Iron & Wine

David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest: The Soundtrack (With Endnotes)

One of Time magazine's Top 100 English-language novels of the last century, the late David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest is a gargantuan book. Its cutting, comedic views cover a broad swath of American life, but focus on family dysfunction, chemical dependency, depression, entertainment saturation ... More >>

Surely Galveston Can Do Better Than "Galveston"

Notwithstanding the recent Galveston-based Carnival cruise liner whose faulty engines landed its passengers in a world of hurt (and national headlines), the island is again throwing its arms open for the upcoming summer season. Last week the Galveston Island Convention & Visitors Bureau announced th ... More >>

Paul McCartney's Wonderful, Bizarre McCartney II

Sounds of Twilight: The 5 Best Songs From the Twilight Soundtracks

Like most writers who aren't named Stephenie Meyer, I find the Twilight novels an abhorrent abomination and a great offense to the written word. I assume the movies are the same to serious filmmakers. But Twilight presents me with a unique problem. Having one foot in the world of writing and literat ... More >>

2 Years After Ownership Change, Fitz Is Thriving

Has it really been two years already since Jagi Katial and Omar Afra became the new owner-operators of Fitzgerald's? Apparently so, because the Free Press Summer Fest partners celebrated their second anniversary at the rickety old live music club on White Oak a couple weeks back with a weekend's wor ... More >>

Robert Ellis' Whiskey Wednesdays Returning... In Austin

Rocks Off thought we had written everything about Robert Ellis & the Boys' Whiskey Wednesday shows there was to say. After all, the weekly beer-soaked no-cover night of Texas-heavy vintage honky-tonk covers ended back in April. So we were a little intrigued when someone forwarded us this link earl ... More >>

Tryptophanatics: Thanksgiving Lullabies For Your Post-Meal Snooze

You've finished your Thanksgiving feast and endured a few hours of awkward conversation with the extended family you never see and now it's finally time for a holiday hibernation. You deserve it, it's the third most important part of Thanksgiving, after overeating and overdrinking. No one really k ... More >>

Last Night: Mastodon At Fitzgerald's

Photo by Marco TorresMastodon gets the devil horns.​Mastodon, Black Tusk, Venomous Maximus Fitzgerald's October 27, 2011 Mastodon on the stage upstairs at Fitzgerald's is like a bull in a china closet, an anaconda in a cage full of mice, or at least John Travolta in a room full of handsome me ... 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 >>

Forrest Gump & Other "Generation-Defining" Soundtracks

​The Forrest Gump soundtrack debuted on June 28, 1994, a week ahead of the film itself, which would go on to smash box-office records, win numerous awards and become one of the most beloved movies of the past 20 years. It is still endlessly quotable, emotional, and entertaining, and the soundt ... 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 >>

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 >>

Arcade Fire On For ACL; Kanye Expected In Midnight Lineup

​Tonight at midnight, the folks at C3 Presents who book the Austin City Limits Music Festival are expected to drop the lineup in full onto the festival's official Web site. And like, duh, Rocks Off will of course be up and about to post it to the blog once it goes live. You are more than welco ... More >>

James Taylor

Last Night: Canned Acoustica II At Warehouse Live

Southern Backtones' Hank Schyma​Canned Acoustica II Warehouse Live March 3, 2011 Check out our photos of Canned Acoustica II: Acoutstic Boogaloo! It's awfully hard to dog a charity event, especially one donating to a cause as noble as the Houston Food Bank, so Aftermath won't even try. Besid ... More >>

Idol Beat: Say Goodbye To Hollywood

​You know, I had my misgivings about covering Season 10 of American Idol. I've already mentioned my concerns that, contrary to what David Hasselhof would have us believe, American doesn't necessarily have talent. At least, not enough to fill ten seasons worth of programming. I also feared the ... More >>

Rolling Blackouts Were Made For Baby-Making Music

​So the Chron says Texas' Arctic blast-enabled rolling power blackouts are over for now, although more might be on the way later this evening and tomorrow. Obviously, there are only three things to do with no electricity in sub-freezing temperatures: Shiver; Snuggle up; Knock boots. R ... More >>

The Most Anticipated Albums Of 2011

​NATIONAL White Lies, Ritual: They killed at festivals in 2008 and 2009, but do London's Interpol-styled lads have longevity? Dr. Dre, Detox: It's been on hold or gestating since at least Clinton was in office. Will it continue to be hip-hop's Chinese Democracy? R.E.M., Collapse Into No ... More >>

In Case You Missed It...

