BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN covers Lorde's "Royals."

HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set. 

BAND OF HORSES plays an unpluggedy mini-set for the KEXP Midday Show..

GOLDEN GARDENS play dream-pop from their last EP at KEXP.

LAURA CANTRELL stopped by WFUV's Studio A to play new songs from No Way There From Here.

OF MONTREAL dropped "Jigsaw Puzzle," a Record Store Day release.

CHRISTOPHER OWENS drops "It Comes Back to You" from a mystery album.

FAITH NO MORE: "We Care A Lot."

BECK's albums, ranked by Paste.

SPINAL TAP, from Rock's Backpages (and the "Where Are They Now?" file).

JOAN AS POLICE WOMAN: Joan Wasser talks to Drowned In Sound about her many collaborators.

THE TOP 5 GEN X ANTHEMS, according to The Guardian.

JUSTIN BIEBER's jail urine test video will be made public, but it's not easy to censor.

SELENA GOMEZ claims she's closing the door on Bieber.

KIM KARDASHIAN & KAYNE WEST will tie the knot on May 24 in Paris.

JARED LETO has already damaged his Oscar.

SHAILENE WOODLEY, hitting big screens in Divergent, is profiled by the Hollwood Reporter.

THANDIE NEWTON gave birth to her first son, her third child.

KELSEY GRAMMER is going to be a dad again, his sixth, his wife's second.

UKRAINE: The US, Great Britain and Germany are not yet on the same page regarding sanctions against Russia for invading Crimea. Ukraine's new prime minister vigorously defended the legality of his government against attacks coming from Russia, but said Wednesday that Ukraine would be willing to consider granting more autonomy to Crimea.

VENEZUELA's President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday he was breaking diplomatic and commercial relations with the Panamanian government due to a "conspiracy" against him. The US House of Representatives voiced near-unanimous condemnation of Venezuela's government and its "inexcusable" deadly crackdown on opposition leaders and protesters.

EGYPT:  A government-appointed panel blamed Muslim Brotherhood supporters for the deaths of hundreds of people at protests in August.

IRAN: Israeli naval forces intercepted a cargo vessel near Port Sudan that was carrying a weapons shipment from Iran destined for Gaza.

A DOLPHIN STAMPEDE, filmed by drone.

"FURIOUS" HORSE RIDING was the charge, based on a law from 1847. "Furious" refers to the speed of the ride, not the mood of the horse.

PRE-HISTORIC FISH come to Texas, courtesy of...Don Henley?

SEX WITH A PIT BULL: Always a bad idea for humans, but really don't do it in front of the neighbors.

THE HOLD STEADY blasted out "Spinners" for Seth Myers.

SHEARWATER played a mini-set at KUTX. 

VALERIE JUNE also played a mini-set at KUTX. 

THE AUTUMN DEFENSE, ft Wilco's Pat Sansone and John Stirrat, stopped by Studio A at WFUV.

METRONOMY advance streams Love Letters at iTunes.

GUIDED BY VOICES drop "Bad Love Is Easy To Do" ahead of  Cool Planet.

SHARON VAN ETTEN is  "Taking Chances" ahead of Are We There.

ELVIS COSTELLO remixes JOHNNY CASH.

WALL OF VOODOO, on the "Mexican Radio."

THURSTON MOORE talks to The Fly about his marriage-ending affair.

TOKYO POLICE CLUB frontman David Monks tells Drowned in Sound about their third record, what it’s like to grow up in a rock ‘n’ roll group and why the new Star Wars movie will probably be shite.

VIVIAN GIRLS: Jenn Pelly looks back with Pitchfork on the most divisive band of the late-00s noise-pop boom and breaks down their enduring influence.

SOUNDGARDEN: The Quietus looks back at Superunknown, 20 years later.

SELENA GOMEZ reportedly indulged in a few too many beverages at the Vanity Fair Oscars party this past Sunday.

TERESA & JOE GUIDICE pled guilty in their massive money fraud case.

LIZA MINELLI didn't like Ellen DeGeneres's joke suggesting she was actually a drag queen.

ROBIN THICKE is still pining for Paula Patton.

SCALETT JOHANSSON's pregnancy won't stop Avengers 2: The Age of Ultron.

12 YEARS A SLAVE will expand to 1000 screens after winning Best Picture at the Oscars.

UKRAINE: As the conflict with Russia over Crimea intensifies, Germany is playing a central role in communications with Russian President Vladimir Putin. But the international community has doubts that Chancellor Angela Merkel can pull it off. The US could beef up natural gas exports as a bulwark against Russian influence in Europe...at a cost.

VENEZUELA: The first anniversary of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's death does not come at an opportune moment for his protege and successor in office, Nicolas Maduro.

EGYPT's military-installed authorities are tightening their grip on mosques by laying down the theme for the weekly Friday sermons, in the latest move to curb Islamist dissent.

SYRIA: Bomb attacks by Sunni extremists in Lebanon have seen an increase in volunteers for the Hezbollah militia that supports Assad.

