Subject: Benjamin Wesley

• Tonight: James Jackson Toth and The Dutchess and the Duke at the Mink

  August 20, 2008

• SugarHill Goes Live on the Web

  Benjamin Wesley at SugarHill Studios Houston's own legendary SugarHill Recording Studios is making the leap into the world of live Internet broadcasting 7 p.m. tonight at http://www.ecslive.com. The first musical gues is Benjamin Wesley of Tha Fucking Transmissions, Robert Ellis, Grandfather Child and Sad Gorilla. The show will also feature live session footage, with the guys at Houston's own Zenfilm doing the honors. "Live from SugarHill" producer and SH marketing director Gina Miller

  December 4, 2008

• Tonight: Benjamin Wesley CD Release at Walter's on Washington

  Benjamin Wesley Geschichte EP www.myspace.com/benjaminwesleywinder3 The driving force behind disbanded, fuzzed-out four-string symphony Basses Loaded and low-end minder for rap-rock rude boys Tha Fucking Transmissions, Benjamin Wesley is one of the most gifted, eclectically-minded musical catalysts in town. So when he turns his considerable talents toward his own compositions, the results are suitably impressive. "Stepping past the bullshit, that's my hobby," he sings on "People Will Ne

  March 6, 2009

• Aftermath: One Wild Weekend

  Craig Hlavaty The Imani School Student Jazz Ensemble Craig Hlavaty Erykah BaduRocks Off is still in the very early recovery stages from this weekend, which was one of the most satisfying musical whirlwinds he's been sucked into in quite some time. He started off Friday evening at the Arena Theatre (his new favorite local venue) for Erykah Badu's retro-futuristic benefit for Houston's Imani School. The local private academy's jazz ensemble - no member was over age 13 - ev

  March 9, 2009

• Spring Cleaning

  March 5, 2009

• What Makes Cornbreadd Run

  February 5, 2009

• Vinyl & Compilations

  May 14, 2009

• The 2009 Houston Press Music Award Nominees

  Here they are, folks. You nominated 'em, we mulled 'em over and sorted out the stuffers, and now the 2009 Houston Press Music Awards ballot is set. Normally Rocks Off would say something cute like read 'em and weep, but since we've been listening to almost nothing but '80s hard rock and new bands that totally sound like '80s hard rock (Low Man's Joe, The Answer, Charm City Devils) for the past couple of days, we'll just say this: Eat 'em and smile. Just kidding. We know this is serious stuff, an

  May 21, 2009

• Houston Press Music Awards: And The Nominees Are...

  Here they are, folks. You nominated 'em, we mulled 'em over and sorted out the stuffers, and now the 2009 Houston Press Music Awards ballot is set. Normally Rocks Off would say something cute like read 'em and weep, but since we've been listening to almost nothing but '80s hard rock and new bands that totally sound like '80s hard rock (Low Man's Joe, The Answer, Charm City Devils) for the past couple of days, we'll just say this: Eat 'em and smile. Just kidding. We know this is serious stuff, a

  May 21, 2009

• Running the Numbers

  May 28, 2009

• Texas Heat Festival Announces Lineup

  Add yet another coat of suntan lotion on your pasty ass and get ready for another outdoor Houston music festival. The Texas Heat Music Festival is descending on Jones Plaza downtown for a weekend residency over the Fourth Of July weekend. The event, set for July 4 and 5, is a two-day smorgasbord of electro, DJs and a handful of Houston's best indie acts. The line-up is headlined by members of New York's The Rapture performing a DJ set, electro-maven RJD2 and Los Angeles hip-hop duo People Un

  June 9, 2009

• Back to the Dead

  July 23, 2009

• MP3 of the Day: Benjamin Wesley

  Craig HlavatyWe always loved Tha Fucking Transmissions, especially seeing them upstairs at Boondocks, or pumping "Die Mother-Fucka Die" in the car on the way to or from work (depending on the day of the week). When the band's multi-instrumentalist Benjamin Wesley announced he was working on a solo project, though, who was to know just what we would be in store for? Wesley's EP, Geschichte, hit the streets in February, and our personal world has never been the same. Each track seemed to resonate

  July 22, 2009

• 52 Pick-Up

  July 23, 2009

• From the Front: Photos from Chris Gray

  Chris Gray dropped up some photos from earlier in the day.​Kickin' it with Born Liars.​Fun with Benjamin Wesley.​Did you miss the Fucking Transmissions Unplugged?

  July 26, 2009

• HPMA Aftermath: Ozeal & the Eulypians, Nosaprise, Benjamin Wesley, Tha Fucking Transmissions, Kristine Mills, Peekaboo Theory, Versecity and Spain Colored Orange

  Chris Gray​Five hours is not a long time. It is if you're driving from Houston to Texarkana or Uvalde, maybe. But when hopscotching all over downtown trying to take in as much of the Houston Press Music Awards showcase as you can until your feet and your ears cry uncle, those 300 minutes go by in a heartbeat. But every once in a while, in the words of Bob Dylan, "the next 60 seconds can seem like an eternity." Those fleeting moments are the keepers, and tops on the list Sunday was Ozeal &

  July 27, 2009

• Distant Early Warning: Al Jarreau, Butthole Surfers, The Mars Volta, The Tragically Hip, etc.

  ​Al Jarreau: Fri., Dec. 11. Arena Theatre. Ben Danaher: Wed., Sept. 30. Dosey Doe Coffee Company. Benjamin Wesley, Prairie Cadets: Sun., Aug. 16. The Mink. Black Crowes, Saving Abel: BEAUMONT., Sun., Oct. 18. Ford Park. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony: CHANGED Sun., Aug. 23. House of Blues. Brother Ali, BK-One, Evidence, Toki Wright: Thu., Oct. 29. Warehouse Live. Buju Banton: Thu., Oct. 22. House of Blues. Butthole Surfers: Thu., Sept. 24. House of Blues.

