THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with HARRY NILSSON! Let's revisit the BBC's "The Music of Nilsson from 1971, including a mashup of "Mr. Richland's Favorite Song" and "One," "Gotta Get Up," a medley of "Walk Right Back," "Cathy's Clown" and "Let The Good Times Roll," and really moving take on "Life Line." Then there are two videos from The Point!  -- "Think About Your Troubles" and "Are You Sleeping" -- sandwiching "Joy." The set concludes with "Without Her," "Coconut" and "1941."

PEDRO THE LION plays KEXP.

MIKE CAMPBELL & THE DIRTY KNOBS, Live at Rockwood Music Hall.

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS share "Training Montage."

SHE & HIM do a slighly bluesy cover of the Beach Boys' "Wouldn't It Be Nice."

ALISON KRAUSS & ROBERT PLANT tackle "Rock and Roll" for the first time.

THE ROLLING STONES play "Out of Time" live for the first time.

ANGEL OLSEN, on Grief, Coming Out, and Making a Country Album.

CRAIG FINN is launching a podcast.

DAVE SMITH, who created the Prophet-5 synthesizer and pioneered the use of MIDI, has died at 72.

AMBER HEARD's lawyer said she will appeal the verdict, and will not be able to pay the 10.4 million in damages the jury awarded to ex-husband Johnny Depp.

FURIOSA: George Miller is bummed he couldn't get Tilda Swinton into his new ‘Mad Max' prequel.

KIM KARDASHIAN & PETE DAVIDSON: A true romance story, with acronyms.

SARAH JESSICA PARKER finally unloads on Kim Catrall.

THE WIRE: David Simon and Ed Burns discussed why it has only become more relevant - and why it would never be made today.

BETTY WHITE's former home sold for over 10MM.

THE SHORT-LIVED REIGN of MTV's Best Kiss Award.

DANCE like nobody's watching.

TWO PUPPERS, one doggy door.

OCTOPUS... Kites?

MOUNTAIN GOATS: John Darnielle choreographs Ace of Base's "The Sign." (Language warning) A perennial fave.

!!! (Chk Chk Chk) plays KEXP.

LUCIUS visits World Cafe.

NATION OF LANGUAGE covers The Replacements' 1984 classic "Androgynous."

CAT POWER covers the Rolling Stones' "You Got the Silver."

PHOEBE BRIDGERS shares "Sidelines."

YEAH YEAH YEAHS return with “Spitting Off the Edge of the World” (ft Perfume Genius).

BEABADOOBEE shares "Lovesong."

THE SEX PISTOLS: John Lydon thinks Her Majesty is a pretty nice girl, actually. BONUS: Consequence of Sound fact-checks FX's new show about the band.  DOUBLE BONUS: The Queen in pop, from Slowthai to the Smiths to Blur.

CRAIG FINN is profiled at American Songwriter.

JD McPHERSON talks about playing with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It," the moment that a Hollywood titan returned to rap as a spare-time activity and still wound up with a huge hit. BONUS: There's going to be a Number Ones book spun off from the series.

JOHNNY DEPP won his defamation trial against AMBER HEARD, with a 10.4MM verdict, though Heard won 2MM in her counter-suit. The ratings were big.

JADA PINKETT SMITH addressed husband Will Smith's infamous Oscar-night slap incident.

THE MENU, ft Anna Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult, has a teaser trailer online.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: The Suicide Squad breakout Daniela Melchior will have a small role in Vol. 3.

TOP GUN: MAVERICK is another piece of evidence that Hollywood really doesn't need to rely on China. 

NETFLIX wants to focus on making bigger movies, making better movies, and releasing fewer than it previously did.

WARNER BROS: Toby Emmerich is exiting his post as the studio's Picture Group chairman.

A MOUNTAIN LION made an unexpected visit to a classroom at Pescadero High School Wednesday morning. 

WHERE did the ball go?

ZERO Fluffs Given.

THE MAIN INGREDIENT: "Everybody Plays the Fool." Sometimes.

