Sarah McLachlan

Happy Rare Disease Day! 5 Musicians With Odd Ailments

Like all good people, I want to kick cancer in the dick, but I will say one thing for the bastard: when you're as widespread horrible an attack on the human body as cancer is, you at least leave behind you a network of survivors, support groups, foundations and so on for people to participate in a s ... More >>

5 Music-Themed Petitions For the White House

We now know definitively that the United States government will not be building a Death Star, at least not under the Obama administration. We know this because enough citizens signed an online petition on the subject that the administration had to respond. Like all good things on the Internet, We T ... More >>

Christmas Past: Top 10 Christmas Movie Soundtracks

While we celebrate the holidays, Rocks Off is resurrecting a few of our best Christmas-themed blogs from the past few years. (Wait... resurrecting is Easter. Never mind.) This blog originally appeared December 14, 2010. No doubt you have all been chin-deep in Christmas movies since you undid your b ... More >>

Rest of the Best

Houston's top 5 local music venues.

So This Is 5 Years of Listening to Sunny 99.1's Christmas?

2008: An Hour in Sunny 99.1's Holiday Hell Every year, Sunny starts playing non-stop, 24/7 Christmas tunes by the end of November. You can pretty much bet that by the time you hop in the car after Thanksgiving dinner that Perry Como will be riding shotgun with you up to the gas station for smokes ... More >>

Cooking Notes: The 5 Most Unnecessary Musical Cookbooks

This past week, international superstars and hard rock musical auteurs Smash Mouth announced that they were bestowing down upon us a cookbook from the heavens, which would give us some All Star recipes. You may have your doubts, but these recipes will have you Walkin' on the Sun and saying "I'm a Be ... More >>

The X Factor Gets Grateful

Last night's episode of The X Factor was all about gratitude. Contestants dedicated their performances to someone special in their lives, telling heartwarming tales designed to maximize viewer empathy and increase voting by tugging on the ol' heartstrings. And you know what? It worked. The theme res ... More >>

Graphic: Top Five Rejected Girl Talk Mash-Ups

​Tonight is the big, wildly anticipated Girl Talk show at Verizon Wireless Theater. The show was originally slated for the House of Blues, but ticket sales and space dictated the gig move a few blocks away to capture the magic. Girl Talk, aka Gregg Gillis, is notorious for his inventive mash ... More >>

Top 10 Christmas Movie Soundtracks

​No doubt you have all been chin-deep in Christmas movies since you undid your belt on Thanksgiving evening. Rocks Off made sure to steal a copy of National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation from our folks' house before the calendar even hit December. Unlike other blogs, we don't hate all Christm ... More >>

What Is Classic Rock Today?

​What is classic rock in 2010? 15 years ago, it was was the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who, anything Eric Clapton touched and every band your dad played in his car while he was making out with the girls he met before your mom. That's how we know classic rock: Big riffs, big voices, in ... More >>

Sad Yao Ming Is Sad

Photo by Groovehouse. Photo illustrations by Monica Fuentes and Brittanie SheyYao Ming, contemplating his retirement and the existential quandries of life.​Like manna from the Meme Gods, we give you Sad Yao. This picture, taken during last night's fourth-straight Rockets loss, conveys all the ... 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 >>

Creed: Critiquing Their 10 Most Heinous Lyrics

Photos by GroovehouseCreed at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, September 2009​Hello, Creed fans. Listen, it's no secret that Creed isn't exactly Rocks Off's favorite band. Anyone at Rocks Off. In fact, it could be said that we despise them. But wait! Wait, don't go. Creed fans, we're here ... More >>

Train Keeps A-Rollin'

Aerosmith expects first album in nine years.

Lilith Fair's Top 5 Headline-Grabbing Moments

​Friday, while Rocks Off was enjoying a blissful if soggy day off, Lilith Fair canceled the final ten dates of this year's summer resurrection, including all three scheduled Texas stops. The news was hardly shocking: One headliner, Norah Jones, had already bailed, and The New York Times report ... More >>

How To Survive The Summer Concert Season

​You may be saying, "Rocks Off, how can you guys be doing a summer concert tips blog when it's almost July?" Well, imaginary naysayer who just had an imaginary conversation with us, here in Houston summer lasts until the trannies off Pacific Street start wearing two pairs of Spanx, which is ... More >>

Norah Jones, Miranda Lambert Top Lilith Houston Lineup

​ If you missed Norah Jones Wednesday or Miranda Lambert a couple weeks back, don't worry - they'll both be back when the revived Lilith Fair hits the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion August 16. Also scheduled for Houston are Dixie Chicks Emily Robison and Martie Maguire's new band, Court Yard Houn ... More >>

Musical Moms That Make Us Melt

​ With Mother's Day fast approaching, we can't help but recognize all the hot rocker mamas out there making music and babies. It can't be easy to write the next great pop song and have a tiny human being inside you sucking nutrients from your body, in the process girding their loins for making you ... More >>

Distant Early Warning: Athlete, The Bangles, Cypress Hill, Imogen Heap, MGMT, O'Jays, Rush, Talib Kweli, Etc.