CAT vs DOG... this time it's for dinner.

INJURED DOG RESCUED from busy Texas freeway.

PET HOARDING: 27 Cats and dogs, living together in a car...mass hysteria!

COWS SWIMMING: An ancient Scottish tradition.

BELLE & SEBASTIAN play "I Want the World to Stop" at the NME Awards.

THE BLACK LIPS are advance streaming Underneath The Rainbow.

TYCHO is advance streaming Awake.

THE AUSTIN 100: NPR's picks for SXSW 2014.

MARISSA NADLER returns to the KEXP studio for a mini-set

X stopped by 30 Rock to play "Hot House" and "Breathless," lo these many moons ago.

THE HOLD STEADY: Always dreaming about a unified scene.

THE MC5: John Sinclair talks to The Guardian about the band and its legacy.

THE SMITHS: An interactive history.

PUPPET SHOW: Indie bands reveal their Spinal Tap moments.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON is reportedly five months pregnant by fiancé Romain Dauriac.

THE 2014 OSCARS: Bad reviews, big ratings (the biggest non-sports audience since NBC’s 2004 Friends finale).

CHARLIZE THERON & SEAN PENN sucked face at Maddona's Oscars after-party. Sean's so classy to his ex-wife.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE didn't take home another Oscar, but she was the most-tweeted about.

12 YEARS A SLAVE: Director Steve McQueen and screenwriter John Ridley have been embroiled in a bitter feud regarding credit for the film's Oscar-winning screenplay; neither thanked the other during the Oscars telecast.

JUSTIN BIEBER still lusts after Selena Gomez.

AMANDA BYNES returns to Twitter.

UKRAINE: Ousted Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych asked Russia to send troops across the border to protect civilians, Moscow's UN envoy has claimed. The media surveys what the US can do economically, and for European security going forward. And looking at its island disputes with Japan, China stands with Russia.  And when you read articles giving reasons why Putin is already losing, keep in mind Putin undoubtedly considered them and decided he cared more about seizing a warm-water port and scaring his neighbors.

VENEZUELA: Jailed Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez urged sympathizers on Monday to maintain street protests against President Nicolas Maduro as the country's foreign minister prepared to meet the United Nations Secretary General.  The opposition also criticized the foreign minister's speech.

LIBYA: As many as 500 protesters denouncing lack of security in Benghazi, Derna, and Sirte torched cars and called for the GNC to resign.

IRAN is reducing its most proliferation-prone nuclear stockpile as required by its landmark deal with world powers but much work remains to be done to resolve all concerns about Tehran's activities, the U.N. atomic watchdog chief said on Monday.

TWO DOGS, One Ice Cream.

CROCODILE vs WATER PYTHON: Who you got?

A TORTOISE gets wheels after being attacked by rats.

YORKSHIRE TERRIERS are zoo material...in North Korea.

BECK played "Blue Moon" and "Wave" as the only entertaining part of the last SNL.

THE PIXIES play World Cafe Live in Philadelphia.

BRASS BED played a Tiny Desk Concert at the offices of NPR.

LUCIUS returns to the KEXP airwaves with a special live performance from the Triple Door. 

COURTNEY BARNETT performs in the WNYC Soundcheck studio.

SAUN & STARR, a/k/a/ The Dapettes, drop "Hot Shot."

FATBOY SLIM: "Weapon of Choice."

ELBOW's Guy Garvey talks to The Guardian about aging, rejecting normality, and why music will always be his true love.

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS talk to Paste about English Oceans.

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT talks to The Observer about becoming a father, being at boarding school and what he owes Elton John.

OWEN PALLETT talksed to SPIN about scoring Her.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Non-Stop tops the box with 30 million, relly the top end of a Liam Neeson action debut, though this is unlikely to be as leggy as Taken was. Son Of God places with 26.5 million, which overperforms estimates, esp. in light of the reviews and the fact that it had basically aired on the History Channel; after two millenia, Christ still has a fanbase that will turn out at the cinema.  The Lego Movie finally drops out of the top slot to show with 21 million on a 33 percent drop.The toy story breaks the 200 million mark domestically and closes in on 300 million worldwide.  The Monuments Men climbs back to the fourth slot with 5 million, but still drops 37 percent. 3 Days to Kill drops a steep 60 percent to round out the Top 5 with 4.9 million.

THE OSCARS went to these folks.

THE INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS went to these folks, a number of whom also took home Oscars this year.

JULIE DELPY, a Best Screenplay nominee, said the Oscars are meaningless because 90 percent of the voters are old white men who want gifts. Also 90 percent of movies are crap.

GWEN STEFANI & GAVIN ROSSDALE welcomed a baby boy, their third son, on Friday.

PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN was killed by a toxic mix of heroin, cocaine and pills.

MARY-KATE OLSEN is engaged to marry her boyfriend of nearly two years, French banker Olivier Sarkozy.