THE NATIONAL plays three new songs in Paris.

DEHD plays KEXP.

DAWES shares "Comes In Waves."

DREAM SYNDICATE shares "Every Time You Come Around."

WILL BUTLER shares "A Stranger's House" and "Nearer To Thee."

BETH ORTON shares "Weather Alive."

ROXY MUSIC invented the 1980s with Avalon?

MIGHTY MAX WEINBERG, on returning to the E Street Band, and his Jersey roots.

TERRY ALLEN: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Usher's first chart-topper, the space-age sex jam "Nice & Slow." (somehow skipped this one earlier.)

STRANGER THINGS 4 breaks Netflix records, though those metrics may matter more to the company than people trying to compare audiences.

PINOCCHIO: The Disney live-action remake has a teaser trailer online.

CARY FUKUNAGA: According to Rolling Stone, sources who worked with the director on various films, TV series, and commercials over the past six years describe him as using his sets as an opportunity to meet younger women and openly pursue multiple female cast and crew members at once during production.

KEVIN SPACEY said he is “confident” he can prove his innocence against sexual assault allegations brought by three men.

TOM CRUISE: Hollywood's Last Great Movie Star?

QUENTIN TARANTINO announced a new film history book that will see him exploring and analyzing iconic films from the ‘70s.

RAY LIOTTA Made ‘Goodfellas' As Much As It Made Him.

FLORIDA GATOR Steals Ball From Golfer After Hitting The Green.

LAMB SCRITCHES bring tail wags.

CAT and Butterfly.

CATS & DOGS, sleeping together...

OFF BROADWAY: "Stay In Time" and "Full Moon Turn My Head Around," for Twofer Tuesday. More power pop for the summer.

NEW RELEASES: Paste will point you to Wilco, Dehd, Just Mustard, and more.

BILL'S INDIE BASEMENT has Liam Gallagher, Stars, Slang, and more.

BRIGHT EYES is streaming companion EPs accompanying the re-recordings of their albums.

ANGEL OLSEN covers Dylan's "One Too Many Mornings."

RONNIE HAWKINS, the rockabilly star whose group the Hawks at one point featured pre-fame members of the Band, has died at 87.

ELVIS COSTELLO reformed his teenage band and put out a debut record.

THE NUMBER ONES looks back at Celine Dion's signature hit, the blockbuster 'Titanic' ballad "My Heart Will Go On."

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Top Gun: Maverick has beaten Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End fair and square for the Memorial Day opening 4-day record (+ previews) at the domestic box office with 156MM, easily Tom Cruise's best opening of all-time. All the more impressive in that it was fueeld by the 35+ demo which had been less likely to return to cinemas post-pandemic.  With an A+ CinemaScore, it will be really interesting to see how it holds up next weekend.  Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness places with a 21MM 4-day total.  The Bob’s Burgers Movie shows with a 12.6MM debut.

TOP GUN 2: Inside the Messy Soundtrack.

MARGARET QUALLEY & JACK ANTONOFF are engaged.

BRADLEY COOPER transforms into Leonard Bernstein.

VAL KILMER will play some part in the D+ Willow series.

STAR WARS: Taika Waititi's film may arrive next year.

NETFLIX's Ted Sarandos Talks About That Stock Drop, Backing Dave Chappelle, and Hollywood Schadenfreude.

BO HOPKINS, the wily actor with the wild-eyed gaze who came to fame portraying thieves and scoundrels in such films as The Wild Bunch, American Graffiti, Midnight Express and White Lightning, died Saturday. He was 84.

BIRD vs CAT: Who You Got?

FAMILY Get-Together.

RESCUING A BABY COW stuck underground.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: An Albino Alligator.

THE MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE SWEET!  The bubble-glam rockers are probably best known for the trifecta of "Little Willy," "Ballroom Blitz" and "Fox on the Run," though they also charted with the harder-edged "Action" and the more ballad-y "Love is Like Oxygen."  All of those clips also feature the band's rather unique fashion sense, but you have to see the clip for "Wig Wam Bam" -- complete with headdress -- to see the band at its most ridiculous.  BONUS: "All That Glitters" is a BBC documentary originally broadcast in February 1974 charting a day in the life of The Sweet.

