THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with OTIS REDDING!  Otis and the Bar-Kays crank up the energy to 11 for a Ready Steady Go special, crashing through "Satisfaction,"  "My Girl" and "Respect," then "Hold On, I'm Coming," sung by Eric Burdon. Chis Farlowe sings "It's A Man's World," then Otis with "Pain In My Heart" and "I Can't Turn You Loose", followed by "Shake" morphing into "Land of a Thousand Dances" performed by Otis, Burdon and Farlowe.

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

JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

PERFUME GENIUS stopped by Studio A at WFUV. The set includes the unreleased "Katie."

COACHELLA ALL-STARS: Free to stream or download from Google Play.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED: Tracks from Japandroids, Dirty Projectors, Bobby Womack and more feature in the latest edition of the series.

YUCK drops "Chew" in advance of Coachella and other tour dates.

MEN WITHOUT HATS: You can dance if you want to.

M WARD talks to Spinner about the long gestation of A Wasteland Companion.

THE SMITHS: Johnny Marr talks to Rolling Stone about revisiting the band's history and remastering its catalog.

POP ETC: Chris Chu talks to Pitchfork about changing the name of the Morning Benders and shares new tunes from the band.

AXL ROSE declines his induction as a member of Guns N' Roses to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. The HoF responds.

THE 25 GREATEST BREAKUP SONGS of the 80s, according to Nerve.

CUTOUT BIN: From Buzzcocks to Earth, Wind & Fire, from the Grass Roots to Gomez, from M Ward to the MC5, plus Love, Free, KISS, R.E.M. 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 Three Stooges, which is currently scoring 47 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; The Cabin in the Woods, which is scoring 91 percent; and Lockout, scoring 36 percent.

THE  KARDASHIANS: Kim's wedding gifts keep on giving to gossip columnists.

MAD MEL UPDATE: Hollywood screenwriter Joe Eszterhas is accusing Gibson, his recent collaborator on a movie about Jewish revolt, of "hating Jews" and using him to deflect his anti-Semitic reputation.  You would think that plot twist could be spotted well in advance.  Mel responds.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON talks to Vogue about her high-flying movie role and surprising new romance.

JOHNNY DEPP & MARILYN MANSON rock out at Club Nokia. Video at the link.

PETRA NEMCOVA and her fiance of over a year, Jamie Belman, have called off their wedding. Not my fault.

THE BATMAN & CATWOMAN are Entertainment Weekly's summer movies cover story.

CHRIS EVANS: Captain America and his mom talk to Details, and it's pretty funny, as celeb profiles go.

CHLOE MORETZ's family keeps her out of the dating pool.

THE 100 FUNNIEST MOVIES to see before you die, according to Yahoo.

NORTH KOREA rocket test fails.

SYRIA: After failing to meet an April 10 deadline to halt attacks on opponents, the government said it would stop attacks by 6 a.m. on April 12. The US doubted Syria would follow though.

EGYPT: The presidential bid by ultraconservative Islamist Hazem Salah abu Ismail appeared less in jeopardy after a court ruled that it had no proof his mother was a US citizen. But the court's verdict on his candidacy contradicted a statement by the country's election commission suggesting that authorities had documents proving his late mother held an American passport. The election commission is expected to announce its decision on the case in coming days.

IRAN: Cracks are appearing in the leadership's unified front over nuclear negotiations.

AFGHANISTAN: Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate continues to support the Taliban and al Qaeda in the northeastern province of Nuristan, according to the Afghan parliament's Security Commission, while US forces have withdrawn from the area.

HENRI: The existential housecat. And again.

MILLY the CHIHUAHUA may soon be the World's Smallest Dog.

ESCAPED PET PARROTS in Australia are teaching wild birds English, including some unsavory words.

MAGNET-EATING HAMSTER gets stuck to cage.

M WARD stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session. And you can watch him play "Primitive Girl" for Conan.

KITTY DAISY & LEWIS stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

CAVEMAN palyed a Tiny Desk Concert at the offices of NPR.

GUIDED BY VOICES, Live at the CBC, Oct. 17, 1997.

