Record Store Day

Last Night: Yo La Tengo at Fitzgerald's

Yo La Tengo Fitzgerald's May 2, 2013 It's such a treat to see a band like Yo La Tengo perform at a club the size of Fitzgerald's, and that was clear during their headlining set on Thursday night. Sure, they play to hundreds more people at most of their other gigs, but anyone in attendance - includi ... More >>

Your 2013 Houston Record Store Day Rundown

Your financial situation be damned, Record Store Day 2013 is coming this Saturday, April 20, to drain your wallet of life and those little green pieces of paper. This Saturday your dance card should be full with all the major indie record stores in Houston and the surrounding areas offering up giv ... More >>

Exploring Sweet Spot Audio And Records In Webster

A few weeks back, our own Marc Brubaker detailed ten of the best record stores in the Houston area. This past weekend I finally visited another one to add to your list of must-visit shops in Houston, and it is worthy of the drive if you live inside the Inner Loop. Sweet Spot Audio and Records is l ... More >>

The Best Concerts In Houston This Week: All Local Edition (No Foolin')

DJ Sun The Flat, April 1 Now that some of the well-deserved publicity surrounding DJ Sun's first-ever full-length release, One Hundred, has subsided a little, his true accomplishment on the disc seems even more impressive. In the span of 70 minutes, he pours his 20-plus-year career as one of Housto ... More >>

Dust Never Sleeps: Lost '70s Power Rock Trio Reemerges with Reissues

When you think of classic rock power trios, names like Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Blue Cheer, Grand Funk Railroad, and Mountain come to mind. But only hardcore music nerds may remember the short-lived Brooklyn-based Dust. Formed in 1969 the band - which included Richie Wise (vocals/guita ... More >>

Houston's Top 10 Record Stores

Record Store Day (recordstoreday.com) is six weeks away, but a good Houstonian should never need an excuse to visit one of our city's many record stores. These fine brick-and-mortar shops have been doling out music for years and even decades in some instances. Run by some of the finest music lovers ... More >>

Business as Usual at Music Town CDs & Records, Since 1979

When James May unlocks the doors to Music Town each day at noon, his little shop on Stuebner Airline across from Klein High School is mainly filled with CDs, new and used vinyl and an enormous amount of cassettes. When he first opened the shop in 1979, the sign actually said "Music Town Records and ... More >>

At War with the Mystics

Flaming Lips front man Wayne Coyne talks Summer Fest, new music and Dark Side of the Moon.

Vinal Edge Records Moving To The Heights

Exalted record haunt Vinal Edge Records, which for more than 26 years has been a destination for vinyl enthusiasts all over Houston off Veteran's Memorial Drive, is moving into the Heights. To be specific, 239 W. 19th Street, in the thick of all the funky antique and craft stores. Late last week o ... More >>

7 Cool & Cheap Things To Do This Weekend: 4/20, Record Store Day, iFest, Etc.

Today is 4/20, and you know what that means. (Or do you? We always forget.) One thing it means is that Art Inst., Ese, Big Gerb & the Bearded Bandidos and Secret Society are playing a show tonight at Walter's. Come hungry. Houston House of Creeps is trying to raise enough money to buy a new PA, so ... More >>

Record Store Day: 8 Ways To Annoy A Record-Store Worker

Tomorrow is Record Store Day, which is a little bit like the Super Bowl of music shopping: People who have no interest in the sport the rest of the year will be front and center. Rocks Off would never, ever tell anyone not to go to a record store, but people not already planning to make a beeline fo ... More >>

Vinyl Gets Another Spin

Showing it has more lives than a cockroach, vinyl has been reborn, resulting in some beautiful music. But sometimes production values in records and turntables are lacking.

Cover Story: Wanna See A Vinyl Record Get Pressed Before Your Eyes?

This week's Houston Press cover story, "Playing For Keeps," dives into the world of vinyl records, with interviews with local collectors and shop owners who are helping keep the medium alive in the Bayou City. Research for this cover story took me as far north as Dallas, where I visited with A&R Rec ... More >>

Cover Story: Cleaning & Caring For Your Vinyl Collection

This week's feature, "Playing for Keeps," takes a look at the resurgence of the vinyl record. When you think about it, vinyl is probably the most enduring musical format in the history of home audio. How many people's record collections were started with hand-me-downs from their parents? But it's n ... More >>

Upcoming: Joe Cocker, The Cult, The Lumineers, The Slackers, Jason Mraz, Etc.

