James Brown

30 Seconds With IAmDynamite

Chris Martin and Chris Phillips as IAmDynamite is one of the great modern duo-bands that manages to make two guys sound like an army, easily putting them up there with acts like Chromeo and our own Morgue City. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Supermegafantastic f or the infectious rock an ... More >>

Beaumont Fox, ABC Affiliates Pitch in During CBS Anchor Bill Leger's Memorial Service

People tuning into Beaumont's CBS affiliate, KFDM, for the news at noon will notice something unusual: It will be anchored by a newscaster from the local Fox affiliate. And here's why: KFDM's beloved anchor Bill Leger was killed in a car accident in Louisiana December 22, and other newscasters are ... More >>

Not Fade Away Soundtrack Offers Up a Fistful of Blues, Stones

Not Fade Away, Director David Chase's period piece about a burgeoning rock band in the '60s, is still playing on limited screens in New York and Los Angeles, but this week preview copies of the soundtrack hit mailboxes. It is a sprawling double-disc, double-LP collection featuring vintage Rolling St ... More >>

Explaining Classic Rock Bands to Kids

This past Sunday, The New York Times ran a piece by Paul Greenberg where the author explained how important the Beatles were to music and pop culture to his five-year old son. The child didn't know that the band had albums, but only knew the Fab Four from iTunes playlists. "When the Beatles record ... More >>

Fanning the Flames: The Top 10 Performances at Woodstock 99

This week marks the 13th anniversary of Woodstock 1999, the iconic festival's much-maligned third iteration that kinda dissolved into rape and looting towards the end. As 200,000-strong anarchic gatherings go, everything went off rather pleasantly for much of the festival, but the bonfires, looting ... More >>

Bobby Womack

T-Bird & the Breaks

The Roots Of Lionize: From Miles Davis To Led Zeppelin

It's hard to find a band that reps Miles Davis in the same breath as much as they do Led Zeppelin, but Lionize are that band. Recording in Jamaica with Steel Pulse's Sidney Mills, supporting beardos like Kylesa, Clutch, and cKy? Yes, that's Lionize for you. Opening for Maylene & The Sons Of Disaster ... More >>

2011 Music Awards Showcase

Your guide to the bands and venues.

Awesomeness and Hearing Loss at the 2011 Texas BigBeat

How do a crapload of drums sound when playing in unison in an airplane hangar? Pretty freaking awesome. ​In the Cameron Crowe-directed documentary Pearl Jam Twenty, lead singer Eddie Vedder discusses the detrimental impact of the band's Spinal Tap-like replacement of drummers, equating each ch ... More >>

Texas Big Beat Drums for Charity This Sunday

Photo by groovehouseDrummers young and old.​Five years ago, drummer Donna Fisher noticed that Seattle had been doing a charity drum gathering each year called Woodstick, and it sparked an idea. "They got over 400 drummers and I thought, 'Oh my gosh, we have to do that in Houston,'" she told Ro ... More >>

The X Factor: Rain Delay and Judges' Houses

Photo by FOXJust wait until the "Judges' moms' houses" round!​First, this recap was delayed because the Wednesday night baseball playoff game was rain delayed, canceling that night's X Factor episode--yet another reason for me to hate baseball. Second, naming the latest round of competition "t ... More >>

Your Weekly Heat Wave Music Blog: Hotter Than Hell Edition

Ed. Note: Remember that "songs about Hell" blog we mentioned a couple of days ago? It's still hot, and here it is. maximumwage.wordpress.comThe Southwest Freeway and Loop 610, 4 p.m.​There's an old saying in Botswana: "Shitfire is it hot!" Wait, maybe that was Bandera. Anyway, whatever hemisp ... More >>

The 10 Most Horrible Music-Biz Bosses

​The movie Horrible Bosses comes out today, and while the heinous supervisors in question all work in areas unrelated to entertainment, this shouldn't be taken to mean the music industry is free of bad managers and executives. Rocks Off knows if anything, the music biz has had more than its fa ... More >>

Dirty Shirts

The '90s' sweatiest band, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, cleans out the vaults and gets back on the road.

