Subject: Music

• Ask a Rapper: Foreigner-Sampling Battle MC G.T. Garza

  The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place - lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good - so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email introducingliston@gmail.com. This Week's Rapper: G.T. Garza This Week's Subjects: Hispanic rappers being too Hispanic; the mindset of a battle rapper. Ask a Rapper: As a Hispanic rapper, do you feel any pressure to be more lik

  August 11, 2009

• Coming of Age

  August 13, 2009

• Five Spot: The Proper Way to Phrase a Cop-Killing Song

  Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and, sometimes awkwardly, tie it to a bit of Houston rap. It's five videos and occasional cussing. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. How much does this suck: Antavio Johnson, some no-name rapper from a place that isn't Houston, just got sentenced to prison for two years for his song "Kill Me A Cop" (Listen to the song here.) The song is standard stuff really, save for one unfortunate mistake. See, you can

  August 14, 2009

• Turning the Screw: Arrest In Trae Day Shootings, More Michael Jackson Exploitation, Who's Getting Slappy and Who's Getting Stabby

  Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: Paul Wall feat. Baby Bash, "Lemon Drop." Wire To Wire This weekend, 19-year-old Albert Walker "A-Walk" Mondane, one of the suspects being sought in the Trae Day shootings, turned himself in to authorities. Patooey. (That's us spitting on the floor.) Remember that guy that was supposed to have been a li

  August 17, 2009

• A Musical Guide to Post-Secession Texas: Houston and "Brazoria"

  The final installment of our Five States of Texas project brings it all back home, to the new state of Brazoria, encompassing all of Southeast Texas from the Brazos Valley to Sabine Pass. ​Patron Saint: Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. A master of rock and roll, country, Cajun/Creole, blues and jazz, no one area musician sounded more like Southeast Texas. That he spent his life moving all over the area, on both sides of the Sabine, only serves as evidence in favor of one of our geographical hypothe

  August 18, 2009

• StubHub: Houston Is More "Rockin'" Than Vegas, Less So Than Hartford and Milwaukee

  Craig HlavatyThe Phish of the Southwest and king of Houston's summer concert hill: George Strait​Online ticket broker StubHub.com released its annual list of America's Top 20 "Most Rockin' Cities" Friday, with Houston holding steady at No. 17 for the second year in a row. We probably would have been even higher - in several ways - if Vermont jam-band overlords Phish, who reunited this summer for the first time since 2004, weren't such pussies and booked some shows south of the Mason-Dixon line

  August 21, 2009

• Turning the Screw: Clinton Sparks, Bun B & Slim Thug, More Bun B, Jazzy Jeff, Erykah Badu, Pitbull, Big Mello, etc.

  Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. (Super, Super Cool) Single of the Week: "Pack The Gat," Clinton Sparks feat. Bun B and Slim Thug Wire To Wire If there's a rap concert anywhere in Houston, do not be surprised to see Bun B called out on stage. We're not completely sure, but we suspect there's some sort of message that Rock City is trying to relay with th

  August 24, 2009

• Aftermath: Lil Wayne at The Woodlands, Cussing Up a Storm and Selling Everything That Wasn't Nailed Down

  Photos by Marco Torres​ Show of hands if any of you have ever been wrangled into a time-share scheme. Wherein you have to sit and listen to a talking head decked out in Sears' finest grind down your gears with a two-hour seminar on some delightful ocean-front property. Now, add in blaring hip-hop beats, synthetic gunshots, and strippers dancing inside fire. Welcome to your first Lil Wayne concert. Coffee and donuts are in the corner. There's a swift current running at hip-hop concerts that bel

  August 24, 2009

• Aftermath: Blondie, Graceful and Casual at the Arena Theatre

  Photos by Daniel Kramer​ Even at today's prices, dreaming is free. That's why an evening with Blondie is such a bargain. Sandwiched between the Donnas (who sounded tight and sassy from the will call line) and Pat Benatar (still "Invincible"), Debbie Harry's crew navigated the Arena's revolving stage with casual grace and veteran cool. Once they got used to it, anyway - "I'm dizzy," laughed singer Debbie Harry at one point.

