BECK has started a Record Club, in which he and friends will cover an album in a day, and release a track a week.  The inaugural track is a lovely version of "Sunday Morning," from The Velvet Underground and Nico.

ELVIS PERKINS IN DEARLAND played the World Cafe on Friday; you can stream the gig on demand via NPR.

BAT FOR LASHES: Natasha Khan has an interview+tracks with NPR's Weekend Edition.

METRIC stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set streaming via MPR.

THE AVETT BROS are profiled by Paste and LexGo. (Thx, LHB.)

GUIDED BY VOICES: Pitchfork TV is airing "Watch Me Jumpstart" for one week only. Less than that now, so watch.

DINOSAUR, JR.: J Mascis tells The Quietus what he learned about American hardcore.

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE talks to The A.V. Club about the band's quasi-break through.

WILCO: Jeff Tweedy talks to the Las Vegas Sun, while John Stirratt talks to the Washington City Paper.

BEST OF 2009: Early contenders are considered by The A.V. Club and Pop Tarts Suck Toasted.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: The Proposal somewhat surprises at No. 1, with 34 million in receipts (against a 40 million budget).  Sandra Bullock never opened a movie above 20 million, until now -- so Ryan Reynolds has to be feeling pretty good today.  The Hangover drops to second place, but only drops 18 percent; it crossed the 150 million mark on a 35 million budget. Pixar's Up hangs tough in third, with 21.3 million; it has made 224 million domestically on a 175 million budget.  Year One debuted in fourth place, with a slightly better-than-expected 20.2 million; that's about average for Jack Black, and okay for Michael Cera -- with a 60 million budget, this one probably won't be a bomb. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, otoh, dropped over 50 percent to land in fifth place; it has made only 43 million against a 100 million budget.  Below the fold, Night at the Museum makes back its budget in the US, and has made more than that overseas.  Star Trek hangs tough, while Land of the Lost and Imagine That stink up the joint.  Terminator Salvation is even making some okay coin worldwide.

PIXAR granted a dying 10-year-old girl's last request.

TRANSFORMERS 2 director Michael Bay is mighty miffed at the marketing of the sequel.

MONEYBALL STRIKES OUT: Sony/Columbia dropped the ball on "Moneyball," the Steven Soderbergh-directed Brad Pitt starrer that was supposed to begin production today. 

LINDSAY LOHAN & RYAN SEACREST spent the night together?  Supposedly, he is interested in a Li-Lo reality show, if that's not too oxymoronic.

MADONNA'S latest adoptee was secretly flown from her home country of Malawi into London early Saturday morning.

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS: Entertainment Tonight got exclusive footage... and talks over it. Thanks.

DAVID DUCHOVNY & TEA LEONI: Still in love?

FOOTLOOSE: The remake signs Julianne Hough of Dancing With the Stars.

THE BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN may be brought back to life by Universal.

IRAN: The Lede at the NYT continues to do yeoman's work keeping people updated with news from the Islamic theocracy's electoral crisis, including video of "Neda," a young woman shot right through the heart on the streets of Tehran.  The HuffPo's Nico Pitney is also doing good round-ups.  The Iranian-American Web site Tehran Bureau relays reports that "in Tehran they're massacring people."  The number of journalists reported to have been arrested since the June 12 election rose to at least 24. London-based Chatham House challenges some of the assertions about President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's reelection made by Iranian officials.

THE STANS: Siraj Haqqani, Abu Yahya al Libi, Abdul Haq, and two senior Taliban commanders met with the Pakistani Taliban chief to advise him to redirect his activities toward Afghanistan. The meeting took place the same week the US and Pakistani military launched airstrikes in South Waziristan and wounded a senior terrorist leader.  Pakistan seems to be focusing only on outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban's leader Baitullah Mehsud - at least five other prominent militant groups don't figure in the government's hitlist.

CAT VS. BAT: Let's go to the slo-mo video.

COW VS. CAR: Who you got?

THREE RED PANDA CUBS, plenty of awww...some pics.

PRISON-TRAINED PUPPIES help wounded troops.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE...

... with BRENDAN BENSON! The advance track from his next solo LP (linked here yesterday) put me in the mood for some vintage material. Before his songs helped propel The Raconteurs up the charts (with an assist from the Jack White brand), Benson was cranking out tunes that are Top40 hits in some other, cooler, dimension -- like "Tiny Spark," "Metarie," "Spit It Out" and "Cold Hands, Warm Heart."