Happy Hour Scene: Simone on Sunset

​The place: Simone on Sunset 2418 Sunset 713-636-3033 www.simonelounge.com The hours: 2 to 8 p.m. Mondays through Fridays The deals: $3 wells, $1 off bottled beer, $5 house wine The scene: I don't usually imagine what bars would be like if they were women. Simone is the exception, probably ... More >>

Top 12 Local Songs Of 2010

​We're admittedly the most insular, introverted member of the Rocks Off team. You're more likely to find us sitting in our apartment with our headphones on digesting new music than out carousing with our peers. And we're OK with that, mostly because Daddy Rocks Off occasionally asks us to writ ... More >>

A Fistful of Soul

One righteous vintage vinyl party.

Last Night: Of Montreal And Janelle Monae At Numbers

Photos by Marco Torres​Of Montreal, Janelle Monae Numbers November 4, 2010 At ACL we lamented that The Flaming Lips performances have evolved to be less about the music and more about the floor show. You know what you're getting when you pay for a Lips concert ticket - Wayne Coyne will get in ... More >>

Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, The Relatives

Top Eight Weirdest Saturday Night Live Musical Moments

​This past Saturday was Steve Martin's birthday and, if you're old enough, you may remember back to a time when the snow-capped comedian/actor/musician was more than just a comedy archaeologist, exhuming the corpses of classic comic franchises and defiling the shit out of them. No, he actually ... More >>

Glee: Faking The "Funk"

​"Daddy?" "Yes, son?" "What does regret mean?" "Well son, the funny thing about regret is that it's better to regret something you have done than to regret something you haven't done. And by the way, if you see your mom this weekend, will you be sure and tell her SATAN! SATAN! SATAN!" - Buttho ... More >>

He Hit Me (And It Felt Like a Kiss): Chris Brown and Other Infamous Musical Woman-Beaters

See the rest of Rihanna's 20/20 interview with ABC News' Diane Sawyer here. Chris Brown brings his "Fan Appreciation Tour" to town this weekend, leading to several questions. Not the least of which are, "Who the hell is still a fan of this guy?" And, "Will his 'appreciation' of same take some form ... More >>

Jandek, MV + EE

Seal

Artist of the Week: Caretta Bell

Each Wednesday, Rocks Off arbitrarily appoints one lucky local performer or group "Artist of the Week," bestowing upon them all the fame and grandeur such a lofty title implies. Know a band or artist that isn't awful? Email their particulars to introducingliston@gmail.com. Photos courtesy of ... More >>

Little Joe Washington's 70th Birthday

What's Not To Like About Hanukkah? Lots

Christmas is approaching, which means it's time for gentiles the country over to condescendingly recognize the existence of one of the least significant Jewish holidays - the frustratingly spelled Hanukkah.While it's certainly nice to wish others well during their respective holidays, Hair Balls bel ... More >>

The Best of ACL Fest

ACL Fest: Drive-By Truckers, Man Man, Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears, and MGMT

Wax Museum: MP3s from the Americans of '71 (and '72), Bobby Bland and Bobby & the Premiers

Q&A: Little Steven Van Zandt

Miles Davis

The Complete On the Corner Sessions

Ring in the Holidays at Charles Brown Blues Fest

Drenched in Blog: My Day of Outrage

The Head of the Class

Allen Hill leads the cheers for Houston's only American Idol contestant

Heptomaniacs

Houston's indie/reggae/soul/punk/rock/pop band

Glaude Be with You

Soul Rebels Brass Band

Saturday, June 25, at the Rhythm Room, 1815 Washington Avenue, 713-864-6962.

Rick James RIP, Bitch

Houston DJs pay homage to the funky one

Money Waters

The Porch (Soullsys Music/Noir Sound)

Scar Wars

Austin's Vallejo performs at Whiskey Blues

All Good in da 'Hood

Urban cowboys trot into Tymes Square

Curiously Corporate

Altoids takes on the art world and produces a minty-fresh collection

Boogie Nights

The Groove Collective

Silver and Gold (and Green)

Some artists make holiday records for the beauty, not the bucks

Into the Groovy

Raving about Simon Reynolds's techno-historical treatment, Generation Ecstasy

Steel Reunion

Union Tank Car vote reflects labor's rebound

Rotation

Sound Check