  July 28, 2009

• Five Hour Energy

  July 30, 2009

• Aftermath: The Houston Press Music Awards Ceremony

  Photos by Chris GrayUmbrella Man​ As Maureen McGovern once sang, there's got to be a morning after. And it's about as pleasant as you imagine it is. It's not even that Rocks Off is hung over (much), it's more that after Thursday night's Houston Press Music Awards ceremony, we literally left it all on the field. The tank is empty. Even Jackson Browne has no idea how spent we are. Even so, we'd be lying if we said we didn't have a good time at the awards. Or that we're not proud as a peacock tha

  July 31, 2009

• Distant Early Warning: Band of Heathens, Glen Campbell, Mastodon, Thursday, etc.

  ​The Academy Is..., The Secret Handshake, Set Your Goals, Mayday Parade: Thu., Oct. 22. Warehouse Live. All Time Low, Hey Monday, We The Kings, Friday Night Boys: Wed., Oct. 28. House of Blues. Band of Heathens (CD Release Show): Fri., Sept. 11. Warehouse Live. Brand New: Sat., Oct. 31. Verizon Wireless Theater. Buddy Guy: Sun., Oct. 18. House of Blues. Buju Banton: Thu., Oct. 22. House of Blues.

  August 4, 2009

• Bayou Beat: Method Man on His Pellet-Gun Aim, The Debut of HUSH, Local Bands Vying for ACL Spot, Thee Armada MySpace Finalist, etc.

  Above, Method Man talks about his pellet-gun accuracy, which was a little off the night he allegedly shot Houstonian Mary Anderson, who is now suing him on several counts including assault. Besides playing House of Blues Friday with Redman and Ghostface, looks like Meth will spend some time in Houston meeting with lawyers as well. ​This evening is the first installment of the Houston Underground Social Hour, or HUSH, Matt Brownlie of Bring Back the Guns' monthly event offering late-night-styl

  August 6, 2009

• The Festival at the Mink

  September 10, 2009

• Aftermath: Local Music Takes Center Stage at The Festival at the Mink

  Photos by Marc BrubakerElectric Attitude​Here at Aftermath, we're aware that some people don't always appreciate a good festival, especially when in terms of the logistics: attendance requires you to stay in relatively one place for an extended period of time and share the same small set of bathrooms with the same set of people for hours on end, amongst other potential inconveniences (say, blistering temperatures at outdoor events). However, Aftermath is certainly a fan of the concept behind a

  September 14, 2009

• Free Press Houston Announces Westheimer Block Party Lineup

  ​Our friends and neighbors at Free Press Houston just posted the lineup for the next Westheimer Block Party, November 14 and 15 on lower Westheimer. Rumors it's soon to become the Washington Avenue Block Party in an attempt to coax some of those sweet, sweet yuppie ad dollars out of the Social, Pearl Bar, Block 7 Wine Co., Blue Label, Pandora, etc. are - for now - greatly exaggerated, so all you "Montrose Forever!" types can chill. Headlining are Brooklyn-based hip-hop rabble-rousers Dead Prez

  October 12, 2009

• Google's New Music-Search Engine Will Be the Death of Us All

  ​ This past week, Internet search-engine giant Google introduced a new music-search tool that immediately opens a pop-up window for people searching for a song, where either the entire song or a snippet will play for them. It's still in the beginning stages, so not all songs are available. We started off trying our current fave, Husker Du's Flip Your Wig track "Makes No Sense At All" and we heard 30 seconds of the song, almost instantaneously. For Rocks Off, this will undoubtedly be a very use

  November 2, 2009

• The Lost Weekend?

  November 12, 2009

• See What You Missed (or Didn't) at Westheimer Block Party With These Lovely Videos

  Video by Craig Hlavaty Right now Rocks Off HQ looks more like a MASH unit as we slowly recover from this weekend's Westheimer Block Party. We won't be on the shelf for long - not with the Marleys, Dwight Yoakam, Neko Case and lots more coming up soon - but while we take a day or two to recover, we hope you enjoy these videos shot by intrepid lensmen Marc Brubaker and Craig Hlavaty, who in some cases risked life and limb to get their footage. It's almost like being in the mosh pit all over again

  November 16, 2009

• Aftermath: Conspiracies, Prog-Metal, Gypsy-Folk, Hardcore and Remembering a Fallen Friend Sunday at Westheimer Block Party

  Craig HlavatyRoom 101​ Day 2 of the Westheimer Block Party started with slightly cooler temperatures and an hour-long caffeine-fueled session speaking with the 9/11 conspiracy booth in the parking lot at Numbers. Did you know that there were three shooters at Columbine, and bombs planted inside the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995? That's another blog for another time and place, where we're not being followed by corporate spies with guns that shoot ice bullets and rayguns and whatnot

  November 16, 2009

• One Final Word About the Westheimer Block Party, and the Rest In a Few Easy Clicks

  Marc Brubaker​ Things could have gone smoother this past weekend on lower Westheimer. No one is denying that. Rocks Off has learned to live with the inevitable scheduling delays and interminable sound checks, as we're sure most Westheimer Block Party regulars have, but performers please take heed: Swapping stage times with each other willy-nilly, and especially not showing up at all, are no ways to win over new fans - or, really, to even keep the ones you've already got. Marc Brubaker​Yes, c

  November 16, 2009