  August 24, 2009

• A Bizarre, and Sometimes Electrifying, Tribute to Michael Jackson, Luther and Marvin at Miller Outdoor Theater

  ​Saturday Rocks Off and a friend attended Keeping the Music Alive, a free concert at Miller Outdoor Theatre. The show was a tribute in honor of the late Michael Jackson, the later Bernie Mac, the even later Gerald Levert, the later still Luther Vandross, and the even yet later still Barry White - not to mention Marvin Gaye, the latest (and greatest) of them all. A revolving cast of singers assumed the roles of the deceased soulsters while a tight backing band - guitar, bass, two back-up singer

  August 24, 2009

• Ask a Rapper: Brew of Dark Sunz and Lower Life Form, "We're All Hustling"

  The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place - lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good - so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email it to introducingliston@gmail.com. Video by flygirltv This Week's Rapper: Brew of Lower Life Form/Dark Sunz Brew, "EZ on Urself" This Week's Subject(s): Rappers and the hustler lifestyle; how hip-hop is like Michael Jacks

  August 25, 2009

• A Third Ward Pawnshop iPod and the Mysterious Fate of Previous Owner "Scooby"

  Whoever he is (was?), Scooby's iPod wasn't short on R. Kelly.​So a couple of weeks ago, after three or four years of increasingly faltering service, Rocks Off's 30 GB iPod finally died. Completely. Out of sheer broke-assedness, we had held on to it for longer than most. By the end, its quirks and shenanigans were endless, not least its inability to hold a charge whether or not it was actually turned on, so perhaps it was something other than foolishness that impelled us to wear it out in the r

  August 26, 2009

• Turning the Screw: New Trae and G.R.I.T. Boys, R.I.P. DJ AM, Kings of Leon Remixed, Jay Z vs. Rush Limbaugh, Uncut Pimp C, etc.

  Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: Trae, "Letter to tha King" Wire To Wire The G.R.I.T. Boys finally put out some new music. Make sure you download it. It's free. You know, when we first heard "Forever," the Drake/Eminem/Weezy/Kanye collaboration, we were pretty underwhelmed. But the more we listen to it, the more we like it. Sorry, you

  August 31, 2009

• Ask A Rapper: Grammy-Winning Electro-Songbird T-Pain

  The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place - lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good - so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email it to introducingliston@gmail.com.Larami Culbertson​ Note: We'd just like to mention that in the scant two-month history of the Ask A Rapper column, we've brought questions to two Grammy winners. You know, it's nothing r

  September 1, 2009

• The Forgotten Festival

  September 3, 2009

• The H-Town Countdown, No. 21: Ganksta NIP's South Park Psycho

  Roughly 84,000 rap albums have been released in Houston since 1989. We're counting down the 25 best of all time every Thursday. Got a problem with the list? Shove it. Just kidding. Friendship. Email it to sheaserrano@gmail.com. Ganksta NIP South Park Psycho (Priority, 1992) We wrote about NIP at length a couple of week's ago. Read about him here if you missed the article. South Park Psycho was the debut work of South Park's monster rapper Ganksta NIP. It's 14 tracks of balled-up fury and viscer

  September 3, 2009

• Ask a Rapper: Scooby of G.R.I.T. Boys Gives Us the Three Greatest Houston Rap Groups Ever, Including His Own

  The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place -lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good- so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email it to introducingliston@gmail.com. This Week's Rapper: Scooby of G.R.I.T. Boys This Week's Subject(s): Rap groups as pornos; selling out group members; the three best rap groups from Houston. ​Ask a Rapper: Being a member

  September 8, 2009

• Zoya Shuhatovich plays Shostakovich

  September 10, 2009

• Five Direct Beatles Connections to Texas

  Four postcards included in the limited edition of The Beatles: Rock Band​ Looks like Beatlemania 2.0 is in full swing. Rocks Off may have mentioned how excited we are to play The Beatles: Rock Band at Coffee Groundz tonight, with prizes, drink specials and much laughter as we try to gnash our way through "I Saw Her Standing There." Shortly after noon, we called over to Cactus Music to see how the freshly released remastered Beatles catalog was selling. The complete box set sold out in pre-sale

  September 9, 2009

• Five Spot: A Crap N.O.R.E. Track Reminds Us of Bun B's Better Days

  Welcome back to Five Spot. Every Friday, we'll examine a recent bit of music news and list five reasons why it's either brilliant or dumb-assed. Send tips to introducingliston@gmail.com.Marco Torres​ Yesterday, N.O.R.E. released "Set Trip," a wispy, "Look How Tough I Am," available-via-Internet track that nobody's going to care about in four or five days. We mention it though, because it features a swift contribution from one of Houston's hip-hop archetypes: Bun B. We actually saw Bun B not to

  September 11, 2009

• Turning the Screw: Dustin Prestige: ESG, 50 Cent, Lil' Jon (Whaaaat?!), Lil' Wayne, Snoop & Dre, Taylor Swift's Revenge, etc.

  Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies.Courtesy Dustin Prestige​Single of the Week: Dustin Prestige (right), "Polos and AKs, Pt. 2" Wire To Wire Counting down the days until ESG releases his album. Please don't let it be crappy, please don't let it be crappy, please don't let... And for this week's installment of Books That Probably Aren't Helping The Book Ind

  September 14, 2009

• Overkill? No Such Thing

  September 17, 2009

• Ten Cover Songs So Bad They'll Shrivel Your Soul

  Two nights ago, while carelessly patrolling the back alleys of the internet, Rocks Off stumbled across Hilary Duff's execrable cover of The Who's "My Generation". Well, what did you think, YouTube commenters? ​ You sure you're not being too harsh? ​ Yeah... ours too. Someday, when we are in our twilight years, we will think wistfully back to how we lived as teenagers, how we lived as college students, how freely we loved our first loves... and tearfully, we will remember the peop

  September 17, 2009

• Fix Your Face

  September 24, 2009

• Busdriver

  September 24, 2009

• Eric Roberson

  October 1, 2009

• Songs By ACL Artists That Should Be Covered By Other ACL Artists

  Isn't it fun to imagine all your favorite bands are best friends? And that when they spend time together, as so many of them are doing right this second at the Austin City Limits festival, they would inevitably learn each others' songs? Here are some songs by ACL bands which we'd like to see covered by other ACL bands. We think they've got time to make it happen. Song: Sleepyhead Original Artist: Passion Pit Who Should Cover It: The Dirty Projectors "Sleepyhead" is the weirdest song that Roc

  October 2, 2009

• Turning The Screw: Z-Ro, Cham, Plies, 50 Cent, The Kanye, Lady Gaga, Jay-Z, DJ Mr. Magic, Fabolous, T-Pain, The Undergods and more.

  Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: "Haterz Got Me Wrong," Z-Ro feat. Gucci Mane and C-Ward [This is another leaked single from the phantom Z-Ro album we wrote about last Friday. If this does happen to be Heroin repackaged, do not be surprised to find Ro in a dumpster somewhere very soon. J. Prince does not fuck around.] Wire To Wire:

  October 5, 2009

• ACL 2009 Day Three: Spin the Black Circle

  Photos by Mark C. Austin​It only took one song in to Pearl Jam's Sunday night closing set at the Austin City Limits music festival for it to dawn on Rocks Off that for way too long this band has been forsaken by back-handed hipster discount and radio-influenced apathy. No band from the grunge-era is still honing their craft as well, and continues to thoughtfully subvert their own musical journey as much as Pearl Jam. Opening with "Why Go" from Ten, the band wasn't just firing on all cyli

  October 5, 2009

• Inside the Rappers Studio

  October 8, 2009

• Turning the Screw: Chalie Boy, Royce da 5'9", Saigon, Soulja Boy, Jay-Z, Adam Yauch, 50 vs. Fabolous, Young Gunz, Method Man, Big Moe, etc.

  Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: "I Look Good" remix, featuring Bun B, Slim Thug and Juvenile Note: We initally hated Chalie Boy's "I Look Good" song until we realized that he's from rural Texas. We still don't like it very much, but we've actively stopped wishing for him to get polio. Wire To Wire Here's the album version of that Roy

  October 12, 2009

• Dancing With the Stars: Things Ain't The Same Without Delay

  Someone needs to find this guy a hobby...​I'll be honest: I didn't know if I'd be able to find the strength to soldier on now that Tom "Dazzle Me Dreamy" DeLay had left Dancing With the Stars. What light be light if Tommy be not seen? Now I finally knew what Jesse and Slater meant when they sang "How Am I Supposed To Live Without You." Tom Bergeron tried to make me forget my pain when he breathlessly informed viewers last night that four new dances were being introduced in a first for t

