When I think of Taylor Swift, my mind immediately goes to the category it has labeled as "sheer hilarity." From the Kanye incident to the bleating goat videos, the poor girl has become synonymous with accidental antics, and those are the best kind in my opinion.

Taylor, who has skyrocketed to fame thanks to a warbly, country-meets-pop music catalog and a really complicated love life, is just so easy to be amused with.

She's Disney-cute, a tween icon, and has a laundry list of famous ex-boyfriends she uses as the target of her multiplatinum breakup anthems. She's a magnet for silly situations in a modern-day Lucille Ball kind of way, but with that whole "serial dater" problem that Ricky would have put the kibosh on.

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Photo by Marco Torres

Cannibal Ox's El-P (left) with Killer Mike at Warehouse Live in June 2012

You may have missed it, but no one would blame if you did because you're not alone. In March, legendary indie hip-hop group Cannibal Ox announced they were making a comeback in a big way, launching a new album, their very own record label, and a Kickstarter campaign to fund it all.

The last time Cannibal Ox recorded a studio album was 2001's The Cold Vein. It was produced by Def Jux mastermind El-P, a distinguished rapper in his own right, and released to wide acclaim and obsessive fandom. Then they went almost totally dormant for the last 12 years.

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Spotify is launching its first-ever advertising campaign this week, with an ad debuting tonight during NBC's premiere of its new season of The Voice, hoping to capitalize on music fans who haven't yet made the leap to streaming music services.

The three initial ads are heavy on emotion and slow-motion effects, attempting to make the use of Spotify some sort of noble act of artistic freedom. Or you know, a great way to soundtrack a party for cheap.

The first ad released depicts a man crowd-surfing in what looks like a Nine Inch Nails video or a Civil War battlefield, In the second, a man on a bus reminisces about the songs that remind him of "her," while the third follows a raucous frat party on a Tuesday with only one cup of beer in sight.

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What would Roy Rogers think?

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo doesn't stay so successful by not keeping up with the times. So before each of this year's evening concerts, you can watch a bunch of people who work at the rodeo gyrating to the latest real-life Internet meme, the "Harlem Shake."

Last week a 30-second clip of various rodeo folk -- "bullfighters," cowpokes, a couple of older gentlemen in Stetsons, the rodeo's bowlegged-H mascot "Howdy" -- debuted on the big screens above the revolving stage. Pretty fancy footwork, but then the bullfighters at least are used to being light on their feet.

You can't help wondering what the black horse in the middle thinks of all this. The Shake was posted on the rodeo's YouTube channel last Tuesday. As of early Sunday afternoon, it had accrued more than 160,000 views.

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If you're one of the many Houstonians who have already downloaded the Houston Press mobile app, you know just how handy it is to have the Press with you wherever you have your smartphone. Today we're happy to announce that we're taking things up a notch with the new and improved version of our mobile app, available now for iPhone and Android users.

We know that when you open an app, you want to get straight to the information, and that's exactly what this new version of the app does. We've cut to the chase and ditched the home screen to get you to the information you're looking for faster than ever.

With the new app, you'll have access to our fully searchable event, concert and restaurant listings; slideshows of local events and nightlife; and all our daily blog content. You'll also have access to Voice Daily Deals if you're looking to save some cash next time you go out.

Get the updated and improved Houston Press mobile app from the iTunes or Google Play store today.

Final Fantasy is one of my personal religions. No really, I wrote an article about it and everything.

Like all good religions, the classic series of role-playing video games has inspired musicians to pay tribute to it, and today we celebrate the Top 10 who have done so.

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We introduced you to Songza -- the service that acts as a "music concierge" -- a few weeks back. Using curated playlists sorted not only by genre and theme, but also by activity, Songza helps you pick the best songs for the occasion.

More importantly to me, the playlists are expertly curated, meaning that even though users may submit playlists, the editorial oversight ensures that when I select 1990s College Radio, I don't get Nickelback and Green Day.

Because the playlists have such quality curation, many of the lists are teeming with forgotten gems, and delve deep into musical history, turning out associations and fusing genres and artists that the average listener may never have even considered. Using the "Browse" tab, listeners are free to go beyond Songza's concierge service and peruse the thousands of playlists available.

Here we have collected four of our favorite offbeat lists containing some fantastic music you may have forgotten about, and some you will be glad you found for the first time.

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Photo by Groovehouse

Though we had previously noted on Rocks Off that psychedelic prog-rockers the Mars Volta had gone on the dreaded "indefinite hiatus" last year, none of us foresaw how truly acrimonious the split would become a short time later.

For those who missed it, last week TMV front man Cedric Bixler-Zavala went off on a Twitter tirade announcing the dissolution of the band due to his dissatisfaction with guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez over touring, Rodriguez-Lopez's new band Bosnian Rainbows, and the fact that Bixler-Zavala wanted to play with the original Volta lineup again.

OK, so that's the end. RIP Mars Volta, right? Well, if you've followed music for any time at all, you may have noticed that it's never quite so cut and dried when a band splits. Everybody has to get his or her own digs in, especially since the advent of social media.

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Photo by Julian Bajsel

Porter Robinson goes full Jesus pose.

The thing I hate about karaoke, aside from drunk bachelorette parties and my own crippling fear of singing in front of people, is the music, these bad knockoffs pretending to be the songs we love. I know spending all day making pretend versions of songs isn't the most glamorous job in the world, but would it kill these people to take pride in their work?

In addition to karaoke mills, there's a whole industry out there dedicated to pumping out crappy knockoffs of good music. Thanks to the various streaming music services, the awful versions of the songs you know, be they karaoke or "tribute" versions, are just a mouse click away.

How awful are we talking? That's what I wanted to find out.

Porter Robinson performs in Houston tonight for the third time in the past 12 months. Since his track "Language" was one of the best singles to come out last year, I decided to make it our test subject.

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While we all wait for the remaining members of New Order to do more expansive touring (read: Houston or Austin and not just Dallas) or record new material, their camp released a mini-album from the Waiting For the Sirens' Call sessions in 2004.

For now, we will take what we can get.

Lost Sirens was released digitally on January 15, comprising eight "new" songs that were supposed to be released soon after Waiting came out almost eight years ago. Waiting itself was 12 tracks long, and the band made eyes toward a double album at the time, but it didn't happen.

Drummer Stephen Morris was happy to get these eight cuts to the public.

"The intention was always to write four or five more songs and then put it out 18 months or so after the first one," he said in a press release. "When we unearthed it from the cupboard recently, with the intention of red-editing some of the songs, we all agreed they didn't actually need it, and it should just be out there."

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