THE MUSIC EXPLOSION: "Little Bit O'Soul."

CAR SEAT HEADREST covers Bowie, the Who, NIN, and Kate Bush on a new EP.

BOB DYLAN: Episode 11 of Pretty Good Stuff is Cali-themed.

NPR has a listening party for Joni Mitchell's Blue, with Miranda Lambert.

SAMANTHA CRAIN plays World Cafe.

LOW shares "Days Like These."

WOLF ALICE shares "Safe From Heartbreak (If You Never Fall In Love)."

LUCY DACUS does a track-by-track tour of her Home Video.

BLACK JOE LEWIS, on taking a hardhat job during the pandemic.

BRITNEY SPEARS  for years expressed serious opposition to the conservatorship that gave her father control over her finances and personal life, according to confidential documents obtained by the New York Times. (alt link)

CHRIS BROWN is under investigation for battery.

MEGXIT: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry registered domains for newborn daughter Lilibet Diana before speaking to Queen Elizabeth II about the her name.

VIN DIESEL explains his feud with Dwane Johnson.

SNOW WHITE: Sources tell Deadline that Rachel Zegler (yet to be seen in Spielber's remake of West Side Story) is set to star as Snow White in Disney's live-action adaptation of the film.

THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME: An Oral History.

ANNA TAYLOR-JOY on her unusual childhood, the twists of fate that led her to modeling and screen acting and why she almost quit the biz just before ‘Emma' went into production.

THE SUICIDE SQUAD has a new trailer online.

CURLING your cat.

WHEN AN EEL Climbs a Ramp to Eat Squid From a Clamp, That's a Moray.

1500 TERN EGGS Were Waiting to Hatch. Then a Drone Crashed.

PETNUPS: One way of avoiding a messier divorce.

GARY WRIGHT will always be known as the "Dreamweaver," but add "Love is Alive" (with More Cowbell) and you have Twofer Tuesday.

NEIL YOUNG:  The third part of his career (1980–2021), spanning 38 albums, gets over four hours of analysis and discussion on Political Beats.

GARY LOURIS (The Jayhawks) virtually visits The Current.

R.E.M.: Viceroy Park, Charlotte, NC, November 7, 1981. 

DAVE CHAPPELLE joined the FOO FIGHTERS to cover Radiohead's "Creep."

BLUE: Joni Mitchell's Masterpiece At 50. Hear five demos and outtakes. And twenty-five musicians speak about the LP’s enduring power.

KINGS OF CONVENIENCE talk to Paste about their return.

THE BEST ALBUMS of 1981, according to Paste.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Phil Collins' graceless late-'80s Motown pastiche "Two Hearts."

AMBLIN PARTNERS & NETFLIX have forged a partnership, one that will see the company headed by Steven Spielberg produce multiple new feature films for the streaming service every year.

TED LASSO: Season 2 has a trailer online.

OLIVIA WILDE's not talking about Harry Styles.

KHLOE KARDASHIAN & TRISTAN THOMPSON are dunzo again.  Thompson disappeared into a bedroom with three women during a Bel Air birthday party – and emerged 'disheveled' 30 minutes later.

ALEX RODRIGUEZ was spotted hanging out with Ben Affleck's ex Lindsay Shookus at her birthday party on Saturday. An he's moved into a Hamptons mansion just a mile from Jennifer Lopez's home.

FRIENDS: Gunther has prostate cancer.

MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY brought the bongos to his soccer team's first home game.

A BOSTON TERRIER with impressive ball-handling skills.

A PUPPER with less-impressive ball-handling skills.

THE SUN DID NOT SHINE, it was too wet to play.

STEAM: The one-hit wonder with a synced take on "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye."

NEW RELEASES: Paste will point you to Kings of Convenience, Catenary Wires, Covey, and more.

BILL'S INDIE BASEMENT has Marina Allen, Bricolage, and more.

MODEST MOUSE shares “The Sun Hasn’t Left.”

NEKO CASE Just Wants to Talk About Nature.

DANNY ELFMAN talks to Stereogum about retiring from Oingo Boingo, 'The Nightmare Before Christmas,' being parodied on 'Family Guy,' his new album 'Big Mess,' and more.

GARBAGE: Shirley Manson spoke with Salon about the songwriting debt she owes Weezer's Rivers Cuomo & the glory of being 54.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Bobby Brown's elemental new jack swing classic "My Prerogative."

