Houston - Rocks Off - "MP3 Monday" Archives

MP3 of the Day: Kat Edmondson

Thursday, Jul. 9 2009 @ 11:30AM

Kat Edmondson probably shouldn't be a jazz singer. She's young, and from Austin, which means how she wound up singing jazz and not blues, country, folk or indie-rock is anyone's guess. (That said, if you're visiting the Capital City anytime soon, do yourself a favor and have a pint or two at the Elephant Room.) But jazz it is, and she's good at it - The New York Times called Edmonson "promising" and "kittenish," while the Boston Globe says her 2009 album Take to the Sky establishes that "she's already a confident interpreter of song."

Of course, some of the songs Edmonson chooses to interpret on Sky are hardly anyone's idea of jazz - the Cardigans' "Lovefool," for example. But listen as she brings out the inner bossa nova in the Cure's "Just Like Heaven." More traditional jazz fans, on the other hand, might prefer her take on Cole Porter's "Just One of Those Things." Either way, she's playing two nights at Cezanne this weekend.

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Monday MP3s: Two from LL Cooper's Tucson

By Chris Gray in MP3 Monday, Only In Houston, Playbill

Monday, Jul. 6 2009 @ 3:31PM

When it comes to salt-of-the-earth working-class roots-rock, groups (especially around Houston) don't come much more solid than LL Cooper, the semi-eponymous band led by Houston/Austin roots vet Larry Cooper. "For my money, very few acts sound better accompanying a round of Lone Stars in a smoky bar," the Press' Nicholas L. Hall wrote about Cooper's 2007 debut, Old Hardin Store Road. Although Cooper's lyrics can be pretty sobering, Rocks Off has to agree. (The band's cover of the Rolling Stones' "Rocks Off" is especially choice, and we're not just saying that because it's also the name of our blog.)

As LL Cooper prepares to release its second CD, Tucson, Friday at the Continental Club, the band was kind enough to email us a couple of preview tracks. Reminiscent of the Bottle Rockets, Uncle Tupelo/Son Volt and Alejandro Escovedo, Cooper's not kidding around on lyrics like "When you're coughing up the blood/ And your lungs will start to flood."

Read a few of Larry Cooper's thoughts on Tucson after the jump. "Whereas the last record was about personal loss, Tucson's recurring theme is how life is fleeting," he says.

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MP3 Monday: Buxton's "Flint" and "Feathers"

By Craig Hlavaty in MP3 Monday

Monday, Jun. 22 2009 @ 7:00AM

In advance of the release of Buxton's new seven-inch, that little ol' Americana band from La Porte has shot us the new B-side from the single, entitled "Flint." The single will be available on yellow vinyl and, to quote guitarist Chris Wise, it will be "pretty."

Since we're suckers for colored vinyl, we will snapping one up at the single's official release party at Mango's on July 11. That show will also see the Houston return of the Wild Moccasins, who will be coming back home to the sweet 713 confines a week or so before after their current national tour winds down in Austin at Emo's.

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Morning MP3s: The Jonbenet's "The Sun"

By Craig Hlavaty in MP3 Monday, Only In Houston

Monday, Jun. 1 2009 @ 7:00AM

Witch Hammer

The dudes in scorched-earth hardcore crew the Jonbenet found time recently to record two new tracks and a re-record another, the tour chronicle "Memphis Blues." The three hellish blasts hit the band's MySpace just this past week, and we have "The Sun" right here.

The band turns six years old this summer and has been only sporadically active as of late. Half the band is currently holding down seats in Black Congress who are gaining increasing momentum almost a year into their existence. Lead singer Michael Murland is working on a dark electronic project with his wife Marlen which, if their MySpace is any indication, will give people like the Knife a run for their krona.

The Jonbenet's live shows were things to behold, and we can't wait for another harrowing night with them.

MP3 Monday: Music from Dominique, Fiskadoro, Chocolate Crucifix and Dave Wrangler

By Chris Gray in MP3 Monday

Monday, Mar. 30 2009 @ 2:29PM

Welcome back to MP3 Monday. We've been away for a bit due to SXSW, but we're back now and dedicated to bringing you tantalizing tidbits of local music from all over the spectrum. If you think you've got what it takes, email your MP3s to chris.gray@houstonpress.com or hprocksoff@gmail.com.

We'll start with some starry-eyed soul from Houston R&B ingenue Dominique - here are a couple of previews from her album Good Girl Blues, out next week:

Here's some skin-crawling electro-Goth from Lake Jackson's Fiskadoro, definitely one of the more interesting local bands Rocks Off has heard in a while. Catch them this coming Sunday at Fitzgerald's:

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MP3 Monday: Music From Teenage Kicks, LSPS, Hash Brown & Fat Tony, OSIRUS and Dave Wrangler

By Chris Gray in MP3 Monday

Monday, Mar. 16 2009 @ 1:46PM

[A while back, Rocks Off sent out a call for Houston bands and musicians to send him MP3s of their recent work. It took a little bit, but here are the fruits of that planting...]

Courtesy Teenage Kicks