Coldplay

Fuck-off Friday: It’s Too Hot to Work Anyway

Drenched In Blog: Kanye vs. Fiddy vs. Black Lips

U23D Marq-E = OK

Test Your Musical Strength

XM Nation: Catching Up and Moving On

Aftermath: Coldplay at Toyota Center

Photos by Mark C. Austin The problem with Chris Martin isn’t the fact that the Coldplay frontman writes lyrics that resemble something that might come from the diary of a seventh grader who sniffs magic markers (snow, it turns out, is white after all). No, it’s the fact that he almost forces p ... More >>

Top Ten Pop Songs of 2008

Pop music often gets a bad rap for being disposable or vapid, and in many cases that's true. (Katy Perry, Danity Kane and the Pussycat Dolls, step right up!) But every year, a few irresistible bits of innovative ear candy rocket up the charts and seep into our subconscious. The following ten singles ... More >>

Were These Really the Best Songs of 2008?

The Gutter Twins Maybe Rocks Off spent a lot of 2008 with his head in the archives, but he was paying attention to new stuff too. Occasionally. It's as easy as satellite radio, channel 47's (Ethel/Alt Nation) weekly new-music hour Submission/Transmission. Monday night, S/T happened to be playing ... More >>

When Publicists Attack: Solarcaded

Dana Boyce I had already drawn a bullseye on the side of my forehead and was just getting the gun out of the drawer. I'm normally not suicidal or, for that matter, the type to brood and get depressed. But as has been mentioned in these pages before, every so often a publicist just makes me wa ... More >>

Gene Loves Jezebel

Dana Boyce I had already drawn a bullseye on the side of my forehead and was just getting the gun out of the drawer. I'm normally not suicidal or, for that matter, the type to brood and get depressed. But as has been mentioned in these pages before, every so often a publicist just makes me wa ... More >>

Celebrity Wedding Present

Who has the upper hand in various musician-celebrity marriages?

Coldplay: Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends

Who has the upper hand in various musician-celebrity marriages?

Houston Music Map

Queen Norah reigns, Josh Groban pains, and lots of Natalie Maines

Stars of Track and Field

Stars of Track and Field perform Saturday, May 12, at the Engine Room, 1515 Pease, 713-654-7846. Joseph Arthur also performs.

Dark Star Rising

Jenny Lewis primps for her big push

Jones Family Singers

9 p.m. Saturday, April 22, at the Continental Club, 3700 Main, 713-529-9899

Never Go to a Party in Friendswood

Where does your town rank in the Houston-area good-taste stakes?

Teenage Fanclub

Man-Made

Eisley, with Reggie and the Full Effect and New Found Glory

Thursday, May 19, at Numbers, 300 Westheimer, 713-526-6551.

The Music, with Morningwood

Friday, March 18, at the Meridian, 1503 Chartres, 713-225-1717.

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Friday, March 18, at the Meridian, 1503 Chartres, 713-225-1717.

Murs

Murs 3:16: The 9th Edition (Def Jux)

F-Bomb Scare

Travis starts cussing, but otherwise remains the same

Caged Angels

Chart-toppers in the UK, Ash is happy on the American club circuit. But how long will it stay there?

Cold Relief

Radio wild card Coldplay struts in from the UK with plenty of attitude

Coldplay

Parachutes
(Parlophone)

Cornbreadd Weighs In On 50 Cent/Rick Ross Feud

How bad off is hip-hop right now? Sales are still in the toilet - only one rap record, Jadakiss' The Last Kiss, is in the current Billboard Top 20 - and even Kanye West shooting his mouth off isn't that interesting anymore. About the only thing with legs these days is the 50 Cent/Rick Ross feud, wh ... More >>

Single-Album Sets We'd Like to See, Part 1: Bob Dylan, George Strait, The Pogues and More

Initiated by indie-rockers like Sonic Youth, Slint and Built to Spill at mid-2000s festivals - UK/U.S. hopover All Tomorrow's Parties and its various tie-ins being the most prominent - playing a beloved LP front to back in concert is now the hottest thing going on the classic-rock circuit. Within th ... More >>

Aftermath: Coldplay at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

Photos by Craig Hlavaty Coldplay carries with them almost every major defect available to make it possible for someone like Aftermath to hate them. Bandleader Chris Martin prances on the stage like a marionette detached from his strings for one, his gee-whiz smile notwithstanding. Just like the its ... More >>

Friday Night Noise: In the Land of Archers' Misanthropic Crud; Venison Whirled's Piercing Tonal Halos

​In The Land Of Archers "I Am The Monster That Walks On All Fours": Friday Night Noise is not even gonna try to decipher this Houston crew's web site - which suggests that they're still a going thing despite being entrenched in different projects - because we're way more interested in talking abou ... More >>

Athlete, Carney

​In The Land Of Archers "I Am The Monster That Walks On All Fours": Friday Night Noise is not even gonna try to decipher this Houston crew's web site - which suggests that they're still a going thing despite being entrenched in different projects - because we're way more interested in talking abou ... More >>

Keane

​In The Land Of Archers "I Am The Monster That Walks On All Fours": Friday Night Noise is not even gonna try to decipher this Houston crew's web site - which suggests that they're still a going thing despite being entrenched in different projects - because we're way more interested in talking abou ... More >>

10 Reasons Your Restaurant Website Sucks

Your restaurant website probably sucks​I have spent more than ten years consulting with companies in a wide range of industries on the design and development of their websites. It's a job that can be quite challenging because I often work with organizations who don't know very much about websi ... More >>

