SONDRE LERCHE drops "Private Caller" from his upcoming self-titled LP.

TV ON THE RADIO stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

THE CAVE SINGERS also stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

JEREMY MESSERSMITH did five free songs for Daytrotter.

TOMBS are advance streaming Path of Totality. Metal is not really my genre, but Pate bassist Mike Kelly may dig it.

ANNA CALVI plays "Desire" on QTV.

MY MORNING JACKET: The New York Times covers the band coming full circle on Circuital, along with a 30 minute popcast.

ALELA DIANE talks to Willamette Week about her newly acquired band and her shift toward dusty alt-country and sun-bleached '70s MOR.  (Thx, LHB.)

PULP: Jarvis Cocker told BBC6 he had sleepless nights ahead of Pulp's comeback gigs.

GEORGE CLINTON make a one-off appearance at the British Library in London to speak about science fiction, Afro-futurism and, er, gettin' down.

ARNOLD & MARIA: Schwarzenegger officially hired legal eagle Bob Kaufman, who's already tackling some touchy issues of the seemingly inevitable divorce.

BLAKE LIVELY is threatening to sue any publication which reprints fake photos that claim to be the actress in the nude.

SEAN PENN may be cheating on Scarlett Johansson already.

CHARLIE SHEEN & BROOKE MUELLER hashed out a joint custody agreement.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE tells Vanity Fair ex-gf Jessica Biel is "the single-handedly most significant person" in his life, But he may be hooking up with Ashley Olsen.

KIM KARDASHIAN's wedding is on a very fast track, but she denies she's pregnant.

HALLE BERRY: Headed to a TV series?

RYAN PHILLIPPE & AMANDA SEYFRIED are dunzo again.

HAYDEN PANETTIERE... and NY Jets QB Mark Sanchez?

IRAN: Government media said the daughter of a prominent Iranian dissident died of a heart attack while attending her father's funeral Wednesday, but opposition websites said she died in a scuffle with security forces.

OUR FRIENDS, THE SAUDIS are planning to build 16 nuclear reactors by 2030, Arab media reported on Wednesday, citing an official in the country's nuclear agency.

PAKISTAN: As many as 67 percent people of Pakistan want the government take steps for Islamization, a clear indication that for whatever reasons they have lost faith in the existing system.

A CAT learns the shell game.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: Militant rodents with an appetite for destruction - and aluminum - are at the heart of a dispute between Burbank officials and the owner of a home where appliances have twice been fried because of power surges caused by chomped wires.

JUMPING STURGEON, Injured Boater.

A BLACKBIRD rides on the wings of an eagle.

SHARON VAN ETTEN plays the Fine Young Cannibals hit, "She Drives Me Crazy," for The A.V. Club Undercover.

F***ED UP is advance streaming David Comes to Life, a four-act rock opera.

GIVERS are advance streaming In Light.

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

THE BASEBALL PROJECT stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

THE LA's: "There She Goes." Again, though I think this is the Pate debut.

MY MORNING JACKET: Jim James talks to Esquire about Circuital, solo projects, side projects, iTunes, and sweating.

THE ANTLERS: Peter Silberman talks Prince, Brooklyn and Burst Apart with Drowned in Sound.

READY, STEADY GO! is celebrated at The Guardian.

COACHELLA 2012 will be two separate events, held over two consecutive weekends. We will attempt to produce two identical festival weekends. That means same lineup, same art, same place, different people.

ANGELINA JOLIE gives an extensive new interview to The Telegraph, about Cleopatra, Liz Taylor, family matters, etc.

ARNOLD & MARIA: Schwarzenegger's baby mama is fuming mad at her own family for selling pictures and stories about her to the tabloids.

LEO DiCAPRIO & BLAKE LIVELY were photographed holding hands during a romantic, moonlit stroll after dinner in Monte Carlo.

PRINCE WILLIAM & KATE: That's Princess Catherine to you.

KEVIN BACON talks to Details about X-Men: First Class, his range of roles, staying out of L.A. and more...

STEVE MARTIN talks to The Guardian about his bluegrass career, while Der Spiegel notes he was swindled in an art forgery scandal.

TWO AND A HALF MEN won't compete for an Emmy.

THE HOBBIT movies get titles and release dates.

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO releases a red band trailer.

YEMEN: A truce between President Saleh and the Hashed tribal confederation has ended after fighting broke out in Sana'a.

IRAN: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei publicly backed President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, putting an end to months of speculation over a rift between the two.

EGYPT: An Egyptian court has fined ousted president Mubarak and two of his former ministers 90 million dollars for shutting down telecommunication services during the country's popular uprising earlier this year. Meanwhile, a senior Egyptian general admits that "virginity checks" were performed on women arrested at a demonstration this spring, the first such admission after previous denials by military authorities.

