JEFF BECK joins ZZ TOP on Tennessee Ernie Ford’s 1955 folk-country classic “Sixteen Tons.” here's the backstory.

THE THOMPSON TWINS' Tom Bailey sings all his hits for the first time in three decades.

FOXYGEN plays a mini-set at KEXP in a 9-piece formation.

GEMMA RAY advance streams Milk For Your Motors.Oh yeah.

THE WYTCHES advance stream Annabel Dream Reader.

THURSTON MOORE drops the title track from The Best Day. And it's sorta Lou Reed-y, sorta country, sorta Sonic Youth.

DEERHOOF drops "Exit Only" ahead of La Isla Bonita.

CHUMPED drops a “Hot 97 Summer Jam” ahead of their That’s The Thing Is Like EP.

TOMMY JAMES & THE SHONDELLS topped the UK chart (twice) in August '68 with "Mony Mony," which peaked at No. 3 in the US.

SPOON gets a meaty profile at Stereogum.

THE NEW PR0NOGRAPHERS: A.C. Newman talks to Consequence of Sound about the new LP, the solo projects, Twitter, and more... (Thx, Frank Yang)

IAN MacKAYE talks to Bandwidth about Minor Threat, Fugazi, Ted Nugent and more.

FOO FIGHTERS take--and possibly win--the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

BEYONCE asked GWYNETH PALTROW for divorce advice? Too good to check.

JUSTIN BIEBER is getting sued again by a paparazzo.

KIM KARDASHIAN banked 400K from charity auctions? Too good to check.

ZAC EFRON and MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ  have split after nearly two months of dating.

ROBIN WILLIAMS will be honored by Billy Crystal at the Emmys.

KATIE HOLMES doesn't blame Tom Cruise for her acting career.

ELIZABETH VARGAS and MARC COHN will divorce after she completes rehab.

ISRAEL: Mohammed Deif, the shadowy leader of Hamas's armed wing in Gaza, appears to have narrowly survived a fifth attempt to assassinate him, allowing the mastermind of the six-week war on Israel to pursue the conflict from his network of tunnels.

FRANCE: Foreign Minister Fabius warned that the Islamic State's ambitions extend beyond the Middle East, and said France wants the UN Security Council nations as well as countries in the region to join the fight against the Islamic State.

SYRIA: U.S. special operations forces early this summer launched a secret, major rescue operation in Syria to save James Foley and a number of Americans held by the extremist group ISIS, but the mission failed because the hostages weren’t there, senior administration officials told ABC News.

LIBYA: The Shura Council of Islamic Youth publicly executed an Egyptian man in a Derna football stadium filled with applauding spectators; the al Qaeda-linked group similarly executed two men in Derna on July 27.

IRAQ: Unmanned US drones conducted airstrikes against Islamic State militants in Iraq and the Pentagon is said to be considering sending up to 300 more US security forces to Baghdad. President Obama vowed that the US would be relentless in bringing justice to the Islamic State terrorists who beheaded US journalist James Foley. Amid growing concerns about the plight of Iraq’s Christians, a group of leading international scholars of Christian language and culture in the Middle East issued a call for an internationally protected safe haven for Christians in Iraq on Monday.

LET SLEEPING CATS LIE.

TENS OF THOUSANDS OF BATS forced the closure of parts of Dan Gleeson Park in Kirwan. The Townsville City Council will look at block access to ponds using heavy foliage.

CROWS and other animals experience grief at the loss of a loved one, according to a new book about people’s attitudes towards the biggest mass extinction for 65 million years.

AN OWL flew into a 10th story apartment in Coeur d'Alene, ID, apparently opened a bird cage and killed one of two canaries inside.

REAL ESTATE plays The Cranberries' "Linger" for the A.V. Club Undercover.

THE NEW PR0NOGRAPHERS advance stream Brill Bruisers via iTunes radio.

THE RENTALS advance stream Lost in Alphaville.

CONNECTIONS stream Into Sixes.

