi-instrumentalist Leland Whitty has announced his debut solo album, Anyhow, along with its lead single “Awake” and the project’s release date on December 9th. The album consists of seven tracks written, arranged, and performed by Whitty, with his older brother Lowell on drums for nearly every track, and additional instrumentation from BADBADNOTGOOD’s Chester Hansen and Alex Sowinski, as well as the band’s former keyboardist Matthew Tavares. Though he’s no stranger to juggling multiple roles as the Canadian jazz group’s trusted guitarist-saxophonist, Whitty expands his repertoire with synthesizers, woodwinds, and strings for his solo set. “Awake” serves a bit of everything as sweeping strings mingle with chunky keys and a pummeling drum beat. The instrumental track’s produ...
The Guardians of the Galaxy Kidnap Kevin Bacon in Trailer for Holiday Special: Watch
Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) is depressed and his friends decide to bring him a very special present in the new trailer for The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special. James Gunn, who wrote and directed the script, announced the trailer on social media with the words, “Our holiday gift to you.” The Holiday Special airs November 25th on Disney+, and features some literal-minded Guardians attempting to procure one of Star-Lord’s favorite things: the actor Kevin Bacon. Mantis (Pom Klementieff) and Drax (Dave Bautista) hope that Bacon’s presence will be a nice present, establishing Bacon as a member of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and leading to a madcap chase you can check out below. Advertisement Related Video It’s unknown how The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special will...
Ozzy Osbourne to Perform Virtually as Part of “Ozzfest” at Metaverse Music Festival
Ozzy Osbourne is set to perform virtually for the “Ozzfest” portion of the second annual Metaverse Music Festival, which takes place online November 10th through the 13th. The Metaverse Music Festival (MVMF) will be hosted in Decentraland, the largest user-owned and operated virtual social world. Presented by digital asset platform Kraken, this year’s MVMF will feature 100-plus artists virtually performing across curated community genre stages that utilize new, Web3-enabled immersive virtual concert experiences. That said, the festival is free for all and can be attended even if you have don’t have a VR headset. As an example, the main attraction for this year’s MVMF is the “Tower of Babel” stage, which is set in a futuristic cyberpunk city. Here, attendees can watch headliners such as Uni...
Thank God, Rihanna Might Finally Give Us a New Single on Friday
We may finally be able to say we survived the Rihanna drought of the 2010s and early ’20s. If a mysterious Marvel tweet is any indication, the pop star-turned-billionaire entrepreneur will share a new single on Friday (October 28th) that will appear in the upcoming film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Earlier this month, it was reported that Rihanna had recorded two new songs for Wakanda Forever, including one that would play in the end credits. Now, a teaser video shared by Marvel shows the Wakanda Forever title before zeroing in on an ‘R’ and pointing to October 28th, 2022. If we’re lucky, that means one of those rumored Rihanna tunes will finally surface this week. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever hits theaters November 11th. Beyond this vague musical teaser...
