Exclusive Features
Christine and the Queens on Finding a Stage in Quarantine: “It’s Almost Like Circling Back to the Beginning”
As our Annual Report continues, we’re taking a look at several ways live music changed in a year where most of the world was in lockdown. Today, we share our conversation with Christine and the Queens, an artist with a unique approach to quarantine performances. As Héloïse Letissier presumes, there probably are some “really insular musicians” who found the lack of touring this year somewhat calming. Under her moniker of Christine and the Queens, the French pop star is not one of those artists. “I’m always saying I come from theater, but it kind of formed a relationship I have with the stage that is very much essential,” she tells Consequence of Sound over Zoom from her Paris home. Performance is in fact entirely indispensable when it comes to the concept of Christine and the Queens. Just t...
Phoebe Bridgers and beabadoobee: Artist and Rookie of the Year in Conversation
Our Annual Report continues today with the announcement of Phoebe Bridgers as our Artist of the Year and beabadoobee as our Rookie of the Year. Stay tuned for more awards, lists, and articles about the best music, film, and TV of the year as 2020 winds down. If you’ve missed any part of our Annual Report, you can check out all the coverage here. There wasn’t a single person whose life wasn’t hit by the hard curve of 2020. Countless studies have been conducted and essays written about how this year impacted the music industry in particular, from delayed releases to canceled tours to financial distress. Artists planned, and the pandemic laughed. Yet, even in these darkest of times, there were those who found ways to not just keep the flame lit, but ignite a blaze. In an amazing testamen...
David Hasselhoff Offers Update on Kung Fury 2, Promises “I Am Going to Be Funny in It”
Five years ago, movie audiences were mesmerized by the DIY action film Kung Fury, which became an instant cult classic. David Hasselhoff, who sang the movie’s memorable song “True Survivor” and voiced the Hoff 9000 car in the original, tells us he’s back for the sequel and is “going to be funny in it.” Kung Fury was made by Swedish director, writer, and star David Sandberg on a shoestring budget. After self-producing a $5,000 trailer for the yet-to-be-filmed kung fu movie, he launched a Kickstarter campaign with a goal of reaching $200,000. By the time the campaign ended, Sandberg raised more than $600,000, and locked in Hasselhoff for the theme song and Hoff 9000 role. The outlandish homage to ’80s B-movies features Kung Fury (played by Sandberg) partnering with Triceracop, meeting the No...
Mr. Bungle’s Dave Lombardo on the Pandemic: “I Had Been on the Go for Many Years and Life Just Stopped”
Mr. Bungle, photo by Eric Larsen 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 legendary metal drummer Dave Lombardo about his incredible year playing with a reunited Mr. Bungle, his life during the pandemic, and the future of concerts. In a year in which the touring industry came to a standstill, a reunited Mr. Bungle were able to make their mark on the concert stage, both in person and online. The band played their first shows in 20 years just before the pandemic began, completing a brief jaunt of a handful of cities in February. And on Halloween, they treated fans to one of the more memorable livestream concerts of the year. Not only did the reunion mar...
Trent Reznor on Approach to Adding Nine Inch Nails Members to Rock Hall Induction: “Make This F**king Happen”
Last month, Nine Inch Nails were officially inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Initially, Trent Reznor was set to be the only member enshrined, but the NIN mastermind saw to it that other members of the industrial band were inducted, as well. Nine Inch Nails were announced as part of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame class of 2020 back in January, with an induction ceremony originally set for May in Cleveland. The ceremony was eventually canceled due to the pandemic, and the 2020 inductees were instead honored with a November television special on HBO. In September, it was revealed that six current and former members of Nine Inch Nails — Atticus Ross, Robin Finck, Chris Vrenna, Danny Lohner, Ilan Rubin, and Alessandro Cortini — would be added to the Rock Hall induction al...
Slash on Eddie Van Halen: “Any Instrument He Had Chosen to Play Would Have Been Phenomenal”
There have been countless tributes to the great Eddie Van Halen since his passing on October 6th. One of the millions of fans mourning his death is fellow guitar legend Slash. Van Halen released their groundbreaking self-titled debut in 1978, and by the time Guns N’ Roses formed in 1985, one can easily argue that Van Halen were the biggest hard-rock band on the planet — until GN’R took that title with their own masterful debut, Appetite for Destruction. We recently caught up with Slash to discuss the new Guns N’ Roses pinball machines, as well as his new custom collection with Gibson Guitars. While speaking with the GN’R axeman, we asked him for his thoughts on Eddie Van Halen, specifically what it was about the Van Halen legend’s playing that made him such an iconic guitarist. Slash graci...