CASSIE RAMONE (fmr Vivian Girls)advance streams The Time Has Come.

LEONARD COHEN drops "Almost Like the Blues" ahead of Popular Problems.

HALF JAPANESE drops "Our Love" ahead of Overjoyed, their first in 13 years.

NICOLE ATKINS covers Springsteen's "Dancing In The Dark" for a Born in the USA tribute.

THE EMOTIONS: "Best Of My Love" topped the chart on this date in 1977, the start of a five-week run.

SHARON VAN ETTEN talks to SPIN about past musical loves, songwriting and more...

DANIEL RADCLIFFE picks his musical favorites, and considers portraying Iggy Pop.

DON'T VOGUE:They're all dead now.

THE BEST 100 LPs OF THE (Four-Year) DECADE, accoring to Pitchfork.

ZOE SALDANA confirms she's pregnant during the Ice Bucket Challenge.

GISELLE BUNDCHEN tops the Forbes list of highest-paid models.

JENNIFER LOPEZ & CASPER SMART: Together again?

COLDPLAY, RHIANNA & KATY PERRY have been approached about playing the Super Bowl...on a pay-to-play basis.

JARED LETO, sized up by Alexis Arquette.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH will voice Shere Khan in Warners' take on The Jungle Book.

JOHNNY DEPP, KEVIN SMITH and their daughters, all in the same movie.

ISRAEL: A ceasefire in the Gaza Strip collapsed on Tuesday, with Palestinian militants firing dozens of rockets at Israel and Israel launching air strikes that health officials said killed three people.

LIBYA: Islamist militias continued to clash with pro-government forces in Tripoli, where airstrikes reportedly targeted militias that had not agreed to the government's order for a ceasefire.

SAUDI ARABIA:  Saudi Grand Mufti Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh on Tuesday blasted Al-Qaeda and Islamic State jihadists as "enemy number one" of Islam, in a statement issued in Riyadh.

SYRIA: A video posted online Tuesday purported to show the beheading of journalist James Foley by the militant group Islamic State, nearly two years after the American disappeared in Syria.

IRAQ: When Islamic State militants stormed into a northern Iraqi village and ordered everyone to convert to Islam or die only one person refused; ISIS then killed 80 men and kidnaped the women and children. More than 1500 Yazidi women seized by Islamic extremists in Iraq reportedly are being forced to 'marry' their captors.

A SUPER-RAT attacks a NYC subway passenger.

AN ALBINO CROCODILE NAMED MICHAEL JACKSON has been shot dead after it ate a man in front of his wife.

A NEWBORN BABY PANDA with its Mom in a Chinese zoo.

RARE BIRDS are being scared off Passage Key by nudists.

RYAN ADAMS dropped a video for "Gimme Something Good." Yep, that's Elvira.

WAND advance streams the trippy Ganglion Reef.

OK GO stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

SONNY KNIGHT & THE LAKERS stopped by World Cafe for a soulful mini-set.

PUSS N BOOTS stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979 drops "Government Trash" ahead of The Physical World.

NUDE BEACH drops the catchy-as-Hell popwer pop of "For You" ahead of the 77 LP.

THE FLAMING LIPS: Wayne Coyne talks to SPIN about Miley, Kesha, and the Sgt Pepper's tribute LP.

VASHTI BUNYAN talks to PopMatters about Heartleap, her first since 2005's Lookaftering.

THE BEST LIVE ALBUMS, according to Paste.

THE BEST 200 TRACKS of the Decade, according to Pitchfork.

CHRISTIAN BALE and his wife, Sibi Bale, have welcomed their second child, a boy.

CHARLIE SHEEN puts his own twist on the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.

CHRIS MARTIN was attracted to JENNIFER LAWRENCE because she's the polar opposite of Gwyneth Paltrow, according to a new report.

MILLA JOVOVICH and her husband, director and producer Paul W.S. Anderson, are expecting their second child.

ROBIN WILLIAMS' suicide was spontaneous.

LINDSAY LOHAN is working on a memoir about her life, and it's apparently going to be a trilogy.