REGINA SPEKTOR is advance streaming her Far album via NPR.

METRIC played DC's 9:30 Club last night, so you should be able to stream the gig on demand via NPR. I had the wrong date before -- this time for sure! Nothing up my sleeve... Presto!

THE LEMONHEADS, Live in Chicago, on July, 4, 1992.

SUMMER MIX: There are hours of summer-themed music streaming via NPR. I'm working on my own annual mix.

THE LOW ANTHEM do the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

CAMERA OBSCURA makes their American TV debut, playing "French Navy" for Craig Ferguson. You may have to watch it in HD.

SHARON JONES spreads the gospel of Sharon Jones at Eye Weekly, with a hunk on the early days of Dap-Tone Records.  Embedded videos, too.

BOB MOULD does a Q&A with Magnet. He's also been guest-editing their blog, writing about Tom Snyder, Autobahn restrooms, coffee and more...

THE FLAMING LIPS: Wayne Coyne talks to the BBC about the band's upcoming double-album, and does a video interview with ClashMusic. (Thx, Chromewaves!)

SONIC YOUTH: Sasha Frere-Jones surveys 33 years of SY for The New Yorker.

CUTOUT BIN: From the Jesus & Mary Chain to Blind Faith, from The Stories to The Feelies, from Brian Wilson to Sandie Shaw, from Nouvelle Vague to The Doors, plus St. Vincent, Glen Campbell, REM, T.Rex, King Khan 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 Sandra Bullock-Ryan Reynolds rom-com The Proposal, which is currently scoring 43 percent on the ol' Tomatometer, and Year One, which is currently scoring an ouch-worthy 21 percent, a sure disappointment for Jack Black, Michael Cera, and director Harold Ramis.

ROBERT PATTINSON was hit by a taxi cab in NYC on Thursday while running away from hysterical fans.

CHER supports her daughter Chastity's sex change.

LINDSAY LOHAN is off the hook in Scotland Yard's missing Elle jewels case.

BRITNEY SPEARS greets London in Manchester. A one-woman Spinal Tap.

PUBLIC ENEMIES: Johnny Depp's Dillinger pic has a new clip online.

DENISE RICHARDS is the host next month of psychic/ medium/ spiritualist/ mentalist/ metaphysicist/ cross-overist John Edward's show.

HEATHER LOCKLEAR is sporting a mystery ring.

TOM CRUISE & J.J. ABRAMS choose to accept another Mission: Impossible.

IRAN: The Lede at the NYT continues to round up coverage of the electoral crisis.  Note that Ayatollah Khamenei will lead this week's Friday prayers in Tehran University, where where five students were reportedly killed in a Basij brownshirt assault on the dorms.  The ostensible reform candidates -- Mousavi and karoubi -- are asking supporters to avoid the Friday prayer sessions.  Khamenei has told Mousavi to stand beside him at Friday prayers to call for national unity. An army of Basiji - Islamic volunteer thugs are also expected to be bussed in to support the Supreme Leader.  This sort of maneuvering fuels speculation that we'll see a Tehran Tiananmen in the next few days.

PAKISTAN: An Indian intelligence briefing obtained by The Long War Journal suggests that the Pakistani military is facing a tougher fight in the Northwest Frontier Province than previously thought.

AN OTTER PLAYS THE KEYBOARD: Let's go to the video.

DEATH IS MILLISECONDS AWAY in this photo gallery.

BATS are getting their own cottage in Gower. No word on whether it has a belfry.

KILLER SLUGS menace Sweden.

PET HOARDING: Thirteen rabbits seized from the Washington County' "Bunny Lady" have been taken to the Oregon Humane Society.  She;'s a repeat offender, hoarding like bunnies.

BABY FLAMINGOS have been left "terrified" of the color pink, according to keepers at London Zoo.

MOST DOGS do not like clothes, according to pet psychic Bridget Pilloud.

BEIRUT has a new video for "Concubine," from the Holland EP.

MARIA TAYLOR stopped by Oregon Public Radio for a chat and mini-set, streamable on demand.

BRENDAN BENSON has a new track, "Feel Like Taking You Home" posted at the 'Gum (streamable from the 'Gum Mix in the sidebar). A little 'tronic for my taste (esp. compared to the also-posted "Alternative to Love"), but still good.