The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne on the Band’s Space Bubble Shows: “It’s Safer Than Going to the Grocery Store”
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 Wayne Coyne about his current plans for space bubble shows. A year ago, no one could have predicted that a trip to the grocery store could be life-threatening and dangerous. But here we are at a time where buying vegetables can be anxiety-inducing and unsafe. Concerts mostly apply, as well, but Flaming Lips vocalist Wayne Coyne devised a way to transform live music into a safe process. Coyne is no stranger to performing in what he calls a space bubble. He’s famous for rolling out into crowds, but the thought of putting the entire band and audience in their own respective bubbles was a thought that came to him at the...
Slash: New Guns N’ Roses Pinball Machines Are “Way Beyond My Expectations”
A couple of months ago, Guns N’ Roses announced a series of “Not in This Lifetime” pinball machines, modeled after the band’s mega-successful reunion tour of the same name. The arcade games were co-designed by Slash, who caught up with us to discuss all things pinball and his involvement in the creation of the machines. The “Not in This Lifetime” machines are manufactured by Jersey Jack Pinball, and are available in three editions — Standard, Limited, and Collectors — each with a different design on its body. The machines feature a 21-song soundtrack that closely mirrors the setlists that Guns N’ Roses played on their “Not in This Lifetime” tour, which saw the return of classic members Slash and Duff McKagan. As we learned from Slash while speaking with him about the machines, his love of ...
Top 50 Albums of 2020
As we return from Thanksgiving and head into December, our Annual Report will spend the next few weeks looking back upon the strange year that was 2020 and the music, film, and television that came with it. We begin today with our Top 50 Albums of 2020. You’ve heard it from me dozens of times already: 2020 has not been a normal year. And by that, I mean absolutely nothing has been normal. The music world hasn’t been immune, of course. I’ve spent more time cancelling flights and accommodations and trying to get tickets refunded than I actually did watching live music this year. Instragram became a concert venue, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductions had no performances, and livestreams (which are pre-taped) seem to be the often-underwhelming future of live music at least for the forseea...
Mining Metal: Depravity, Dark Quarterer, Eternal Champion, Liturgy, Fuck the Facts, Megaton Sword, Stormkeep, Undergang
“Mining Metal” is a monthly column from Heavy Consequence writers Joseph Schafer and Langdon Hickman. The focus is on noteworthy new music emerging from the non-mainstream metal scene, highlighting releases from small and independent labels — or even releases from unsigned acts. Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by … hold on let me look outside. Nope, still the winter of our discontent, my mistake. This is the eighth Mining Metal introduction essay that I’ve had to write during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to be honest with you, dear readers, I’m running out of even vaguely optimistic spins to ladle onto our monthly roundup of underground metal’s finest riffs. I guess I could say – at least we know who will lead our nation next year, right? How’s this: when we began th...
Ranking Every AC/DC Album from Worst to Best
Welcome to Dissected, where we disassemble a band’s catalog, a director’s filmography, or some other critical pop-culture collection. It’s exact science by way of a few beers. This time, we follow the legendary AC/DC’s career, from their 1975 debut, High Voltage, to their most recent effort, 2020’s Power Up. The legacy of AC/DC is one of perseverance. Across their five-decade career, the Australian hard rockers have seen both sides of tragedy and glory, from their rugged ascent playing beer bars to becoming a global stadium rock institution. When charismatic frontman and lyricist Bon Scott passed away in 1980, many wondered if it was the end of AC/DC. Scott’s vivid personality was as much the face of the band as forever-a-schoolboy guitarist Angus Young. After releasing multiple soon-...
Beyond the Boys’ Club: Brittney Slayes of Unleash the Archers
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 Brittney Slayes of Unleash the Archers. Canadian power-metal band Unleash the Archers present a hard-charging sound coupled with creative songwriting and storytelling. Early in their career, the band was often lumped into the symphonic metal genre, simply because they have a female vocalist, but they’re really straight-ahead power metal act, with vocalist Brittney Slayes roaring from song to song. Unleash the Archers recently released a new album, Abyss, featuring stunning guitars and Slayes’ powerful vocals. Slayes chec...
