OF MONTREAL played the "Dour Percentage" on Fallon, bringing staging per usual.

SLEIGH BELLS is advance streaming Reign of Terror at the NYT.

DAMIEN JURADO is advance streaming Maraqupoa.

THE FRONT BOTTOMS talk to World Cafe's David Dye about their lifelong friendship, writing songs in their teens and their live shows, and also perform live in the studio.

THE REPLACEMENTS, Live at the Ritz, Oct. 26, 1987.

PUBLIC IMAGE LTD.: "One Drop" went from the radio to teh internets.

HORSE FEATHERS drops "Fit Against The Country" ahead of Cynic's New Year.

THE DRUMS covered The Ronettes' classic "Do I Love You?" and have made it available for free at their Facebook page.

GIRLS: Christopher Owens covered "I Will Always Love You" at the Laneway Festival in Singapore last weekend, a likely tribute to the late Whitney Houston.

ADELE talks to Vogue about fame, family, and what the future holds -- she claims she's taking four or five years off.

LAMBCHOP: Kurt Wagner talks to The Guardian about Nashville, music, painting, Vic Chestnutt and more.

CRAIG FINN talks to The Quietus about his 13 most played LPs. I like all of them, love most of them, played all but one on the radion, iirc.

BONNAROO 2012 lineup is announced, including the Beach Boys.

LINDSAY LOHAN: New year, same not paying her income taxes.

JENNIFER ANISTON & PAUL RUDD promote new comedy Wanderlust in the new GQ.

JOHNNY DEPP hung out with with McCartney and Springsteen after the Grammys.

SEAN PENN blasts the UK for not giving the Falklands to Argentina.

KATE WINSLET goes back to Titanic (in 3-D) with USA Today.

GUILLERMO del TORO will direct a new take on the "Beauty and the Beast" tale that Warners has tapped "Bridget Jones's Diary" scribe Andrew Davies to write.  Emma Watson is in negotiations to star.

LIAM HEMSWORTH: Is he ready for Hunger Games megastardom? Or squirrels?

DAVID KELLY, best known for his roles in Waking Ned Devine and Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, has died at 82.

TERROR in SWEDEN: Noting that Sweden is now at a 'real risk' for terror, a change from its 'relatively low' risk status four years ago, the government announced a new counterterrorism strategy.

IRAN: The United States and Europe are considering unprecedented punishment against Iran that could immediately cripple the country's financial lifeline. But it's an extreme option in the banking world that would come with its own costs.

AFGHANISTAN: The Taliban have met with US officials to discuss possible peace talks, but do not want to negotiate with Afghan Pres. Karzai's government, a Taliban spokesman said Tuesday.

IRAQ: Insurgents killed an Awakening leader and two of his bodyguards in an IED attack in Anbar. Security forces detained 20 wanted men in Mosul and Diyala.

A BLACK BEAR is hibernating --or not -- in a Wisconsin drain tunnel.

SHARK swallows another shark whole.

DIRECT-TO-DOG ADVERTISING: Bakers, a British dog food manufacturer, has created an ad that features high-pitched sounds and barks that only dogs can hear, designed to draw Fido toward the TV screen.

WHEN A SEA LION ATTACKS... Shakira.

PAUL WESTERBERG: "Valentine," solo circa 2004.

NEW RELEASES from Tennis, Islands, Eisley, Polica, Phenominal Handclap Band, Cotton Mather, Field Music, Young Magic, Heartless Bast^rds, Rosie Thomas, and more are streaming this week at Spinner.

PERFUME GENIUS is advance streaming Put Your Back N 2 It.

CURSIVE is advance streaming I Am Gemini.

HUNTERS are streaming their Hands On Fire EP.

THE DECEMBERISTS drop "One Engine" from The Hunger Games soundtrack.

THE SHINS drop "The Rifle's Spiral" before Port of Morrow.

THE MARS VOLTA drops "The Malkin Jewel" ahead of Nocturniquet.

ERIC CARMEN: "All By Myself" and "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again" for Twofer Tuesday.

ISLANDS: Nick Thorburn talks to Vulture about A Sleep & A Forgetting, moving west, and occasional Mister Heavenly bassist, Michael Cera.

THE TWILIGHT SAD: James Graham talks to Drowned In Sound about the band's new direction, how working with Andy Weatherall is a breeze and what it takes to be the next Craig David...

CHARLES BRADLEY: Better late than never.