POM POM SQUAD plays KEXP.

ST. PAUL & THE BROKEN BONES plays KEXP.

DEF LEPPARD plays the hits for Kimmel.

TEARS FOR FEARS plays "No Small Thing" for Kelly Clarkson.

LIAM GALLAGHER, on crisps, parkas, what he'd say to God, and whether he'd donate a kidney to Noel.

IGGY POP and novelist OTESSA MOSHFEGH discuss raging against the machine, weaponizing established paradigms, and leaving New York for greener pastures.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE sold his song catalogue to Hipgnosis Song Management.

DISCORD: The gamers' site has become an intimate place for artists and fans to connect and build community.

ALAN WHITE, longtime drummer for prog rock band Yes, has died at home aged 72 after a short illness.

ANDY FLETCHER, the co-founder and keyboardist of beloved synth-pop and New Wave stalwarts Depeche Mode, died at the age of 60.

T. REX: "20th Century Boy." Aow!

RAY LIOTTA, the acclaimed actor known for “Goodfellas,” "Something Wild," “Field of Dreams” and many more roles, has died in his sleep at 67.  Many of his memorable roles are surveyed at Rolling Stone and at The Ringer.

TESTIMONY in the Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial concluded Thursday, with Heard returning to the stand to defend her counterclaim against her former husband.

KEVIN SPACEY has been charged with four counts of sexual assault against three men, Britain's Crown Prosecution Service said on Thursday.

MARILYN MANSON: A civil lawsuit filed by a woman who worked as a personal assistant for Marilyn Manson, has been dismissed based on the statute of limitations.

SPINAL TAP 2: Rob Reiner talks about the sequel at Cannes.

HARRISON FORD congratulated JOHN WILLIAMS on his 90th birthday -- and promoted Indiana Jones 5 -- at Star Wars Celebration.

ANDOR: The Rogue One spin-off has a teaser trailer online.

WILLOW has a teaser trailer online.

JODIE FOSTER is set to star in Season 4 of True Detective.

WINNIE THE POOH: BLOOD AND HONEY has first look photos online.

TOP GUN Is Stupid, Brilliant, Dated, Timeless, and Perfect.

ENCINO MAN: An Oral History.

MEMORIAL DAY has become -- in the minds of some -- a day devoted to uncovering their swimming pools and barbeques. So take a moment (preferably at 3 p.m. local time) to remember what it's really about.You can read about "The Meaning of Memorial Day" with selections from American authors and statesmen, including Herman Melville, Ernie Pyle, Louisa May Alcott, Frederick Douglass, and Dwight D. Eisenhower. Joyce Johnson and the "Arlington Ladies" who attend every funeral in Arlington National Cemetery, to ensure no soldier is buried alone, take more than a moment.  Re-read "A Death in the Family," as powerful as it was when Christopher Hitchens wrote it in 2007.  Revisit William Wyler's footage of the last mission of the Memphis Belle, or check the Tube for Alfred Hitchcock's footage of the liberation of the Belsen concentration camp.  The Wikipedia entry for Memorial Day notes a race track connection unrelated to the Indy 500.  It's a good day -- as good as we are likely to get -- for Sgt. Barry Sadler's No. 1 smash, "Ballad of the Green Berets."  or the movie adaptation of Gen. George S. Patton's "Speech to the Third Army."  As "Greyhawk" once wrote at the Mudville Gazette, "This is Memorial Day weekend. Enjoy it. Celebrate it - the people who died to give you that right would appreciate it. But they didn't die peaceably in their beds, these dogs who fell protecting sheep from wolves."

A CAT retrieves a red balloon for a child.

A SEAGULL, hitching a ride on a seagull.

WHAT WE HAVE HERE is a failyuh to communicate.

THERE ARE Two Types of Dogs.

HAPPYCOW: Cleaning and delighting the animal.