HERE WE GO MAGIC stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set, streaming via NPR.

CRACKER: David Lowery talks to Glide about rockin' the suburbs, recording on a time clock, and more...

NEKO CASE played "This Tornado Loves You" for Conan at his new digs.

HANDSOME FURS: Alexei answers 5 questions for Muzzle of Bees. Audio at the link, too.

DEAN & BRITTA: Dean Wareham talks to Decider about riding around town in a Galaxie 500, chronicling the drug aspect of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, and eventually having to explain his own drug use to his son.

BAND OF HORSES talks to the Charleston City Paper about rolling with the changes.

SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS is briefly profiled at BlackBook.

LINDSAY LOHAN's terminally on-again, off-again relationship with Samantha Ronson has now hit an ultimate dead end, due to her "maniac" behavior.

SEAN PENN has pulled out of two films, "Cartel" and "The Three Stooges," citing personal reasons. No word on whether he plans on remaining a stooge in real life.

BILLY JOEL and his latest wife, Katie Lee, are splitting up. Rumors have swirled for months that Joel's third marriage was on the rocks.

SARAH JESSICA PARKER:  Two police chiefs in the area where SJP's surrogate mother lives are under investigation -- for allegedly concocting a plan to break into the surrogate's home to get info for a tabloid.

BRITNEY SPEARS is not engaged to her agent. He's still only getting ten percent.

TRANSFORMERS 2: Another day, another clip. This one is called "We're Going to Die!"

KRISTEN STEWART & JOAN JETT are both rockin' the Jett-black hair as the former gets ready to play the latter in The Runaways movie.

ANGELINA JOLIE: A fashion designer hung up on her, twice.

IRAN: The Lede at the NYT continues to be a handy, oft-updated source for news, pictures, video and tweets from within the Islamic theocracy in the midst of an electoral crisis.  The Ahmadinejad camp seems to have Photoshopped a rally pic to inflate its supporters.

PAKISTAN: Gen. David Petraeus denies that the US is providing direct combat assistance to Pakistan in its fight against terrorists.  Local tribesmen have encircled the Taliban in the inaccessible mountain terrain of Dhog Dara.

THE GREAT EASTERN IOWA TRACTORCADE gets coverage in the UK.

THE SKUNK WHISPERER rescues two raccoons from a Pepsi machine.

FIVE PUPPIES have been cloned using DNA from the rescue dog credited with finding the last survivor in the smoking rubble of Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks.

ANIMALS + STAR WARS TOYS = Crazy Delicious!

KNIFE WIELDING GORILLA shocks zoo visitors. Well, yeah...

IF A BEAR can get through your pet door, the pet door may be too big.

SONIC YOUTH's latest video is for "Sacred Trickster."

METRIC played DC's 9:30 Club last night, so you should be able to stream the gig on demand via NPR. Emily Haines recently spoke to Decider about her seclusion in Argentina, the death of the music industry, and why she loves butts on car hoods.

LITTLE JOY did just two free songs for Daytrotter, but they're both little joys.

MOBY is advance streaming his Wait For Me album via NPR.

THE DECEMBERISTS: Colin Meloy talked to Decider about The Hazards of Love, the expectations and stereotypes facing his no-longer-indie "indie" band, and why the press just didn't get Morrissey back in his salad days.

THE VENTURES lead guitarist and co-founder, Bob Bogle, known for 1960s instrumental hits like "Walk, Don't Run,"  and the theme from "Hawaii Five-O," died Sunday. He was 75.

THE NEW YORK DOLLS: The glammy godfathers of punk are profiled by CNN.

A.A. BONDY, who traded grunge for Americana, talked to Decider about contemporary music, his forthcoming record, and getting hit over the head.

PHOENIX singer Thomas Mars talks to The A.V. Club about Phoenix's status as France's only "un-French" band, and how making records can really affect someone's joie de vivre.

CHRIS ISSAK is interviewed by Oxford American, which makes him their Featured Artist of the Month.

LINDSAY LOHAN: Another late night, more nightclub strageness. Li-lo also turned up topless on Twitter.

ALEC BALDWIN says he was suicidal after the disclosure of that voicemail accusing his then-11-year-old daughter of being a "rude little pig."

JADA PINKETT SMITH laughs about rumors about her marriage to Will Smith: "I've heard all the things -- their marriage is not real, he's gay, she's gay, they swing," she said. "But at the end of the day, people have to believe what they have to believe." Technically not a denial of any of that.