IAN SOMERHALDER & NIKKI REED are officially a thing.

KID ROCK will be a grandfather. Get Off My Lawn.

DON PARDO, , the magisterial announcer of Saturday Night Live for nearly 40 years — the highlight of seven heard and hardly seen decades at NBC — has reportedly died. He was 96.

UKRAINE: The Ukrainian military on Sunday moved into the heart of the separatist hub of Luhansk for the first time, officials said, chipping at one of the cornerstones of the pro-Russia rebels’ disintegrating virtual state.

ISRAEL: The Gaza ceasefire has been extended for a further 24 hours after talks in Cairo.

LIBYA: Renegade General Khalifa Haftar's air force was responsible for strikes on Islamist-leaning militia in Tripoli on Monday, one of his commanders said, after weeks of fighting for the capital in Libya's worst violence since Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in 2011.

IRAQ: President  Obama on Monday said “important progress” is being made in Iraq and that Kurdish and Iraqi forces have successfully retaken a strategically important dam from Islamic militants.Also, Iran may invade Iraq.

A CORGI gets a massage.

THE VORACIOUS VELVET WORM ensnares foes with jest of slime.

THE GIRAFFE PEN: Not entirely safe for humans, oddly enough.

A BLIND BISON is looking for a new home.

THE BLACK KEYS drop a NSFW clip for “Weight Of Love”.

LET'S ACTIVE reunited, with Suzi Ziegler of Game Theory sitting in for the late Faye Hunter.  Stereogum has video of “Waters Part”, “Every Word Means No”, and “Ornamental”.

J MASCIS advance streams Tied to a Star.

TY SEGALL advance streams Manipulator.

SHOVELS & ROPE advance streams Swimmin' Time.

MERCHANDISE advance streams After the End.

FIELD REPORT drops  “Home (Leave The Lights On),”ahead of Marigolden.

BLONDE REDHEAD gives away "The One I Love." (Not an REM cover)

BECK drops "Loser" as a teaser for his Austin City Limits appearance.

RYAN ADAMS talks to the New York Times Magazine about making amends with his record label, getting clean and bridging the gap between punk and metal.

MICHAEL CERA talks to Stereogum about his surprise albim, True That.

THE THURSTON MOORE BAND plays a near-accidental debut gig.

DEV HYNES' muscial journey is traced by The Guardian.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles repeats atop the chart with 28.4 million; that's a 57 percent drop, but the reboot's 117 million domestic nearly recoups its production budget. Guardians of the Galaxy repeats in second with 24.7 million, on a leggier 41 percent drop. Guardians --which has already beaten the theatrical runs for both Thor movies and the first Captain America flick--now seems likely to beat out Transformers 4 for the biggest film of the summer.  It needs to make about a half-billion to profit, and likely will, given that it has yet to open in some big European and Asian markets.  The ill-timed debut of Let's Be Cops still shows with 26 million against a 17 million budget.  The Expendables 3 underperformed with a 16.2 million fourth-place debut (earlier installments opened at 34.8 and 28.6 million).That seems like a flop, but this franchise has been incraesingly big overseas, so this may not be the end of the series.The opening of The Giver rounds out the Top 5 with 12.8 million, which sounds bad until you note the budget was only 25 million.

CHRISTINA AGUILERA and fiance Matt Rutler welcomed their first child together, a baby girl, on Saturday.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE & CHRIS MARTIN have been spending quality together since late June.

DENZEL WASHINGTON detoxed for weeks after a wild, alcohol-fueled, gluttonous month-long vacation.

JUSTIN BIEBER & SELENA GOMEZ...at Bible study?

LINDSAY LOHAN has spoken about her reaction to James Franco's short story about her for the first time. 

KENDRA WILKINSON and Hank Baskett seem happily together again, suggesting their turmoil may have been scripted for reality TV.

FRANK MILLER is profiled by The New York Times ahead of Sin City: A Dame To Kill For.

