THEE OH SEES "Drop" the title track to their upcoming LP.

WOODS advance stream With Life and With Love.

WILLIS EARL BEAL surprise streams Curious Cool.

THE HOLD STEADY plays a mini-set at WNYC Soundcheck.

DUM DUM GIRLS play a mini-set at WNYC Soundcheck.

TUNE-YARDS drops “Wait For A Minute,” a surprisingly conventional smooth jam.

SNIFF 'N THE TEARS: "Driver's Seat," from the Boogie Nights soundtrack and Craig O'Neill's vault.

KIM DEAL talks to Stereogum about her solo singles series and the future of the Breeders.

DEAN WAREHAM is profiled by T magazine.

SCREAMING FEMALES: Jenn Pelly highlights the new album, Live at the Hideout, and shares a video from the shows at Pitchfork.

MY HUSBAND'S STUPID RECORD COLLECTION: A Wife's Tumblr. At least they aren't fighting about it.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON is profiled by Vanity Fair and Glamour. And don't call her Scar-Jo.

PEACHES GELDOF: Police find no drugs or suicide note.

MILEY CYRUS talks about heartbreak, sex, Disney and depression at Elle.

KIRSTEN DUNST shocked Harper's Bazaar UK readers with her traditional view of relationships between men and women.

SIMON COWELL is "not proud" of his affair, but likes the baby well enough.

ARCHIE is not long for this world. (But not really.)

THE SINISTER SIX: The villains from Amazing Spider-Man 2 are already being spun off.

RUSSIA warned Tuesday that any use of force in Ukraine's eastern region could lead to civil war, as Kiev seeks to regain control after pro-Moscow uprisings in three cities.

VENEZUELA: A coalition of opposition parties says it is willing to enter into talks with the government as long as certain conditions are met.

IRAN: US Secretary of State Kerry warned that Iran has the capability to produce fissile material for a nuclear bomb in two months.

CAT IN THE BOX: Very Suddenly.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: It's Squirrel Week; Get Informed.

A DUCK was busted for home invasion in North Reading, Mass.

A MICRO-PIG loaned to a school got sent to slaughter. Oops.

SHARON VAN ETTEN is "Taking Chances" in her latest video.

SWEET APPLE, ft. J Mascis and other indie vets, stream The Golden Age Of Glitter.

JESSICA LEA MAYFIELD advance streams Make My Head Sing.

SHEARWATER brought Jesca Hoop along to their mini-set at WNYC Soundcheck.

THE REPLACEMENTS, in a recording studio.

THE SMITHEREENS: Pat DiNizio sings "In a Lonely Place" with Suzanne Vega and "Blue Period" with Belinda Carlisle. A duo of duets for Twofer Tuesday.

THE NATIONAL did a Reddit Ask Me Anything.

JASON ISBELL talks to Under The Radar about writing sober and his musical roots.

DEBBIE HARRY was bisexual back in the day.

THE FOUR TOPS: The making of "Reach Out (I'll Be There)."

CHRIS MARTIN denied cheating on Gwyneth Paltrow with a TV assistant.

PEACHES GELDOF, second daughter of musician Bob Geldof and the late Paula Yates, has died aged 25, leaving a husband and two sons.

JUSTIN BIEBER is persona non grata at the hottest nightclubs in Miami.

ROB LOWE: It's not easy being handsome.

MICHAEL FASSBENDER caught canoodling with...Naomi Campbell?

CAPTAIN AMERICA 3 opens on May 6, 2016.

PETER MAYHEW will reprise his role as Chewbacca in Star Wars: Episode VII.

UKRAINE: Pro-Russia demonstrators in eastern Ukraine declared separatist republics in two cities on Monday, and Ukrainian officials accused Moscow of orchestrating the moves as the first step toward launching an invasion.

VENEZUELA: President Maduro is set to meet opposition leaders for the first time since the start of street protests that left 39 dead. Two close friends of Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López were found dead Sunday in a Caracas park. Globovision news channel chief correspondent Nairobi Pinto was taken captive Sunday at the entrance to her apartment building.