JENNIFER ANISTON or BRUNO: Who is hotter?

JACK BLACK inadvertently dropped an F-bomb on the Letterman show. The look on Paul Shaffer's face is priceless.

TRANSFORMERS 2 dealt another exclusive clip, this time to Yahoo! Movies.

INDIANA JONES 5? Be very afraid.

THOR & IRON MAN 2 are discussed by Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada.  Who doesn't want a three-hour command performance from director Kenneth Branagh? 

NORTH KOREA are making progress on their nuclear weapons program.

INDIA & PAKISTAN: That may sound boring, but lower tensions would likely help Pakistan in its fight against the Taliban.

IRAN: The Lede at the NYT is turning into a handy blow-by-blow of the Islamic theocracy's election crisis. Twitter, a key method of communication for dissidents, underwent an hour of maintenance, which was delayed until 1:30 a.m. Tehran time at the urging of the US State Dept.

MAYBE THE DOG ate your stash.

CATS outsmarted by dogs in a psychologist's test.

IT'S STILL RAINING TADPOLES, to the delight of gay tadpoles in Japan.

OCTUPUSES & SQUID can hear sounds underwater... but not as well as fish.

CAMERA OBSCURA has a new video out for the delish "Honey In The Sun."

NEW RELEASES: Big Star, the Beach Boys, George Harrison, Gossip and Spinal Tap have albums streaming this week at Spinner.  Rock Creek Plaza releases At the Momen of Our Most Needing.  Tiny Masters of Today release Skeletons.

PETER BJORN & JOHN did the three free songs thing for Daytrotter at SxSW.

STEVE EARLE played live in the latest edition of Sound Opinions.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED: Tracks from Neil Young, the Phenominal Handclap Band and Moby are among those in the latest edition of the long-running NPR series.

THE UNDERTONES: "Teenage Kicks" and "Here Comes the Summer" are your Twofer Tuesday.

THE TWILIGHT SINGERS & APOLLONIA cover "When Doves Cry," an advance track from SPIN's upcoming Purple Rain 25th anniversary tribute.

REGINA SPEKTOR talks to the Times of London about her evolution from concert pianist to singer-songwriter.

DIRTY PROJECTORS: Dave Longstreth talks to PopMatters about the Bitte Orca LP, his recent collaborations with Björk and David Byrne and the art of discharging firearms in Canadian shopping malls.

CHEAP TRICK will be teaming with an orchestra to perform "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in Vegas, baby.

MEGAN FOX is "currently what you would call single." And has a movie to promote! What were the odds?

LINDSAY LOHAN is to be questioned by police in connection with the disappearance of 500K in jewels from a magazine shoot.

BRUCE WILLIS talks about his new marriage with W magazine.

KATIE HOLMES taped a guest appearance for So You Think You Can Dance.

JESSICA ALBA will not face charges for defacing Oklahoma City with shark posters earlier this month.<br mwkcw="0" />

TRANSFORMERS 2 has an exclusive clip posted at Moviefone.

MADONNA is "ecstatic" a judge approved her appeal to adopt three-year-old Chifundo "Mercy" James from Malawi.

THE UNITED NATIONS: One of the UN's largest international relief efforts is under investigation after it emerged that thousands of sacks of food aid were being diverted from starving refugees in Somalia and openly sold for profit.

AFGHANISTAN: The US is on schedule to cease operations at a disputed airbase in Kyrgyzstan, a US military commander said on Monday, despite pleas to Bishkek to reconsider its eviction notice.

PAKISTAN: A provincial governor said the military will launch a "comprehensive and decisive operation" in South Waziristan that is designed to root out Pakistani Taliban commander Baituallah Mehsud.

IRAN: Shots were fired during a massive rally in Iran against last week's presidential election results, with reports saying one person was killed.  (Unconfirmed reports on Twitter ranged from 4-7 dead in the aftermath.) Witnesses told the AP that protests and some violence had broken out in several cities across Iran, including some traditionally seen as more conservative. The Boston Globe has Big Pictures.

A BABY WOLF HOWLS: Let's go to the video.

16 COWS stared unamazed as they were electrocuted by lightning while standing in a puddle.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: A militant squirrel was captured trying to infiltrate a British home via the fan duct.

CHIHUAHUAS confronted a cougar in a SoCal garage. By which I mean a mountain lion.