ANDY WILLIAMS, the affable, boyishly handsome crooner who defined both easy listening and wholesome, easygoing charm for many American pop music fans in the 1960s, most notably with his signature song, "Moon River," died on Tuesday night at his home in Branson, Mo. He was 84.

NO DOUBT is advance streaming Push and Shove via Spotify.

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

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

AMANDA PALMER & GRAND THEFT ORCHESTRA perform at WNYC Soundcheck.

HOSPITALITY dops a new single, "Monkey."

THE KINKS: "Victoria," live in Rhode Island, circa 1979.

MOUNTAIN GOATS: John Darnielle talks to TIME about songwriting for tortured souls.

BETH ORTON talks to the Philadelphia Inquirer about the Sugaring Season.

SUFJAN STEVENS talks to New York magazine about scoring a ballet.

SONIC YOUTH is still recovering stolen guitars 13 years later, with the help of fans.

KRISTEN STEWART & ROBERT PATTINSON have reconciled and are shacking up again, according to Us Weekly.

TOM CRUISE: His life alone.

NEIL PATRICK HARRIS promises an unconventional memoir.

NICOLE SCHERZINGER denies swapping spit with Chris Brown inside a Hollywood nightclub, insisting the two were simply talking ... very closely.

RUSSELL BRAND hints at the real reasons for his split with Katy Perry.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH and... Liv Tyler?

JENNU "JWOWW" FARLEY is engaged.

THE "SNOOKI LAW" would allow New Jersey towns to regulate the shooting of reality TV there and impose conditions including requiring TV crews to pay for additional police officers needed to assure public safety.

LIBYA: The decision to withdraw the CIA team from Benghazi drew criticism from former officers, who called it an overly cautious response to the Sept. 11 attack, which killed two security officers, an information technology officer and the U.S. ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens.

YEMEN: President Hadi said the government is willing to negotiate with al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula if the terror group disarms.

SYRIA: Two suicide bombs exploded outside Syrian Army headquarters in central Damascus, killing four guards. The rebel Free Syrian Army claimed responsibility. Forty people were massacred outside Damascus. French President Francois Hollande called on the UN to protect liberated zones.

PAKISTAN is developing non-strategic nuclear weapons.

ORPHAN APE & STRAY CAT are best friends...

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: A reckless driver tells police he was under attack by a militant rodent.

A KILLER BEAR roams Fukushima, not Godzilla-sized... yet.

A BABY ELEPHANT born at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park has been named Quinsa.

JOEY RAMONE: The posthumous video for "New York City" goes there, with a truckload of cameos.

BETTY LaVETTE is advance streaming Thankful N' Thoughtful.

GRIZZLY BEAR played DC's 9:30 Club; you can stream the whole gig on demand.

M83 played DC's 9:30 Club; you can stream the whole gig on demand.

TAKEN BY TREES is advance streaming Other Worlds.

ANDREW BIRD drops "Three White Horses" ahead of the eight-song Hands Of Glory.

REDBONE: "Come and Get Your Love."

THE RASCALS original lineup-Felix Cavaliere, Gene Cornish, Eddie Brigati and Dino Danelli-will reunite for their first public performances in over 40 years with "Once Upon A Dream," a combination concert/theatrical event produced and directed by Steven Van Zandt and lighting/projection wizard Marc Brickman.

THE SEA & CAKE: Sam Prekop talks to Pitchfork about growing up in Chicago listening to Captain & Tennille, Joy Division's mysteriousness, and appreciating the Beach Boys at 30.

BEACHWOOD SPARKS talk to MAGNET about the second time around.

FEIST wins the Mercury Prize, hides under a table.

LINDSAY LOHAN claims her recent arrest aggravated the the "walking pneumonia" she's been suffering from the last few weeks.

SARAH MICHELLE GELLAR and Freddie Prinze, Jr. welcome a second child.

BEYONCE pregnancy rumors run rampant. Tina Knowles dismisses them.

CHRIS BROWN fails a drug test, but won't be jailed for violating probabtion.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE reboots MySpace.

