Bob Marley

World Beat: The Music of iFest

Performers from New Orleans to Zimbabwe enliven this year's Brazilian-themed Houston International Festival.

Why Greatest-Hits Albums Matter, and 10 Greatest-Hits Haikus

A solid album, to me, is what I have dubbed a "Front-to-Back." I have two definitions for Front-to-Backs: 1) albums that are structured to listen to as an entire piece of artwork (like Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, or Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea); and 2) alb ... More >>

Houston's Top 10 Record Stores

Record Store Day (recordstoreday.com) is six weeks away, but a good Houstonian should never need an excuse to visit one of our city's many record stores. These fine brick-and-mortar shops have been doling out music for years and even decades in some instances. Run by some of the finest music lovers ... More >>

Exploring Songza: Four Offbeat Playlists From the Curated Music Service

We introduced you to Songza -- the service that acts as a "music concierge" -- a few weeks back. Using curated playlists sorted not only by genre and theme, but also by activity, Songza helps you pick the best songs for the occasion. More importantly to me, the playlists are expertly curated, mean ... More >>

Saturday Night: Red Bull Thre3style Regional Qualifier at Fitzgerald's

Red Bull Thre3Style DJ Competition Regional Qualifier Fitzgerald's January 19th, 2013 The illustrious Fitzgerald's was once again the center of the city's rich music scene Saturday night, as it hosted the Red Bull Thre3Style Houston qualifier. Five of Houston's brightest and most talented DJ stars ... More >>

Shape Shifter: A Conversation With Icon of Style Carlos Santana

National Hispanic Heritage Month is observed annually between September 15t and October 15 as a celebration of the positive cultural impact Hispanic and Latino Americans contribute to this country. This year, guitarist Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Carlos Santana was honored by Macy's as the Hispanic ... More >>

Saturday Night: Cafe Tacuba at House of Blues

Cafe Tacuba House of Blues August 18, 2012 Imagine for just a second that Fishbone, the raucous L.A. band that threw all sorts of music into a blender with minor success in the late '80s and early '90s, grew to an award-winning, arena-size act that could draw tens or even hundreds of thousands of p ... More >>

10 Things Musicians Have Been Buried With

Everyone dies eventually, even rock stars, and when they go it's not uncommon for them to take beloved personal items with them, or to have such things placed there by grieving friends and family. That is of course unless they're cremated and have their ashes snorted or smoked. For those who went th ... More >>

Top Six Rap Videos Set In Places Of Worship

Rocks Off was only 13 years old in October 1992 when singer Sinéad O'Connor sang an a cappella version of Bob Marley's "War" on Saturday Night Live and, on cue, tore an image of Pope John Paul II into pieces while singing the word "evil." "Fight the real enemy," she exclaimed at the end of one of ... More >>

Last Night: Maná At Toyota Center

Maná Toyota Center April 4, 2012 The last time Maná visited Houston, they sold out Toyota Center two nights in a row. The world's premier rock en español band is on the second leg of the Drama Y Luz tour, in support of their latest album of the same name. The group from the land of tequila y ma ... More >>

Rude: Your Essential First-Wave And 2-Tone Ska Playlist

When you ask the younger dubstep generation what ska is, they will usually begin to wax poetic about bands like No Doubt, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Reel Big Fish and Less Than Jake - the kind of stuff they heard on their older siblings' stereos in the '90s. Only a precious few will throw the Spec ... More >>

Staying Sane at Owl Bar

​The best thing about Owl Bar is that it doesn't feel like it belongs. A couple of years ago, when Mugsy's occupied the same space, it would have been a little more at home in its neighborhood. Upper Kirby has since come up in the world, though. Standing on Owl Bar's narrow patio on a Tuesday ... More >>

Funny HPMA Nomination Ballot Fails

​It does Rocks Off's heart good to see that our Music Award nominations have stirred up so much debate. As we mentioned Tuesday, according to our Web people, there were some 9,000 nominations submitted across our 43 categories. Of course there's no way for us to really know, but as far as we ... More >>

Last Night: Ian Moore Band At The Continental Club

Photos by Jason Wolter​Ian Moore Band Continental Club August 11, 2011 Nostalgia has a funny way of creeping up on you when you least expect it. Aftermath suspects the Ian Moore Band would agree. As the quartet hit the home stretch of its 90-minute set Thursday with "Blue Sky" and "How Does ... More >>

