Editorial
The Decemberists’ The King Is Dead and the End of the Americana Craze
Editor’s Notes: Consequence has finally been around long enough that so many of the new albums that originally turned us on to music are now celebrating their first milestone anniversaries. As we begin to reflect on these records, you can catch our updated assessments here. The first time I heard Mumford & Sons was at the 37th Telluride Bluegrass Festival. I was 14, had just finished middle school, and was in a band that played shitty covers of Audioslave and Death Cab for Cutie in our drummer’s basement. I wasn’t exactly a music doyen, but I remember everyone around me, even my parents — Telluride had become something of a family pastime — were impressed by the set. There was something undeniably endearing about Marcus Mumford’s gravelly baritone, his black vest (soon to become a stap...
Rep. Cori Bush Called Out White Supremacy On House Floor, Was Unjustly Booed
Source: Caroline Brehman / Getty During the hours-long debate in the U.S. House of Representatives regarding a successful second impeachment of President Donald Trump, both sides of the aisle made their stated points. However, freshman Congresswoman Cori Bush received boos after she called signaled Trump as a white supremacist and called out white supremacy overall. In a debate that was at times tense and most certainly filled with partisan talking points on either side of the aisle, Bush, who represents the 1st District in Missouri, used her time at the podium to call out the so-called insurrectionists and placed the blame at their de facto leader in Trump. “If we fail to remove a white supremacist president who incited a white supremacist insurrection, it’s communities like Missouri’s 1s...
The Evolution of Ted Danson, Mr. Mayor of Television
If it feels like Ted Danson has always been on our television screens, well, it’s because that’s more or less true. He’s been around since at least the mid-1970s, cropping up in one long-running sitcom after another, buoying that with everything from prestige dramas to procedurals to a brief stint as a movie star in the ’90s (Three Men and a Baby, anyone?) He’s one of the hardest-working, and most ubiquitous, people in show business, cultivating a very specific persona that has itself morphed and changed as Danson’s hair has turned from brown to gray. Now, fresh off a four-year stint on the critically-acclaimed The Good Place, Danson finds himself as yet another bumbling man of power in a crisp suit, although a bit less openly demonic this time: Mayor Neil Bremer on NBC’s latest show, ...
D.C. Cops Arrest Butter Soft Proud Boys Chairman Enrique Tarrio For Burning Black Lives Matter Flag
Source: Anadolu Agency / Getty Enrique Tarrio, the chairman of the far-right extremist group Proud Boys, was arrested by D.C. police Monday (Jan. 4) for an act that took place last December. A warrant was out for Tarrio’s arrest after taking a Black Lives Matter banner from a well-known Black church then burning the flag. The Washington Post reports that Tarrio was apprehended by officers from the Metropolitan Police Department just after crossing state lines according to a D.C. police spokesperson. That spokesperson said that Tarrio had just arrived via plane to the area, assumably Reagan National Airport. Tarrio, who resides in Miami, Fla., was charged with one misdemeanor count of destruction of property after the BLM banner was taken from the property of Asbury United Methodist Church ...
Netflix’s Bridgerton Reveals Uncomfortable Truths About Sex
While watching Bridgerton last week, I jokingly referred to the series as “the fancy British sex show” to friends on a text thread. Although that’s perhaps reductive, the description is fairly accurate: Netflix’s new Victorian drama is filled with sex, scandal, pearl clutching, and opulence. Yet, at the same time, it’s also a lot of fun, which is why I happened to binge most of the season in a day. (It was a welcome distraction during a stressful week.) However, there are deeper truths underneath Bridgerton’s addictive exterior. Sure, at first blush, it’s a Victorian romance with a Gossip Girl subplot, but the series cuts much deeper than that. At its core, Shondaland’s latest drama stealthily reveals the damaging lies and practices perpetuated by the patriarchy, particularly the struggle ...
DOOM Rock Grammar Like The Kumbaya: Honoring The Life & Legacy Of MF DOOM
Source: PYMCA / Getty The news of MF DOOM‘s passing came as a shock to his legion of fans, especially those of us who hoped that he would continue his legendary run of verses for years to come. As the Hip-Hop nation grieves this massive loss, I’ll try to do my best to capture what MF DOOM AKA Daniel Dumile meant to me. As a Hip-Hop fan of a certain age, growing up with the music and culture has afforded me a particular vantage point when observing the culture. As a teenager in 1989, my affinity for Rap music was fanatical and the obsession with the artform most certainly remains. I was one of those fans who copped everything that dropped on Tuesday, the former traditional date of the album and single releases at that time The now-defunct duo of 3rd Bass were anomalies at the time. Two whit...