SIMON COWELL & CARMEN ELECTRA are soooo not a publicity stunt, no no no.

FARGO is coming to cable with help from the Coen Bros. And Tru-Coat.

THE MUMMY has the worst luck, really.

LIBYA: The US offered Libya help in securing weapons and cracking down on militias.

IRAN: President Obama warned the UN that the US will "do what we must" to prevent Iran's acquisition of a nuclear weapon, but did not indicate the timing or nature of such US action.  A senior commander of the Republican Guards said a cyber war was more dangerous to Iran than a physical war. President Ahmadinejad railed against Israel and the US in a speech at the UN.

IRAQ: The civil war in Syria is testing Iraq's fragile society and fledgling democracy, worsening sectarian tensions, pushing Iraq closer to Iran and highlighting security shortcomings just nine months after American forces ended their long and costly occupation here.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: A militant rodent escapes from a kitchen.

STINK BUG INVASION: A potentially historic outbreak next year has federal officials scrambling to deploy a killer that will stop the Chinese import's march into 38 states so far.

SHEEP shock sports store shoppers in Austria.

KITTENS ARE CUTE. Rabid kittens, not so much.

BEST COAST covers "About a Girl," still one of my favorite Nirvana tracks.

NEW RELEASES from Dum Dum Girls, Jason Collett, Crine & the City Solution, Suzanne Vega and more are streaming this week at Spinner.

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS advance stream Transcendental Youth.

THE SOFT PACK is streaming Strapped.

CHRIS COHEN (Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Deerhoof, Cass McCombs) advance streams Overgrown Path.

ROBIN PECKOLD put out a very limited edition of "White Lace, Regretfully," but the 'net de-rarifies things somewhat.

LOU REED jois METRIC on "The Wanderlust" and the VU classic, "Pale Blue Eyes," just in time for Twofer Tuesday.

BON IVER: Justin Vernon ponders abandoning the band. ALSO: His Radio City performance may still be streaming at that link today.

GREEN DAY: Billie Joe Armstrong enters rehab after a very public meltdown.

RICKIE LEE JONES talks to Weekend Edition about her new covers LP, and plays "Sympathy For the Devil."

AFGHAN WHIGS frontman Greg Dulli takes The A.V. Club on a tour through the back catalog.

LINDSAY LOHAN was rushed to the emergency room in NYC Sunday night, reportedly suffering from a bad lung infection.

SOFIA VERGARA had a wardrobe malfunction at the Emmys.

KANYE WEST reportedly has two sex tapes being shopped... is Kim Kardashian in one?

KATY PERRY has fallen head-over-heels for John Mayer, but as far as her friends and family are concerned the relationship is headed for disaster, according to RadarOnline.

BONNIE FRANKLIN has pancreatic cancer, a family spokesman announced Monday.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH: BBC's Sherlock is set to lock horns with Daniel Craig as the next Bond villain... in 2014.

SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR will be "closer to the source material than before," according to director Robert Rodriguez.

LIBYA: The attack in Benghazi that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans has dealt the Central Intelligence Agency a major setback in its intelligence-gathering efforts at a time of increasing instability in the North African nation.

IRAN cut off Internet access to Google search, YouTube, and Gmail. A government news agency said the reason was YouTube's refusal to take down an inflammatory movie trailer about the Prophet Mohammed. Others cited the use of social media in anti-government demonstrations.

IRAQ: The government is speeding up executions, citing security concerns; 96 people have been executed this year.

PAKISTAN: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed serious alarm over the recent spike in incidents of violence and intolerance against vulnerable groups across the country, saying the failure to address intolerance was contributing to gravity of the problem.

KEO the DOLPHIN gives birth.

A CROCODILE escaped from its cage during a flight between Brisbane and Melbourne.

THIS EEL? Oh, I slipped and fell on it, or something.

MINSK the SQUIRREL was rescued, served with the Belarussian Army, now rides shotgun in a taxi. He's a sleeper agent.

THE SEX PISTOLS: "Holiday In the Sun" footage unseen for 35 years.

MATT & KIM are advance streaming Lightning.

BETH ORTON is advance streaming the Sugaring Season.

