MIKAL CRONIN plays “Turn Around” for Conan.

NOVELLA advance streams their debut LP, Land.

ESKIMEAUX advance streams O.K.

KENNY KNIGHT advance streams the reissue of Crossroads.

VOMITFACE advance streams the Another Bad Year EP.

JASON ISBELL drops "24 Frames" ahead of Something More Than Free.

FREEDY JOHNSON drops the title track to "Neon Repairman."  For fans of "Wichita Lineman."  Speaking of which...

THE BEATLES did not revolutionize music, researchers say.  Suffice it to say the result is disputed.

CALEXICO's oey Burns sat down with Chicago INNERVIEW between European tour dates to chat about influences, new cities and exploration.

ANDY BELL (Ride, Beady Eye) shares the soundtrack of his life at NME.

APPLE is under scrutiny by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commissionover the claim the tech giant tried to force Spotify to drop its free service.

INDIANA JONES will return. Some day.

ZOOEY DESCHANEL talks  feminism and body image in Cosmopolitan.

RYAN GOSLING ate cereal in tribute to the late Ryan McHenry, creator of "Ryan Gosling Won't Eat His Cereal".

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER acts out his film career in six minutes.

MANNY PACQUIAO and his fight promoters have been hit with a class action lawsuit by people who claim he screwed fans, Pay-per-view buyers and gamblers out of serious money by not disclosing his shoulder injury before the Mayweather fight.

MARTIN FREEMAN joins the cast of Marvel's Captain America: Civil War in an unknown role. Probably not a Hobbit, tho.

NIGERIA: Some of the women and girls recently rescued from Boko Haram by the Nigerian military say the jihadist group began brutally murdering captives as rescue forces neared.

IRAN has banned men from getting a spiky haircut, a tattoo or an eyebrow plucking , describing these styles as "devil-worshipping" and "homosexual."

THE UNTITED STATES Department of State's Rewards for Justice Program is offering rewards for information on four key leaders of the terrorist group Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

LIBYA: The Islamic State crucified three brothers in Derna after accusing them of supporting the Libyan government.

MAN vs BEAR, to save a chihuahua.

SPIDERS have woven webs infused with carbon nanotubes and even graphene, raising the prospect of new materials with record-beating properties.

A HUNGRY PIG trapped a terrified motorist in her car in an attempted food raid.

KITTENS: The latest oroduct-- and victims -- of California's drought?

CINCO DE MAYO STARTS HERE: 

...with LOS LOBOS: "I Got Loaded" (with an added snippet of "Turn On Your Lovelight") from their fabulous first full-lengther, How Will the Wolf Survive? "Don't Worry Baby," "Evangeline," "Our Last Night," and "A Matter of Time" were on that album, too.

PEE WEE HERMAN: "Tequila." Obvs.

HERB ALPERT & THE TIJUANA BRASS: Rare video of "A Taste of Honey" from 1967.

CHEAP TRICK brings you the Mariachi mash-up of "Surrender."

JIMMY BUFFETT: Margaritaville. Obvs.

LIZ PHAIR: "Cinco de Mayo." Obvs.

THE ALABAMA SHAKES, interviewed by Drive-By Trucker Patterson Hood.

THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN: Jim Reid talks to Stereogum about making Psychocandy, and why a 30th anniversary tour isn’t just about nostalgia.

HAS STREAMING Stifled the Music Industry?

THE 50 GREATEST GUITAR SOLOS, according to NME.

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS let Annie Leibovitz take some behind-the-scenes shots for Vanity Fair. BONUS: Captain Phasma. DOUBLE BONUS: The 2nd Star Wars anthology movie, due in 2018, will be a Boba Fett origin story.

JOSS WHEDON quit Twitter (again) after taking flak over the portrayal of Balck Widow in Avengers: Age of Ultron.

TIGER WOODS & LINDSEY VONN are dunzo after three years.

MADONNA regrets kissing Drake, making it unanimous.

CHRIS BROWN  is accused of brawling with another guy early Monday morning during a basketball game.

