THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with SQUEEZE!  Despite a new LP, some of you whippersnappers may never heard of Difford, Tilbrook & Co., who previously reeled of stellar string of pop gems, including "Take Me I'm Yours", "Cool for Cats", "Up the Junction", "Goodbye Girl,"  "Another Nail in My Heart", "Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)", "If I Didn't Love You", and the one most people know -- even if they don't know it's Squeeze -- "Tempted", which features transient member Paul Carrack on vox and keys.  Fun fact: Carrack was also responsible for the classic, "How Long" as a member of Ace.

THE DUKE SPIRIT advance streams KIN.

NOTHING advance streams Tired of Tomorrow.

CORINNE BAILEY RAE advance streams The Heart Speaks In Whispers.

COUNTRY SOUL SISTERS III: An Aquarium Drunkard mixtape.

AMANDA PALMER and her father Jack cover Richard Thompson's great “1952 Vincent Black Lightning."

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS stream a cover of War's "Summer," ahead of Amazon's Songs of the Summer playlist.

THE HOUSEMARTINS: It's "Happy Hour" again.

JULIANA HATFIELD writes about her financial struggles and the letter from Kurt Cobain she may sell.

TEDDY THOMPSON & KELLY JONES talk about their old school collaboration.

PRINCE and his three personas. Also, Paul McCartney went a little crazy in Mpls. Authorities in Minnesota have made the overprescribing practices of Prince's doctors the focus of their investigation.

THE TOP 10 BEATLES BOOKS, according to Rolling Stone. I'd add Tell Me Why.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR is the weekend's sole wide release, currently scoring 92 percent on the ol' Tomatometer. One of the great things about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is their ability to change up the genre of their films.  Captain America: The First Avenger was largely a classic WWII movie that happened to have a super-soldier in it. Captain America: Winter Soldier is basically a 1970s-era political thriller with a super-soldier in it.  Captain America: Civil War is largely a superhero movie with a super-soldier in it.  The Avengers are here, minus a couple who are swapped out for three of the newest additions to the MCU -- two provide comic relief, two to further expand the universe, and one to further the drama. At a plot level, much of the film addresses the collateral damage of the emergence of superheroes in the world. This idea has already surfaced in films like Batman v Superman and even Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. It also brings in the notion of forced retirement for some heroes, as seen in Watchmen and The Incredibles.  What distinguishes Civil War from those movies and keeps those ideas fresh is that this main plot -- and another plot involving the actual villain of the piece -- are ultimately not just a device but a backdrop to explore the emotional themes of loyalty, guilt and revenge, as well as the small-p political theme of individual vs collective responsibility. Moreover, for fans of the Marvel films, these themes get unspooled among characters and relationships we have seen developed over the course of these franchises, lending them more ballast than one tends to get from the DC films (this parallels the history of comics, in which DC created most of the icons, while Marvel's appeal came from developing the people behind the masks). For example --and I will keep this vague to not spoil anything -- there is a discussion between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers which gets echoed in Stark's conversation with a new (but familiar) character in a different context which is so subtly handled that many may miss how Stark processes it the second time.  Rest assured that Civil War is not as heavy as all of this may suggest; it's also got plenty of action set-pieces, surprises and laughs.  Yet it is the degree to which the film succeeds in balancing all of these things and managing an even-larger ensemble cast that left me rarely wondering about its 2 hr, 26 minute running time. It is stuffed with much more than a movie like Batman v Superman while feeling much less overstuffed.  And yes, stay to the very end of the credits.

ROBERT DOWNEY JR nursed CHRIS EVANS after an on-set injury.

RHIANNA & DRAKE  have been “secretly dating for months,” according to People magazine.

ALDEN EHRENREICH is reportedly set to play young Han Solo in a future Star Wars spin-off.

POWER RANGERS have a new look for their upcoming movie.

ARSENIO HALL is suing SINEAD O'CONNOR for five million bucks.

NORTH KOREA: Kim Jong-un arrives at the seventh congress of the governing Workers’ Party today; he will essentially be attending his own coronation.

PAKISTAN: Police arrested members of a tribal council Thursday for killing a teenage girl for helping a couple elope.

AN ADORABLE BEAVER turned up outside a DC Metro stop.

HEY, IS THAT A PYTHON in your pants, or...oh.

A BUNNY HOARDER freaks out in court.

A LOST DOG on a London bus was reunited with his family.

CINCO DE MAYO STARTS HERE: 

...with LOS LOBOS: "I Got Loaded" (with an added snippet of "Turn On Your Lovelight") from their fabulous first full-lengther, How Will the Wolf Survive? "Don't Worry Baby," "Evangeline," "Our Last Night," and "A Matter of Time" were on that album, too.