(ANOTHER) MAJOR LABEL NIGHTMARE: A quirk in US copyright law is about to allow a whole bunch of top artists to take back rights to their music, potentially forcing labels to pay big money to reacquire songs they have owned for decades. The epicenter appears to be... the Village People.

WHITNEY HOUSTON's family was told by L.A. County Coroner officials the singer did not die from drowning, but rather from what appears to be a combination of Xanax and other prescription drugs mixed with alcohol, according to family sources.

KATE UPTON is the SI Swimsuit Edition cover model and a woman Esquire loves. Call it Gratuitous Tuesday.

KIM KARDASHIAN & REGGIE BUSH reunited?

KATY PERRY's latest song, debuted at the Grammys may be a not-so-subtle dig at ex Russell Brand.

SIENNA MILLER is pregnant and reportedly engaged to Tom Sturridge.

HUGH HEFNER's oldest son Marston was arrested after allegedly attacking Playmate of the Year Claire Sinclair.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: VAMPIRE HUNTER dropped a trailer on Abe's birthday. Well played.

THE MOST INFLUENTIAL Sci-Fi Films.

YEMEN: Ansar al Sharia, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula's political front, beheaded two Saudis and a Yemeni who were accused of spying for the US.

ASSAILANTS targeted Israeli diplomats in India and Georgia in near-simultaneous strikes Monday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed on archenemy Iran, and its Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah. Iran denied responsibility for the attacks.

HEZBOLLAH renounces its support of Iran in the event Israel bombs Iran's nuke facilities? Hmm.

IRAQ: Tribal leaders and security officials describe a small but increasing flow of weapons to Syria from Anbar Province and areas around Mosul, the northern city that is a headquarters for Al Qaeda in Iraq.

A TOUCAN is annoyed by a toy bird.

HUNDREDS OF DUCKS march on the highway.

BUGGSY the TORTOISE found after five months, stuck in a fence.

DOGGIE BLOOD DONORS save other pups.

WHITNEY HOUSTON, who ruled as pop music's queen until her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by drug use, erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown, has died. She was 48. Here's the full NYT obit, including that paramedics from the Beverly Hills Fire Department spent close to 30 minutes trying to revive her. Although the cause of death is unknown, it is increasingly looking like Whitney may have fallen asleep or lapsed into unconsciousness in the bathtub and drowned, perhaps due to a mix of alcohol and Xanax.  Ex-hubby Bobby Brown is reportedly devastated. Daughter Bobbi Kristina has been to the hospital twice since Whitney's death. Dionne Warwick and Cissy Houston said Whitney seemed fine just before her death.  Both are said to be hysterical with grief.  Hotel staff said Houston partied heavily at the Beverly Hills Hotel prior to her death.  THR collects her iconic moments on video, including her performance at Super Bowl XXV.  But I'll leave you with David Byrne's fab cover of "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."

LAMBCHOP is advance streaming Mr. M.

SINEAD O'CONNOR is advance streaming How About I Be Me (And I Be You)? (Yes, really.)

SHARON VAN ETTEN played World Cafe Live; you can stream the whole gig on demand.

EISLEY is steaming their Deep Space EP.

SCREAMING FEMALES claim "It All Means Nothing" in advance of Ugly.

THE FIVE AMERICANS: "I See The Light."

THE GRAMMY AWARDS went to these folks. Congrats to everyone (except Chris Brown)!

PAUL McCARTNEY played and was paid tribute by Foo Fighters, Neil Young, Coldplay and more at the Grammy-related ceremony honoring Sir Paul as the MusiCares' 2012 Person of the Year.  Video at the link.

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND is suing Andy Warhol's estate for trademark infringement.

DEXY'S MIDNIGHT RUNNERS is back together and ready to release its fourth album.  You can hear 2 minutes at the link.

RONNIE WOOD turned down an offer to join Led Zeppelin, because he thought they were a "bunch of farmers."

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: The Vow tops the chart with 41.7 million, well above tracking estimates of 30 million. The estimates were likely based on Dear John, an earlier tear-jerker with Channing Tatum released at Valentine's Day.  Obviously, adding Rachel McAdams put a touch of The Notebook charm on this one, which will do big business tomorrow as well.  Safe House placed close behind with 39.3 million, again well ahead of estimates in the low 20s.  Those estimates were likely based on Denzel Washington super-reliable openings in that range, but adding Ryan Reynolds may have helped, as well as counter-programming for Valentine's Day weekend.  Both filmas could make 100 million domestically, and Denzel usually does well overseas.  Journey 2: Thy Mysterious Island showed with 27.9 million, which is quite good considering it had to compete for family and 3-D dollars with the No.4 rerelease of Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, which made 23 million (pretty much paying for its 3-D conversion).  All the big debuts knocked last week's winner, Chronicle, down to the last rung of the Top 5 with 12.3 million.  However, chronicle now has a domestic total of 40.2 million against a 12 million budget.