THE HEAD AND THE HEART play a stripped down set live on KEXP.

EMANUEL & THE FEAR are streaming The Janus Mirror via Bandcamp.

PAUL WESTERBERG drops "My Road Now," his first solo track since 2009. BONUS: The Replacements, ranked by Stereogum.

AC NEWMAN is joined by Neko Case on "Encyclopedia Of Classic Takedowns."

FUNKADELIC: "I Got a Thing" on Upbeat in 1970. The intro and outro are almost as good as the song.

THE TOP 100 SONGS EVER. according Consequence of Sound (Part 1, Part 2).

LOU BARLOW talks to Consequence of Sound about Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr, Folk Implosion and more.

CALEXICO gets a feature and tracks from Weekend Edition.

THE PIXIES' 10 BEST SONGS, according to Stereogum.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: End of Watch and House and the End of the Street tie the top of the chart with 13 million apiece, though End of Watch will likely squeak ahead when all the tickets are actually counted.  HATES, made before Jennifer Lawrence became a big star, but held for financial reasons, will make Relativity Media quite happy for a film with terrible reviews. Both are low-budget and thus profitable instantly. Trouble With the Curve places by a nose, with 12.7 million, drawing an older crowd that should give this one some legs.  The 3-D release of Finding Nemo shows with 9.4 million of mostly free money for Disney.  Last weekend's champ, Resident Evil: Retribution, tumbles 68 percent to round out the Top 5 with 6.7 million.  Below the fold, Dredd opened in sixth with 6.3 million, which is terrible for a 40 million 3-D flick that got surprisingly good reviews.

THE MASTER: The latest from auteur Paul Thomas Anderson caught some advance buzz for supposedly featuring a thinly veiled version of the Church of Scientology.  It does do that, and I suspect some of the less enthusiastic reviews (e.g., Roger Ebert) are based in disappoitment that it is not an Elmer Gantry-esque, searing indictment.  But Anderson seems to have been interested in a more philosophical look at faith, and on a more basic level, what causes some to want to lead movements, follow them, or resist them.  It is deceptively simple, but the deception is often engrossing, despite the very deliberate sort of pacing Anderson brought to There Will Be Blood.  Joaquin Phoenix plays a restless and troubled seeker, while Philip Seymour Hoffman portrays the L. Ron Hubbard-esque title character; both will likely get Oscar nods (and possibly wins) for their intense performances; you will likely never see a more gripping scene featuring nothing but two men speaking into a microphone.  They are so riveting that Amy Adams -- who gives a very good performance as the Mster's wife -- could almost be overlooked.

THE EMMYS went to these folks.

JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE had a globetrotting bachelor party marathon in Sin City and Cabo.

AMANDA BYNES: Friends are fuming mad with her family ... wondering why they aren't doing more to help the troubled actress before something really bad happens to her.

CHARLIZE THERON is said to have fallen for Eric Stonestreet, who plays gay Cameron Tucker in the hit US comedy series Modern Family.  But he denies it.

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER says his estranged wife Maria Shriver confronted him about his secret love child during a couple's therapy session and that she'd suspected for years.

SIERRA BLANCA: A trap for unwary pot-smoking celebs.

YEMEN: The Political Security Office has again refused to prosecute al Qaeda suspects.

SYRIA: More than 180 people were killed during heavy fighting in Aleppo and across the country. Fighting spilled across Syria's borders into Lebanon and Turkey.

EGYPT: Pres Morsi said that a strong relationship with Iran was important for Egypt. The leader of Egypt's Salafist party called on the UN to criminalize contempt of Islam.

IRAN: A senior member of Iran's parliament's accused the IAEA of passing nuclear secrets to Israel. A senior commander the Revolutionary Guards Iran could launch a pre-emptive strike on Israel. Iran would also target US bases in the region.

BERMESE MOUNTAIN PUPPY vs A LEMON: Who you got?

GIRAFFE ON THE LAM: Circus escapee gives police the runaround as he chases people along streets for three hours.

A GYMNASTIC GOAT and a Shetland pony form an unlikely act.