  October 13, 2009

• Five Clips In Memory of L.A. Punk Documentarian Brendan Mullen

  Brendan Mullen, documentarian of the early L.A. punk scene, died this past Monday at the age of 60. From the basement of a porno theater to The Decline of Western Civilization, the Scottish-born implant helped chronicle early American West Coast punk both orally and through the written word, ending his life's work with a series of books on the scene. Below, five videos in his memory. First, here's Mullen in the seminal documentary on L.A. Punk explaining in technical terms why punk is better tha

  October 16, 2009

• It's Brodeo Time! RodeoHouston Announces Jonas Brothers, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley and Brooks & Dunn for 2010

  Daniel KramerThe Jonas Brothers at RodeoHouston 2009​ Monday morning, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo announced the first four entertainers next March's musical entertainment at Reliant Stadium. Jonas Brothers, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, and Brooks & Dunn have all been tapped to perform at next year's rodeo. The Kix and Ronnie date will be the duo's last rodeo appearance, as B&D plan to part ways at the end of 2010. This will be the Jonas Brothers' second Houston rodeo appearance a

  October 19, 2009

• Ask a Rapper: Karina Nistal Loves Common, Mike Jones Not So Much

  The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place - lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good - so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email it to introducingliston@gmail.com. This Week's Rapper: Bilingual Latina femmestress Karina Nistal This Week's Subject(s): Rappers switching genres; Rappers getting that money. Sadia Zubair​Ask A Rapper: Okay, we might be

  October 20, 2009

• Season of the Witch

  October 22, 2009

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: Has Miranda Lambert Sparked a Revolution In Nashville?

  If there is a ticking time bomb signaling the impending end of the '80s hair-band nature of mainstream country music, Miranda Lambert is probably lighting the fuse. Lambert's third album, Revolution, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Top Country Albums chart last week and sold 23 percent more (almost 69,000 units) out of the gate than her previous album, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, which ended up as the 2008 Country Music Association album of the Year.​It doesn't take many listens to the searing Revol

  October 22, 2009

• "My Son Is the Lizard King, and I'm an Admiral": Successful Rock-Star Parents

  ​Late Thursday, word came across the ticker that legendary comedian and TV star Soupy Sales had passed away at age 83. After a stint in the military and on radio, Sales went on to be one of the major pioneers of televised sketch and children's comedy. In 1965, he pulled a stunt where he asked his young viewers to go into their parents' wallets and purses and send him those "funny green pieces of paper with pictures of U.S. Presidents" in exchange for a postcard from Puerto Rico. The stunt didn

  October 23, 2009

• Aftermath: Dinosaur Jr., Built to Spill and a Whole Lotta Gear at Warehouse Live

  Photos by Jody Perry​ Fans in the crowd at Warehouse Live's Dinosaur Jr. show Friday night should have known what was in store for them when J Mascis' roadies began setting up his equipment. Six amps for a single guitar player. If you thought the show was loud, imaging standing three feet in front of them, like Mascis has for the last 25 years.​Aftermath finally made it through the security line in time to catch the last few songs from opener Lou Barlow, once friend and then foe of Mascis. T

  October 26, 2009

• Turning the Screw: Lil Keke, Trae, Dre vs. Rush Limbaugh, Weezer, Weezy, Chamillionaire, 50 vs. Jay-Z, The Kanye, Nas, DMX, Big Pokey, etc.

  Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: "Still Here," Lil' Keke Wire To Wire Again, congratulations to Trae and the newest tiny Trae. Hey, Rush: Fuck off. Sincerely, Dr. Dre.

