Win Butler

Yet Another Springsteen Book, This Time In the Boss' Own Words

Springsteen on Springsteen: Interviews, Speeches, and Encounters Edited by Jeff Burger Even editor Burger himself poses this question in his intro: Does the world really need another book on Bruce Springsteen? Especially in recent times when Boss Books have been flooding the marketplace (and Yours ... More >>

EPIC: The 20 Most Overused Terms In SXSW Band Bios

Before I take any trip to Austin and SXSW, I always take more than a few days to peruse the schedule and check out a few of the hundreds of names on the roster and read their bios. Some years there are more bands with "wolf" and "space" in their monikers than usual, and some years there are random ... More >>

Coming Soon to Houston: Tons of 2012 Critical Favorites

"No good bands ever come to Houston, I swear." Welp, you're wrong buddy. In the next few weeks and months, plenty of critical darlings are coming to Houston venues, and it's not even festival season. They are coming because they are actually on tours and not taking pity on us. OK, Houston crow ... More >>

Justin Bieber and the Secret War Against Music

When people start going on about a hip hop illuminati or the secret messages in Lady Gaga videos we tend to laugh at them, call them kooks, and suggest they spend their free time in more productive ways. Jay-Z is powerful but only a crazy person would believe that Blue Ivy Carter was some sort of hi ... More >>

Why Shouldn't the Zombie Apocalypse Have a Playlist?

Yeah, yeah, we all know it's 2012. Apparently the end of the world is near. The apocalypse is coming. Or better yet, a zombie apocalypse is coming. If you aren't so in touch as to what the hell a zombie even is, it's the living dead, and they are scary as can be. I have my roommate and good friend ... More >>

Last Night: Creed At Bayou Music Center

Creed Bayou Music Center April 30, 2012 Villains are infinitely more interesting than heroes, and have way better origin tales. All human mythology features roguish baddies, who are actually more engaging than their lily-hearted counterparts. Kids of all ages dress up like Darth Vader and the Joker ... More >>

SXSW: Tom Morello, A Vigilant And Emphatic Nightwatchman

Besides Music World Gospel, New West Records is probably the most locally connected sub-major record label, and owner/partial Houstonian George Fontaine has long worn his heart on his sleeve about local music in general and recent New West additions the Wild Moccasins, Robert Ellis, Buxton and Grand ... More >>

Yelawolf

The Sound of Flight: 6 Local Musicians That Could Announce Flights at Houston Airports

On Tuesday, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport announced that they will be launching a new program to promote awareness of music native to their region, wherein famous musicians from the area will announce safety procedures and give informational speeches on the airport. In return, the airport wil ... More >>

You Bettah Work: 10 Rock/Pop Musicians Who Could Take Up Modeling

Lucky for Lana Del Rey -- whose awkward-at-best Saturday Night Live performance last weekend left indie critics second-guessing her skill -- she has a backup career on which to fall, if needed. Last week, days before becoming a poor bundle of nerves on SNL, the up-and-(maybe)-coming songstress signe ... More >>

5 Bands Lou Reed Should Have Called Instead of Metallica

As mentioned in Nathan Smith's "Bummer, Dude: The 10 Big Musical Disappointments of 2011", Lulu, the not-at-all-anticipated-by-me aural abortion resulting from the un-Godly union of The Progenitor of All Things Cool, Three Insufferable Man-Children & Kirk Hammett, SUCKED. This was crushing for me on ... More >>

Chafing 101: Rocks Off's 2011 Music Festival Odyssey

Music festivals are now a part of our lives, just like deadlines, angry commenters, lack of sleep, and eye fatigue. And eating at our desk. That sucks. But at least we have food and a desk, right? Rocks Off ventured all over the state -- OK, really mostly Austin -- to cover festivals for the blog. ... More >>

ACL: Arcade Fire, Big As The Great Outdoors

Photos by Jim Bricker​Check out all our ACL 2011 coverage, including our hottest crowd shots and slideshow from Sunday featuring Randy Newman, Arcade Fire and The Walkmen. Arcade Fire Bud Light Stage, Austin City Limits Music Festival, Zilker Park September 18, 2011 Sunday night in a serene ... More >>

