WE ARE SCIENTISTS drop a groovy clip for "Sprinkles."

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set. 

SUZANNE VEGA played the City Winery for WFUV Live.

DAN WILSON stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set. 

QUILT played a Tiny Desk Concert at the offices of NPR.

PERFECTPUSSY's cover of Springsteen's "Candy's Room" is, um, out there.

THE THRILLS visit "Big Sur."

SUPER-EARTH is the new name (for now) for Peter Buck, Corin Tucker, Scott McCaughey, Bill Rieflin, and Kurt Bloch.

THE SCORPIONS' longtime drummer has been jailed for a month for swearing at Muslims, gesturing indecently and dropping his trousers while drunk at Dubai airport.

COURTNEY BARNETT talks to Stereogum about her new/old record, and what she plans on doing next.

JONI MITCHELL: Ten of the Best, according to The Guardian.

EMMA STONE is the latest celeb to wage a lip sync battle with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show.

BOB HOSKINS, who was best known for roles in The Long Good Friday and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, died of pneumonia at the age of 71.

LINDSAY LOHAN is dating a 39-year-old married man who has two children. 

JENNIFER LAWRENCE was so drunk after the Oscars that Miley Cyrus told her to pull it together.

ZAC EFRON talks to THR about trying to reinvent his career as an adult, and fighting on skid row.

SELENA GOMEZ has ended her small feud with Kylie and Kendall Jenner, who were texting her ex, Justin Bieber.

MIRANDA KERR talks about the breakdown of her marriage to Orlando Bloom.

UKRAINE: In the eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk, makeshift barricades, concertina wire and masked men in camouflage greeted visitors to the regional administration building Wednesday.

VENEZUELA will raise the minimum wage and pensions by thirty percent; official figures put the level of annual inflation at 56.2 percent for 2013. A month after airlines thought they were about to receive the almost 4 billion in revenue trapped in Venezuela, the government has been seeking meetings with carriers to try to negotiate discounts on how much of the money it will repay.

BRUNEI: The Sultan of Brunei announced that the first phase of the implementation of sharia law in Brunei will begin tomorrow. The new penal code, which will be adopted in three phases by the end of next year, will provide for punishments including stoning, flogging, and amputation of limbs.

THE UNITED STATES State Department's latest annual Country Reports on Terrorism said a growing number of terrorist groups are threatening the US, and noted a 43% increase in the number of terrorist attacks worldwide in 2013 from 2012.

TINY HAMSTERS, eating tiny burritos.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: Okay, I'll let the attacks on selfies slide.

A DEAD BLUE WHALE may explode in a Newfoundland town. The sea was angry that day, my friends.

A TINY BEAR CUB named Boo Boo debated whether to get his hair done. He's now headed to rehab.

THE HOLD STEADY drops a video for “I Hope This Whole Thing Doesn’t Frighten You.”

DUM DUM GIRLS stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

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

BOY & BEAR perform unplugged for WFUV Live. 

MILAGRES stops by KEXP to play material largely inspired by singer Kyle Wilson childhood trips to the desert and his grandfather's involvement in the Manhattan Project.

SHARON VAN ETTEN drops “Every Time The Sun Comes Up" ahead of Are We There.

EFFED UP drops "Led By Hand" (ft j Mascis) ahead of Glass Boys.

R.E.M.'s live take on "Supernatural Superserious" from their appearance on Austin City Limits back in 2008.

JASON ISBELL is essayed at PopMatters.

BRITPOP: A Cultural Abomination?

LOVE, PEACE & SOUL: The Cutural Legacy of Soul Train.

JENS LEKMAN's TOP TEN, according to Stereogum.

STAR WARS: EPISODE VII announces its cast.Even casual fans may catch the major problem with this story.

DONALD STERLING, owner of the L.A. Clippers, received a lifetime ban from the NBA for racist comments, whose commissioner said he would do everything in his power to force the sale of the team. If other owners vote him out, Sterling will likely sue.

PRINCE HARRY and his girlfriend Cressida Bonas have broken up.

OLIVIA MUNN & JOEL KINNAMAN are also dunzo.

KIM KARDASHIAN & KANE WEST: Secretly marrying this week?

DAVID ARQUETTE is a dad again.

UKRAINE: Pro-Russia militants seized more state offices in Ukraine’s troubled east on Tuesday, in apparent defiance of the latest Western sanctions announced against them and their presumed backers in the Kremlin, which also showed no sign of wilting in its worst confrontation with the West in decades.

VENEZUELA: A former chief of Venezuela's intelligence service, Eliecer Otaiza, was killed on Saturday, officials have revealed.

NIGERIA: Schoolgirls abducted by suspected militant Islamists in northern Nigeria are believed to have been taken to neighboring states, a local leader has told the BBC. Relatives say they have been told of mass weddings involving insurgents and some of the girls abducted two weeks ago.

LIBYA: Gunmen with heavy weapons from Benghazi attacked Congress, sending lawmakers fleeing out a back door; several people were injured during the attack, which resulted in a postponement of the voting for a new prime minister.