KRISTIN CAVALLARI talks to Us Weekly about life with Chicago Bears QB Jay Cutler, whom I affectionately like to call "Jerkface."

DANIELLE WATTS (Django Unchained), who accused Los Angeles police of racial profiling when they investigated a report she was having sex with her boyfriend in a parked car has been ordered to apologize to officers as part of a plea deal.

NIGEL TERRY, known for his roles in The Lion in Winter, Excalibur and Caravaggio, died of emphysema aged 69.

IRAN: Leading Persian Gulf states want major new weapons systems and security guarantees from the White House in exchange for backing a nuclear agreement with Iran, according to U.S. and Arab officials.

UNITED STATES intelligence agencies ­badly misjudged al-Qaeda’s ­ability to take advantage of political turmoil in the Middle East and regain strength across the region after Osama bin Laden was killed, according to a new book by the CIA’s former deputy director.

YEMEN: The Saudi-led military coalition fighting a rebel group in Yemen has in the past few weeks used widely-banned cluster munitions supplied by the United States, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on Sunday.

TUCKER Takes the Stairs.

EAST COAST STARFISH may survive a zombie plague.

A BLACK LABRADOR named Caroline freaked out during a trip to the grocery store and caused her North Carolina owner to crash their truck into a swimming pool.

A GRIEVING MAMA CAT who lost her kittens adopted a litter.

BEN E. KING,  a singer and songwriter whose 1961 hit “Stand by Me” became an enduring rhythm-and-blues classic and found a new generation of fans through the popular 1986 film of the same title, died April 30 at a hospital near his home in Teaneck, N.J. He was 76.  The WaPo obit will also hook you up with his great "Spanish Harlem," as well as highlights of his turn as lead vocalist for The Drifters -- "There Goes My Baby," "This Magic Moment" and "Save the Last Dance for Me."

SURFER BLOOD advance streams 1000 Palms.

PATRICK WATSON advance streams Love Songs For Robots.

EMMYLOU HARRIS & RODNEY CROWELL advance stream The Traveling Kind.

JOANNA GRUESOME advance streams Peanut Butter.

TRES PADRES: Lou Barlow drops two tracks he recorded with Imaad Wasif and the Melvins’ Dale Crover.

BLUR bassist Alex James tells NME how The Magic Whip almost never happened - and if he'll be voting for his chum David Cameron.

B.B. KING is in hospice care...and there's already a dispute between his daughter and his business manager.

JOHN LYDON, a/k/a Johnny Rotten talks to All Things Considered about losing his memory to meningitis at 7, being a threat to civilization (and loving it) and why he's appeared on reality TV shows.

"UPTOWN FUNK" adds The Gap Band to its songwriting credits.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Avengers: Age of Ultron completely ruled cinemas with 187.7MM.  That's the sencond-biggest opening ever, behind only... The Avengers.  Will it hold that record against Star Wars: The Force Awakens? Hmm... Age of Ultron opened a week earlier overseas, where it has raked in 439MM so far.  Here, the Thursday previews ougrossed the opening weekend of The Matrix,and by Friday night, Age of Ultron outgrossed the opening weekends of dilms like 50 Shades of Grey and American Sniper.  The Age of Adeline placed with 6.3 MM, finishing up a slot but dropping 53 percent.  It's a different age.  Furious 7 showed, falling out of the top slot it enjoyed throughout April with 6.1MM on a 67 percent drop as all the action for action went to Marvel.  Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 fell 62 percent to the fourth slotwith 5.5MM.  Home rounded out the Top 5 with 3.3MM on a 59 percent drop.

KATE MIDDLETON & PRINCE WILLIAM introduced the new Princess of Cambridge on Saturday.

BROOKLYN DECKER & ANDY RODDERICK will welcome their first child this fall.

BRUCE JENNER has been hit with a wrongful death lawsuit by the stepchildren of the woman who died in the Malibu car crash.

HILARY DUFF seems to be Tinder dating for a reality TV show.