DEMI MOORE is seeking help from none other than spiritual guru Deepak Chopra.

MADONNA: Police are looking for Robert Dewey Hoskins, a man convicted of threatening to kill Madonna, who walked away from a Los Angeles-area mental hospital last week.

AMANDA SEYFRIED and... Josh Hartnett? Hey, if you can't trust Star magazine...

MACAULAY CULKIN: Just look at him, then make the face.

ANGELINA JOLIE is looking to play Disney's Maleficent, which seems about right.

RUSSELL CROWE is talking to Warner Bros. about starring in Harker, a reimagining of Bram Stoker's Dracula that tells the vampire story from the point of view of Jonathan Harker, who - instead of his traditional role as a lawyer - is now a Scotland Yard detective investigating the Count's string of grisly murders in England.

KATHERINE HEPBURN got around, according to a new book.

ABRAHAM LINCOLN: Happy 203rd birthday to the 16th President of the United States. Two things you may not have known about Honest Abe: (1) he was an early adopter of the telegraph; and (2) he once sported a punky haircut.

SAUDI ARABIA would move quickly to acquire nuclear weapons if Iran successfully tests an atomic bomb, according to a report.

YEMEN: The chief of the Criminal Investigation Department in Al Houta was killed by "gunmen;" al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula fighters are suspected of carrying out the attack.

SYRIA's military has begun stockpiling chemical weapons and equipping its soldiers with gas masks near the city of Homs, opposition sources reported.

EGYPT: The Muslim Brotherhood demanded that military rulers cede control of the government, stepping closer to a long-anticipated confrontation between the ruling generals and the Islamist-dominated Parliament.

PAKISTAN: The talks between the US and Taliban in Qatar have ended without reaching any results, a Pakistani TV channel has reported.

DON'T MESS WITH THE PUG: Let's go to the video.

TANK the CAT: From life on the streets to cat show winner.

DOLPHINS talking whale in their sleep.

A HORSE blew up a hyperbaric chamber, killing itself and a veterinary employee.

MYSTERIOUS MANURE FOAM causes pig farms to explode.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with ECHO and the BUNNYMEN!  Live at the Royal Albert Hall, circa July 1983.  Your setlist includes: "Going Up," "With A Hip" and "All That Jazz"; "All My Colours (Zimbo)" and "Silver"; "The Cutter" and "The Killing Moon"; "Rescue" and "Never Stop"; and "Over the Wall." Your encores are "Crocodiles" and "Do It Clean."

MARK LANEGAN stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

CRAIG FINN stopped by Minnesota Public Radio's UBS Forum for an intimate performance of these new songs and a chat. He also talked to the Chicago Reader the day after the first show of his solo tour.

CASS McCOMBS stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

HOSPITALITY previewed their debut on Merge live at WNYC Soundcheck.

ARTHUR CONLEY: Do you like good music? "Sweet Soul Music"?

WILD FLAG's Carrie Brownstein talked to The Telegraph about the state of rock, danger, nostalgia and more. SEMI-RELATED: The Independent asks members of four bands The Black Keys, Wilco, The Alabama Shakes, and EMA whether guitar rock is dead.

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS: Stephin Merritt talks The Guardian about unrequited love, posing naked, growing a beard, and why Germans don't recognise the sound of a ukelele.

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS: Patterson Hood talks to Louisville.com about the art of storytelling in song. (Thx, LHB.)

JOE TEX and JAMES BROWN were bitter rivals.

THE BEACH BOYS reunion starts with the Grammys.

GIVE IT UP FOR THE BANDS: Buddy Holly's Crickets, Bill Haley's Comets, James Brown's Famous Flames, Gene Vincent's Blue Caps, Hank Ballard's Midnighters and Smokey Robinson's Miracles will join their frontmen as full-fledged members of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at this year's induction ceremony, slated for April 14 in Cleveland.

THE CUTOUT BIN: From the Rutles to the Beatles, from Tom Robinson to James Brown, from the Pogues to Al Green, plus Robert Gordon & Link Wray, the Ramones, Beck, the Four Tops 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 Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, which is currently scoring 45 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; Safe House, currently scoring 53 percent; The Vow, scoring 36 percent; and the 3-D reissue of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

KATY PERRY signed her divorce from Russell Brand with a smiley face, in case you were wondering if she's ready for a long-term commitment.