PEE WEE HERMAN: "Tequila." Obvs.

HERB ALPERT & THE TIJUANA BRASS: Rare video of "A Taste of Honey" from 1967.

CHEAP TRICK brings you the Mariachi mash-up of "Surrender."

JIMMY BUFFETT: Margaritaville. Obvs.

LIZ PHAIR: "Cinco de Mayo." Obvs.

PRINCE was found dead one day before he was scheduled to meet with a California doctor in an attempt to kick an addiction to painkillers, an attorney with knowledge of the death investigation.

SLY STONE: Let's celebrate him while he's still with us.

RYAN ADAMS revisits Heartbreaker at Rolling Stone.

LITTLE RICHARD has denied claims that he is “clinging to life”.

JANET JACKSON is expecting her first child with Qatari billionaire husband, Wissam Al Mana, two weeks before turning 50.

JAY Z is recording songs that will reveal his version of events surrounding the rough patch in his eight-year marriage to Beyoncé.

WOODY ALLEN talks to THR about mortality, Soon-Yi Previn, Miley Cyrus, and more.

CHLOE GRACE MORETZ talks to Glamour about feminism, sex, and the status quo.

BRITNEY SPEARS: Ready to stand on her own?

MARK HAMILL confirms an internet report about Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

THE AVENGERS: The Infinity War movies will be retitled because they are misleading.

VANESSA THE DUCK shuts down a school once a year.

RABID HEDGEHOGS are prowling the streets of Moscow and people have been warned to stay away for fear of infection.

A JACK RUSSELL TERRIER that fell into the Gulf of Mexico near Hernando Beach is alive, and it's a miraculous story of survival at sea.

GOOSE ATTACK Goes Viral.

RADIOHEAD dropped "Burn The Witch," the lead single from their forthcoming ninth studio album.

FRIGHTENED RABBIT stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

SAM BEAM & JESCA HOOP stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

CLOUD CULT stopped by WNYC's Soundcheck for a mini-set and interview.

THE MONKEES drop “You Bring The Summer,” written by XTC’s Andy Partridge.

THE SMITHEREENS: "Behind The Wall Of Sleep" Live on TheTube, 1987.

MITCH EASTER is profiled on World Cafe, along with a playlist of his productions.

ROGUE WAVE: Zach Rogue talks to PopMatters about ‘80s music, theremins, and fatherhood.

DAVID BOWIE's final record sleeve contains a surprise.

OLDCHELLA: Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney, the Who, Neil Young and Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters are confirmed for the Oct. 7-9 event at the Empire Polo Field in Indio, the annual site of the Coachella and Stagecoach music festivals.

AMY SCHUMER is inciting 4 million people to go after a guy who snagged photos and video of her without her approval — and he says those fans are threatening his life.

EDDIE MURPHY is a dad of nine after welcoming a baby girl on Tuesday.

PRINCE secretly helped Afghan orphans.

INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE visits 20 years of alternate history.

STAR TREK BEYOND is not the end of a trilogy.

BAD MOMS has a NSFW red band trailer online.

HAMILTON: The hip-hop musical about America’s first Treasury secretary was nominated for 16 Tony Awards, more than any other show in Broadway history.

VENEZUELA's state oil firm has issued at least 310MM million in debt to companies including General Electric Co as it negotiates private issuances to pay off its suppliers.

HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPOS, eating watermelons.

A WEASEL took down CERN's Large Hadron Collider. You know squirrels planned it though.

EGRETS generally are led by the most stylin.

A LIVE EAGLE-CAM will occasionally not be pretty.

ERIC BACHMANN (Archers Of Loaf, Crooked Fingers) shows "Mercy." A little bit indie, a little bit Spector. (NSFW)

BEVERLY streams The Blue Swell.

OLIVER WILDE advance streams Long Hold Star, An Infinite Abduction, a “long form EP."

LITTLE SCREAM advance streams Cult Following.

THE EDGE covers Leonard Cohen's “If It Be Your Will” during the first contemporary set in the Sistine Chapel.

BIG STAR's THIRD: An all-star cast of musicians teamed up to cover Big Star’s 1978 album Third (and a few encore tracks).

LEAPLING shares a "One Hit Wonder" ahead of Suspended Animation.

JACKIE WILSON performs "Higher and Higher" plus "Lonely Teardrops" for Twofer Tuesday, introduced by Del Shannon and Roy Orbison. (via Pate's Jon Hahn).

