Leonard Cohen

Explain Your Most Played

Drenched in Blog: Hall of Fame Nominations a Big Cleveland Steamer

Drenched In Blog: Um… Hallelujah?

Phil Spector Sentenced To 19 Years In Prison

Phil Spector, preeminent music producer and architect of the famed "Wall of Sound" made popular by such artists as The Ronettes, The Righteous Brothers and John Lennon, was sentenced to 19 years in a California jail this past Friday for his alleged part in the death of ladyfriend Lana Clarkson in ea ... More >>

Q&A: Little Steven Van Zandt

Phil Spector, preeminent music producer and architect of the famed "Wall of Sound" made popular by such artists as The Ronettes, The Righteous Brothers and John Lennon, was sentenced to 19 years in a California jail this past Friday for his alleged part in the death of ladyfriend Lana Clarkson in ea ... More >>

Beck at ACL Fest

Phil Spector, preeminent music producer and architect of the famed "Wall of Sound" made popular by such artists as The Ronettes, The Righteous Brothers and John Lennon, was sentenced to 19 years in a California jail this past Friday for his alleged part in the death of ladyfriend Lana Clarkson in ea ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: Darrell Scott's Modern Hymns

Phil Spector, preeminent music producer and architect of the famed "Wall of Sound" made popular by such artists as The Ronettes, The Righteous Brothers and John Lennon, was sentenced to 19 years in a California jail this past Friday for his alleged part in the death of ladyfriend Lana Clarkson in ea ... More >>

Press Picks

Phil Spector, preeminent music producer and architect of the famed "Wall of Sound" made popular by such artists as The Ronettes, The Righteous Brothers and John Lennon, was sentenced to 19 years in a California jail this past Friday for his alleged part in the death of ladyfriend Lana Clarkson in ea ... More >>

Kicking the Genre Habit

Phil Spector, preeminent music producer and architect of the famed "Wall of Sound" made popular by such artists as The Ronettes, The Righteous Brothers and John Lennon, was sentenced to 19 years in a California jail this past Friday for his alleged part in the death of ladyfriend Lana Clarkson in ea ... More >>

Rotation

Phil Spector, preeminent music producer and architect of the famed "Wall of Sound" made popular by such artists as The Ronettes, The Righteous Brothers and John Lennon, was sentenced to 19 years in a California jail this past Friday for his alleged part in the death of ladyfriend Lana Clarkson in ea ... More >>

Seattle's KEXP Loves Our Hungry Villagers

Photo by Craig Hlavaty The fruits of Hungry Villagers' labors have seemingly paid off. Today, while perusing the concert industry website livedaily.com, we saw the Houston indie-pop group has today's free download of the day, new track "Tree Full Of Ghosts." Further investigation led us to the music ... More >>

Even Burt Reynolds In That Black Trans-Am, All Gonna Meet Down At The Lakewood Yacht Club

Houston is once again proudly claiming its mantle for all things classy. For it is here -- not in Paris, not in Monaco or Palm Springs -- where Burt Reynold's legendary Bandit will be auctioned off next month.What is the Bandit, you ask, obviously putting down your dog-eared copy of Recherche du Tem ... More >>

Don't Ever Count Britney Out — Just Like These Others.

Back in Black

Droning On

Back in Black

Top DVDs

Our picks for the week of April 26

Bill Callahan

Bill Callahan will perform on Wednesday, April 18, at the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art, 2402 Munger, 713-926-6368.

The Hanukkah Songs

Wherein we find the coining of our new favorite word: Jewpergroup

Girls' Night Out

Le Tigre and Electrelane bring an evening of transatlantic feminist mayhem to the Engine Room. Don't worry, boys -- you can come too.

Rotation

Le Tigre and Electrelane bring an evening of transatlantic feminist mayhem to the Engine Room. Don't worry, boys -- you can come too.