EGYPT: Foreign Minister Nabil Fahmy said there is evidence linking the Muslim Brotherhood and Ansar Jerusalem.

LIBYA: Protesters blocked roads in Tripoli, in solidarity with demonstrators conducting a general strike in Benghazi to protest the government's failure to provide security.

SYRIA: A vehicle blew up in a market near a police station in rebel-controlled Homs city, killing 29 Islamic fighters, including two commanders. State media said the car was being packed with explosives, but some activists said an ammunition depot had been struck by a regime rocket, while a rebel said the Al Nusrah Front and others had been preparing a car bomb.

DOGS EATING CABBAGE: Nom nom nom.

MORAY EELS have a second set of jaws, like in Alien.

IGUANAS invade Cape Coral.

ALMOST 400 COWS forced a plane to make an emergency landing.

ST VINCENT marked the anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death by covering "Lithium" at the Riv in Chicago.

THE AFGHAN WHIGS advance stream Do The Beast.

THE BOTH: Ted Leo and Aimee Mann advance stream their self-titled debut.

BEN WATT (Everything But The Girl) advance streams Hendra.

SLINT streams the remastered Spiderland. 

KURT COBAIN died 20 years ago last Saturday, but we've never stopped thinking about him. The Guardian posted a trove of its original coverage at Buzzfeed, and republished its reporting on his death on their own site (SPIN reupped its 1994 coverage also). LHB re-upped a collection of Nirvana covers. Everett True, who knew the singer, struggles to resurrect the spirit of the band. Stereogum ranks Nirvana's Top 10, and it doesn't include "Smells Like Teen Spirit."  I'll link to the Unplugged versions of my two faves, "About A Girl," and "All Apologies," with the hopes you vcan hear them better than Everett True can.

JOHN LYDON is set to star in a new production of the stage musical, Jesus Christ Superstar. Is he an anti-Christ, or is he?

ALEX CHILTON: Mark Hemingway reviews the first proper biography of Chilton, A Man Called Destruction, and recaps the history of Big Star's indie icon along the way.

DANCING WITH THE TSARS: A number of musicians make big bucks playing for dictators.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Captain America: The Winter Soldier easily tops the chart with 96.2 million. For perspective, consider that for movies not opening in November (when Thor: The Dark World made 5.1 million less in 2013) or the Summer blockbuster seasons, only The Hunger Games and Alice In Wonderland opened at over 100 million. The Cap sequel has also already grossed 207 million overseas -- more than the first Cap did in its entire theatrical run.  Marvel's trajectory for what were once considered second-tier superheroes is nothing less than astounding, the stuff of movie history.  Noah places with 17 million on a 61 percent skid accelerated by the return of the Avenger.  Divergent shows with 13 million on a 49 percent drop and crosses the 100 million mark. God's Not Dead moves up to the fourth slot with 7.7 million on a mere 12 percent drop. The Grand Budapest Hotel rounds out the Top 5 with 6.3 million on a 26 percent drop as the Wes Anderson pic finally hit wide release. At 87 million worldwide, it's already Anderson's biggest release, though only third domestically.

KEVIN FEIGE, the Marvel Studios exec who has been a main driver of this phenomenon, is profiled at BusinessWeek.

ANNA KENDRICK got nasty musically on SNL.

CHRIS BROWN may face a felony prosecution in Washington DC.

SNOOKI is pregnant with her second child.

HAYLIE DUFF is engaged to boyfriend Matt Rosenberg.

CHIWETEL EJIOFOR (12 Years A Slave), may be the next Bond Villain.

DEMI LOVATO appears to be topless in leaked cellphone pictures.

THE GOONIES are finally good enough for a sequel.

MICKEY ROONEY, the pint-sized actor who was one of MGM’s giant box office attractions in the late ’30s and early ’40s, has died, sources confirm. He was 93.

AUSTRALIA sent planes and ships to investigate signals detected by a Chinese ship in the hunt for a missing Malaysian jet, saying they matched black box beacons and were an “important and encouraging lead”.

