Skrillex

Waka Flocka Flame Needs to Stay Away From EDM

Electronic dance music genre is corrupting trap music, and this trend is driving me bonkers. It's worse than any country/rap collaboration ever made. The mix of electronic and/or dubstep and Southern rap music is not a good blend. It's gotten so bad that poor Waka Flocka Flame barely even knows he' ... More >>

Lights, Camera, Headaches

The quickest way to ruin a music festival? Get actors to show up.

Human Directionals

What are these "spinners" holding advertising signs at local intersections listening to?

What the Hell Are These "Human Directionals" Listening To?

Ed. Note: Some people in this article chose to only be identified by first name. James Minor's workday begins a lot like yours. He arrives at a work station, checks his materials, puts on a smile and readies for another day of being the face of his employer. For the most part, that's where the si ... More >>

Slip Slidin' Away: My Life as a Rock Journalist With the Houston Press

I had a hernia operation in the early summer of 2006, and had nothing to do all day but hobble around with cool cane a borrowed from Grandpa Hlavaty and play on the Internets for two months or so. I had developed the injury while working at Domino's, but it was cool because their insurance helped ... More >>

The Disco Experiment: Why It Worked For Pink Floyd, But Not KISS

In 1979, disco was all the rage. For all the kids who had never bothered to pay attention when their parents would talk about it, it was sort of like dubstep. It was ubiquitous on the radio and even rock bands were vying to get in on the action so they didn't get left behind in the new revolution. S ... More >>

Spring Breakers: Girls Gone Godard

A thrilling corruption of the Disney princess set.

Houston's Recent Onslaught of Sold-Out Shows: What's Up With That?

Regular concertgoers in Houston have probably noticed more sold-out shows in the area over the past year. Just a few years ago, sellouts were generally reserved for the biggest marquee acts at Toyota Center, Bayou Music Center, and Reliant Stadium's RodeoHouston shows. These days, though, it seems ... More >>

SXSW's 2013 Panels: EDM, Nashville, and Tony Bennett's Headphones

Since 2010 or so, while I am at SXSW in Austin I have started to make the panels during the day a priority for my time at the conference. The trick is waking up by 10 a.m. most days. They are usually filled with industry celebs I can geek out on (like singer-songwriter Paul Williams) and almost al ... More >>

Abandon All Hope: Your Guide to the 2013 Grammy Award Underdogs

There are certain truths we all accept about the Grammy awards, including but not limited to: no matter how many times she's won Taylor Swift will always make that "ohmygod people like me?!?!?!" face; that NARAS president Neil Portnow will show up to make a speech that no one will remember; someone ... More >>

Texans Owner Bob McNair: "We Need to Party More"

This week while talking to the NFL press, Texans owner Bob McNair was asked about Houston hosting another Super Bowl, and he lamented that Houston doesn't have the same party atmosphere that New Orleans has. Yes, it's true that Montrose isn't exactly the French Quarter, I can admit. Most promising ... More >>

Will Long.Live.A$AP Be the Biggest Houston Rap Album of 2013?

There are a few things you should know about A$AP Rocky. He's a pretty motherfucker. His new album, Long.Live.A$AP, is at the top of the charts. And it might turn out to be the biggest Houston rap album of the year. Except that it's not really a Houston rap record at all, of course. A$AP Rocky is ... More >>

Your 2013 Music Festival Outlook (Texas Edition)

I don't know about you, but I am not totally in love with winter weather. Yes, it affords you the ability to wear beanies and cool fingerless gloves and dress like a hoodlum, but it's the heat that I love the most. That's why I love thinking about music festivals, because that's where we all get t ... More >>

The 5 Worst Trends Started By the Class of '99

Chris Gray's write-up of the Brian Setzer Orchestra's "Christmas Rocks" show at the Arena Theatre a couple of weeks ago got me thinking. These days, the swing maestro seems to be comfortably settled into his own little niche in the music industry, playing swingin' Christmas carols to grown folks. Bu ... More >>

That's a Big Twinkie: A Soundtrack to the Apocalypse

The last shipment of Hostess Twinkies was supposedly delivered last Tuesday, as Hostess indeed filed for bankruptcy. Twinkies were also linked to great destructive forces in the movie Ghostbusters. This all falls very close to December 21, which marks the end of the Mayan Mesoamerican Long Count C ... More >>

5 Great Songs by Psy Besides “Gangnam Style”

Nero Returns to Make Halloween Something Wicked

Even if you didn't realize it, you've probably heard Nero's single "Promises." From the original being used in an HP commercial to the Skrillex remix that's garnered a bunch of spins on the radio and in the clubs, it's been one of the biggest EDM songs of the year. Rewind: Rocks Off's Something Wi ... More >>

ACL Last Night: Avicii at Zilker Park

See Avicii, Afghan Whigs, Florence the Machine, M83, Esperanza Spalding and more in our slideshow of Friday's ACL performers Avicii AMD Stage Austin City Limits Music Festival, Zilker Park October 12, 2012 While the rest of the Rocks Off staff has fully immersed itself in EDM, I sorta took a res ... More >>

