THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with STEVIE WONDER! His session at the Beat Club includes "Intro Jam," "Contusion," "Higher Ground," "Dont You Worry ‘Bout A Thing," "I Can See The Sun In Late December," "He's Misstra Know-It-All," "Living For The City" and "Superstition."

ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN gets about three and a half hours of discussion and analysis on Political Beats.

PEDRO THE LION shares "Spend Time" and "Don't Cry Now." 

ISOBEL CAMPBELL shares "Dopamine."

beabadoobie shares "Take a Bite."

STEVE ALBINI: Here is a playlist, plus one of his final interviews, plus a tribute from Big Black bandmate Santiago Durango.

BRIAN WILSON was placed into a conservatorship that will be run by his longtime publicist and his business manager,with input from his daughters.

DENNIS THOMPSON, drummer for MC5 and last surviving member of the influential protopunk icons, has died at age 75.

FANTASTIC FOUR casts Ralph Ineson as Galactus and John Malkovich in a mystery role.

LORD OF THE RINGS: Peter Jackson will produce and Andy Serkis will direct a film about Gollum for some reason.

JUSTIN & HAILEY BIEBER are having a baby.

SEANN WILLIAM SCOTT finalizes his divorce.

IAN McSHANE shared the story of how he "smoked a large spliff" with music producer Trevor Horn before recording the opening of Grace Jones's ‘Slave To The Rhythm'. And more.

PAUL SCHRADER, on Scorsese's dog biting his finger off, defending Kevin Spacey, and more.

HOW "THE FALL GUY" Pulled Off Its Audacious Stunts.

A PITBULL breaks up a vicious ***** fight.

THERE ARE SNAKES, and then there is this snake.

CATS & DOGS, living together...

WE FIVE: Because "You Were On My Mind," natch.

STEVE ALBINI, an icon of indie rock as both a producer and performer, died on Tuesday, May 7, of a heart attack.  Here is the Rolling Stone obit, and the wave of online tributes. Her is Albini's famous letter to Nirvana about In Utero, and his should-be famous response to Powell's request to clear a sample.  Here is Pitchfork's list of Albini's 10 Best Records. And here is his famous essay, "The Problem With Music."  I never met Albini, but my thoughts are with his Big Black bandmate Santiago Durango, with whom I had an acquaintance back in the day.

PEARL JAM guitarist Mike McCready falls offstage mid-solo and doesn't miss a note... only to have Eddie Vedder try to nudge him over the edge again later.

BONNY LIGHT HORSEMAN shares "Old Dutch."

THE BUG CLUB shares "Quality Pints," their first for Sub Pop, which is Buzzcocks with a dash of Clash.

TEEN DAZE shares "Back yard."

JOHN CALE shares "Shark-Shark."

RANDOM RULES shares a playlist of pop/rock diss tracks.Weird Dylan choice.

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS: Stephin Merritt on 25 Years of '69 Love Songs,' the Tyranny of Algorithms, and Crying to Celine Dion.

LET IT BE director Michael Lindsay-Hogg has a fun story involving Mick Jagger.

TWISTERS has a new trailer online.

KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES: Early reviews are mostly hot.

THE OFFICE is getting a spinoff on Peacock that does not seem to have much connection to The Office.

SYDNEY SWEENEY wants to play a boxer.

SHAKIRA's tax fraud case was dropped in Spain.

SAM RAIMI's wife filed for divorce.

CHRIS PINE got his movie-star education from Denzel Washington.

MICHAEL DOUGLAS: Not a fan of intimacy coordinators.

DOGGO welcomes a pupper to the home.

AN EAGLE, rescued from the mud by a photographer.

DOG vs MOOSE: Who You Got?

THE UNTOUCHABLES: "I Spy For the FBI."

THE BLACK KEYS visit World Cafe.

GRAHAM NASH joins MIKE CAMPBELL & THE DIRTY KNOBS on “Dare To Dream.”

EELS shares “If I’m Gonna Go Anywhere.”

NICK CAVE, on whether to play The Great Escape festival.

MAMA CASS: “The truth was just too painful.”

KINGS OF LEON, getting their act together again.

