Nick Cave

SXSW's Class of 2008: Where Are They Now? (w/VIDEO)

My first true SXSW with the Houston Press and Rocks Off was way back in March 2008, when I was given a wristband to explore/maraud Austin looking for trouble and new bands. This was a time when Justice and MSTRKRFT were what would be called EDM now, and Israel's Monotonix was flipping every wig in t ... More >>

Last Night: Tame Impala at Fitzgerald's

Tame Impala Fitzgerald's February 25, 2013 It's been a heady past few months for Tame Impala, the drone-y Aussie band with a jones for Floyd, Abbey Road and endless Teutonic jams. Their sophomore album, Lonerism, hit the rock press close to the end of 2012 and began an assault on best-of lists all ... More >>

Exploring Songza: Four Offbeat Playlists From the Curated Music Service

We introduced you to Songza -- the service that acts as a "music concierge" -- a few weeks back. Using curated playlists sorted not only by genre and theme, but also by activity, Songza helps you pick the best songs for the occasion. More importantly to me, the playlists are expertly curated, mean ... More >>

Coachella 2013 Takes It Back to the '90s

Coachella, the Only Music Festival That Matters (or so we're told), announced its 2013 lineup late Thursday night, no holograms or Rolling Stones included. Instead, two beloved '90s UK acts whose popularity in the U.S. is spotty at best, Blur and the Stone Roses, headline the first night of the tw ... More >>

Bizarre Acting Roles by 20 Famous Musicians

It's a toss-up whether actors or musicians will go to greater lengths to make rent, but some musicians have even found themselves so hard up they've been forced to take an acting gig. Such is the case with the haystack-sized Sleepy LaBeef, who in 1968's The Exotic Ones appeared as the "Swamp Monster ... More >>

The 5 Most Important Years In Goth Music: 2002

Over the course of the week Rocks Off will be looking at the biggest years for goth music and exactly what they meant for the genre. Arguably the last big goth album by a new band to make a crossover splash was Evanescence's Fallen, released in early 2003. That one band led millions of mall-goths i ... More >>

Listen, Listen: What Is Ben Godfrey Up to Now?

Houston folk-rockers listenlisten have been pumping out some of the best local records in Houston since the release of their self-titled 2007 EP. We here at Rocks Off are big fans, not just because they're from Houston, but because they bring a solid new angle to the indie-folk scene, a combination ... More >>

Top 5 Rockers Who Overcame Stammering

Recently, I became somewhat concerned as my formerly flawlessly articulate three-year-old daughter began to stammer whenever she tried to talk. It was a very sudden onset that is still occurring, and I wondered if this was the first sign of a serious problem that she would have to work to overcome. ... More >>

True Blood: Steampunk and Strippers

Alan Ball was known for his masterful use of music in Six Feet Under. He's lost none of his touch when it comes to his current HBO series, True Blood -- which happens to be set in the Louisiana swamps, not terribly far from Houston. If you came to the column this week expecting me to offer an in-d ... More >>

Rest Of The Best: Houston's Top 8 Jukeboxes

Along with pickled pig's feet and a steady supply of Slim Jims, a good jukebox is a prime element for any great bar. But, like dinosaurs, jukeboxes are a vanishing breed. Unlike digital jukes, iPods or DJs, jukeboxes require love, care and maintenance, as well as -- among the truly great ones -- som ... More >>

'90s Soundtrack Battle: Angus & Batman Forever Duke It Out

​The movies couldn't be any more different. One is about an obese, kindly high school guy with a heart of gold. The other is about an crime-fighting millionaire orphan inside a cartoonish world full of super-villains, cringe-worthy puns, and Jim Carrey at his muggiest. Obvious Angus is a bette ... More >>

Friday Night: Mountain Goats at Fitzgerald's

Let us be clear from the very beginning -- this member of the Rocks Off Aftermath team isn't the most storied fan of The Mountain Goats. Though we'd heard of the legendary John Darnielle before, out first actual exposure to his music was in 2007 with Heretic Pride, and we were so struck by the power ... More >>

Our Top 10 Music Videos of 2011

​Our obsession with the medium of music videos remains as strong as its ever been, and we've done our best to bring as many of the best of the newest releases to you in the digital pages of Rocks Off over the course of the year. We're pleased to round up the cream of the crop as we did this ti ... More >>

Pop Rocks: Why the Long Face? Eight Famous Horses We'd Like to Eat

Were you thinking horse meat was going to stay off the menu in American restaurants indefinitely? Neigh: Horses could soon be butchered in the U.S. for human consumption after Congress quietly lifted a five-year-old ban on funding horse meat inspections, and activists say slaughterhouses could be u ... More >>

Pop Rocks: The "Mane" Course -- Eight Famous Horses We'd Like To Eat

Were you thinking horse meat was going to stay off the menu in American restaurants indefinitely? Neigh: Horses could soon be butchered in the U.S. for human consumption after Congress quietly lifted a 5-year-old ban on funding horse meat inspections, and activists say slaughterhouses could be up a ... More >>

JuiceheaD: The New Breed of Punk

​We never knew how much we needed our daily dose of punk rock until Fungus became a victim of the XM/Sirius merger...in favor for a station that played AC/DC 24/7 if we remember correctly. That was the cue to say goodbye to satellite radio, but it didn't really do anything to fill the oi-shape ... More >>

O'Death: Our Hope for a New Goth Sound

​A little while back, Rocks Off's editor hauled Gothtopia into his office and demanded that we lay out the 7 Ages of Goth, which we did to universal criticism. Some of that criticism had to do with the murky way we entered the modern era, in which we basically stated that goth as a musical mov ... More >>