ELIZABETH BANKS talks Pitch Perfect 2 and Love and Mercy with The Hollywood Reporter.

CHAD L. COLEMAN  — an actor who famously played Tyreese on “The Walking Dead” and Cutty on “The Wire” had a complete meltdown Friday on a New York City subway train.

GRACE LEE WHITNEY who played the loyal Janice Rand, the personal assistant who served Captain James T. Kirk aboard the USS Enterprise during the first season of Star Trek, has died. She was 85.

ART SPIEGELMAN has called Russian bookstores’ decision to stop selling copies of Maus – his Pulitzer prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust – the “harbinger of a dangerous thing”, as authorities move to remove Nazi insignia ahead of the 70th anniversary of the allied victory in the second world war.

VENEZUELA: President Nicolas Maduro has promised to nationalize food distribution in the South American nation beset with record shortages of basic goods, runaway inflation and an escalating economic crisis.

U.S. AND QATARI officials began talks Thursday about extending security assurances for five senior Taliban members who were released from Guantanamo Bay in exchange for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl and whose transfer to Qatar triggered an outcry on Capitol Hill.

THE ISLAMIC STATE: Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, leader of the Islamic State, was so severely wounded by a US air strike he is said to have handed control to his deputy, a physics professor.

A KITTEN takes on Dalmations.

A DOG infected humans with the Plague in Colorado, the first such reported case in the US.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: A calf with two heads.

THE VAMPIRE SQUID may not really be a squid.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with R.E.M! Live at the Capital Theater, in Passaic, NJ, on June 9, 1984. Your set list includes: "Pale Blue Eyes"; "Second Guessing"; "Hyena"; "Letter Never Sent"; "Harborcoat"; "7 Chinese Brothers"; "Pretty Persuasion"; "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)"; "Gardening At Night"; "9-9"; "Windout"; "Old Man Kensey"; "Sitting Still"; "Driver 8"; "Carnival Of Sorts (Boxcars)"; "Radio Free Europe"; and "Little America.

TWEEDY perfoms live in the KEXP studio.

JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD performs live in the KEXP studio.

LITTLE WINGS covers Van Morrison, Billy Idol, Bruce Springsteen and Lil Wayne at Aquarium Drunkard. 

OH CANADA: LTOBF brings you its 25th or 35th compilation of bands from the Great White North.

TITUS ANDRONICUS dropped “Dimed Out” ahead of a cameo-laden rock opera, The Most Lamentable Tragedy.

RYAN ADAMS covered Bryan Adams's "Summer of '69" at the Ryman Auditorium.

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

THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN: Jim Reid talks to Consequence of Sound about Psychocandy, sobriety, and his hero, Lou Reed.

KIM GORDON talks about her memoir at The Quietus.

CHUCK PROPHET talks to Paste about his glam-rock LP, Night Surfer.

DE LA SOUL did a Reddit Ask Me Anything.

THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON is this weekend's sole wide release, clocking in at 74 percent on the ol' Tomatometer. The original would be tough to top, and while there's plenty of action, director/writer Joss Whedon wisely doesn't try to top the inter-dimensional invasion of the Chitauri.  Indeed, the basic plot is nothing revolutionary.  Instead, he relies on his large, talented ensemble and an often more comedic tone, not unlike his work on Firefly/Serenity. He also throws out a fair number of curveballs.  Some of these twists were likely dictated by the Marvel Cinematic Universe's differences from the comics (dictated by other studios owning the rights to certain characters; others are setting up Phase Three of these increasingly inter-related Marvel movies (even seeing Guardians of the Galaxy will deepen the viewer's understanding here).  Indeed, there are some Easter eggs for the comics nerds, who all "oohed" at the mention of Wakanda. And at least one or two curveballs will be as unexpected as they are emotional.  And these twists generally work pretty well. David Spader does well as the movie Ultron. The comics' Ultron was created by Hank Pym (whom we will not meet until Ant-Man arrives later this Summer), whereas Spader neatly reflects his creation by Tony Stark in the MCU.  There is a preview of Phase Three during the credits, but there's no bonus scene at the very end--again, Whedon wisely deciding not to imitate the original.