LET IT BE director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, on the film's reurn on D+.

MARVEL: Bob Iger wants to drop the number of TV series to two a year and the film output to no more than three movies per year. (They released more than three movies only once, in 2021.)

MAD MAX: FURIOSA's early reviews are hot.

ANYA TAYLOR-JOY, on Furiosa, Dune 3, and more.

ROBERT DOWNEY JR is headed to Broadway.

A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS will be six episodes to start with.

TOM SELLECK opened up about the possible implications of Blue Bloods being cancelled: He could lose the ranch!

HUNDREDS OF BEAVERS: A black-and-white, silent-era slapstick comedy, is one of 2024’s most successful indie films.

SUSAN BUCKNER, best known to moviegoers as Grease's bubbly cheerleader Patty Simcox, died at 72.

TRICK SHOTS with cats.

A PUPPER learns to do a handstand.

CATS & DOGS, living together...

THE GO-GOS: "Our Lips Are Sealed" and "We Got the Beat" for Twofer Tuesday.

PEARL JAM kicked off their 2024 world tour in Vancouver on Saturday (May 4), playing several songs from new album ‘Dark Matter’ for the first time.

SLASH FICTION shares "Golden Hour" and “Catastrophizing,” for Twofer Tuesday.

THE PET SHOP BOYS: What Have They Done To Deserve This?

THE ALARM's Mike Peters has cancer again. Eff cancer.

THE DATA HAS SPOKEN: People love Classic Rock. Of course, I am down with the kids.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Katy Perry's Juicy J-assisted trap-goth oddity "Dark Horse."

THE MET GALA: Silly people, Silly costumes.

RIDDICK: Vin Diesel is officially returning to the world of Pitch Black.

EMILY BLUNT has wanted to throw up after some onscreen kisses.

CHRIS PINE is "stunned" Warner Bros. ended the current "Wonder Woman" franchise.

STAR WARS: The hilarious theory that Jar Jar was a secret Sith Lord is happening...sort of.

NEVE CAMPBELL on getting her Scream 7 payday.

WILLIAM SHATNER is up for more Star Trek.

HAROLD RAMIS's daughter has a story for you.

MAN SAVES GOAT with the kiss of life.

CATS & DOGS, living together...

IT'S RAINING FISH, hallelujah.

MONKEY MAN, collecting memories.

SNAKES ON A PLANE JOKE? Or snakes in your pants joke?

LOVE: "Your Mind and We Belong Together." Rare promo.

NEW RELEASES: Paste points you to Jessica Pratt, Charlotte Day Wilson, and more.

BILL'S INDIE BASEMENT has Camera Obscura, the Lemon Twigs, and more.

RICHARD HAWLEY shares "Prism in Jeans."

TALKING HEADS: Is Chris Frantz teasing a reunion, or wishcasting?

GARBAGE: Shirley Manson on the songs and artistry of the female artists that inspire her.

MADONNA played to 1.6 million in Brazil.

SPANDAU BALLET's Martin Kemp thinks he has only 10 years left.

DARYL HALL confirms that Hall & Oates is over.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: The Fall Guy tops the chart with 28.5MM which is below the range of projections, but it got an A- CinemaScore and 90% positive on PostTrak, so maybe there wil be legs here.  Star Wars: The Phantom Menace placed with 8.1MM on its anniversary rerelaease.  Challengers showed with 7.6MM on a 49 percent drop from its debut.

BERNARD HILL, known to audiences at Titanic‘s Captain Edward Smith in James Cameron’s 1997 film and King Théoden in the Lord of the Rings, has died. He was 79.

MEGALOPOLIS has a trailer online.

THE BOYS: Season 4 has a trailer online.

JERRY SEINFELD's new movie is not well-reviewed.

HUGH JACKMAN & JODIE COMER are set for The Death of Robin Hood.

WILL FARRELL is the latest celeb investing in UK football.

CHRIS PINE, on Princess Diaries 2 changing his life.

SCARFACE: Glenn Kenny on the making of Brian De Palma's classic.

RESCUE DOGS picking their own toys.

CRANES vs GATOR, Who you got?

GOOSE vs GORILLA: Who You Got?