EGYPT: A court in the southern city of Minya sentenced 683 people to death Monday in the most recent of a series of mass trials that have alarmed the international community.

A SEAL gets a belly rub.

A PRAYING MANTIS IN 3-D GLASSES may advance the science of robotics.

A DONKEY BEEKEEPER in a custom suit. No relationship to the canine beekeeper featured yesterday.

37000 CHICKENS killed in a fire. Too soon for the "extra crispy" punchline?

ELBOW dropped a video for "My Sad Captains."

LILY ALLEN advance streams Sheezus via iTunes.

DOLLY PARTON advance streams Blue Smoke.

THE AFGHAN WHIGS stopped by KEXP to play songs off Do The Beast. 

HEAVY ROTATION: Download 10 songs NPR can't stop playing. 

PAUL SIMON & EDIE BRICKELL were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct after a "family dispute".

DAMON ALBARN talks to The Observer about his autobiographical solo debut, the state of pop, and more.

THE PIXIES' catalog is surveyed for the first time by Pitchfork.

FRANK BLACK talks to Weekend Edition about his graphic novel.

LESLIE MANN, ironically, has a bit of Freudian envy.

ORLANDO BLOOM & SELENA GOMEZ? Really?

GWYNETH PALTROW & CHRIS MARTIN: The Coldplay singer admits his issues were part of their split.

LINDSAY LOHAN's upcoming movie Inconceivable is having trouble securing financing and insurance for the troubled starlet because of her unprofessional behavior and diva antics.

TORI SPELLING was recently hospitalized for at least six days amid her marital issues with Dean McDermott. Of course it will be on the reality show.

KIM KARDASHIAN's Vogue cover looks to outsell the issues featuring Beyonce and Michelle Obama.

RICHARD GERE got free pizza because he looked homeless.

THE JUSTICE LEAGUE movie looks to fall into the hands of Zach Snyder.

UKRAINE: The mayor of Kharkiv, an unabashed critic of both sides in eastern Ukraine’s simmering conflict,was shot by a sniper.

VENEZUELA: There are growing signs that support for Maduro in the region is weakening, as some of Venezuela’s neighbors show unease with the government’s response to the nation's crisis, including the aggressive treatment of protesters.

SYRIA: Amid reports that the US is stepping up efforts to supply aid, including weapons, to rebels in Syria, questions must be asked as to where the aid is ultimately going, and what the end result is likely to be.

THE SWARM: Midges swamp boaters.

SHEEP went on the lam from a shearing event in NJ.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT is monitored by a Springer Spaniel. 

A DOG BEEKEEPER with a special suit.

ARCADE FIRE encores a bit of Kansas' "Dust In The Wind." Funny, if NSFW language.

TUNE-YARDS is advance streaming Nikki Nack.

THE OLD 97s are streaming Most Messed Up. I was late to this, so jump on it today.

LYKKE LI is advance streaming I Never Learn.

NIKKI LANE is advance streaming All or Nothin'.

COLIN MELOY debuted a new song, “Carolina Low,” on Q Live.

THE ROLLING STONES made their second US TV appearance on The Mike Douglas Show, covering Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away."

THURSTON MOORE writes about Jack Ruby and the forgotten forerunners of Punk.

THE HORRORS are profiled at DIY (Thx, Frank Yang).

LYKKE LI talks to Dazed about a post-tour depression leading to creative mania.

CLASSIC ROCK is the subject of a lawsuit against Pandora.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE:The Other Woman tops the chart with 24.7 million, although its Fri-Sun multiplier, 25 percent Tomatometer, and B+ Cinemascore suggest it's no Bridesmaids.That leaves Captain America: The Winter Soldier in second with 16 million.  Cap thus fails to become the first film to fourpeat domestically since The Hunger Games. OTOH, Cap's 645 million in worldwide grosses already surpasses Iron Man 2 and Thor: The Dark World in the Marvel sequel sweepstakes. Heaven Is Real shows with 13.8 million; its 39 percent drop isn't bad when you consider it was the number one movie on Easter Sunday and it has earned 51.9 million against a 12 million production budget.  Rio 2 takes a similar drop to the fourth slot with 13.7 million; its 96 million domestic total slightly trails the orignal's 104 million over the same timeframe.  The debut of Brick Mansions rounds out the Top 5 with 9.6 million, given the poor reviews and the inherent problems in advertising the late Paul Walker, this is probably not too bad.  Below the fold, Transcendence looks like a bomb on a 62 percent drop from a poor opening.  The Quiet Ones debuted in seventh place with 4 million and a per screen average that suggests flop unless its unreported budget was under one million.

DONALD STERLING, billionaire owner of the L.A. Clippers, told his seemingly much younger and not particularly caucasian galpal he did want her bringing black people to his games, including Magic Johnson. She claims he knew he was being recorded. She's also the defendant in a lawsuit filed by the Sterling family. Sterling is no stranger to claims of racial discrimination, either.