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard tops the chart with 11.67MM over the regular weekend (and 17MM since opening), which is a little better than expected but not heralding the return of normal box office, either. A Quiet Place 2 placeds with 9.4MM on a 22 percent drop and a 125.2MM domestic total. Peter Rabbit 2 shows with 6.1MM and a fairly anemic 20.3MM domestic total.  However, Godzilla vs. Kong crossed 100MM domestic, the second flick to do so post-pandemic, while F9 approaches 300MM worldwide even before opening domestically.

MEGXIT: Prince Charles made it clear Archie will have no place among frontline Royals.  Also, William confronted Harry about allegations of bullying made against Meghan Markle by palace staff.

A DOGGO rounds up the pups.

A CAT, taunted by grilled cheese.

ANOTHER CAT, taunting an orchestra.

AND A DOGGO at the orchestra.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with POWER POP (REDUX)! For whatever reason, I have considered Summer the ideal season for gems like Badfinger's "No Matter What" (which Pate covered on occasion) and "Baby Blue", and even Todd Rundgren's "I Saw the Light" and Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me."  Ditto for more obscure tracks like The Rubinoos "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" (see also their vintage cover of "Please Please Me"), Off Broadway's "Stay In Time" and "Full Moon Turn My Head Around," and Pezband's "Baby It's Cold Outside" and "Close Your Eyes."

BILLY BRAGG & JOE HENRY on Mountain Stage.

ROSTAM plays KEXP.

MARGO PRICE covers Roky Erickson's bugged-out psych-rock classic "Two-Headed Dog."

DIANA ROSS returns after 15 years with a "Thank You."

THE BEATLES: Peter Jackson’s long-in-the-making Get Back documentary will debut in three two-hour episodes over three days – November 25, 26 and 27 – exclusively on Disney+.

XTC's Andy Partridge has finally announced the first volume in his My Failed Songwriting Career series, a collection of tracks he initially penned for other artists.

BECK talks Odelay at 25.

THE SHINS' James Mercer talks Oh, Inverted World at 20.

ISLANDS' Nick Thorburn says he accidentally copied a Julie Byrne song on his new album.

FRANCOISE HARDY, ‘close to the end' of her life, argues for assisted suicide.

DOES PUNK Play in Peoria?

DIONNE WARWICK, on Twitter.

BLACK WIDOW: The early buzz is in.

FRANK BONNER, the veteran actor who became famous for portraying Herb Tarlek on the TV sitcom “WKRP in Cincinnati,” died Wednesday. He was 79.

ELIZABETH OLSEN quietly married singer Robbie Arnett in 2020.

GWYNETH PALTROW says her daughter Apple has never seen her movies.

CINDY CRAWFORD is in the jacuzzi.

WILD AT HEART, essayed at Aquarium Drunkard.

PIXAR MOVIES, ranked by The Ringer.

HAPPY Juneteenth.

A SLEEPY PUPPER and his buddy.

A KITTEH grows up.

RELEASE the Hounds.

COSTA RICAN Highland Hummingbirds.

THE FIVE AMERICANS: "I See The Light."

DJANGO DJANGO visits World Cafe.

MEN I TRUST play a Tiny Desk Concert.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN joins THE KILLERS on "Dustland."

SHANNON & THE CLAMS share "Year of the Spider."

BOB DYLAN will perform a ticketed concert titled Shadow Kingdom on July 18 via livestreaming platform Veeps, his first broadcast performance in nearly three decades.

THE FOO FIGHTERS were picketed by Ricky Schroeder.  But Dave Grohl resumed the throne for a cover of Queen's "Somebody to Love."

THE TOP 10 WOMEN-LED PUNK BANDS, according to PopMatters.

THE NUMBER ONES ooks at Poison's sensitive-rocker monster ballad "Every Rose Has Its Thorn."

KANYE WEST & IRINA SHAYK are in their long-distance honeymoon phase.

MEGXIT: The Prince of Wales' sensitivity makes the situation more difficult.

THE ROCK: Oh, he's thinking of running.

REGE-JEAN PAGE, CHRIS ROCK, JOHN BOYEGA and the THR Drama Actor Roundtable.

WHEN you haven't seen your best friend for a while.

A DOGGO, and baby goats.

THE DEADLIEST Sea Creature?