Sondre Lerche

Faces Down (Astralwerks)

Mouse Bait

Shrek plunders the Magic Kingdom for empty laughs

Writer's Blah

Wonder Boys, an insipid tale about a depressed author, could use a few more exclamation points

Rotation

New Releases Reviewed

Rotation

New Releases Reviewed

The Heavenly Twins

New Releases Reviewed

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 >>

Aftermath: Rod Stewart at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

Craig Hlavaty​Ageism has always pissed off Aftermath immensely. There's something awfully arrogant and defeating about shamming older cats for still wanting to rock out, even if they are edging dangerously close to seventy years of age, as Rod Stewart is. No one begrudges B.B. King or Leonard Cohe ... More >>

He Said She Said: Breakup Songs to Help You Bawl, Part 2

Ever since men and women set eyes upon each other at the beginning of time, there have been break-ups, and painful dissolutions of romantic escapades have made the best art in the world. Hell, somewhere in the world there is a probably a cave painting of a pretty young Neanderthal girl with devil h ... More >>

The Brunettes

Ever since men and women set eyes upon each other at the beginning of time, there have been break-ups, and painful dissolutions of romantic escapades have made the best art in the world. Hell, somewhere in the world there is a probably a cave painting of a pretty young Neanderthal girl with devil h ... More >>

American Central Dust: The Americana Class of 2009, Part 2

​5. Great Lake Swimmers, Lost Channels (Nettwerk) Great Lake Swimmers frontman Tony Dekker has written his fair share of heartbreaking, reverb-soaked ballads in the past, but Lost Channels finds him and his band also dabbling in Waterboys-style folk rock. What results is the Swimmers' most varied ... More >>

Curse Your Branches: The Top College-Rockish Records of 2009, Part 1

​Yeah, pal, that's "college rock," scare quotes very much included. Look, it's a meaningless term. As are "indie," "alternative," "hipster," etc., etc. Let's not overthink this: Here we have ten splendid records with an amorphous rock 'n' roll designation, albeit in a perhaps slightly more experim ... More >>

Another Side - Several, Actually - of Willie Nelson

It's easy for older Willie Nelson fans to overlook his modern works, where he saw his influence dig out tributaries away from the safer riverbeds. In the past two decades, he has ventured out from his hearty country roots into reggae, spooky Daniel Lanois-produced noir, pop standards, Spanish-tinte ... More >>

Most Downloaded "Hope For Haiti" Texan? Although She Killed, Not Beyonce

Between fighting crime, reducing global warming, mending our socks and, you know, everything else Rocks Off does when we're away from the office, we caught a good bit of Friday evening's "Hope for Haiti" telethon. We didn't have much choice, because the George Clooney-organized, celebrity-packed fu ... More >>

Road Trip, Anyone? If You Want To See Nouvelle Vague, You'll Have To

​ One more sign that Houston don't count for jack: Nouvelle Vague is playing Dallas (Feb. 12) and Austin (13th), but no Houston date. Hmmm...where have I heard this story before? NV have been wildly popular in Europe since their eponymous 2004 debut. We first stumbled upon them when we heard t ... More >>

Aftermath: At The End Of The World As We Know It, Shooter Jennings Feels Fine

Photos by Marc Brubaker​ "I've seen the future, brother," Leonard Cohen once sang. "It is murder." Maybe that's why there weren't more people at Meridian Wired Live Friday night. Pondering the shape of things to come is bad enough without coughing up a Jackson to have your weekend entertainment ha ... More >>

Rdio.com Helps Us Get Over Lala

​Rocks Off is no longer a grieving widower, bemoaning the loss of his faithful Lala.com with the shades drawn and a glass of wine, constantly clicking a dead link while listening to Leonard Cohen on CD like a caveman. A few days after Lala died, we got a message from a friend that he had the ... More >>

Confessions Of A Sheet Music Salesman

rbcmusic.com​Readers may be surprised to learn this, but searching for YouTube videos to mock and talking about Goth bands does not exactly pay for the finer things in life. So six days a week, Rocks Off - or at least the Rocks Off writer with only one "f" in his name - sells sheet music to th ... More >>