  October 26, 2009

• Lonesome Onry and Mean: All Hail the King of Irish Rock and Soul, Van the Man Morrison

  Obviously with U2 and the Pogues alone, the Irish scene has had a huge effect on the pop music of the past half century. But no list of Irish influences on 20th century rock and roll can be complete without Van Morrison. ​In 1968, LOM's senior year in high school, Them played the Ector County Coliseum in our West Texas hometown of Odessa. By 1968, Morrison had left the band, but the rest of Them moved to the States and toured until the money ran out. Them made some very interesting bluesy roc

  October 27, 2009

• Itzhak Perlman

  October 29, 2009

• Tween Dreams

  October 29, 2009

• The H-Town Countdown, No. 13: DJ Screw's 3 N' Tha Mornin' Pt. 2 (Blue)

  Roughly 84,000 rap albums have been released in Houston since 1989. We're counting down the 25 best of all time every Thursday. Got a problem with the list? Shove it. Just kidding. Friendship. Email it to sheaserrano@gmail.com. DJ Screw 3 N' Da Mornin, Part 2 (Big Tyme Records, 1995)​While researching the Countdown, we came across two very distinct opinions regarding this album; naturally, they were almost diametrically opposed to one another. People either argued that it should be placed some

  October 29, 2009

• Turning the Screw: Bun B, Slim Thug & Killa Kyleon, Bun B & Wale, Chingo Bling, Z-Ro vs. Lil Flip, Jay-Z, 50, The Kanye, Run-DMC, DMX, More Chingo, etc.

  Welcome back to Turning the Screw, Rocks Off's weekly rap post. It probably won't rhyme, at least most of the time. E-mail tips to introducingliston@gmail.com. Thanks, homies. Single of the Week: "She Love It" remix, feat. Bun B, Slim Thug and Killa Kyleon After watching the actual video for this song about 15 times, were able to deduce that some might consider it to be fairly derogatory towards women, so we decided to use this version instead. You're free to find it on your own though. And if

  November 2, 2009

• Ask a Rapper: Fat Tony on Why Hip-Hop Is a Young Man's Game, and Jay-Z's "Coldplay Rap"

  The hip-hop world is a less than sensible place - lots of times, you're even required to clarify when bad means bad and when bad means good - so once a week we're going to get with a rapper and ask them to explain things. Have something you always wanted to ask a rapper? Email it to introducingliston@gmail.com. Note: This edition will be a two-parter. We're discussing ageism in hip-hop, so it seemed appropriate to get the perspective of both the hungry up-and-comer and the cagey veteran. Playing

  November 3, 2009

• Program Notes: Felix Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E Minor

  Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, 1809-1847​Here at Rocks Off, we enjoy album covers with turds on them and making fun of R. Kelly as much as the next guy. And just wait until Chris Brown gets here next weekend. But there's a lot more to music than that. In a possibly fruitless effort to class up the joint a bit, we're introducing a new feature illuminating some of our favorite works in the classical repertoire as played by the Houston Symphony. We could have hardly picked a better pla

  November 4, 2009

• A Few of Music's Biggest Tattoo Enthusiasts - Besides Rocks Off, Of Course

  Don't act so surprised... As we can fatefully attest, rock and roll and tattoos go hand in hand. The first time Rocks Off saw a grizzled punk rocker walk by at Fitzgerald's back in the '90s with two sleeves full of tattoos and a chest full of nautical-themed art, we mentally pointed at him and said "That's what we want", and from that day on we were hooked. Since we started getting tattoos we have seen the world change in regards to how inked people are regarded. They were one or all the follow

  November 5, 2009

• He Said She Said: Songs That Remind Us of Our Grandfathers, Part 2

  He Said Grandpa Songs He Said was lucky to have spent twenty-five years on Earth with his Grandpa Hlavaty, who passed away in the summer of 2008 of a brain hemorrhage. The man was arguably one of the biggest musical influences in He Said's life. The intrepid and stealthy Grandpa Gonzalez is kicking the around the country somewhere on a sweet motorcycle or driving through the Midwest in his gigantic RV and his chihuahua with Grandma Ana watching a movie in the back. Seeing that He Said is one-hal

  November 5, 2009

• Which Hard-Rocking Northern Irishmen Might Blow AC/DC Off the Stage Sunday? The Answer Is The Answer

  ​Rocks Off is about as excited about Sunday's AC/DC show as we were for the Black Ice ballbreakers' show 11 months ago, but for a much different reason. Last time it was because we hadn't seen AC/DC since 1996 at Austin's Frank Erwin Center; this time it's because we're itching to see the band behind our pick for hard-rock album of the year, Everyday Demons. It's not AC/DC, rather openers The Answer. Formed in Belfast in 2000, the Answer is fueled by the denim-and-diamonds riffs of guitarist P

  November 6, 2009