DOOM Rock Grammar Like The Kumbaya: Honoring The Life & Legacy Of MF DOOM
Source: PYMCA / Getty The news of MF DOOM‘s passing came as a shock to his legion of fans, especially those of us who hoped that he would continue his legendary run of verses for years to come. As the Hip-Hop nation grieves this massive loss, I’ll try to do my best to capture what MF DOOM AKA Daniel Dumile meant to me. As a Hip-Hop fan of a certain age, growing up with the music and culture has afforded me a particular vantage point when observing the culture. As a teenager in 1989, my affinity for Rap music was fanatical and the obsession with the artform most certainly remains. I was one of those fans who copped everything that dropped on Tuesday, the former traditional date of the album and single releases at that time The now-defunct duo of 3rd Bass were anomalies at the time. Two whit...
Cobra Kai Workout Mix: Cast Shares Their Go-To Pump-Up Jams
Cobra Kai and music go together like Daniel and Miyagi. Just think back to all the needle drops: Johnny Lawrence brooding to Foreigner in his Firebird. He and LaRusso singing REO Speedwagon together. The Alan Parsons Project closing out the pilot. These moments are all over The Karate Kid spinoff series, and they always get us pumped up. But, what about the actual cast? What songs get them pumped up? In anticipation of Season 3, which premieres on Friday, January 1st, Consequence of Sound sat down with your favorite heroes of Cobra Kai to hear what they take to the dojo with them. From AC/DC to Meek Mill, their responses extended well beyond the show’s ’80s roots. Peyton List, aka Tory Nichols: “I’m sometimes embarrassed by my music tastes. I feel like it’s a lot of Doja Cat or something b...
Save Our Stages Fest Raised $2 Million for Independent Venues: “This Moment Brought Millions of People Hope”
As our Annual Report continues, we’ll be taking several looks at how live music changed in a year where most of the world was in lockdown. Today, we share our conversation with Save Our Stages Fest’s Stephen Sternschein on what’s being done to preserve live music and venues during this pandemic. The American experience of the COVID-19 pandemic is dominated by unimaginable numbers made real: 300,000 dead, 16 million infected, an estimated $3-$5 trillion hit to the country’s GDP over the next two years. Tucked inside that last figure is another statistic, revealed over the summer, that made the year even darker for music fans: According to a nationwide survey of club owners and promoters conducted by the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) this past June, 90% of independent music v...
Kristen Wiig’s SNL Return Stresses an Uncertain Future for Character Actors
When Kristen Wiig hit the stage to deliver her monologue this past weekend on Saturday Night Live, she said it felt like coming home. She reiterated this point at the end of the show, during the goodnights. In between, she backed up her statements by comfortably re-settling into the rhythms of the show, and reviving two of her many recurring characters: Sue, the woman who can’t handle surprises; and Mindy Gracin, the addled stage star who appears on the game show Secret Word. Wiig still stands among the most beloved centerpiece stars of SNL this millennium, and this week’s episode underlined a major reason why, at least in terms of the popular consciousness: She originated a lot of recurring characters on the show. So many, in fact, that she can reprise two second-string ones like Mindy Gr...
The Accent Police Were Vigilant in 2020
Our Annual Report continues today with a look back on the year’s curious run of accents in film and television. Stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles in the days and weeks to come about the best music, film, and TV of the year. If you’ve missed any part of our Annual Report, you can check out all the coverage here. Watching John Patrick Shanley’s new movie Wild Mountain Thyme is, in many ways, a picturesque experience. It’s set in the Irish countryside, and stars Emily Blunt and Jamie Dornan, two very attractive people. But as I watched a very odd man played by Dornan buzz around his romantic feelings for a very charming woman played by Blunt, something began to nag at me. Somewhere in the distance, outside the movie itself, I heard sirens. I could tell that the Accent...
What’s Next for Star Wars? The Mandalorian Season 2 Finale, Explained
Disney+ just aired the season finale of The Mandalorian’s second season, and what a finale it was. A big old dust-em-up with all manner of returning characters, some big, surprising (and not-so-surprising) cameos from old friends, and the bittersweet resolution of Din’s (Pedro Pascal) budding fatherdom with “the little green guy.” For all its revelations, though, Chapter 16, “The Rescue,” directed by Peyton Reed, highlights the light and dark sides of the show’s sophomore season: it’s got a clear sense of the sandbox it’s playing in, but can’t keep itself from using the same toys over and over again. Read on to learn more. As always, it goes without saying that there are some major, major spoilers ahead. You must be cautious. What’s the Plan for Getting Grogu Back? <img aria-d...