Match These Bands With Their Awful Original Names

​Provided they didn't take the easy way out and name themselves after a song (Rolling Stones), their hometown (Boston) or each other (Hall & Oates), almost every band that went on to sell millions of records, get tons of radio play and sell out arenas has had some form of the following convers ... More >>

ACL 2011 Rumors: Ten Bands Who Could Make The Cut

Marco TorresWill ACL close with classic rock again, like with the Eagles last year? Neil Young?​The Austin City Limits Music Festival's big 2011 lineup announcement is imminent, scheduled for May 17, and Rocks Off will surely be on top of the news after it hits. Last year we sat on the compute ... More >>

Stevie Wonder, Coldplay, And Kanye West Lead ACL 2011 Lineup

Marc BrubakerGoin' back to Zilker: Arcade Fire at The Woodlands, May 4​Moments ago, the Austin City Limits Music Festival announced its lineup for the 10th-anniversary weekend, scheduled for Sept. 16-18 in Zilker Park. Top names include Stevie Wonder, Coldplay, Kanye West, and Bright Eyes. P ... More >>

A Dream Austin City Limits Weekend For Houston

Craig HlavatyColdplay at The Woodlands, July 2009​Summer is creeping in, which means the fall concert calendars are filling up fast, and we should know which Austin City Limits Music Festival artists will book side dates in our area sooner rather than later. The standard disclaimer: Rocks Off ... More >>

Eight Halfway Decent Songs With Godawful Titles

​So, we listened to Coldplay's new single, "Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall" for the first time and, try as we might, we just can't hate it. Now, it's not great. One could argue that it only barely crosses the line into "good" territory. It sounds like Chris Martin locked himself in a room and l ... More >>

ACL Fest Schedule Released; Your Guide To The "Death Duels"

Stevie Wonder on FacebookStevie Wonder: Even My Morning Jacket will be watching.​This morning, the organizers of the Austin City Limits Music Festival announced the schedule for the September 16-18 Zilker Park throwdown. We all knew there would be some tough choices, but Rocks Off found that w ... More >>

Atlantis Wake-Up Music So Far: Ranking The Good, The Bad & The Ugly On The Last Shuttle Trip

What's with all the damn Coldplay?​NASA, always on the lookout for good publicity, has made a cottage industry out of the wake-up music it uses to rouse crews orbiting the earth. They recruit artists to record messages that are played after the song, because the first thing you want to hear ... More >>

Intergalactic: A Playlist For The Space Shuttle's Last Flight Home

NASA/Hair BallsNo more cool pictures like this for a long time :(​If you're an astronaut, you recently might have awoken you from a sound night's rest on the space shuttle to the sounds of U2, Beyonce, Electric Light Orchestra, Aaron Copeland, or even some old Coldplay. On those more unlucky d ... More >>

Five ACL Acts We're Totally Not Making Up

Aloha, Susan... Stevie Wonder Coldplay Arcade Fire Kanye Kanye Kanye blah blah blah yada yada yada. Rocks Off could write about this year's ACL headliners until we're blue in the face - and we probably will this weekend - but what's the point? The real fun of the festival is on the back roads of ... More >>

ACL Last Night: Kanye West At Zilker Park

Marco Torres​By the end of the first night of this year's Austin City Limits, Kanye West had gone over his allotted set time by 15 minutes, turning in one of the most un-rap, rap shows, injecting a Bjork and Talking Heads stage-commanding sensibility into a collection of champion singles. It w ... More >>

ACL: Molly's Revenge & Other Encounters

Jim BrickerColdplay: Also with the pretty lights.​A Zilker field. As Friday's shadows lengthened, a young woman - tall, pale, boots - approached Rocks Off. "Are you going to Pretty Lights?" "I don't think so." "Why not?" "I don't know." "Do you know where I can get some Molly?" "Uhhh... ... 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 >>

Black Keys Not Licensing New Record to Streaming Services

​There's been a furor brewing among people who love streaming music services like Spotify and Rdio over bands like Coldplay denying licensing to those services for new releases. Older albums are available, but bands have essentially delayed the release to streaming services. That was all well ... More >>

Early Warning: Coldplay Bringing Mylo Xyloto To Houston On June 25

Photo By Craig HlavatyColdplay's Chris Martin at the Woodlands in July 2009. ​Coldplay is bringing their Mylo Xyloto tour to Houston next summer on June 25 at the Toyota Center. The band was last in Houston on July 22, 2009 at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion on the down-slope of the Viva La Vi ... More >>

Comedy Open Mike Monday at Sherlock's

​The bathroom attendant at Sherlock's singing along to this song on the radio while I used the urinal was one of the more intimate non-sexual moments of my year so far. Here I was trying to piss, and there he was, earnestly expressing himself by the sink and waiting to hand me a paper towel. A ... More >>

The Top 10 Laziest Music Videos Ever

​We're obsessed with music videos lately, and have spent almost the whole of the weekend seeking new and brilliant ones in order to feature in our weekly column. We're just so impressed with the capabilities open to modern artists at all strata of stardom, and how brilliant a piece of work can ... More >>

We Tell You Who Will Win Grammys So You Don't Have To Watch Them

SPOILER ALERT​The best thing about the annual Grammy nominations and awards shows is the clamor of anger that rises up when the mere mention of the event even comes up. Immediately people begin calling it a travesty, trotting out all the people who have been snubbed -- Jethro Tull beats Metall ... More >>