UKRAINE accused Russia's President Vladimir Putin of orchestrating the seizure of state buildings in two eastern Ukrainian cities by pro-Russia protesters on Sunday, in a further escalation of tension between Kiev and Moscow. 

VENEZUELA: Protests erupted in Caracas late Friday after Venezuela's attorney general charged jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez with responsibility for anti-government demonstrations that have shaken the country since February.

AFGHANISTAN: Afghan and Western leaders have described Afghanistan's presidential election and the turnout as a success.

WILLIE works the toilet paper roll.

AMOROUS FROGS, Voyeuristic Crocodile.

GASOLINE LOVING SPIDERS force a second Mazda recall.

GOAT ESCAPE aided by a human in Des Moines. And the goat ate the ticket.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE...

...with THE TALKING HEADS!  Here's the expanded band -- including axeman Adrian Belew (who certainly influenced Jon Pratt's early work in Pate) -- in Rome, circa 1980.  Your setlist: "Psycho Killer," "Stay Hungry," "Cities," "I Zimbra," "Drugs," "Take Me To The River," "Crosseyed And Painless," "Life During Wartime," "Houses In Motion," and "Born Under Punches."

THE ORWELLS perform in the WNYC Soundcheck studio.

GARY NUMAN stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

NICK WATERHOUSE  revives the 60's feel of his hometown of Huntington Beach at KEXP.

BEAR'S DEN performs at WNYC Soundcheck.

SONIC AVENUES will be "In Your Head."

THE CURE: Yeah, it's that day of the week again.

ALEX CHILTON talked to Melody Maker circa 1985, courtesy of Rock's Backpages.

LYKKE LI talks to The Guardian about her new album, the music industry's sexual double standards – and her ideal festival experience.

WILD BEASTS talk to The Observer about their aversion to timid indie rock and why Miley Cyrus is inspirational.

THE HIPSTER MUSIC INDEX: Priceonomics scatterplots how obscure your musical taste is.

CUTOUT BIN: From the Jesus & Mary Chain to Hall & Oates, from the Velvet Underground to Culture Club, from Queen to The Jam, plus Let's Active, Bob Mould, The Orwells, Joan Jett and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER is this weekend's sole wide release, currently scoring 88 percent on the ol' Tomatometer. It is, as the pre-release promotion suggested, Marvel Studios' version of a 70s political thriller like 3 Days of the Condor, which apparently required Marvel to land Robert Redford for a significant role here also.  It draws on characters from the Cap canon, but is less faithful to the original "Winter Soldier" books than, say, Iron Man 3 was to the "Extremis" run of books.  That may actually be a good thing as the Cap/S.H.I.E.L.D. storylines in question ultimately become too wildly convoluted for a mass audience, imho.  In its place is a plot that is probably as close as the Marvelverse will come to a "ripped from the headlines" approach (which is to say only vaguely close) and one that still honors the latter-day Steve Rogers as a man who serves while questioning authority.  The movie also builds on Joss Whedon's development of Black Widow in The Avengers, while propelling both Steve and Natasha along their arcs to The Avengers: Age of Ultron (As with Thor: The Dark World, asequence amid the end credits offers more hints of where this is headed, especially for comic book nerds).  Like Iron Man 3, this installment has plenty of action in the first and third acts as our protagonists unravel a mystery in Act 2.  The action in the first act is mostly realistic, so the audience doesn't suffer from CGI fatigue before the big finale.  However, if you have really young kids, consider that humans get killed in pretty realistic ways if that's an issue for you.  Otherwise, it's plenty entertaining.

DAVE LETTERMAN announced his retirement. He was so funny once.

JAMES FRANCO tried to pick up a 17-year-old girl on Instagram.

CHRIS BROWN flew Con Air.

ADRIAN BRODY & LEIGHTON MEESTER were caught canoodling on camera in Manhattan.

JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT says she's not obsessed with losing her baby weight. Good for her.

