LCD Soundsystem

Last Night: Ghostland Observatory at Warehouse Live

Ghostland Observatory Warehouse Live October 25, 2012 Lasers. Costumes. Queen-like flights of fancy. Ominous, incredibly sassy beats. Lasers. A steadfast, almost militant, devotion to shaking your ass. And more lasers. No one will ever accuse Austin's Ghostland Observatory of ever putting on anyt ... More >>

5 New Rules For Your Party Playlist

The keg is on ice, and the snacks are in the party bowls slowly going stale. The streamers are hung and the party hats are sitting on the kitchen table, perhaps ironically, perhaps not. The neighbors have been bribed with invitations or money, and the local police are on full alert. The drug dealers ... More >>

10 More Things I'll Be Doing at ACL Festival This Weekend

That's right folks, it's ACL Music Festival time again in Texas, and Rocks Off will be flying to Austin on the private Rocks Off jet this weekend to cover the fest from Friday until the last notes of "Give It Away" at the end of the Red Hot Chili Peppers set on Sunday night. That's my way of telli ... More >>

Squared Circle: Top 5 Songs About Pro Wrestling

Although the wrestling boom of the late '90s is a fading memory, the absurd mix of sport and theater continues on in bingo halls and arenas across the country. Every night, under the bright lights, someone is trying to avoid being hit with a steel chair. It should come as no surprise that there are ... More >>

Top 10 Greatest And Most Essential Music Lists Of All Time

​Any fan of music journalism, well hell any sort of journalism in the past five years has seen a massive amount of top 10, 20, or 31 lists all over the Internets. They help cull information into one meaty morsel for you to swallow without, you know, have to type shit. Pretty cool, huh? As a ... More >>

Ten Bands From the '00s Underground That Should Consider Reuniting

All right, so they haven't been broken up as long as the bands in April's excellent look at '90s underground bands who should get back together. We still miss 'em. You know how it is: you get to remembering that album you loved from a few years back and think to yourself "Huh, I wonder when The So-a ... More >>

The Most Overused Expressions in Music Critics' Twitter Feeds: An Epic List

It is impossible to overlook this peculiar trend any longer: A few choice words and phrases seem to be dominating many of 2011's music critiques, particularly on Twitter. Seemingly forcibly wedged into friends' and journalists' 140-characters-or-less makeshift tweet reviews, the following words and ... More >>

Boots Electric

Shot In The Dark: The Ones Who Got Away (So Far)

UPDATE (3:23 p.m.): Promotional video by Monica Fuentes added after the jump. Jay LeeLittle Joe Washington at the Continental Club's 10th anniversary, July 2010​Slowly but surely, Rocks Off has been getting ready for our "Shot In the Dark" photo exhibition at Warehouse Live's Studio next Thur ... More >>

Free Energy

Balaclavas, Moccs, Fat Tony Place In Pazz & Jop Poll

Show of hands, everyone who is surprised this is No. 1.​Music writers all know that once they get their Village Voice Pazz & Jop ballot in their e-mail inbox, that it's time to tally their loves from the last year. It's sort of like the leaves changing or the first freeze of winter coming. You ... More >>

Rocks Off's Favorite Albums Of 2010

​Editor's Picks: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Mojo: Big surprise, I know. But not only did "I Should Have Known It" vault into my Top 5 Heartbreakers songs the first time I heard it - and make me a bigger Led Zeppelin fan in the process - but others like "Candy" and "Good Enough" also held ... More >>

Rocks Off's Favorite Songs Of 2010

​Editor's Picks: Jamey Johnson, "Lonely at the Top": Ouch. Merle Haggard, "I've Seen It": Double ouch. Patty Griffin, "Move On Up": Help me, Jesus. Please.

Notable Bar & Venue Closures Of 2010

Craig HlavatyAgora: Not reopening for a while.​Houston had quite a few bars close down in 2010. They were your favorite places to drink, mingle, talk to a conquest, bum a cigarette, and spend money you didn't have, and they all mostly left with whimper, or in one bar's case, about a dozen fire ... More >>

Top 10 Recent TV-Show Soundtracks

​A few choice adjectives come to mind when musing on bawdy Eastbound & Down character Kenny Powers. "Inspiring" is not one of them. However, as Rocks Off watched this week's season finale of the side-splitting HBO series, we were pleasantly surprised as we heard indie troubadour Kurt Vile's a ... More >>

Friday Night: LCD Soundsystem At Verizon Wireless Theater

Photos by Marc Brubaker​LCD Soundsystem Verizon Wireless Theater October 8, 2010 With Papa Rocks Off watching The National and Big Brother Rocks Off in Austin enjoying Day 1 of the 2010 Austin City Limits Festival, the introverted, nerdy member of the Aftermath team ventured out of our cave t ... More >>

ACL Day 2 Recap: M.I.A., Gogol Bordello, Deadmau5, Mouse Masks

credReturn of the Bamboo Banger: M.I.A.​Aftermath was eager to catch Gogol Bordello, only because our companion had missed their last Houston show at Meridian in 2008. We were convinced he'd get a kick out of them so we dragged him over to the AMD stage early in order to get a good view. One ... More >>

ACL Fest Recap, Day 2: LCD Soundsytem And Bachelorette Cops

Photos by Marco Torres​ For more LCD photos and lots more besides, see our slideshow here. LCD Soundsystem is not a band. It's a six-headed snake, that glides and slithers. It's as if when they perform live they are all mentally tethered into a computer. Saturday night's Budweiser stage show ... More >>

This Is Happening

Is LCD Soundsystem's party over on its latest — and perhaps last — album?