Blind Pilot: Sun., July 15. Fitzgerald's, 2706 White Oak, Houston. The Bouncing Souls, The Menzingers, Luther: Sat., June 23. Fitzgerald's The Bright Light Social Hour: Fri., May 25. Warehouse Live, 813 St. Emanuel, Houston. Broncho: Thu., June 28. Fitzgerald's Cassandra Wilson: Sat., Oct. 20. C ... More >>

Sig's Lagoon Keeping Sundance, Beloved San Marcos Store, Alive

A big part of Texas music history went dark this past weekend, when Sundance Records went out of buisness after 35 years. But thanks to the San Marcos record store's strong Houston connection, part of its legacy - in fact, a large part of its inventory - is coming here. Sig's Lagoon, the Midtown re ... More >>

Flaming Lips And Their Fwends Set To Weird Up Record Store Day

In a few weeks on April 21, Record Store Day is yet again set to obliterate the wallets of record collectors around the country, and the Flaming Lips will have quite a release for fans on that day. What would you think if I said that they have been recording with none other than Ke$ha, Bon Iver, Nic ... More >>

Women On Top: 10 Female Artists We're Way Into Right Now

March is Women's History Month, and Rocks Off has been thinking a lot lately about the indelible contributions to popular music made by women over the last few decades. After all, where would Elvis Presley be if it weren't for Big Mama Thornton? Probably still dead, we guess, but you get the point. ... More >>

Chris Gray Day: Auction Items and a Special Deal from Live Nation

With the Chris Gray benefit just a few days away, news is flying fast and furious. We told you yesterday about the addition of Hayes Carll to the artist line up and gave you a rundown of every artist on the bill. Today, we have news from Live Nation. Live Nation has donated two box seats including ... More >>

10 Things You Need To Grab At Black Friday Record Store Day

While your other shopping contemporaries are slashing each others' throats at Walmart and Best Buy for $20 plasma televisions and six Blu-Ray players for $5 on Black Friday next week, why not sleep in and head up to your favorite local record store and fight other music nerds for limited edition vin ... More >>

Record Store Day Contest Coming This Afternoon

​When so many Americans will be camping out at Best Buys and fighting over big screen televisions at Walmart, music fans will be sleeping soundly in anticipation of Record Store Day's Black Friday events. The now annual day celebrating the stores that once carried the weight of music sales is ... More >>

Last Night: Steve Earle At Cactus Music

Photos by Jason Wolter​Steve Earle Cactus Music May 3, 2011 "We used to make records for girls but now we make them for nerds," says Steve Earle as he situates his instrument before jumping into Hank Williams Sr.'s "I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive," the title of his new album and book. ... More >>

The Energy

More Local Music News Than Angry Easter Bunnies

Good Friday? How about great Friday? Here at Rocks Off we try to ensure that each and every Friday our readers get a full and healthy dose of local music news set to tide them over until we return. So without further ado, we present the newest installment of Magnolia City Mixtape. ​The soundt ... More >>

Saturday: New West Records Showcase At Cactus Music

Photos by Jim BrickerRobert Ellis & the Boys​New West Records showcase feat. Buxton, Robert Ellis & the Boys, Wild Moccasins Cactus Music April 16, 2011 Although they had a myriad of opportunities Friday night to make themselves bleary-eyed and drag-tailed - Aftermath chose The Wagoneers, and ... More >>

Record Store Day: If You Take A Dump, Don't Tell The Staff

Marco TorresCarlos Hernandez and Los Skarnales' Felipe Galvan at Cactus Music's "Day of the Dead" opening last year.​Today is Tax Day (boo), but it's also payday for a lot of people, which comes in handy because tomorrow is Record Store Day. In a few short years, RSD has become one of the bigg ... More >>

Before the Flood

West Texan Ned Sublette reflects on pre-Katrina New Orleans in a new memoir.