THE BIG BANG THEORY & LUCASFILM are teaming up for a very special episode.

FILM CRITICS: Matt Zoller Seitz would like more focus on the filmmaking.

RUSSIA recalled its ambassador to NATO for consultations Thursday, two days after NATO member countries suspended cooperation with Russia over the Ukraine crisis.

THE UNITED KINGDOM: The Muslim Brotherhood, which is accused of planning attacks from the UK, warned that it will sue the government if an investigation results in restrictions on its UK activities.

SYRIA: The top negotiator for the Syrian Opposition Coalition tells The Daily Beast there will be no more peace talks in Geneva unless the regime drastically changes its tune. Former Guantanamo detainee Ibrahim Bin Shakaran, a.k.a. Brahim Benchakroun or Abu Ahmad al Maghribi, was reportedly killed in Latakia while leading his Sham al Islam group.

A BABY ELEPHANT tries to stand for the first time.

LUNCH WITH A LIZARD? In Hanoi, they go beyond cat and dog cafes.

A DOG saved her owner by performing the Heimlich maneuver.

A GIRAFFE almost soaks a couple of birds with a giant sneeze.

CLOUD NOTHINGS drop a video for "I'm Not Part Of Me."

SLASHER FLICKS, ft Avey Tare (Animal Collective) advance streams The Slasher House.

SCHOOL OF LANGUAGE (a Field Music side project) advance streams Old Fears.

COURTNEY BARNETT and her bandmates are currently touring Australia with Billy Bragg, but stopped by WFUV's Studio A for a conversation and live performance.And here she is covering The Lemonheads' "Bein' Around."

WILD CHILD stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

NICK DRAKE: The previously unheard "Reckless Jane" has been released by musician and friend Beverley Martyn.

CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH drop "Coming Down," ft The National's Matt Berringer, as the first single from Only Run.

RED RIDER: Younger folks may remember Tom Cochrane for telling us life is a highway, but "Lunatic Fringe" found his prior band featured on the Vision Quest soundtrack, delivering the pseudo-Floyd-goods. Another nugget from the grooveyard of forgotten favorites, unearthed by by a friend from the Twitterverse.

THE AFGHAN WHIGS: Greg Dulli takes a track-by-track tour of Do The Beast. (Thx, Frank Yang.) 

OWEN PALLETT usues music theory to explain the genius of...Lady Gaga.

FLEA is writing a memoir.

GREEN DAY: The A.V. Club looks back at Dookie, released 20 years ago. Get. Off. My. Lawn.

JUSTIN BIEBER is about to score a very sweet plea deal in his Miami Beach DUI case.

REGINA SPEKTOR has welcomed her first child, a boy, with husband Jack Dishel.

BROOKE BURKE CHARVET crashed her Maserati early Wednesday morning.

CHRIS BROWN is resisting a flight on Con Air.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON gets to become a completely different kind of superhuman in Luc Besson's upcoming sci-fi thriller Lucy.

ALEC GUINNESS, who would have been 100 yesterday, writes to a friend as he begrudgingly prepares to shoot Star Wars.

UKRAINE: NATO's military chief warned Wednesday that Russian troops could begin moving on Ukraine within 12 hours of being given an order, amid fears that Moscow could seek to invade its eastern region. In the weeks since Russian forces seized Crimea, Vladimir Putin’s plan for mainland Ukraine has become increasingly clear: partition.

VENEZUELA: Maduro is trying to project the image of domestic control to those outside the country; inside, it's a different picture.

LIBYA: In the absence of state institutions, Qur'anic schools in Libya are left to operate on their own. But residents of Benghazi are expressing alarm at the growing number of radical preachers and their impact on kids.

AFGHANISTAN: Six Taliban, One Bullet.

A SHEEP and a DOG are pals. The other sheep are thinking, "Wut?"

WHY EUROPEAN ZOOS favor euthanasia to birth control.

CHUPACABRA captured in Texas? Of course not, but you know you want a look.

A TEXAS DOG escaped to Ohio in just four days.