Marco TorresIt's a bird... it's a plane... it's... Usher!​Rocks Off knows you have had a busy week. So have we. But, we figured, what with Thanksgiving and Black Friday and traveling to and from your various other holiday ports of call, you may not have had as much time in front a computer as ... More >>

Last Night: Iron & Wine At Fitzgerald's

Photos by Jim Bricker​Iron & Wine Fitzgerald's November 21, 2010 When Hill Country transplant Sam Beam, who played a sold-out pre-Thanksgiving show at Fitzgerald's Sunday night, was still signed with Sub Pop, the Seattle label's founder Jonathan Poneman wanted to see the South Carolina native ... More >>

Frickin' Lasers: Six Artists Who Could Really Use Them

Photo illustration by Monica FuentesNow that's more like it.​If you don't have tickets for tonight's Ghostland Observatory show at Warehouse Live, you are shit out of luck. Sorry to say, but the show is sold out, and when things sell out at that venue, they mean it. Seriously, you may have to ... More >>

Houston's 10 Favorite Rainy-Day Albums

Hola, Hermine...​Weather like Houston had this past week seems to make everyone "sad panda" and turn to lusher, less upbeat music. snuggle-rock, dad-rock, beard-rock - music you hear in coffee shops seems to be ruling our city's personal airwaves. As Tropical Storm Hermine trampled through H ... More >>

Acts We Think - OK, Hope - Are Playing ACL Fest This Year

​By this time Tuesday, we will all know who is playing the Austin City Limits Music Festival in October. Damn, it seems like we have speculating about the line-up since, well, we got the last of the "Dillo Dirt" out the middle of our toes after last year's muddy and rainy ACL weekend. Tuesday brig ... More >>

Enjoy the Silence

Singer-songwriter Robert Ellis stands up for piping down.

Girl Star, Grown Up

Still proud of her family band, Susan Cowsill does her own thing now.

Don't Forget Record Store Day is Saturday

Well, it looks like the weather gods are laughing at Houston again, and have decided to ring in iFest with a good round of drenching rain. So if you'd prefer to remain indoors, don't forget Saturday is Record Store Day - there's even a Web site. Be a good consumer and help out your neighborhood ... More >>

The Tastes of Textile

When it's on, there's no place in town like Scott Tycer's new restaurant.

Morrissey Will Take Miami and the Points

"Every Day Is Like Sunday" If you haven't read "Songs from the Heart of a Marketing Plan," Jon Pareles' essay outlining how, basically, the only way for artists to sell their music these days is by licensing it to sell something else, in the New York Times, go ahead and check it out. Ballz detects ... More >>

Morrissey Will Take Miami and the Points

"Every Day Is Like Sunday" If you haven't read "Songs from the Heart of a Marketing Plan," Jon Pareles' essay outlining how, basically, the only way for artists to sell their music these days is by licensing it to sell something else, in the New York Times, go ahead and check it out. Ballz detects ... More >>

Morrissey Will Take Miami and the Points

"Every Day Is Like Sunday" If you haven't read "Songs from the Heart of a Marketing Plan," Jon Pareles' essay outlining how, basically, the only way for artists to sell their music these days is by licensing it to sell something else, in yesterday's New York Times, go ahead and check it out. Rocks ... More >>

Top Ten Americana Albums of 2008

Picking the best folk and Americana records of the year isn't nearly as hard as discarding those great records that just didn't feel right stuck in the category. Releases by Calexico and DeVotchKa felt far too worldly to pigeonhole as folk or country, for instance, while Blitzen Trapper's fantastic ... More >>

Noise's Handy Holiday Local-Music Gift Guide

The Best of ACL Fest

Saturday night photo roundup

HPMA Aftermath: Small Sounds, Yoko Mono, Katie Stuckey and the Swagger, Espantapajaros, Buxton, Los Skarnales and Thee Armada

Has ACL Festival Jumped the Shark?

Drenched In Blog: Nirvana’s Unplugged on DVD

Local Motion

Local Motion

Iron & Wine, The Shepherd's Dog

CD Review

Making Scents of the Stars

A buyer's guide to celebrity fragrances

Band of Horses

Saturday, June 24, at Walter's on Washington, 4215 Washington Avenue, 713-862-2513

Calexico/Iron and Wine

In the Reins

M. Ward, with Norfolk and Western

Sunday, April 3, at Mary Jane's Fat Cat, 4216 Washington Avenue, 713-869-5263

Marrying the Mainstream

White men learned to dance, and the emoting was as thick as the eyeliner on the year's best pop-rock records

Marrying the Mainstream

White men learned to dance, and the emoting was as thick as the eyeliner on the year's best pop-rock records

Trend-Spotting

In a scandal-ridden election year, the year's top ten music stories were all about winning the popular vote

Playbill

Iron & Wine, with Holopaw

Thursday, April 15

Battle Cries

SXSW finds itself covered in thoughts of war