ROBERT DOWNEY JR intended to be complimentary with a statement about Mexican-born director Alejandro Inarritu that some have interpreted as racist, the actor's publicist said. RDJr also endorsed Joe and Anthony Russot to take over for the two Avengers: Infinity War films.

ROSIE O'DONNELL's estranged wife claims she wants custody because Rosie drinks and smokes too much.

COURTNEY STODDARD has been offered a million bucks for her sex tape.

BRUCE JENNER plans to return to motivational speaking.

JUMP STREET plans to expand with a female spin-off and a Men In Black crossover.

BEN AFFLECK cameoing as Batman in Suicide Squad?

IRAN: Britain has informed a United Nations sanctions panel of an active Iranian nuclear procurement network linked to two blacklisted firms, according to a confidential report. Also, Iran has been shipping weapons to Yemen's Houthi rebels since at least 2009, according to a confidential U.N. report, indicating that Tehran's support dates back to the early years of the Shiite militia's insurgency.

NEPAL: A 15-year-old hotel worker was rescued from the rubble five days after a devastating earthquake.

VIETNAM: 40 years after the war, has the single most positive views on capitalism of any country, with an enthusiasm that is even more widespread than in Germany, India, or the United States.

MAKING A BED With Cats.

SIX DUCKLINGS, saved by a ringtone.

A ZEBRA photobombs a German tourist.

A RESCUED SNAKE pukes up a frog.

DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979 shares a video for "Virgins."

ALL PEOPLE advance streams Learn Forget Repeat.

RYAN ADAMS streams three songs from a new 7″ called I Do Not Feel Like Being Good, via Spotify.

JOSE GONZALEZ plays a Tiny Desk Concert.

SAM FERMIN stopped by WFUV for a set.

CHUMPED covers Sex Bob-omb's “Threshold,” from Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World.

DIAMOND YOUTH drops “No Control” ahead of Nothing Matters.

HOT CHOCOLATE: "You Sexy Thing." Believe in miracles?

BRIAN WILSON talks to Aquarium Drunkard about his latest (and last?) album, the Wrecking Crew, and Love and Mercy.

SPEEDY ORTIZ talks to NME about intra-band tumult, the indie "boy's club," and their sophomore LP.

CREAM: The Guardian dug up Melody Maker's 1966 preview of the band's first gig.

MEW is profiled at Paste.

DAVE LETTERMAN reflects on 33 years of late nights with the New York Times.

ROBERT DOWNEY JR stays for an interview about walking out on an interview.

MILEY CYRUS, who recently broke up with her boyfriend of five months, Patrick Schwarzenegger, is getting close again to ex-fiancé Liam Hemsworth.

PAMELA ANDERSON is a million dollars richer, and Rick Salomon is a lot happier after their divorce went through.

MARK HAMILL shared family pics from Return of the Jedi.

SEINFELD heads to Hulu for 160MM dollars.

FRANCE:  Cartoonist Luz, who drew Charlie Hebdo's front cover picture of Mohammed following the massacre of the satirical weekly's editorial team by jihadists in January, has told a French magazine he will no longer draw the prophet.

SAUDI ARABIA's  king has removed his half-brother as crown prince, replacing him with his nephew, and elevated his son to the position of deputy crown prince, in the most significant repositioning of power among the royal family since King Salman assumed the throne in January.

LIBYA: The Tripoli-based Islamist faction rejected the UN's peace proposal that included recognizing the rival internationally-recognized parliament as "the only legislative authority in the country."

A CRAZY, TENTACLED CATERPILLAR in Peru.

A BULL had an apparently amorous interest in a Florida police car.

CONEHEAD TERMITES invade Broward County, FL. Mepps! Mepps!

A TORTOISE which had part of its legs chewed off by a rat has been fitted with wheels.