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Artist of the Month serpentwithfeet on Black Gay Love, Relationship Advice, and Creative Honesty
Artist of the Month is an accolade we award to an up-and-coming artist who we believe is about to break out. We turn our attention in March to serpentwithfeet, an R&B singer-songwriter presently creating out of Los Angeles. When asked about any especially impactful messages from fans about his music, serpentwithfeet immediately recalls a tweet, regarding his Apparition EP, released last year. He quotes, “This project sounds like what happens in a dollhouse when the humans aren’t looking,” which he follows up with a hearty chuckle. “That is such a great appraisal. And I thought it was a great compliment,” he says. It’s also a more-than-accurate assessment, one that couldn’t be placed on just any artist’s work. Originally hailing from Baltimore — before moving to New York City and now, L...
Beyond the Boys’ Club: Robin Wattie of Big|Brave
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. This month’s piece features an interview with Robin Wattie of Big|Brave. Montreal metal trio Big|Brave tackle the weighty issues of gender, race and feeling like one doesn’t belong on their new album, Vital, out April 23 via Southern Lord. The album’s lead single, “Half Breed,” finds singer-guitarist Robin Wattie sharing the experience of being of mixed race and the confusion and insecurity that can come with it. Wattie checked in with Heavy Consequence for the latest “Beyond the Boys’ Club” column to discuss how she and the members of Big|Brave quarantined together...
An Integra Restomod? This ’98 Acura Packs a Modern Supercharged Heart
If you’ve been at all involved in the Honda aftermarket over the last few decades, give or take, you’ve probably come across this Laguna Seca Blue Acura Integra before. Back in 2002, it landed on the pages of Super Street and was plastered across every Honda-related forum (and there were many) for years. It was rescued by car builder Jay Smith of ONE Honda Specialist who found it at a wrecking yard. Smith had a plan to tear the car down in order to create the ultimate Japanese Integra Type R clone. He’d go on to gain notoriety for his attention to detail and meticulous approach to this build, along with that of his deep green 1992 Honda Civic hatchback project (both of his Honda projects “went viral,” before that was even a thing). The eternally low-key Smith ...
Stone Temple Pilots’ Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop Remains a Prized Relic of the Grunge Era
In the 1992 comedy Wayne’s World, titular protagonist and lay philosopher Wayne Campbell tells his best friend and hockey partner, Garth Algar, “Led Zeppelin didn’t write tunes that everyone liked. They left that to the Bee Gees.” Apply that sage wisdom to the hard rock landscape of the mid-1990s, and you can make a convincing case for Stone Temple Pilots being their generation’s Led Zeppelin while the Bee Gees in this case were, well, any of the myriad contemporary grunge titans that critics accused STP of mimicking. Just as critics learned to worship Jimmy Page’s monolithic riffing and Robert Plant’s banshee wail, they slowly came around to Stone Temple Pilots’ effortless pop savvy and staggering musicality on their third album, Tiny Music… Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop, which turns 2...
Evanescence’s Amy Lee on The Bitter Truth, Billie Eilish, and More
Evanescence’s Amy Lee. photo by Nick Fancher Amy Lee is one of the most influential women in rock music, having broken down barriers at the start of the 21st century. As the lead vocalist and chief songwriter for hard rockers Evanescence, Lee emerged at a time when women were scarcely heard on mainstream rock radio. Now, Evanescence are back with The Bitter Truth, the band’s first album of brand-new music in 10 years. Following their orchestral Synthesis release and world tour with a full orchestra, The Bitter Truth finds Evanescence getting back to their hard rock roots with blistering guitars and pounding rhythms. With The Bitter Truth set for release this Friday (March 26th), Evanescence have already released a string of singles from the effort, including the empowering song “Use ...
Joni Mitchell and Me
Last night, a friend alerted me to a filmed concert on the Isle of Wight in 1970 where Joni Mitchell performed. She said it was on YouTube. It was one of those post-Woodstock ridiculous assemblies of thousands of people who seem to be walking around, talking, getting high, eating, and every once in a while, listening to the music. Onto the stage walks Joni Mitchell and sadly tries to sing her quiet little song “A Song About the Midway” from her second album, Clouds, to this sea of people in an advanced state of distraction, and suddenly my weeks of working on this piece about her seems overblown and out of proportion. Maybe I am not, in all of this, writing about Joni Mitchell? Maybe I am writing about me and my reactions to things as I change and they change; the times, and me. I don’t th...