JANIS JOPLIN: Stream the demo for her classic, "Me and Bobby McGee" while reading an interview with her sister.

KIM WILDE: "Kids In America."

MOUNTAIN GOATS: John Darnielle talks to The Believer about death metal, Christianity, the Wordsworth movement in indie rock, etc.

DEAN WAREHAM talks to Aquarium Drunkard about what it was like to be a teenager in New York City at the height of the punk movement, why Warhol matters, his thoughts on scoring films, vinyl reissues and more.

NADA SURF is profiled by The Phoenix.

DAMON ALBARN suggests to The Guardian that the future does not look brght for Blur or Gorillaz.

LOU BARLOW (Dinosaur Jr, Sebadoh, Folk Implosion) talks to ToneDeaf about his musical legacy, upcoming solo work, and more. (Thx, LHB.)

THE DEATH OF MP3 BLOGGING? Drowned In Sound founder Sean Adams talks to Gizmodo about the universalization of music blogging.

SALMA HAYEK oversees a growing entertainment, beauty, and wellness empire that's made her one of Hollywood's unlikeliest moguls.

AMANDA BYNES "hit a wall personally and professionally" before hitting a police car.

BRITNEY SPEARS is close to a deal to join Simon Cowell on the judging panel of The X Factor in Season 2, maybe raking in 15 million.

ZOOEY DESCHANEL talks fame, divorce, dating, kids and more with Marie Claire.

COURTNEY LOVE accused 43-year-old Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl of putting the moves on 19-year-old Frances Bean Cobain. It's fair to say Grohl's publicist is displeased and denies the claim.

CHRIS NOTH married his longtime fiancée, Tara Wilson, on April 6.

MARC ANTHONY finally filed for divorce from Jennifer Lopez.

CHARLIE SHEEN & DENISE RICHARDS: Together again...on television.

CHEVY CHASE attacks Community, complaining the show does not play to his comedic strengths.

RICKI LAKE and her fiancé Christian Evans eloped on Sunday.

NORTH KOREA said it was ready to launch its long-range rocket. The US and South Korea said the launch would be regarded as provocative. Russia criticized the planned launch. China called for calm.

SYRIA ignored the UN deadline for a pullback of troops from urban areas. Syrian officials said some troops were pulled back, but France called this a "blatant lie" and the US saw no evidence of a pullback. Turkey agreed.

PAKISTAN: US troops return for the first time since being ordered to leave... to assist in avalanche recovery efforts.

A 400-LB TEENAGE BEAR roams Los Angeles, interrupts a texting man.

POLDI the CAT is reunited with his owner after 16 years.

A STRAY CAT helps a young woman's eating disorder.

BIGFOOT HUNTERS on the trail in Kentucky.

THE HEAD AND THE HEART play Fleetwood Mac's "Go Your Own Way" for The A.V. Club Undercover. 

SHARON VAN ETTEN stopped by Oregon Public Broadcasting for a chat and mini-set.

DRY THE RIVER, a fusion of hardcore, post-punk and folk, stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

MILAGRES stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

THE CLASH, Live at the Palladium, Sept. 21, 1979.

STEELY DAN turn in a spirited "Reelin' in the Years" on the Midnight Special.

TODD RUNDGREN tracks through his career with The A.V. Club.

LAMBCHOP: Kurt Wagner shares the soundtrack of his life at Pitchfork.

MY BLOODY VALENTINE: Kevin Shields briefs Pitchfork on the band's forthcoming reunion LP.

CAROLE KING talks to Morning Edition about her memoir.  As Friend of Pate Craig O'Neill once said, "You cannot deny the power of Tapestry."

MADONNA's latest CD is expected to drop a record 88 percent from its debut week when final chart numbers are released.

20 MUSICIANS who write about music.

ALEC BALDWIN:  The struggling actress busted for allegedly stalking the actor claims that they were lovers and that she wanted to have his baby, while he admits only to wining and dining her - in a "strictly professional" manner, of course.

AMANDA BYNES was not drunk on the night of her DUI arrest... according to her dad.

SEAL filed his response to Heidi Klum's divorce petition, and it looks like he's gearing up for a dispute over who gets what in the divorce.