UKRAINE: The so-called Russian aid convoy was virtually empty. A cynic might think the entire purpose was to provoke. Ukrainian forces have advanced into one of the last remaining separatist strongholds in a significant breakthrough in the civil war.

LEBANON: The US issued a travel warning for Lebanon noting that the Islamic State, the Al Nusrah Front, the Abdullah Azzam Brigades, and Hezbollah all operate there, and stressed the increasing frequency of suicide bombings.

SYRIA: The Islamic State clashed with regime forces in Raqqah in Al Tabaqa; and in Aleppo, where the IS also battled the Islamic Front, the Al Nusrah Front, and Kurdish forces. In Deir Izzour, the Islamic State told families of Labor City oilfield workers to vacate their homes so foreign fighters could move in. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the IS has executed 700 al-Sheitaat tribesmen in Deir Izzour over the past two weeks; the head of the tribe called for other tribes to join in resisting the IS. The Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front fought regime forces in Hama and Aleppo. The Islamic State is also said to be closing in on the Islamic Front stronghold of Marea in Aleppo.

IRAQ: Kurdish fighters pushed to retake Iraq's largest dam on Sunday in an attempt to reverse gains by Islamic State insurgents who have overrun much of the country's north.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: A militant rodent attempts to rape scientific equipment.

THE BIRDS: Seagulls steal ice cream at St Ives beach.

SHARKS attack Google.

CUPPY THE CAT trapped its owners in the bedroom. This is not that earlier cat, it's another cat.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

with ELVIS PRESLEY! The King died on August 16, 1977, but remains a global pop phenomenon, so it's worth a recap of highlights from his legendary career.  For the 30th anniversary, Canada's Star-Phoenix, discussing ten important parts of Elvis history worth reliving, noted: "His was a sequined coat of many colours: '50s Greaser Elvis. Military Elvis. Hollywood Elvis. Aloha from Hawaii Elvis. Vegas Elvis. And, ultimately, Dead Fat Elvis."  The BBC had friend and aide Sonny West recall life with The King. 

ACTION NEWS 5 still has its local coverage from Aug. 16-17, 1977 (here, here, here and here) on the Tube, where you can also see funeral footage from the BBC Archive.  Here's read the obit that ran the next day in the Washington Post. Elvis Presley News recaps the international headlines from the event and links to the eulogy at his funeral. On a happier note, check out what is likely the first footage taken of Elvis, with backstage shots of Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Buddy Holly in 1955; shades of Walk The Line!  Let's start with his performance of "Hound Dog" o­n The Milton Berle Show six months later, not o­nly because it's historic, but also because Paul Miller and I often reached for it when we would stumble into our KUSR shift at the last minute -- on the broadcast, Uncle Miltie vamped for awhile, which gave us time to pull records for the show.  He was also iconic in "Jailhouse Rock" that year.  Elvis sang a mashup of "Love Me Tender" and "Witchcraft" with Frank Sinatra when he got back from the Army.  All of his movies -- such as "Viva Las Vegas" --made money, but his musical career stalled in the 1960s until he electrified and charmed the public with his televised '68 Comeback Special.  1970 finds him singing "In The Ghetto" and "Suspicious Minds" in the jumpsuit, though pre-bloated.  I'm going to throw in "Little Sister" just 'cause I like it.  Sadly, in a few short years, bloated jumpuit Elvis would be delivering a wacked-out take on "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" -- though to be fair, this audio-only version from 1969 is even more demented and he knows it.  I would rather remember Jumpsuit Elvis for the signature horns that open "See See Rider."  a tribute to his enduring legacy as the fact that he could hit the charts decades after his death with a remix of "A Little Less Conversation," a video subtly recalling "Jailhouse Rock," and Paul Oakenfold's remix of "Rubberneckin'". The King may be gone, but the brand lives on, making millions and recruiting new fans under the watchful eyes of Elvis Presley Enterprises and CKX, Inc.