10 More Things I'll Be Doing at ACL Festival This Weekend

That's right folks, it's ACL Music Festival time again in Texas, and Rocks Off will be flying to Austin on the private Rocks Off jet this weekend to cover the fest from Friday until the last notes of "Give It Away" at the end of the Red Hot Chili Peppers set on Sunday night. That's my way of telli ... More >>

#MadeInAmerica: The Heat, Crowds & Fireworks of Day 1

Rewind: #MadeInAmerica: Translation's Steve Stoute Talks Diversity, Honesty, and The Digital Revolution "If you put on a festival full of good music, people will find you". That was advertising executive and Jay-Z inner circle member Steve Stoute's answer to my question regarding the who/what/why ... More >>

#MadeInAmerica: Translation's Steve Stoute Talks Diversity, Honesty, and The Digital Revolution

This Labor Day holiday weekend in Philadelphia, Jay-Z is teaming up with Budweiser and Live Nation to curate the initial and inaugural Made In America Music Festival, a two-day, multi-genre event featuring acts such as Pearl Jam, Skrillex, Santigold, and Gary Clark Jr, and features the return of D'A ... More >>

10 Bonus Identity Festival Deleted Scenes

Saturday: Identity Festival at The Woodlands ID Fest: The Crowd (daytime) ID Fest: The Crowd (nighttime) Here's a peek behind the curtain: when taking notes on a show I average about one page per hour. That's fine for a show like LMFAO, where the bulk of the review is on one act and I have a bit ... More >>

Prydz & Prejudice: Top 5 Remixes for Saturday's IDentity Festival

Saturday the IDentify Fest returns to town to once again take EDM out of the dark of the club and into the light of day. Your humble blog writer missed last year's show, so I'm curious to see how well glowsticks work during the daylight. While this year may not feature big names like Pretty Lights ... More >>

Mayhem Cruise vs Shiprocked: Battle of the Boats (UPDATED)

Note: Corrected to reflect this will be Shiprock's fourth voyage. Also, according to the promoter: "Hot tubs." Many moons ago, Rocks Off let you know about how the Mayhem Festival was taking their show to the high seas for a cruise this December. It seemed like the perfect vacation for the metal fa ... More >>

Musically Speaking, What Is the Best Zodiac Sign?

Sometimes some musicians just can't even be put in the same sentence as one another. Depending on people's musical preferences. It's hard to compare and can be a bit confrontational. But one thing is for sure the day on which someone is born can't be changed. And then that's where astrology comes in ... More >>

Saturday Night: Digital Mystikz at Gritsy's 6th Anniversary

Gritsy's 6th Anniversary Party feat. Digital Mystikz Warehouse Live July 14, 2012 Back in April, the Press ran a cover story about the rise of dubstep stateside, placing it next to the story of Gritsy, a local DIY promotions company that founded, and remains to run, one of the original dubstep part ... More >>

Lady Gaga's New Little Monsters Site Mashes Up Pinterest & Tumblr

Fans of pop star Lady Gaga now have a social network to call their own with Little Monsters going live this week in beta. The site mashes up elements of Pinterest, Tumblr, and old-school chat room culture to create a place for Gaga's little monsters to hang out online, trade gossip, fan art, and pro ... More >>

The Best Music of Electric Forest 2012

Electric Forest 2012 Double JJ Ranch, Rothbury, Michigan June 28-July 1, 2012 In 2011, Paste magazine named Electric Forest on its list of "Top 10 Most Intriguing Inaugural Music Festivals," because it holds several philanthropic endeavors such as a food drive and both art and music classes along ... More >>

Heat Index: The 10 Summer Album Releases We're Sweatin' the Most

Most places in the world, summertime is easy living: No school, no snow and no real responsibilities beyond mowing the lawn every couple of weeks. Here in Houston, summer is a little more intense. Triple-digit temperatures, hurricane warnings and Astros baseball present an annual threat to our city' ... More >>

Curated Festivals and the Changing Face of Summer Entertainment

While most Texans are spending their Friday counting down to ACL or speculating about the Fun Fun Fun Fest line up, I find myself thinking about a festival north of our fair state. We're halfway through June and that means that the 2012 Gathering of the Juggalos infomercial should be dropping any da ... More >>

Digital Chaos: 8 Experiments In Wub Machine Remixing

Contrary to what they want you to think, Diddy his crew at Bad Boy did not invent the remix. If you really wanted to meet the people who first made dance remixes you'd have to go back a bit further in music history, to the land of the mid-'70s. In sweaty discos across the land people were looping so ... More >>

Last Night: Rusko At Stereo Live

Rusko Stereo Live May 22, 2012 See video of Rusko freaking out on the way to his tour bus Tuesday. With Rusko as your main act on Tuesday night, it was clear that everyone better be able to wake the fuck up and get your ass up. It was crystal that Rusko follows his own rules. With a line outside ... More >>

Friday Night: Ferry Corsten At Rich's

Ferry Corsten, Lawrence & Celauro Rich's May 18, 2012 What better way to start your weekend than with the Ferry Corsten WKND tour? Corsten may have fallen in the ranks of DJ Magazine's yearly Top 100 DJ Poll, from No. 7 in 2009 to 18 in 2011, but that didn't stop him from dropping his beats harde ... More >>