ASHLEY JUDD wants you to stop talking about her puffy face.

KRISTEN STEWART celebrated her 22nd birthday with Robert Pattinson and burlesque dancers.

TONY ROMO & CANDACE CRAWFORD welcomed son Hawkins Crawford Romo on Monday.

MELISSA GILBERT suffers a mild concussion and whiplash on Dancing With the Stars.

MILEY CYRUS addresses weight rumors by declaring she has a gluten and lactose allergy.

TERROR in the UK/USA: The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Britain can extradite notorious jihadist preacher Abu Hamza and four other suspected terrorists to the US for trial. Hamza has been charged with supporting al Qaeda and involvement in a fatal kidnapping.

NORTH KOREA: In a further escalation of tensions, South Korea intelligence officials said North Korea was preparing to conduct another nuclear bomb test.

EGYPT: A court halted a move to create a new constitutional assembly pending a ruling on its legality, challenging the legitimacy of a body spurned by liberal and Christian groups because of its domination by Islamists.

AFGHANISTAN: Transit problems with Pakistan and a lack of cooperation from the Afghan government have been key reasons for a 95 percent drop in exports of Afghan carpet in the last five years.

BABY PANDA climbs a ladder. It's hard out there for a panda.

CAMEL RACING comes to the UK.

SNOWBALL the CAT has scared off three postal workers.

THE BIRDMAN OF DEVON filled every room in his three-bedroom semi with 21600 bird ornaments. Eat your heart out, Norman Bates.

FEIST has "Bittersweet Memories" that are NSFW, but not really prurient.

NEW RELEASES from M Ward, Alabama Shakes, Dinosaur Feathers, the Black Seeds and more are streaming this week at Spinner.

LUCERO bring their country-flavored rock n' roll to KEXP and The Current.

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

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

PAUL REVERE & THE RAIDERS sync through "Steppin' Out" and "Louie, Louie" on Canada's Swingin' Time for Twofer Tuesday.

HEARTLESS BAST^RDS: Five Things To Know. Plus, Erika Wennerstrom shares several of her favorite songs with Reverb. (Thx, LHB.)

ALABAMA SHAKES drummer Steve Johnson talks to Exclaim about influences and adjusting to success.

SPIRITUALIZED: Jason Pierce talks to Interview about the long gestation of Sweet Heart, Sweet Light.

BUTCH VIG talks to LA Weekly about Nirvana and Garbage, but not about producing Georges Duty-Free Goulash for The Service.

BACK TO THE FUTURE: Madonna and Lionel Richie top the Billboard albums chart. Great Scott!

LINDSAY LOHAN has been off formal probation for less than two weeks and she's already being accused of getting into an altercation with a woman in a nightclub earlier this week. Lohan denies it.

AMANDA BYNES tried to return to the Hollywood bar she patronized before her DUI arrest, but was denied entry.

ALEC BALDWIN's alleged stalker was arrested outside the actor's NYC apartment.

ANNE HATHAWAY is going very waifish for Les Miserables.

VANESSA WILLIAMS claims she was molested as a child in her new memoir.

HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER: Anatomy of a late-blooming hit.

MOONRISE KINGDOM: Wes Anderson's next movie has a trailer online.

SYRIA: Prospects for the latest UN-sponsored peace plan faded as violence spread. Government forces shelled the city of Homs, killing 30.

IRAN and Western nations agreed to a new round of nuclear talks in Istanbul starting April 14. US and Europe called on Iran to end uranium enrichment. Iran claimed a compromise may be possible.

IRAQ: The appearance of calm that has endured for four months has come at a price, many Iraqis say, in the form of Prime Minister al-Maliki's increasingly authoritarian behavior.

TWO PARROTS, just sitting around talking. 

HEY, IS THAT A PARROT in your pants? No, it's two parrots. Presumably not talking.

RABID SKUNKS are invading the the suburban landscapes of states from up in South Dakota to down in New Mexico.  It's the biggest outbreak since the 1970s.

PONIES used in a program for the disabled were stolen Down Under. Is there anything lower?

JACK WHITE has "Sixteen Saltimes" for you. More cowbell!

BLACK DICE is streaming Mr. Impossible.