Last Night: Peter Gabriel At Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

Photos by Jay Lee​Peter Gabriel Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion June 16, 2011 Rock writers right now - hell, everyone with a musical soul - are living in the most interesting of times. No, it's not because we can pull any album we want down out of the sky at any time of day. It's because we g ... More >>

Last Night: Arcade Fire At Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion

Photos by Marc Brubaker​Arcade Fire, Explosions In the Sky Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion May 4, 2011 It was a sort of homecoming for titanic indie-rockers Arcade Fire Wednesday night in the Woodlands, as the band returned to Houston after five momentous years to play songs from The Suburbs, ... More >>

Dangerous Men

Atmospheric rockers Pale leave L.A. for Houston - and a record deal.

Arcade Fire Headed To Houston May 4 For Pavilion Date

cnn.com​Arcade Fire is finally heading to Houston on May 4 for a date up at Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, in the Woodlands. Last Sunday the band played upsetters at the Grammys winning the award for Album Of The Year for their album The Suburbs which was based on frontman Win Butler's childhood ... More >>

Rocks Off's Favorite Songs Of 2010

​Editor's Picks: Jamey Johnson, "Lonely at the Top": Ouch. Merle Haggard, "I've Seen It": Double ouch. Patty Griffin, "Move On Up": Help me, Jesus. Please.

Houston's Best Gifts To The Music World

Ed. Note: Rocks Off is still in a holiday frame of mind... actually we meant to post this before Christmas, but they're just as true now. No refunds, no exchanges. ​Here is Craig's Hlist point of view: Houston has given so much to the world, from ZZ Top, Jandek, Beyonce Knowles, and everythin ... More >>

Springsteen 2.0: Can Baby Bosses Cruise The Backstreets?

Daniel Kramer​This fall, Houstonians salivating for another touring run by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band don't have to search to hard to find bands heavily influenced by the man's sound and work ethic. Even though Springsteen and his merry band of musicians may be cooling their road ... More >>

Happy National Taco Day From ZZ Top, Moby, Arcade Fire...

​Today, October 4, is National Taco Day, and no doubt our friend Jay is somewhere bathing in tacos. Dude has made a healthy sideline just tweeting about tacos. Tacos don't have much to do with music in our minds, unless you count the inside sleeve to ZZ Top's Tres Hombres and its Leo's Mexican ... More >>

Arcade Fire Still Can't Shake Houston

Merge Records/Nasty Little Man PR​ Symphonic Canadian indie-rockers Arcade Fire announced the title and release date of their third full-length album this morning. The Suburbs is due August 3 on Merge Records, and a limited-edition vinyl 12" featuring the title track and "Month of May" should be i ... More >>

Jimi Hendrix's Pyromania And 5 Other Great Moments In Instrument Destruction

​ We've all seen the famous footage of Jimi Hendrix humping, burning, and finally smashing his guitar to bits at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. What not many people realize is he initially performed this act of musical instrument immolation some months before, at the suggestion of writer Keith ... More >>

Love and Theft

The decade with no name left behind plenty of memorable music.

Seattle's KEXP Loves Our Hungry Villagers

Photo by Craig Hlavaty The fruits of Hungry Villagers' labors have seemingly paid off. Today, while perusing the concert industry website livedaily.com, we saw the Houston indie-pop group has today's free download of the day, new track "Tree Full Of Ghosts." Further investigation led us to the music ... More >>

Houston Has a Bad Reputation with Touring Indie Bands

They'd just as soon give us a miss.

Drenched In Blog: Arcade Fire, Back Door Slam and Butch Walker Rule ACL Fest on Saturday

Win Butler with the Swish!!

En Fuego

The Arcade Fire burns Mary Jane's Fat Cat down to the ground; also: Scarface/Geto Boys news and the fate of Mary Jane's

Great Balls of Fire

The Arcade Fire's vast, spastic music will have you confused, thrilled and begging for more

Arcade Fire

Funeral (Merge)