PAKISTANI intelligence officers continue to offer to support to terrorist groups threatening regional security, according to a diplomatic cable circulated by Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state.

AFGHANISTAN: Pres Karzai said ISAF will become an "occupying force" if it does not end airstrikes.

IRAQ: Police captured the man who is thought to have killed the head of Iraq's Justice and Accountability Commission. Vice President Adul Abdul Mahdi resigned in protest over the expansion of government.

WHEN A BEAR STALKS, yelling works?

SNAKES ON A TRAIN: Four bags of venomous cobras discovered en route from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi in Vietnam.

30 ANTS in her ears?

COWS RUN AMOK on an Ontario highway.

LLAMA POOP helped the ancient Inca build the largest empire ever to exist in the Americas.

YEASAYER debuts "Devil and the Deed" on Conan.

NEW RELEASES from My Morning Jacket, The Vaccines, Cults, Black Lips, The Melvins, Robert Pollard and more are streaming this week via Spinner.

SASQUATCH: Stream archived live sets from the fest, including Foo Fighters, Local Natives, Bob Mould, Iron & Wine, Sharon Van Etten, Flaming Lips, Modest Mouse, Wavves, Black Joe Lewis, Old 97s, Guided by Voices, Sharon Jones, The Decemberists, Wilco and many more.

ARCTIC MONKEYS are advance streaming Suck It and See.

WHITE DENIM is advance streaming D. Very groovy.

KAREN O & TRENT REZNOR cover "The Immigrant Song" for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK: "Incense and Peppermints" plus "Tomorrow" for Twofer Tuesday.

RAY DAVIES talked to Weekend Edition about making See My Friends, which is full of Kinks and collaborations.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE's Ben Gibbard talks to Drowned In Sound about Randy Newman, The Cure and Codes and Keys.

THE 50 BEST ALBUMS of 2011 SO FAR, according to NME.

GIL SCOTT-HERON, the influential poet and musician often credited with being one of the progenitors of hip-hop, and  best known for the spoken-word piece "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised," died Friday afternoon in New York, his book publisher reported. He was 62.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: The Hangover, Part II, crushed all competition over the holiday weekend, taking in an estimated 105.8 million (137.4 million since opening Thursday), which should be the biggest live-action comedy opening evah.  It's also close to the biggest R-rated opening ever, potentially edging out The Matrix Reloaded when the actual money is counted. The final Harry Potter movie officially has competition for No. 1 movie of the year.  Kung Fu Panda 2, by contrast, underperformed the original, taking in 68 million since opening Thursday (the original made 60.2 million in 3 days).  Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides drops to third with 50.3 million, about as expected; it has grossed north of 450 million worldwide.  Bridesmaids was a very leggy No. 4 with 21 million (it dropped only 20 percent over the normal weekend) and racks up 89.6 million on a 32 million budget.  Thor rounds out the Top 5 with another 12 million.  Thor's domestic total stands at 162.4 million against a 150 million budget... but that budget is 100 million less than the Pirates and the God of Thunder also took in another 250 million overseas.  Below the fold, Fast Five was No. 6, inching thisclose to the 200 million mark in North America (with another 340 million worldwide).

TONY ROMO & CANDACE CRAWFORD got hitched.

CHRISTINA AGUILERA was back on the party train as she staggered out of a Hollywood hotspot.

LINDSAY LOHAN, currently under house arrest, settled a lawsuit stemming from a 2007 car chase.

LEO DiCAPRIO & BLAKE LIVELY left the same hotel -- separately -- after they were caught hugging on a yacht during the Cannes Film Festival.

BRAD PITT talked to USA Weekend about marriage, children and what keeps him up at night.

CHRISTOPHER KNIGHT & ADRIANNE CURRY are getting divorced after exactly 5 years of marriage.

PETER FONDA suggested at Cannes that he was encouraging his grandchildren to shoot Pres Obama.

RESERVOIR PONIES: Why do I have to be Mr. Pink?

IRAN is dispatching increasing numbers of trainers and advisers - including members of its elite Quds Force - into Syria to help crush anti-government demonstrations that are threatening to topple Iran's most important ally in the region. Meanwhile, Ahmadinejad's spiritual mentor urged followers to continue suicide attacks against Israelis, including children.

OUR FRIENDS, THE SAUDIS are getting British training in public order enforcement measures and the use of sniper rifles, both of which were used to crush protests in Bahrain.

YEMEN: The Yemeni government ratcheted up its violent response to opponents on two fronts Monday, pounding a major coastal city with airstrikes aimed at dislodging Islamic militants, and smashing the country's largest antigovernment demonstration in overnight clashes that killed more than a dozen protesters, according to witnesses reached by phone.

