THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with VALENTINE'S DAY: I've never been a big Valentine's Day guy, but I have always liked The Replacements' "Valentine" and Elvis Costello's cover of "My Funny Valentine."  Beyond that, my thoughts typically drift to the Velvet Underground's "I'll Be Your Mirror," The Beatles' "In My Life," and the Beach Boys' "God Only Knows." I think it's probably very difficult to write a straight-ahead, universal love song, and these three are great.

PINEGROVE is streaming Cardinal.

WOLFMOTHER advance streams Victorious.

BIRDS OF CHICAGO advance stream Real Midnight.

SAM BEAM & JESCA HOOP drop “Every Songbird Says” ahead of Love Letter For Fire.

BRITTA PHILLIPS (Luna, Dean & Britta) drops an Evie Sands cover, “One Fine Summer Morning", ahead of her solo LP, Luck Or Magic.

STURGILL SIMPSON drops "Sugar Daddy," the theme for the HBO/Scorsese/Jagger series Vinyl.

THE OPPOSING VIEW:  Ever Fallen In Love? Love Stinks. Love Hurts. Love Will Tear Us Apart. Only Love Can Break Your Heart. And don't forget to give me back my black t-shirt (nsfw)!

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN will publish his memoir, Born To Run,in September.

LAKE STREET DIVE talks to Rolling Stone about inspiration from The Zombies and David Bowie, and getting signed to Nonesuch Records.

GIANT SAND is breaking up after 30 eclectic years. The story includes a few tracks from their upcoming retrospective box set.

IN DEFENSE OF THE CD: Are we being too quick to toss out an old friend?

ANTON BARBEAU, a former collaborator of the late Scott Miller (Game Theory, The Loud Family), is doing a West Coast tour, if you're out that way.

NOW SHOWING: This weeeknd's wide releases include Deadpool, which is currently scoring 83 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; How to Be Single, which is scoring 43 percent; and Zoolander 2, scoring 34 percent.

RYAN REYNOLDS talks to People about country life with wife Blake Lively and raising their little girl, James. It's an homage to When Harry Met Sally, really.

MILEY CYRUS bought a house to share with Liam Hemsworth; he's yet to move in.

BATMAN v SUPERMAN has an official final trailer online.

JASON BOURNE has a teaser trailer online.

HARRY POTTER & THE CURSED CHILD PARTS I & II: The script of the theatrical production will be published in book form, of course.

THE GILMORE GIRLS: Jared Padalecki and David Sutcliffe will return for the Netflix mini-revival.

THE BEST ROMANTIC COMEDIES, from A to Z, according to The A.V. Club.

IRAN will unveil an upgrade of its Emad ballistic missiles this year, the defense minister was quoted as saying, advancing a program that has drawn criticism from the United Nations and sanctions from the United States.

A LEOPARD entered a school in Bangalore, India – mauling six and leading to a ten-hour long standoff between the large cat and wildlife officers.

SPIDER vs SNAKE: Who you got? And which has whay it takes to love you?

CAT BURGLAR Burgles Cat.

THUMB-SIZED MONKETS: Adorable and illegally purchased by China's wealthiest.

THANKS TO EVERYONE for stopping by!  To celebrate, I'm taking today off.  Nah, seriously, it was a very slow news day.  I should be back tommorrow with the usual weekend installment.

JON PRATT: Pate's frontman brings back "Geologic Time," this time on a Craviola.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED: Tracks from Shearwater, Lily & Madeleine, Sunflower Bean, and more highlight the latest edition.

KINDIE MUSIC: The Current is running a family-friendly stream in advance of the Rock The Cradle event. Nice playlist for anyone, updated in real time.

JOHN CALE: The 1975 John Peel Session.

WILD NOTHING drops "A Woman's Wisdom" ahead of Life of Pause.

TEEN has some "Free Time" ahead of Love Yes.