Justin Bieber's Autobiography: The Lost Introduction

​Today Rocks Off got word that pop sensation Justin Bieber was finishing up his first autobiography. The 16-year-old is set to release Justin Bieber: First Step 2 Forever: My Story in October - in print, not tweet by tweet, no less. Following in the footsteps of other poppers like Miley Cyrus, ... 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 >>

Ten Rejected Glee Episodes

Fox​It seems like Glee can make any song, no matter how trite, terrible, or just inappropriate for singing by high-school-age children into a runaway smash pop hit. However, Rocks Off would like to hypothesize that there are artists that are beyond even Fox's ability to mold into mainstream. ... More >>

Top 10 Hottest Jewish Musicians

​The Festival of Lights is upon us, as the eight-day Jewish holiday of Hanukkah officially kicks off at sundown tonight. Some of music's leading bigwigs will likely be sparking up the menorah, among them Lou Reed, Paul Simon, Billy Joel, Leonard Cohen, Diamond David Lee Roth, Perry Farrell an ... More >>

Five Vices That Need Celebrity Endorsements

Ed. Note: Rocks Off does not advocate trying any of the products mentioned in this article (even if they exist) or, really, following any of Jef With One F's advice about anything at all. ​When Marilyn Manson put out Mansinthe, that was cute. Then David Lynch put out his own brand of coffee, ... More >>

Zoo Station: A Noah's Ark Of 75 Animal Songs

And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female. Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee ... More >>

Canada Day: Top 10 Artists From Way Up Yonder

​Hello? Is this thing on? Rocks Off has a feeling that a lot of folks are nowhere near their computers today. Must be some sort of holiday. It is, actually. Today, not Monday. It's Canada Day, or as it's known in the U.S., "What Is Princess Kate Wearing?" Day. (Also, Friday.) Honestly, Rocks ... More >>

Your Musical Word Of The Day: Wainwright

John Constable's "The Hay Wain"​Definition: A person who either builds or repairs wagons. It's from two old English words, "waen" meaning "wagon," and "whryta" meaning "worker." You see similar words like playwright, shipwright, and cartwright. Now it's usually a last name. Use in a sentence: ... More >>

Behind The Secret Chord David Played To Please The Lord

​Lately Rocks Off has two main hobbies. One is predicting the end of the world; you won't believe this, but this week we found absolutely nothing in Revelation that seemed relevant. The second is tying in the simple joy of our word-a-day calendar to different songs. Last week's word was "wainw ... More >>

30 Seconds With Miles Zuniga

Rocks Off interrogated Miles Zuniga, who just released his solo debut These Ghosts Have Bones, to see what we could find out about the Fastball singer/guitarist and Austin's own acolyte of the Church of John Coltrane 30 seconds.​ Rocks Off: What is the worst song in the world? Miles Zuniga ... More >>

Gothic Council Debates Great Gothic Album Cover Art

​Gothtopia would like to firmly bitch-slap an old adage, that being the warning about judging a book by its cover. The lesson we are supposed to draw from that is that we should look deeper inside than just the surface in order to better appreciate the true character of whatever the subject is ... More >>

Friday Night: The Civil Wars at The Wortham Center

Photos by Marc Brubaker​The Civil Wars Wortham Center January 20, 2012 Check out our slideshow of Civil Wars playing to a packed house. Strolling up Wortham Center's grand staircase in advance of The Civil Wars show on Friday night, several thoughts went tumbling through Aftermath's head. We ... More >>

Decoding Newt Gingrich Based on His Known Musical Tastes

"I know it sounds crazy, Ronnie, but Kesha's cover of Dylan's 'Don't Think Twice It's Alright' is one of the greatest things ever recorded"​The digital revolution is slowly killing our favorite form of amateur psychoanalysis. We've all gone through someone's CD collection at some point when th ... More >>