Rocks Off Explains Austin City Limits' "Survival Guide"

Mark C. AustinOne day Austin City Limits will live down last year's "Dillo Dirt" debacle. That day is not today.​This year marks the fourth year that Craig's Hlist will be covering the Austin City Limits Music Festival for the Houston Press and Rocks Off. Each year we get more acclimated to th ... More >>

ACL Fest Releases Schedule; Adds Black Lips, Silversun Pickups

black-lips.com via FlickrBrand-new ACL 2010 adds The Black Lips​The Austin City Limits Music Festival released the schedule grid for this year's gathering in Zilker Park Oct. 7-9. The festival also added several bands, including Atlanta garage-punks (and recovering exhibitionists) the Black Li ... More >>

Last Night: Mates Of State And Free Energy At Warehouse Live

Photos by Marc Brubaker / Click here for a slideshowFree Energy​Mates of State, Free Energy Warehouse Live July 8, 2010 There's nothing like getting ripped from your lemon grass tofu because there's a magician opening a Mates of State show. Aftermath was sitting down like a real, live human b ... More >>

Road Dogs

LP on the way, Houston's American Fangs stay sharp through constant touring.

Live From The Local LCD Soundsystem Video Shoot

Photos by Craig Hlavaty​ Wednesday, the Funwunce art collective filmed a video for LCD Soundsystem's upcoming single "Home" off new LP This Is Happening. The video shoot took them through various locations around Houston, including Dirt Bar off Yale, where Rocks Off caught up with the cast and ... More >>

Summerfest Volunteers Now Full, Afterparties Finalized

Jermaine Rogers​ • Summerfest approacheth. We can almost taste it. Or maybe that's just the Brooklyn Zoos at Boondocks, which will be hosting the official unofficial afterparty, featuring Roky Moon & BOLT and a super-secret special guest. • Dean's Downtown is also hosting an afterparty wit ... More >>

FAIL: Jeff Beck, Jonas Brothers, Lilith Fair, ACL Fest

If you're reading this, you're either on the Internet, or else you've mastered multi-dimensional thought-projection processes that would make Michio Kaku cry like a little girl. We'll assume the former, and just in case you don't already know, the Internet has decided that the word "failure" is too ... More >>

2010 ACL Line-Up Goes Live And (Early) By Surprise

The line-up for the 2010 Austin City Limits Music Festival went live at the fest's website at midnight this morning while the rest of the world was snoozing. Luckily we are up and stirring to bring it to you. No Pavement and no Soundgarden, but we do have the Strokes down. More commentary coming in ... More >>

Rocks Off's 2010 Predictions: The Fate of Owl City, Chingo Bling vs. Chamillionaire, the Next Twilight Soundtrack and Madchester In Katy

www.flickr.com/photos/dherholz/​ Adam Young of Owl City will mystify the scientific community, yet surprise no one in the music community, when he is hacked in half in a freak sawmill accident, and it's discovered he is filled with gummi bears. The Arcade Fire/Flaming Lips feud is resolved when ... More >>

The 11 Stupidest Events from the World of Music, 2009 Edition

Hi there, 2009. Please have a seat. Are you comfortable? Would you like some coffee, or perhaps a cigarette? No? Okay, good. Let's just cut straight to the point, then. You suck, and frankly we're sick of your bullshit. You were an awful year, filled not just with economic collapse, scary right-wi ... More >>

UK Web Site Shines "Unsigned Spotlight" on Houston's Watermarks

myspace.com/thewatermarksThe Watermarks at Warehouse Live, September 2009​ ​When Rocks Off wrote about Houston electro-rockers the Watermarks' Thoughts Like Bombs back in May, we said a song or two off the quintet's five-song EP - still available as a free download on the band's Web site - remin ... More >>

ACL Fest Preview: Ben Sollee and !!!

With eight stages rumbling with musical noises for nearly 12 hours a day, it's hard to fully grab a hold of the Austin City Limits Music Festival without having one or two bands slipping through your hands. With the festival getting such ridiculously amazing talent each year on each stage, one must ... More >>

Morning MP3s: Two From the Watermarks' Free Thoughts Like Bombs EP

Houston electro-rock quartet the Watermarks was kind enough to allow Rocks Off to post a couple of tracks from its brand-new Thoughts Like Bombs EP, which you can download for free on the band's Web site. To us, "I Used to Be Your Rock n' Roll" sounds like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's chocolate ... More >>

Heroes Hip Hip Hurray: Was Tina Turner Right?

Heroes Hip Hip Hurray, Heroes Hip Hip Hurray www.heroeshiphiphooray.com In rock and roll, the concept of a "hero" has always been lyrical fodder. John Lennon and David Bowie both voiced our yearnings for fearless ones who fight injustice in the open or just suffered quietly in their own futile wa ... More >>

The Faint: Fasciinatiion

Grand Theft Auto X: The Screwston Chronicles

Do See Headlights at SXSW, Don't See YACHT

SXSW Day 1: Tricks of the Trade

Drenched in Blog: SXSW Bitchin' Band Alert: Ghosthustler

MGMT, Yeasayer

Drenched in Blog: Top Ten Albums of 2007

Local Motion

Drenched In Blog: Day One Da Nang

Drenched In Blog: Goin’ Out West for ACL Fest

Maserati

Maserti and My Education will perform Tuesday, June 12, at Walter’s on Washington, 4215 Washington.

Nine Inch Nails

Year Zero

How to Be Musically Hip

A cheat-sheet for the culturally challenged

Junior Boys

So This Is Goodbye

Anti-Rock

LCD Soundsystem's brain trust happily loses his edge

Pell-Mel

Anything goes at this DJ show at the Proletariat