Sufjan Stevens

Win Butler with the Swish!!

Sanity Claus: Separating Holiday-Music Gifts from Seasonal Disorders

Tonight: Danielson at Walter's on Washington

The career of Daniel Smith, leader and mastermind of Danielson, has a strange irony: his music promotes spiritual healing, oneness and love, but by and large, his audience has been attracted by its joyous perversity. Smith sings exclusively in a high, squeaky voice, and his twee, disorientingly ad ... More >>

Top Ten Americana Albums of 2008

Picking the best folk and Americana records of the year isn't nearly as hard as discarding those great records that just didn't feel right stuck in the category. Releases by Calexico and DeVotchKa felt far too worldly to pigeonhole as folk or country, for instance, while Blitzen Trapper's fantastic ... More >>

Blog On Blog: The Skyline's Ryan Clark

Name: Ryan "adr" Clark Blog: The Skyline Network URL: www.theskyline.netStarted: Late 2006, early 2007Typical Topics: Local music - concert reviews, album reviews, gossipDay Job: I do marketing and communication for an oil gas company.Hair Balls: How did The Skyline Network enter the blogosphere? ad ... More >>

2007 Music Year in Review

Name: Ryan "adr" Clark Blog: The Skyline Network URL: www.theskyline.netStarted: Late 2006, early 2007Typical Topics: Local music - concert reviews, album reviews, gossipDay Job: I do marketing and communication for an oil gas company.Hair Balls: How did The Skyline Network enter the blogosphere? ad ... More >>

Ships Ahoy

Danielson sets course for indie paradise

Just Say Ho

A Tennessee-based Virginia rocker salutes the Big Drunk in song; also: Mary Cutrufello gets back on track

Hello, Moon

Indie-rock artists spin straw into gold – for the children

Year of the Concept

Green Day opens the Idiot-ic floodgates

They Did What?

The top WTF moments of 2005

Various Artists

This Bird Has Flown

Sufjan Stevens

Illinoise

Get Lit: I Hate New Music: The Classic Rock Manifesto by Dave Thompson

If productivity alone conferred greatness, then flinty rock scribbler Dave Thompson would be the Trollope of pop-culture quick reads. I Hate New Music is the latest of over 100 titles this insta-book wizard has blinked into being. And dig the intro penned by the legendary Richard Meltzer, the Big Ba ... More >>

Aftermath: Our Ten Favorite Performances at Fun Fun Fun Fest

Photos by Marc Brubaker/ Click here for slideshows from Day 1 and Day 2Times New Viking​ If there's anything that Aftermath truly loves about music (outside of watching talented people create outstanding art), it's the innate propensity the medium possesses to bring people together. There is somet ... More >>

The BQE

Wait a minute, nothing could be as ugly as I-45

Tonight: Sufjan Stevens' Ode to an Expressway... and Hula Hoops

Musical cartographer Sufjan Stevens may have given up on his attempt to record 50 albums, each one dedicated to a different U.S. state, but he's still writing music about places. In 2007 he paired with cinematographer Reuben Kleiner to create a film dedicated to the BQE, the 13-mile New York City e ... More >>

Five Musicians You Don't Want At Your Birthday Party

geekologie.com​Rocks Off was struck by a random thought the other day: How cool would it be if a rock star showed up at your birthday party? It could happen any number of ways. Maybe a well-connected friend calls in a few favors. Maybe your party is in the same hotel where they're staying. Ma ... More >>

Frickin' Lasers: Six Artists Who Could Really Use Them

Photo illustration by Monica FuentesNow that's more like it.​If you don't have tickets for tonight's Ghostland Observatory show at Warehouse Live, you are shit out of luck. Sorry to say, but the show is sold out, and when things sell out at that venue, they mean it. Seriously, you may have to ... More >>

Top 10 Recent TV-Show Soundtracks

​A few choice adjectives come to mind when musing on bawdy Eastbound & Down character Kenny Powers. "Inspiring" is not one of them. However, as Rocks Off watched this week's season finale of the side-splitting HBO series, we were pleasantly surprised as we heard indie troubadour Kurt Vile's a ... More >>

Old Familiar Friend

Brendan Benson relaxes after The Raconteurs.

Katy Perry? For Album Of The Year? Seriously?

​Don't get Craig's Hlist wrong, we think that Katy Perry is extremely attractive. In fact, if we think about her long enough, it makes us want to cry and punch a wall. She's a buxom, bubbly, raven-haired pop star who dresses like she's expensive grandma candy. We even interviewed her last ye ... More >>

Top 10 Non-Traditional Christmas Songs

"Baby Jesus, born to rock..." ​Amidst the time of year when we're bombarded with clichĂ© holiday tunes and trite Christmas-carol covers, Rocks Off will now take time to appreciate a few original nontraditional takes on festive songs. Whether they're dismal adaptations of holiday malaise, tale ... More >>

Merry Christmas From Rocks Off

Rocks Off polled our staff for their favorite Christmas songs to create a playlist for you to enjoy while you open presents, drink egg nog, or however else you celebrate. Enjoy. Ahh, the gift that keeps on giving...​Editor's Pick: U2, "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)": Neph Basedow: Ped ... More >>

Freelance Whales

Rocks Off polled our staff for their favorite Christmas songs to create a playlist for you to enjoy while you open presents, drink egg nog, or however else you celebrate. Enjoy. Ahh, the gift that keeps on giving...​Editor's Pick: U2, "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)": Neph Basedow: Ped ... More >>

Your Favorite Bands: How To Correctly Pronounce Their Names

​Back in December 1998, when Eminem was just hitting MTV and rap radio, we remember people pronouncing his name as "Eee-mine-im," and not the candy-inflected way it actually was. We even made the mistake during our first viewing of "My Name Is" late at night on the video channel and calling a ... More >>

Cheerleader

St. Vincent's Annie Clark went "off the grid" to craft new album Strange Mercy.