CAROLE KING turned 74 yesterday. "It's Too Late" to recognize the power of Tapestry? I think not.

GUIDED BY VOICES sort of kind of returns in some fashion. Plus a new song from Robert Pollard's upcoming solo LP.

GIMME CELLULOID: A history of Mick Jagger on film.

LUCINDA WILLIAMS talks to Morning Edition about he father, the South, love, and more.

THE BEACH BOYS' albums, ranked at Brooklyn Vegan.

HUGH JACKMAN urges his fans to use suncreen after having a cancerous growth removed from his nose.You would think he would've gotten this advice from his Australia director, Baz Luhrmann.

KHLOE KARDASIAN & JAMES HARDEN are dunzo.

LeSEAN McCOY's bar fight video surfaces.

CIARA sues FUTURE for allegedly blasting her mothering skills and attacking her relationship with Russell Wilson.

STAR TREK's small screen reboot will be helmed by Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, American Gods, Pushing Daisies).

RIVERDALE: Archie and the gang may get weird on the small screen.

DANIEL GERSON, who co-wrote several Walt Disney animated films including Monsters, Inc. and Big Hero 6, has died of brain cancer. He was 49.

NORTH KOREA has expanded a uranium enrichment facility and restarted a plutonium reactor that could start recovering spent fuel in weeks or months, the U.S. intelligence chief said Tuesday in delivering the annual assessment by intelligence agencies of the top dangers facing the country.

THE ISLAMIC STATE: Top U.S. intelligence officials said Tuesday that ISIS was likely to attempt direct attacks on the U.S. in the coming year and that the group was infiltrating refugees escaping from Iraq and Syria to move across borders.

IRAQI government forces regained full control of Ramadi after pushing Islamic State group fighters out of the city's outskirts, according to Iraqi security forces and the U.S.-led coalition. The announcement, more than a month after Ramadi was first declared liberated in December, underscores the slow nature of Iraqi ground operations despite heavy backing from U.S.-led coalition airstrikes.

A 600-LB PIG was spotted outside a New Hampshire primary polling place and later taken into police custody.

A FLORIDA MAN threw an alligator throught the drive-thru window at a Wendy's in Jupiter.

TWO TENNESSEE HUNTERS have been banned from hunting there and 43 other states after they illegally killed as many as 40 deer, and then took photos and videos mocking the animals.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: Gangs of militant rodents attack mothers with babies in Dorset.

THE DEAD WEATHER drops a video for "Impossible Winner".

ROBYN HITCHCOCK performs in the WNYC Soundcheck studio.

THE BESNARD LAKES perform in the WNYC Soundcheck studio. 

BASIA BULAT stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

ROGUE WAVE drops “What Is Left To Solve?” as the lead single ahead of Delusions Of Grand Fur.

TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS: Aquarium Drunkard has a rare live version of “Fooled Again (I Don’t Like It)” from 1976.

M WARD played "Confession" and "Girl From Conejo Valley" for Colbert and Twofer Tuesday. And yes, that looks a lot like Scott McCaughey next to him.

THE JIMI HENDRIX MUSEUM: The guitar legend's old flat has been restored and opens Wednesday.

SHEARWATER's Jonathan Meiburg talks to Magnet about the 80's-influenced Jet Plane And Oxbow.

WOLF PARADE: Spencer Krug talks to Pitchfork about the band's reunion and new material.

CHICAGO: Pete Cetera will not be joining the band for its Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction.

ROSE BYRNE & BOBBY CANNAVALE welcomed a baby boy last week.

ANGELINA JOLIE has some new ink.

MADONNA & GUY RITCHIE's child custody battle now includes charges son Rocco is smoking.

BEYONCE's “Black Power” salute during the Super Bowl halftime show divided people. Shocka.

SYRIA: Evidence has emerged strongly suggesting that U.S.-armed rebels have used an American-supplied weapons system to kill a handful of senior Russian military officials.