O'Death: "Bugs" Challenges Nick Cave For Most Disturbing Video

​And loses, but keep in mind that Nick Cave, whose latest incarnation Grinderman is responsible for "Heathen Child", has never really said for certain whether or not he is in fact a demon toying with our souls until he consumes them. So no, O'Death doesn't beat the creepiest man in rock and ro ... More >>

True Blood: Over The Moon For Neko Case

Alan Ball was known for his masterful use of music in Six Feet Under. He's lost none of his touch when it comes to his current HBO series, True Blood - which happens to be set in the Louisiana swamps, not terribly far from Houston. ​It seems so rare that in the world of True Blood we get to f ... More >>

Get Ready: True Blood Report Returns Monday

​Rocks Off is super-excited that we'll once again be bringing you coverage of the music featured in Season 4 of Alan Ball's HBO adaptation of Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse novels. The fourth book is our favorite in the series, and as each season sequentially corresponds with the books ( ... More >>

Devil Killing Moth: Butterflies With An Attitude

It's a well-known fact that most band names are essentially gobbledygook, but here at Rocks Off we're trying hard to find meaning in the oddest monikers. ​It has been a sad bastard and kill 'em all kind of week on Rocks Off's iPod. A little Blitzen Trapper's "Black River Killer" here. Some Ni ... More >>

True Blood: Season 3 Ends With A Touch Of "Evil"

Alan Ball was known for his masterful use of music in Six Feet Under. He's lost none of his touch when it comes to his current HBO series, True Blood - which happens to be set in the Louisiana swamps, not terribly far from Houston. ​Season 3, Episode 12: "Evil" It's weird, y'know? When Ala ... More >>

The 11 Best Internet-Only Radio Stations

​Should Rice University's pending sale of KTRU to the University of Houston for use as a classical sister station to KUHF go through, Houston would lose one of its oldest sources of independent, over-the-air music programming. Having sat in KTRU's studio many times as a local artist telling th ... More >>

True Blood: "Hitting The Ground" With Gordon Gano & PJ Harvey

Alan Ball was known for his masterful use of music in Six Feet Under. He's lost none of his touch when it comes to his current HBO series, True Blood - which happens to be set in the Louisiana swamps, not terribly far from Houston. Season 3, Episode 7: "Hitting the Ground" ​When things ... More >>

Messer Chups' Important Lessons From The Vincent Price Bible

Every day Rocks Off trolls the tubes of you in search of videos to share. If you have something that you think deserves to be video of the day, send a link to jef_rouner at yahoo dot com. ​The perfect man, the man all other men should aspire to be, is Gomez Adams. Rich, passionate, kind, athl ... 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 >>

The Music of True Blood, Episode 1.10: Cowboy Junkies and a Brief Lesson In Murder Balladry

Alan Ball was known for his masterful use of music in Six Feet Under. He's lost none of his touch when it comes to his current HBO series, True Blood - which happens to be set in the Louisiana swamps, not terribly far from Houston. With Season 2 just completed, Rocks Off is now working our way backw ... More >>

The Music of True Blood, Episode 1.7: Getting Crispy With Johnny Cash's "The Fourth Man In the Fire"

Alan Ball was known for his masterful use of music in Six Feet Under. He's lost none of his touch when it comes to his current HBO series, True Blood - which happens to be set in the Louisiana swamps, not terribly far from Houston. With Season 2 just completed, Rocks Off is now working our way backw ... More >>

Middle-of-the-Road

Neither horrific nor disasterrrific, Cormac McCarthy adap takes the path of least resistance.

Houston Music Fight Club: Chris Wise vs. Cody Swann, Chris Ryan vs. Frank Beard, Washington Avenue vs. Westheimer

​So this past week, Houston Music Fight Club began getting solicitations from various local musicians to be matched against other strummers and pickers around town in their cage matches. Rocks Off looks around. We see a lot of new faces. This means a lot of you have (happily for us) been breaking ... More >>

True Blood, Episode 10: Screamin' Jay Hawkins' "Frenzy" and a Naked Crazy Town In Peril

Alan Ball was known for his masterful use of music in Six Feet Under. He's lost none of his touch when it comes to his current HBO series, True Blood - which happens to be set in the Louisiana swamps, not terribly far from Houston. Though we're picking up midway through Season 2, from here on out as ... More >>

The Mighty Stef

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inducts Metallica, Run-DMC, Jeff Beck, Wanda Jackson

Yesterday marked a tremendous day for rappers and thrashers across the world: Metallica and Run-DMC were announced as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's newest inductees, along with Jeff Beck, Wanda Jackson, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Bobby Womack, two members of Elvis Presley's backing band ... More >>

Murder by Death creates stunning, dark works that transcend the provocative name

Swan Songs

Last Night: Sean Reefer & the Resin Valley Boys at Boondocks

Reverberations: Garage Rock Downloads on MySpace

Retro Active: 1987, Here We Come

Born to Bruise

Jolie Holland takes it to the river

Buddy Guy

Can't Quit the Blues

Drugged and Disorderly

The Hold Steady keeps it cinematic

Guitar-Shredding on the High Seas

Built to Spill and the Decemberists offer alternate takes on alt-rock

Blood, Flesh and Gore

Jordan Blilie and Johnny Whitney of the Blood Brothers are mighty pleased to ensanguine you

Rotation

Nice Pussy

A killer cat steals a wonderful movie

Book 'Em

Among musicians, everyone wants to become an author

Bertrand Burgalat

The Sssound of Mmmusic (Tricatel/Emperor Norton)

Thunder from Down Under

Powderfinger has conquered the Fatal Shore. Is America next?

Made to Suffer

Sound Check

Touring Songs