​Athlete, Carney: Sat., June 26. Walter's on Washington. All Leather, Balaclavas, Yip-Yip: Sat., May 15. The Mink. The Bangles, Tonic: Sat., May 29. Moody Gardens Outdoor Amphitheater. Tyagaraja, Black Queen Speaks, Peekaboo Theory, Robert Ellis & The Boys, The Tontons, VerseCity, Wayside Dri ... More >>

Smoke Drugs Or Snuggle? Roger Waters And Lilith Fair Coming To Town Soon

Craig Hlavaty​This morning two big Houston concert announcements came down the wire, sure to delight the senses. One will no doubt get you brownie points from your girlfriend if you go, and the other will probably score you some really wicked brownies from a dude that knows a friend of yours. Pink ... More >>

Lilith Fair Returns To Houston; The Last Time Around Didn't Go Too Smoothly

​Hair Balls is clutching our pearls in anticipation of the official announcement from Lilith Fair headquarters on a date, venue and lineup for the festival's Houston show. (They've already announced they're coming here, just not when.) From 1997 to 1999 the festival's first incarnation made waves ... More >>

Hazy Shade Of Winter: Are The Vancouver Olympians Listening To These Songs?

Rocks Off has Olympics on the brain. After hearing the theme from Chariots of Fire at the Houston Symphony and watching the bizarro Opening Ceremonies featuring Nelly Furtado, Bryan Adams and Sarah McLachlan, all we want to do when we get home from a long hard day is watch men in Vera Wang one-piec ... More >>

Turning the Screw: Bertell, Skillz, Diddy, Teddy Riley, Kid Sister, The Kanye, Cudi, Raekwon, Reflection Eternal 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: "She Bad," Bertell feat. Bun B Wire to Wire Before we get started with beginning this year's goofiness, ... More >>

Top 7 Couples' Costumes for Halloween

Halloween is coming, and that means many, many costuming mistakes will be made by normally sane adults. To help stop this scourge, each Thursday we will be offering tips and analysis of what to avoid, or possibly what to do. Check out past entries here, here and here. There's one thing -- or should ... More >>

Aftermath: Beyonce at Toyota Center

Photos by Daniel Kramer Imagine, if you will, being invited to the most lavish party, held just for you and about 15,000 of your closet friends. The host, a beauty from McGregor, whose only mission is to give her guests 100 percent of herself and satisfy their needs for a night of entertainment. In ... More >>

Ximena Sariñana

Five ( 3) Spot: Christmas With Weezer!

Welcome back to Five Spot. Every week, 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. Because God loves us: Weezer, one of our all-time favorite bands, has recorded six Christmas covers, the greatest ... More >>

Artist of the Week: Without a Face

Annie Lennox, Songs of Mass Destruction

CD Review

Luke Doucet

Sunday, March 19, the SXSW Overflow Fest at Super Happy Fun Land, 2610 Ashland, 713-880-2100

Method Rocking

Minnie Driver and Juliette Lewis have started bands. Come on, you know you're curious.

Tiësto

Just Be (Nettwerk)

Toni Sicola

In the Sun (White Cat Productions)

Cheating the Reaper

Vic Chesnutt died 20 years ago. Catch him live this week.

Xmas Marks the Spot

A guide to new holiday discs, from surprise presents to Tannen-bombs

Minibill

Stevie Nicks

Playbill

The Groobees

You Go Gaelic, Girl

In with the Old

Born to Sing

Rotation

Press Picks

Sound Check

Lilith Fair-ness

Sarah McLachlan had a brainchild, and it was a girl

Static

Press Picks

Digital Bloating

Without question, enhanced CDs offer more but of what?

Irish Ambassadors

The Chieftains may flirt with rock, but they always come home to Ireland

Tight, Shiny and Abrasive

Dancing Fool

Swinging and swaying at the Forties Follies