JOHN DOE of X gives Fresh Air a personal history of L.A. Punk.

THE CARS: Ric Ocasek talks to Magnet about producing, songwriting, and the band's box set.

RUSH: 40 Years of 2112.

PRINCE: Rolling Stone's lost cover story. His heirs have "agreed to openly communicate with each other and to have regular communication." In the months leading to his death, Prince suffered from frequent sore throats and seemed to be losing weight, his personal chef has said.

KATE UPTON & JASON VERLANDER are engaged.

KERRY WASHINGTON is pregnant and expecting her second child with husband Nnamdi Asomugha.

SPACE JAM may be getting a sequel starring LeBron James.

KATE HUDSON & NICK JONAS were spotted on another dinner date.

JULIA ROBERTS made 3MM for four days of work.

JON FAVREAU could return to a director's chair in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

TOM HIDDLESTON talks to THR about sex appeal, The Night Manager, and (obligatory) James Bond.

KITTENS do things for the first time.

A GIANT FEMALE SPIDER forces males to perform 'oral sex' up to 100 times in one session.

CATTERBOX purports to be the first cat-human translator.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: Orphaned baby squirrels are being hand-reared and fed from syringes after they were made homeless when their tree was chopped down. Humanity will regret its weakness someday.

OVER 47 MILLION SERVED! Thanks to everyone who keeps stopping by...

JIMMY FALLON & PAUL RUDD make a shot-by-shot recreation of the video for Styx's "Too Much Time on My Hands."

COURTNEY BARNETT stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

ALOHA advance streams Little Windows Cut Right Through.

BLESSED ISLES stream Straining Hard Against the Strength of Night.

THE MONKEES drop "She Makes Me Laugh," written by Weezer's Rivers Cuomo.

THE RAVEONETTES' April single is "Junko Azawa."

FRIGHTENED RABBIT covers Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets Of Philadelphia."

LOCAL NATIVES share "Past Lives," their first new track in three years.

R. DEAN TAYLOR: "Indiana Wants Me." I have fond memories of The Service's cover version.

PRINCE: Authorities descended on a Walgreens near Paisley Park and served a search warrant, looking for a prescription paper trail that could unravel the cause of Prince's death. On a nicer note, Tom Petty reminisces about Prince's spectacular turn at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

RADIOHEAD has erased its internet presnce. Is something brewing?

ELVIS COSTELLO talks to The Guardian about social media, surveillance being British, and his love of curling.

THE ZAPPAS are in a family trademark dispute.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: The Jungle Book threepeats atop the chart with 42.4MM, on a leggy 31 percent drop...but Captain America: Civil War will almost certainly be king of the cinema jungle next weekend. Of course, they're both from Disney, so the House of Mouse won't be terribly distraught. The Huntsman: Winter's War places a distant second with 9.39MM on a steep 52 percent drop from what was already a bad debut. Keanu shows close behind with an estimated 9.35MM (and could squeak into second when the actual receipts are tallied), which should be fine against a 15MM production budget, given that it's more likely to play as counter programming to the Marvel juggernaut over the ext few weeks.  Mother's Day, otoh,debuted in the fourth slot with 8.3MM against a 25MM budget, which means it must do boffo biz next weekend to have a shot at profit in theaters. Barbershop: The Next Cut rounds out the Top Five with 6.1MM, which continues to disappoint, though it should reach profit on the big screen.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR -- Behind the scenes with NME.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE has no love life, and may not want one at the moment.

JOHN KRASINSKI will play Jack Ryan for Amazon.

WILL FERRELL has backed out of playing an Alzheimer's-stricken Ronald Reagan for laughs.

PHILIP KIVES, the founder of K-Tel International, tireless TV pitchman whose commercials implored viewers to "wait, there's more!" while selling everything from vegetable slicers to hit music compilations on vinyl, has died at age 87.

NORTH KOREA sentenced a U.S. citizen of Korean heritage to 10 years in prison after convicting him of espionage and subversion, the second American it has put behind bars this year.

IRAQ: Hundreds of supporters of Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr stormed parliament inside Baghdad's Green Zone on Saturday and camped out nearby after Sadr denounced politicians' failure to reform a political quota system blamed for rampant corruption.Meanwhile, Iraq’s oil exports approached a record high in April, adding barrels to a worldwide supply glut.

KANGAROOS: What nightmares are made of?

RATS are (re-)invading NYC.

SLEEPLESS SLUGS are on a very slow march in the UK.

A GANG OF SEX-CRAZED PEACOCKS is making life pretty tricky for the residents of Ushaw Moor in Durham.