SPIRITUALIZED is advance streaming Sweet Heart Sweet Light.

HORSE FEATHERS is advance streaming Cynic's New Year.

GREAT LAKE SWIMMERS performed New Wild Everywhere for the CBC.

WILLIE NELSON covers Pearl Jam's "Just Breathe."

JULES SHEAR: "If She Knew What She Wants," with Michael Penn, unplugged on Unplugged, circa 1990. Check how he's holding his guitar.

THE ALABAMA SHAKES: How a band from smalltown Alabama made a big noise and attracted fans from Bon Iver to Russell Crowe along the way.

M WARD talks to the NYT about his desire to balance dark moods and joyous elements in his music, about his love for Dante and Marvin Gaye, and about how delving into pop music history has become vital to his songwriting.

ANDREW BIRD talks to The Line Of Best Fit about the oddites of songwriting, visual art and more.

MISSION OF BURMA's Roger Miller talks to the Riverfront Times about Unsound, the band's rebirth, solo work and more... (Thx Chromewaves.)

BOB DYLAN: The neuroscience behind the songs.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: The Hunger Games threepeats atop the chart with 33.5 million on a very respectable 43 percent drop for an Easter weekend. The Games shatter the 300 million mark domestically; it has now earned more than any Twilight movie -- and every Harry Potter film except for the first and last.  Among the all-time top openers, only The Dark Knight and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, had better third weekends (and neither included Easter).  American Reunion placed with a disappointing 21.5 million; it will likely be the first of the franchise t make less than 100 million domestic. Titanic 3-D shows for a mere 17.4 million, which is the sort of money the original made about 4 months into its original theatrical run.  Then again, the total now sits at 618 million, which is the non-cliche use of awesome, when you consider The Hunger Games is the big movie story at 300 million of today's dollars.  Wrath of the Titans plunged 55 percent to pull in 15 million; its 59 million total is less than the Clash made its opening weekend.  Mirror, Mirror rounds out the Top Five with 11 million; the folks making Snow White and the Huntsman better convince people their flick is really different.

AMANDA BYNES was busted for DUI after clipping a cop car.

BRITNEY SPEARS may be about to have a brand new co-conservator - her fiance Jason Trawick.

HEIDI KLUM filed for for divorce from Seal, citing irreconcilable differences and seeking physical custody of their four kids.

CHARLIZE THERON talks about new motherhood in the latest Vogue UK.

THE HUNGER GAMES loses director Gary Ross for the sequel (not unlike the Twilight franchise).

X-MEN FIRST CLASS: The mutant sequel will shoot in January, avoiding a conflict for Jennifer Lawrence and the Hunger games sequel.

MIKE WALLACE,  the "60 Minutes" pit-bull reporter whose probing, brazen style made his name synonymous with the tough interview, died peacefully at 93.

TERROR in the USA: Maryland resident Antonio Martinez, a/k/a Muhammad Hussain, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for attempting to detonate a car bomb at a military recruiting center in Catonsville, MD. Martinez said he had renounced terrorism, but officials recently found evidence to the contrary in his cell.

YEMEN: Forces loyal to the former commander of Yemen's air force, the brother-in-law of former President Saleh who was dismssed on Friday by President Hadi, shut down the airport in Sana'a. The capital was plunged into darkness as forces loyal to Saleh attacked power lines from Marib.

SYRIA: Syria's death toll surged; over 150 were reportedly killed. The violence set off an exodus of refugees to Turkey and Lebanon. Turkey expressed its alarm over the worsening situation.

IRAN: A member of parliament said Iran had the capability to build nuclear weapons but will never do so. Turkey's prime minister said he believed Iran did not wish to build nuclear weapons. The US told Iran it would accept a civilian nuclear program if Iran did not develop nuclear weapons.

WORLD'S RAREST DUCLKINGS hatch in Madagascar.

PANDAS WRESTLE, but fail to mate, in the Edinburgh Zoo's "love tunnel."

DARIUS, the world's biggest bunny, is bigger than ever.

CANADIAN GEESE nest at Office Depot.

HORSING AROUND  at Murray County HS results in a suspension -- and for a few graduation has been put on hold.