Chef Chat, Part 1: Anthony Davis of Reggae Hut

Photo by Mandy OaklanderAnthony Davis, chef of Reggae Hut​Reggae Hut, the colorful joint on Almeda Road in the Third Ward, serves up delicious Caribbean fare. Customers gobble up oxtails to the sounds of Bob Marley, his lyrics painted elegantly across the walls. Anthony "Tony" Davis is the man ... More >>

Who Are You? Songs Commonly Attributed To The Wrong Artists

​Last week, after the tragic, alcohol-fueled passing of Jackass hero Ryan Dunn, Rocks Off at Taco Cabana wearing a promotional shirt for The Hangover II that we stole borrowed from the office here at the Press. As we were loading our hands with condiment containers, a guy came up to us and sai ... More >>

Comment of the Day: Other Crushing False Quotes

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

The Ultimate Sandal-Rock Mixtape

​Tonight Craig's Hlist will drive all the way out the Woodlands to see Jack Johnson, one of sandal-rock's biggest superstars. He's like the Lady the Rolling Stones of sandal-rock. He's like the McDonald's of sandal-rock. He's James Taylor for people who shop at Whole Foods. He's the Sex Pistol ... More >>

iFest Closes To An Afro-Cuban-Reggae Beat

Eggs/ breakfastontour.comBaba Maal​ If the first weekend of the Houston International Festival felt like a detour down Canal Street, the second evoked the festival's emphasis on "Spotlighting the Caribbean." Summer picked this weekend to descend two months early, as it tends to do, resulting in in ... More >>

The Caribbean At iFest: Pass The Kutchie To Neutral Sister, The Mighty Diamonds And Easy Star All-Stars

Over the next two weeks, Rocks Off will be previewing acts performing at this year's Houston International Festival Saturday and Sunday and April 24-25 broken down by genre (loosely, anyway) and with a guest pick from a true insider: iFest Director of Performing Arts Rick Mitchell. Today, the Caribb ... More >>

Aftermath: John Legend (Pre-ACL) at Verizon Wireless Theater - Hey, Better Late Than Never

[Ed. Note: We temporarily interrupt our postmortem ACL coverage to bring you this review of John Legend's show at Verizon Wireless Theater last Wednesday.] Photos by Daniel Kramer​ 9:03 p.m.: So we're here at Verizon Wireless Theater for the show. Going to a concert where you're not allowed to ... More >>

ACL 2009 Day One: John Legend Sexes Up the Crowd

Photos by Groovehouse​Opening with Bob Marley's gorgeous "Redemption Song" from a raised podium in the middle of the crowd, John Legend immediately captured everyone's attention yesterday before launching into a set of smooth, slightly 70s, superbly sexy songs that had his adoring female fans hang ... More >>

$13 at Reggae Hut

Photo by Mike GiglioWhere: Reggae Hut, 4814 Almeda Rd., 713-520-7171What $13 gets you: Any main course or seafood dish, which will be more than enough. Favorites include the jerk chicken and garlic shrimp, along with a Jamaican take on oxtail. We tried that, mainly because we weren't quite su ... More >>

“Day of the Dead Rock Stars”

See Bob Marley, Bo Diddley and others given the DOD treatment by artist Carlos Hernandez

Reporter’s Notebook: Random Scrawlings from the Van Halen Show

Houston's Very Best Songs Ever

...otherwise known as the H-Town 20

Redman

Red Gone Wild

Stephen Marley

Mind Control

Son of Man

Ziggy Marley preaches the gospel of love

Jackie Mitto

Wishbone

Never Opening Near You

Music biopics Hollywood won't make

Matzo Baller

Gimme a B!

Nate Nicoll's synth sounds are your ticket to the '80s

Hard Time

Ray Hill's tips for surviving prison

Taj Mahal & the Hula Blues, with Susan Tedeschi

Sunday, May 2

Canadian Invasion

SXSW heaps sloppy seconds on Houston

Man with the Mike

Ernie Manouse chitchats with visiting stars

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Whatcha Gonna Do?

Houston's Neutral Sisters look white, sing black and move to a reggae rhythm

Reggae Rugrats

Morgan Heritage keeps roots reggae rolling into a new century

Rodeo's Gonna Git You, Sucka

When the Fat Show calls, you better answer

Lambchop

Is a Woman (Merge)

Minimalist Mixology

Noche's El Enrique

Just for Openers

Houston's first-call warm-up band Cosmic Force sets its sights higher

Celebrate the Celts

Night & Day

June 4- 10, 1998

Press Picks

Rhythm Kings

D.R.U.M. not only wants the right sound, it wants the right spirit

Rap of Ages Inc.

On the road to Lafayette with Planet Shock!