A BUMBLEBEE is nursed from death's door by a man with honey.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE GO-GOs!  They made history as the first all-female band that both wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to top the Billboard album charts. Kind of a hard band to place seasonally. Their debut, Beauty and the Beat, which yielded hits like "Our Lips Are Sealed" and "We Got the Beat," as well as great album cuts like "This Town," "Lust to Love," "Tonite" and "How Much More," came out in late Summer 1981, iirc, and "Lips" was climbing the charts that Fall, so I mentally place the band in this time of year. And it's still warm enough that the title track to the too-quick sophomore album, "Vacation," -- or their cover of the Capitols' "Cool Jerk" -- doesn't sound too out of place. "Get Up and Go" was also a single from that LP, but it didn't make the Top 40.  The band would chart twice more -- in 1984, with "Head Over Heels" and "Turn to You" -- before splitting and the near-inevitable reunion tours.

THE HEAVY played a live set in Studio 1a at KUT and stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

BEST COAST stopped by WNYC Soundcheck for a performance of songs from the new record and to talk about its newfound success, covering Fleetwood Mac, and, of course, Snacks the cat.

MENOMENA stopped by Oregon Public Broadcasting for a session. 

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED: Tracks from Tilly & the Wall, Atoms for Peace, and Woods highlight the latest installment of the long-running NPR series.

OF MONTREAL backed actor Paul Rudd and actor-director David Wain on Boston's classic "More Than A Feeling." 

BOB MOULD talks to the Chicago Tribune and GQ about the latest leg of his leggy career. (Thx, Chromewaves.)

SING-ALONGS: Pitchfork's Ryan Schrieber interviews Dr. Alisun Pawley about her research into irresistible songs (and compiles his own list) at NYC Soundcheck.

NICK CAVE talks to The A.V. Club about the new film Lawless, for which he wrote the screenplay and music.

THE TOP 10 INDIE ROCK DOCUMENTARIES, according to Stereogum.

CUTOUT BIN: From the Replacements to Bobby Darin, from Black Francis & Joey Santiago to KC & the Sunshine Band, from Roy Orbison to Uriah Heep, plus the Dave Clark 5, Gordon Lightfoot, Rick Springfield 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: Trouble With the Curve, currently scoring 57 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; End of Watch, which is currently scoring 83 percent;the unscreened House At the End of the Street, and Dredd, standing at 85 percent. Also, Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master expands to 600 screens at 86 percent.

AMANDA BYNES tells friends she's doing just fine.  BTW, she was kicked out of a workout class on Tuesday for strange behavior.

BLAKE LIVELY & RYAN REYNOLDS may have kept their surprise wedding under wraps, but the newlyweds aren't trying to conceal a pregnancy, the Gossip Girl actress' rep tells Gossip Cop.

HEIDI KLUM is really upset over brand new topless photos that have been published in a French magazine ... claiming her privacy was violated a la Kate Middleton ... and now she's seriously considering filing a lawsuit.

THE FRENCH HOTEL is under fire for comments she made about gay men.

MONICA LEWINSKY is promising to reveal secret love letters to Bill Clinton and his penchant for kinky sex in a new tell-all about her days as his favorite intern.

YEMEN: The chief of security for Al Mahfad district in Abyan said that more than 400 Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters, including Saudis and Pakistanis, have regrouped there.

SYRIA: Increasingly, foreign fighters and those adhering to an extremist Islamist ideology are turning up on the front lines.

IRAQ: The government denied US claims that it is allowing Iranian weapons and personnel to pass through Iraqi territory to support the Syrian regime. Prime Minister Maliki accused unnamed governments of inciting sectarian strife.

PAKISTAN: A shopkeeper was charged with blasphemy after refusing to join in protesting against an anti-Islam movie.

DOG & HORSE, French kissing...Mass hysteria!

DENNIS THE CAT BURGLAR was caught on surveillance video.

KIARA the LILIGER is the offspring of a lion and a liger.

SNAILS on a PLANE: Airport officials at Glasgow Airport were confronted by a group of 36 giant African land snails when a man arrived from Amsterdam earlier this month.