THE ISLAMIC STATE: U.S. strikes against the self-proclaimed Islamic State have had an unintended beneficiary: al Qaeda.

IRAN: Newly released satellite images of Iran’s top-secret Parchin military complex reveal that even as Iran was working to negotiate a nuclear deal, it was apparently working to hide its past atomic work and it is still developing facilities to which the IAEA may not have access.

NORA THE POLAR CUB debuted at the Columbus Zoo.

ATLAS THE GIANT BUNNY needs a new home, the bigger the batter.

A CAT PARASITE may also affect human behavior when it infects people.

A LION CUB learns to finish off its prey. The Circle of Life.

WILCO covered David Bowie's "Space Oddity" as an acoustic singalong in Brooklyn.

THE JAMES HUNTER SIX streams Hold On!

DR DOG performs five songs for World Cafe Live.

PAUL SIMON & ANDREW BIRD were among the guests on the latest Prairie Home Companion.

ANDY SCHAUF drops "Jenny Come Home" which is popy tending toward early-mid-period Beatle-esque. 

DUSTY SPRINGFIELD covers "People Get Ready."

RICHARD HAWLEY talks to Under The Radar about his favorite movie ending, his least favorite TV series finale, how he'd like to die, his ideal of heaven, and his famous last words. (Thx, Frank Yang.)

THE MONKEES announce a 50th anniversary tour and an LP with 60s outtakes and ne songs written by Noel Gallagher, Rivers Cuomo, Ben Gibbard, Zach Rogue and many more. Adam Schlesinger of Fountains of Wayne serves as producer on the new LP.

DAN HICKS: Bay Area folk-pop-jazz singer and bandleader, known for his acoustic eclectism, sense of humor and popular songs such as "“I Scare Myself," died Saturday in Mill Valley, according to his wife. Hicks was 74. And here's a 1973 Rolling Stone piece on the (first?) beakup of the Hot Licks.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Kung Fu Panda 3 repeats atop the chart with 21MM on a predictably slow SuperBowl weekend. Hail, Caesar! placed with 11MM, which is maybe okay against a 33MM budget, but maybe not with a C- Cinemascore. The Revenant showed with 7.1 MM and is about 3/4ths of the wayt o profitability worldwide. Star Wars: The Force Awakens takes the fourth slot with 6.9MM,passing 900MM domestic and 2 Billion worldwide.  The Choice rounds out the Top 5 with 6M, but that is (iirc) the lowest debut for a Nicholas Sparks adaptation --particularly ochy given that Sparks co-produced (put up money); maybe Valentine's Day will save it, maybe not.  Below the fold, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies opened badly in sixth, as period peieces and genre mashups continue to underperform.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR's Super Bowl trailer is online.

KATY PERRY & ORLANDO BLOOM linked up with his son Flynn over the weekend.

MELANIE GRIFFITH has soured on marriage.

MacGYVER may be headed to the big screen.

JOHNNY FOOTBALL has twice declined to be admitted to area rehabilitation facilities in the last week.

KATIE MAY, a hugely successful model and social media star, died after suffering a stroke on Monday.  She was 34.

EUROPE: Islamic State militants have slipped into Europe disguised as refugees, the head of Germany's domestic intelligence agency (BfV) said on Friday, a day after security forces thwarted a potential IS attack in Berlin. A female reporter was sexually assaulted live on camera during a Cologne festival. Protesters rallied against Islam and immigration in several European cities Saturday, sometimes clashing with police or counter-demonstrators amid growing tensions over the massive influx of asylum-seekers to the continent.

LIBYA: Five years after Western air power helped remove Muammar Qaddafi, the chances of another intervention in Libya are steadily increasing.

A SEA LION PUP is rescued from a restaurant’s booth.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: A militant strikes in Tulsa.

MONKEY ON THE LAM in Minerva Park, OH.

A NEW SPECIES OF BLACK TARANTULA, named for Johnny Cash.