10 Album Covers Worse Than Justin Bieber’s Justice
Justin Bieber’s new album, Justice, immediately caught people’s attention when it was first announced — not necessarily for the music it promised but for having a really terrible album cover. Along with Bieber’s painful attempt to edgily pose in a dim, green tunnel, as if he was the new Skins cast member, eagle-eyed music lovers also spotted the album font’s similarity to the band Justice’s logo. <img data-attachment-id="1114012" data-permalink="https://consequenceofsound.net/2021/03/justice-cease-and-desist-justin-bieber/justin-bieber-justice-logo-cease-and-desist/" data-orig-file="https://consequenceofsound.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/justin-bieber-justice-logo-cease-and-desist.jpg?quality=80" data-orig-size="1200,675" data-comments-opened=&q...
Women’s History Month Tribute: Eva Cassidy
We were living the life in New York; I, slowly writing poems while my girlfriend, Diane Scanlon, played the clubs as a singer-songwriter. In 1993 a midtown publishing company executive turned off Diane’s tape in the middle of one of her newest songs and, shaking his head, passed. As she went down the elevator she remembered that Bruce Lundvall (Blue Note Records) had “great ears” and was in the same building; Bruce played the tape all the way through, loved the songs and had someone in mind, a lead singer from one of his other projects: Eva Cassidy. Eva, born 1963, was one of four children from an artistic and musical family. Her short life of performing was mostly around Washington DC, but after her untimely death of melanoma in 1996, Cassidy became beloved all around the world. Her cover...
5 Things to Keep in Mind when Creating the Perfect Password
Sourced from Travellers Using a strong, original and memorable password is one of the first things you can do to make sure you’re protected from cyber-threats. With that in mind, here are five things you can do to create the perfect password: 1. Remember the longer the betterWhen it comes to your password, try to include as many unique characters as possible – this makes it more difficult for hackers to crack. Mix letters, numbers, and punctuation and, when possible, include both uppercase and lowercase letters. Made up or altered words are better than actual words. You should go for passwords that are a minimum of 12 to 14 characters in length. A longer password would be even better. 2. Avoid obvious number combinations like calendar dates or phone numbersDon’t use account numbers, b...
Plastic VW Bandwagon: We Build Playmobil’s Beetle and T1 Camping Bus
Playmobil’s Volkswagen Beetle and T1 Camping Bus aim to satisfy children and scale-model car connoisseurs who enjoy the build process of a Lego set but seek the realistic representation of a diecast car. Admittedly, Playmobil’s 52- and 74-piece sets are not nearly as build-intensive as some of Lego’s most impressive sets (automotive or otherwise), and both VW sets are sure to let down potential buyers who enjoy the extended assembly process of Lego sets. That said, the two Playmobil VWs make up for their limited construction needs by way of their impressive attention to detail. Flip both models’ bodies over, and etched on the undersides are things such as rear swing arms, an engine block, the transmission, and more. The same goes for the exteriors, which ...
Song of the Week: SABA Stays Fresh as Ever on the Reflective “Ziplock”
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, Chicago rapper SABA returns with a double-single, his first new music of 2021. Chicago rapper SABA has returned this week with another set of double singles, “Ziplock” and “Rich Don’t Stop”, continuing the dual-drop format he established throughout 2020. “Ziplock” was produced by D. Phelps and Coop the Truth and marks the first new music from the emcee in 2021. (He can also be found on the soundtrack for the Oscar-nominated film Judas and the Black Messiah, appearing on “Plead The .45th” alongside Smino.) A recent press release st...
Kenny Oliver, Producer of LMFAO’s Dance Classic “Sexy And I Know It,” Drops DJing to Join US Army
Kenny Oliver is making a career switch from serving up beats to serving his country. To the music industry, Oliver, a 29-year old artist who just enlisted in the U.S. Army, is known by his Audiobot moniker. In 2012, he hit it big by co-producing “Sexy And I Know It” alongside LMFAO. In total, Audiobot landed a handful of contributions on the final cut of LMFAO’s album Sorry for Party Rocking. His work intersected with additional mainstream musicians, including Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am. Despite having a Billboard Hot 100 chart topper to his name, Audiobot has considered it important to find new challenges for himself and felt a call to serve. Previously, he had a career playing shows and festivals, but after being sidelined by t...