GREETINGS FROM GRACELAND:  It must be said, however, that Elvis Presley Enterprises did not have a good handle on the King's affairs in the years immediately following his death.  Chicago radio personalities Steve Dahl and Garry Meier won a local emmy for their 1981 comedic look at what was then a very seedy exploitation of Elvis in Memphis. (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7.)

MOJO NIXON & SKID ROPER: "Elvis Is Everywhere."

ELVIS WEEK 2014: The King Lives on in Memphis.

SPOON stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

AROARA is advance streaming In The Pines.

CHORUS GRANT is advance streaming Space.

TWEEDY is "Flowering" ahead of Sukierae.

THE AFGHAN WHIGS cover The Police hit "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic."

WOODSTOCK: On Aug. 15-17, 1969, hundreds of thousands of people gathered in a lovely natural amphitheater in Bethel (not Woodstock), NY for "three days of peace and music," including sets from Crosby, Stills and Nash, The Who, Santana, Joe Cocker, Jefferson Airplane, Arlo Guthrie, Canned Heat, Jimi Hendrix, and the proverbial many more.

RICHARD THOMPSON talks to Drowned In Sound about the current folk scene, life as a touring musician, the Guitar Camp he set up in Woodstock 3 years ago, his passion for cricket and Chelsea Football Club, and the Islamic faith he converted to in 1974.

NINE 90s BANDS, from the "Where Are They Now?" file.

WHY DO WE LOVE the music we heard as teenagers?  It's science!

THE GROSSEST BAND MERCH, according to NME.

CUTOUT BIN:From the Clash to Gordon Lightfoot, from Chuck Berry to the Butthole Surfers, from the Faces to the Lemonheads, plus Bob Dylan, the Replacements, the Beta Band, the Shangri-Las and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING:This weekend's wide releases are: The Expendables 3, which is currently scoring 32 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; Let's Be Cops, which opened Wednesday and is scoring 10 percent; and The Giver, scoring 28 percent.

ROBIN WILLIAMS was battling the early stages of Parkinson's disease, it has been revealed by his widow, Susan Schneider.

SAVANNAH GUTHRIE gave birth to a baby girl.

NICKI MANAJ has bettered Michael Jackson's record for the most Billboard Hot 100 hits. This more a comment on internet age charts than artistic quality.

MICHAEL STRAHAN & NICOLE MURPHY may reconcile.

REESE WITHERSPOON, rocking out the way only white girls can during what looks like a wedding-related event.

LINDSAY LOHAN predicts she'll mess up her stage debut.

UKRAINE: A pro-Russian rebel leader in one eastern Ukrainian city resigned and shells reportedly rocked another rebel-held area Thursday as the Ukrainian military kept up its deadly offensive to retake separatist strongholds.

ISRAEL: A new, five-day truce between Israel and Hamas appeared to be holding on Thursday despite a shaky start.

LIBYA:Tripoli University has closed due to continuing insecurity in the capital city. Ansar al Sharia ignored the Parliament's call for an unconditional ceasefire in Benghazi and Tripoli. Operation Dignity forces bombed a boat allegedly carrying fighters and weapons from Syria as it approached the port of Derna on Aug. 11; Islamist fighters in the city tried to hit the Operation Dignity plane with anti-aircraft missiles.

IRAQI Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has stepped aside, ending political deadlock in Baghdad as the government struggles against insurgents. Most of the tens of thousands of Yazidis who scrambled up Mount Sinjar to escape advancing militants have now climbed down, said Pres. Obama while calling off an evacuation plan. Yazidi leaders and emergency relief officials on Thursday strongly disputed American claims that the siege of Mount Sinjar in northern Iraq had been broken and that the crisis was effectively over, saying that tens of thousands of Yazidis remained on the mountain in desperate conditions.

MAYMO THE BEAGLE balances fruits and veggies on his head.

THE POCKET GOPHER: Endangered, but well-endowed.

A SALMON CANNON which sucks fish out of water and fires them over barriers such as dams has been developed.

DUKE THE DOG was elected Mayor of Cormorant, MN.