THE KARDASHIANS: Kim's divorce from Kris Humphries may be headed toward a public trial. Khloé is relieved she's not pregnant.

HALLE BERRY is asking the judge in her custody war for permission to move to France with daughter Nahla; baby daddy Gabriel Aubry is not amused.

GEORGE CLOONEY talks to Deadline about his Oscar-friendly flims, overseas commercials, and more.

WILL FERRELL introduced the Chicago Bulls at the New Orleans Hornets the other night, icymi.

IRAN renews efforts to shut down popular websites.

LIBYA: The country that witnessed the Arab world's most sweeping revolution is foundering.

AFGHANISTAN: The government said it was willing to accept the transfer of Taliban detainees held at Guantanamo to Qatar.

IRAQ executed Abu Talha, a senior aide to Abu Musab al Zarqawi, and sentenced a Saudi al Qaeda in Iraq leader to death.

GIANT BUNNY eats a banana.

A MICRO PIG now weighs the same as a rugby forward and is 5ft long and 2½ft high.

THE OLDEST LIVING THING ON EARTH: No, not Keith Richards (he's undead).

RAM & DOE, getting married... Mass hysteria!

CULTS drops a video for "You Know What I Mean."

FRANKIE ROSE advance streams Interstellar.

ISLANDS advance streams A Sleep & A Forgetting.

ROYAL BATHS streams the psych-garage Better Luck Next Life.

SHELBY LYNNE stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS cover Leonard Cohen's "The Smokey Life."

THE TING TINGS drop "Soul Killing" in advance of Sounds From Nowheresville.

LUSCIOUS JACKSON returns with "Are You Ready?"

ALABAMA SHAKES played "Hold On" and "I Ain't the Same" for Conan.

SHARON VAN ETTEN talks about a few of her favorite things for a Pitchfork Guest List.  She also talks to The A.V. Club about Tramp.

DAN MANGAN talks to PopMatters about being in a band called Dan Mangan and more...

THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN reunites for a US tour. There's also a Jim Reid solo track at the link.

THE JUNO AWARDS nominees are announced. Congrats?

RUSSELL BRAND to KATY PERRY: I don't want your money, even without a prenup.

LINDSAY LOHAN: How much has she spent on lawyers to handle her various dramas?

DANIEL RADCLIFFE expressed disappointment that the final Harry Potter movie failed to enchant the Academy, saying ‘snobbery' has prevented franchise from winning more accolades.

SIMON COWELL breaks his silence about the recent exit of judges Nicole Scherzinger and Paula Abdul, and host Steve Jones.

GARY BUSEY files for bankruptcy.

VICTORIA'S SECRET model Kylie Bisutt has decided to leave the lingerie empire because it clashes with her Christian beliefs.

THE BOURNE LEGACY (ft. Jeremy Renner, not Matt. Damon.) has a trailer online.

TERROR in the USA: Ahmed Hussein Mahamud, a Somali-American from Westerville, Ohio, pled guilty to providing material support to Shabaab.

TERROR in the UK: Christian Emde and Robert Baum, Muslim converts from Solingen, Germany, admitted to terrorism charges and will be deported.

SYRIA: Following similar action by the US, Britain, and Belgium, Italy and France recalled their ambassadors to Syria. Six Gulf nations recalled their ambassadors and asked the Arab League to "take decisive action." Russia criticized the actions and sent a delegation to Syria. Turkey started a new initiative after the failure of the UN resolution.

EGYPT has said it will not be persuaded by the potential loss of US aid to end an ongoing investigation into foreign-funded non-governmental organisations.

IRAN: Amid deepening political infighting, Iran's parliament summoned President Ahmadinejad to discuss his handling of the economy. Iran and India reached a deal on oil payments. China reduced its purchases of Iranian oil, turning to Saudi Arabia and Russia instead.

AfPAK: NATO, Afghan and Pakistani military officials were to hold talks on improving border security and coordination on Wednesday, in a possible sign that tension is easing following a cross-border NATO air attack in November that infuriated Pakistan.

SNORING DORMOUSE: Let's go to the video.

A PIG and ten grenades were seized by Miami police.

A MOUNTAIN LION snatched a kid at Big Bend National Park. The child survived.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: A purple squirrel.

WHAT IF All the Cats in the World Suddenly Died?