Past Present, Future Perfect: The Future Music Summit 2012 Recap

The most surprising thing, and maybe the most amazing, about the 2012 edition of the Future Music Summit didn't take place during a presentation or during the concert. It took place during the afterparty at Herzstein Plaza just a little before midnight. During the day, during presentations and meal ... More >>

Happy Birthday Zuckerberg: Our 5 Least Favorite Facebook Annoyances

Facebook is great for a lot of things. It helps us keep in touch with family and friends without having to actually call them, allows us to play games in our browsers when we should be working, and helps us remember birthdays we'd forget. It allows me to be a hermit while giving the illusion that I ... More >>

What A Friend We Have In Marilyn Manson: 18 Years With The God Of (Expletive Deleted)

Born Villain, Marilyn Manson's first album since 2009's The High End of Low, marks his debut as a cheeky pop-culture gawker, a far cry from where he was just a decade and a half ago. I wrote about some of the best Manson myths on the occasion of his birthday back in January. He's not the snarling, ... More >>

Top 5 Ways EDM Is Now Mainstream

1997 provides us with an interesting cautionary tale about the pursuit of the next big thing and how it doesn't always play out the way we expect. From MTV's Year In Rock: Music fans were restless, record sales were stagant... Then, a new music emerged... one that captivated listeners, created new ... More >>

Coachella: The 10 Most Awkward Dance Moves In GIF Form

Note: This post was written by Rocks Off's friend and LA Weekly music editor Ben Westhoff, who obviously had a more interesting weekend than we did. See also: *"What My Spirit Hood Means To Me": Coachella-Goers Explain *Coachella: The Black Lips' Cole Alexander Goes Full Monty, Plays Guitar W ... More >>

15 Things Rocks Off Learned Watching The ACM Awards

Sunday nights, I usually like to watch The Amazing Race after 60 Minutes. I don't usually watch much reality television at all, but something about the combination of total incompetence, vicious backstabbing and exotic locales as several, two-person teams race around the globe is completely intoxica ... More >>

Knife Party

The Best of SXSW Music: Saturday 3/17/2012

So, we come to it: the end of all things. Four days of madness, Doritos, Skrillex and finally, St. Patrick's Day. Before we bid SXSW 2012 farewell, allow us to share our favorite moments from SXSW day four. Later, we'll let you know which shows weren't so hot. Find our favorites below, and if there ... More >>

Orgy

Don't Forget About Home: Local Music To Catch At SXSW

Big-hitting acts are piling up at this year's SXSW, with the likes of Jack White, Fiona Apple, GZA, 50 Cent, Bruce Springsteen, Skrillex, and the list goes on. Though, whether you're travelling with a fancy badge or wristband, or especially if you're just going to partake in the free festivities, do ... More >>

Alert: SXSW Coverage Ahead -- 50 Cent And Much More

"What I want from each and every one of you is a hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse in that area." -- Tommy Lee Jones, The Fugitive You don't have to spend much time at South By Southwest to know that all of the above building ... More >>

Who The Eff Is The Ron River?: A Journey Into The Heart Of The Two Americas Of Bon Iver

"Who the fuck is Bon Iver" went the story last night on Twitter as indie musician and soft-spoken beardo Justin Vernon's Bon Iver project won a Best New Artist Grammy. Never mind that the man has been on the scene since 2008's For Emma, Forever Ago, but it still seemed to be deserved. Last year's se ... More >>

Old Man: A Happy Birthday Randy Newman Playlist

Photo By Jim BrickerRandy Newman at ACL '11 back in September. ​Mr. Randy Newman, who turns 68 years old today, turned in one of the best and our most most favorite sets of this year's Austin City Limits Music Festival. In a festival littered with Kanye West, Coldplay, and Skrillex, Newman's s ... More >>

TV Party: Beavis & Butt-head Return with "Werewolves Of Highland/Crying"

​Rocks Off has always championed the arts, and Beavis & Butt-head are no different. We've shown you the bands that we got into because of the shows '90s run, and last year we listed our favorite music videos from the series. So earlier this year, when Beavis & Butt-head creator Mike Judge an ... More >>

Last Night: Kyuss Lives! & The Sword At Warehouse Live

Photos by Groovehouse​Kyuss Lives!, The Sword Warehouse Live September 29, 2011 The reason Aftermath always liked Kyuss was because they sounded sure of themselves, almost arrogant. They weren't timid, but cocksure. Every record we have ever owned from them, all of them, from Wretch, Blues fo ... More >>

Touch the Sky

The 2011 Austin City Limits Music Festival in exactly 12 paragraphs.

A Dream Austin City Limits Weekend For Houston

Craig HlavatyColdplay at The Woodlands, July 2009​Summer is creeping in, which means the fall concert calendars are filling up fast, and we should know which Austin City Limits Music Festival artists will book side dates in our area sooner rather than later. The standard disclaimer: Rocks Off ... More >>