TUNISIA, birthplace of the Arab Spring, now fears an Islamist insurgence. Funny how that happens.

CAT MOM hugs her kitteh. It's the Citizen Kane of cat videos.

HORSE HERPES OUTBREAK forces rodeo queens to ride stick ponies.

A JUMPING COCKROACH is among the Top 10 new species of 2010.

AUSTRALIA's BURPING COWS are more climate-friendly than thought.

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. At least I think, that's still the deal -- the government's website seems to be down (good job, feds).  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 the Mudville Gazette for items like William Wyler's footage of the last mission of the Memphis Belle and 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 Beret."  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."

UPDATE: This week is a-gonna be jam-packed with great music. Y'all stop back now, y'hear?

THE LONG WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with POWER POP! A few of these may be well-known generally, like Cheap Trick's  "Way of the World" and Nick Lowe's "Cruel to Be Kind"... and some well-known to fans of the genre, like Shoes "Too Late," The Records' "Starry Eyes," the Flamin' Groovies' "Shake Some Action" and the Plimsouls'  "A Million Miles Away" (seen here in a rare live TV slot).  Others are well-known to longtime Pate fans, like the Three O'Clock's "Her Head's Revolving" or Let's Active's "Waters Part." 

EDDIE VEDDER is advance streaming Ukulele Songs. 

GOLDHEART ASSEMBLY did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter. Harmonic folk for fans of Fleet Foxes and Dawes.

DAVID BAZAN stopped by All Things Considered for an interview plus tracks.

PARTS & LABOR did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

SASQUATCH: NPR has a pre-festival mix, but will be streaming live sets over the weekend.

TOWNES VAN ZANDT, Live at the Whole Coffeehouse, November 1973.

CROSBY, NASH & FALLON cover Miley Cyrus's "Party In The USA."

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE: Ben Gibbard talks about the new LP's L.A. roots at BlackBook.

WILL OLDHAM talks Florida, punk, country, Bonnie Prince Billy and more with the Broward New Times. (Thx, LHB.)

THE TOP 50 COVER SONGS, according to Gibson.com.

CUTOUT BIN: From Bob Dylan to the Cult, from the Temptations to the Tubes, from Jimi Hendrix to Joe Jackson, plus Paul Weller, John Sebastian, XTC, Darlene Love, Grant Hart, King Harvest and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are now streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

ARNOLD & MARIA: Shriver met with her divorce lawyer today in Beverly Hills and all systems are go to end her marriage to Schwarzenegger. Arnold's mistress is threatening to sue "Entertainment Tonight" over an interview with her ex-husband, claiming the show paid him "in excess of six figures to spew lies."

NOW SHOWING ran Thursday, if you need to scroll down.

CHARLIE SHEEN is selling his Beverly Hills mansion. Because he's winning, of course.

LINDSAY LOHAN began serving house arrest Thursday morning at her Venice, Calif., townhouse after turning herself in to the Lynwood Jail hours earlier.

RYAN REYNOLDS talks Green Lantern and his divorce from Scarlett Johansson at Details.

BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD is pregnant with her second child.

JEFF CONAWAY will be taken off life support machines after doctors told the ‘Grease' actor's family that he has had no brain activity since being admitted to a hospital May 11.

THE TOP 10 PIRATE MOVIES at the Chicago Tribune. (Thx, Dad.)

TOTAL RECALL: Bill Nighy will star opposite Colin Farrell is the seemingly unnecessary remake.

YEMEN: Pres Saleh ordered the arrest of rival rival leader Sheikh Sadiq al- Ahmar and nine of his brothers for fomenting "armed rebellion."

PAKISTAN: The Pakistani government had complained to the US about being unaware of American funding provided directly to the Pakistan military, according to previously unpublished American diplomatic cables. The reports also disclose tensions between the civilian government and the army over the use funds provided for counterinsurgency operations. Islamabad has told the Obama administration to reduce the number of US troops in the country and has moved to close three military intelligence liaison centers, setting back American efforts to eliminate insurgent sanctuaries in largely lawless areas bordering Afghanistan,

IRAQ: The spokesman for US Forces-Iraq said that attacks against US troops are on the rise as the December 2011 drawdown deadline nears. Thousands of supporters of Muqtada al Sadr protested against a continued US military presence in Iraq.

A FORMER SHELTER DOG that's missing a foot is now learning to walk on all fours again. Video at the link.

TENNESSEE TORTOISES finally get fast dates.

BIZARRE SHRIMP-LIKE MONSTERS that were the world's largest predators for millions of years grew even larger and survived much longer than thought, scientists find.

DOGS make lousy backseat drivers.

MOUNTAIN LION on the front porch. This is what happens when you live in Montana.