GEORGE CLOONEY is reportedly engaged to be married to girlfriend Amal Alamuddin.

KIM KARDAHIAN & KANYE WEST are planning on three weddings?

COURTNEY COX is very happy with her new boyfriend, Snow Patrol rocker Johnny McDaid.

COLUMBUS SHORT will not return to the cast of Scandal, following alleged battery and spousal abuse claims.

SELENA GOMEZ hires Katy Perry's manager after firing her parents.

FRANK: An eccentric comedy about an eccentric rock band led by a man who has wandered off the spectrum of eccentricity and into mental illness.

UKRAINE: Pro-Russian separatists holding a European military observer team in eastern Ukraine released one of the observers for medical reasons Sunday, shortly after parading them before cameras, officials on both sides of the dispute said. Others remain captive. Also, regional TV station in Donetsk had been seized.  And militants in the town of Gorlivka have captured Ukrainian Security Service officers. And Russia has started new military drills near the border. Didn't the US claim to have cut some deal to de-escalate this stuff?

VENEZUELA: Scores of opponents of President Nicolas Maduro marched in Caracas on Saturday, vowing to remain on the streets in defiance of a high court ruling limiting protests.

SYRIA: The Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front fought against regime forces in Reef Dimashq; and in Aleppo, where they were joined by the Muhajireen wal Ansar Army.

AFGHANISTAN: The Pentagon is reportedly devising three alternative budget plans for US forces in Afghanistan in 2015: for zero troops; for 5K troops; and for 10K troops.

BUDDY THE LIZARD greets his owner like a dog...after some prompting.

BATS IN THE BELFRY shower Norfolk paishoners with feces.

SUPER-RATS expected to outnumber humans two-to-one in Britain next year.

GONNA NEED A BIGGER HORSE: Idaho ranch struggles to keep up with heavy tourists.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with R.E.M.!  Live in Germany circa 1985, more complete than what has previously turned up on the Tube. Songs include "Feeling Gravity's Pull," "Harbourcoat," "Sitting Still," "Maps & Legends," "Fall On Me," "Green Grow The Rushes," "Driver 8," "Hyena," "So. Central Rain," CCR's "Have You Ever Seen The Rain," "Can't Get There From Here," Roger Miller's "King Of The Road," "Seven Chinese Bros.," "Auctioneer," "Old Man Kinsey," "Little America," "Pretty Persuasion, " "Theme From Two Steps Onward," Aerosmith's "Toys In The Attic," and Television's "See No Evil." Plus, previously unlinked here: "Second Guessing," "Ghost Riders In The Sky," "(Don't Go Back to) Rockville," "We Walk/ Behind Closed Doors" and "Paint It Black."

THE REPLACEMENTS' Six Greatest Hometown Shows.

FANFARLO bring a quartet of songs from their 2014 release, Let's Go Extinct, to the KEXP Studio. 

THE WAR ON DRUGS stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session. 

ELEPHANT is advance streaming Sky Swimming.

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

VERUCA SALT does their first interview in 17 years at Stereogum, and drops a video for "The Museum of Broken Relationships."

LYKKE LI talks to DIY about her new, near-minimalist aesthetic.(Thx, Frank Yang.)

MORE THAN EARWORM: 11 Popular Songs The CIA Used To Torture Terror Suspects.

SHOULD YOU WHIP IT? A Flowchart.

CUTOUT BIN: From the Sex Pistols to Suzanne Vega, from Dexy's Midnight Runners to Squirrel Bait, from XTC to the Shangri-Las, plus Ron Sexsmith, Jane's Addicition, Thin Lizzy, the Parliaments and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases include: The Other Woman, currently scoring 27 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; Brick Mansions, which is scoring 36 percent; and The Quiet One, scoring 39 percent.

JUSTIN BIEBER was detained at Los Angeles International Airport by U.S. Customs officials Thursday.

MILEY CYRUS finally left the hospital.

BRYAN SINGER: BuzzFeed takes a deep dive inside the Hollyweird world of the director who got hit with a sexual assault lawsuit.

TOM HARDY: Secretly married?

DIANE KEATON says she has “failed” at settling down and tying the knot.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON & LUPITA NYONG'O may wind up in a live-action Jungle Book.

THE HOBBIT has a new subtitle.

UKRAINE: Tensions escalated sharply Thursday, with Russia embarking on new military drills near the border after Ukrainian forces said they killed five pro-Russian militants.

VENEZUELA's inflation accelerated to 4.1 percent in March from 2.4 percent the month before, the central bank said on Thursday, attributing the situation to an opposition-led "economic war" and months of violent street protests.

PORTUGAL THE MAN is trying to save the Sumatran Tiger through the magic of vinyl.

ANCIENT ASSASSIN FLIES FOUND IN AMBER: This movie ends with a T. Rex fight.

A HORSE in a Smart Car?

DOGS & CATS CAN LOVE YOU, theoretically.