GEORGE LOPEZ was busted for public intoxication in a casino.

UKRAINE: Putin goes to war in Crimea, which "experts" claim they didn't expect, despite how predictable Putin is.  The West's options at this point are limited. Srsly, Crimea's Sevastopol is Russia's sole warm-water port, leased from Ukraine; anyone who thought Russia would do nothing as Ukraine turned West was kidding themselves.

VENEZUELANS dressed in white, blowing on whistles and blasting horns in the tens of thousands, protested in Caracas Sunday against the government of President Nicolas Maduro, the latest in escalating demonstrations that have left 18 people dead.

IRAN is moving ahead with a nuclear program that U.S. officials said would be frozen, and it is now clear the USA and other world powers are willing to accept an Iranian enrichment program that Iran refuses to abandon, say analysts.

A DOG sums up this winter, without defecating.

WILD BEAVERS are seen in England for hte first time in centuries. 

A PARROT aids police in solving an Indian murder mystery.

GOAT AROUSAL EXPERTS have news for you.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE PAISLEY UNDERGROUND!  A two-part (Part 1, Part 2) feature from the Old Grey Whistle Test on L.A.'s psychedelic-flavored, West Coast scene in the mid-80s. Bands featured include the Long Ryders, Prime Movers, Thin White Rope, Pontiac Brothers and the Rain Parade with a 6 minute live version of No Easy Way Down. The Long Ryders get short shrift so I'll add in their later OGWT appearance to play "Looking For Lewis & Clark." The term "Paisley Underground" is believed to have been jokingly coined by Michael Quercio of the band The Three O'Clock, so I'll toss in the clip for "Her Head's Revolving" as a bonus. Other bands associated with the scene not featured include Green On Red -- sometimes likened to The Doors for songs like "Two Lovers" and "Change" -- and The Bangs, a/k/a The Bangles, with an early track, "The Real World." DOUBLE BONUS:  The Guardian Music Blog ran a link-rich piece on the Rain Parade and other Paisley Underground bands in 2008.

LOS CAMPESINOS! stopped by WFUV's Studio A to share songs from their fifth full-length album, No Blues.

LAKE STREET DIVE played Rockwood Music Hall, including a sultry cover of George Michael's "Faith." 

QUILT stopped by WNYC Soundcheck for a chat and a mini-set of psych-pop.

THE PACK A.D. cranks out the garage rock on KEXP. 

THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART drop “Simple And Sure” before Days Of Abandon.

THE HANDSOME FAMILY provides the music of True Detective.

PRINCE popped up for a heavy take on "Let's Go Crazy" in Manchester.

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS: Mike Cooley talks to The Arts Desk about inter-band dynamics, songwriting inspiration and just what it is about Americana us damn Brits find so appealing. (Thx, LHB.)

THE DREAM SYNDICATE is profiled at PopMatters.

THE NATIONAL's Bryce Dessner talks to Drowned in Sound about his new classical work.

THE TOP 10 WHITE STRIPES SONGS, according to Stereogum.

CUTOUT BIN: From Hugo Montenegro to the Velvet Underground, from the Ramones to the Flying Burrito Brothers, from the Bangles to Pink Floyd, plus REM, the Beach Boys, Yuck, Rhett Miller 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: Son Of God, which is currently scoring 18 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; Non-Stop, currently scoring 55 percent; and the R-rated extended cut of Anchorman 2. Plus, a number of theaters are bringing back Oscar nominees for you crammers.

MILA KUNIS & ASHTON KUTCHER are engaged.

ROBIN THICKE & PAULA PATTON: Is Thicke's infamous  MTV VMAs duet with Miley Cyrus to blame for their split?

JUSTIN BIEBER is going harder than ever on sizzurp and weed since living in Atlanta, multiple friends involved in his life tell TMZ.

LEAH REMINI talks to BuzzFeed about a hard year post-Scientology, which she says she left for her daughter.  The CoS reponds.

PHARRELL WILLIAMS and his hat are profiled by GQ.

DARREN SHARPER now faces rape charges in two states.

SETH ROGEN testified before Congress regarding funding for Alzheimer's research, then tweeted about how only two Senators showed up. Video at the link.

UKRAINE's fugitive president turned up in Russia on Thursday and masked gunmen seized government buildings in the Crimean region as tension built over the direction of the country's revolution.

VENEZUELAN authorities issued an arrest warrant for a second opposition figure, ramping up the pressure on protesters who have staged nationwide rallies this month in the biggest threat to President Nicolas Maduro since he came to power. Maduro's government is hoping Carnival will take the heat out of the nation's worst unrest in a decade.

SYRIA: State media claimed that regime and Hezbollah forces killed over 170 fighters, including Saudis, Qataris, and Chechens, from the Al Nusrah Front and the Islamic Front in an ambush outside Damascus. In the Damascus region, Islamist fighting groups, including the Islamic Front and the Suqour al Sham, are rejecting local truces. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham told Christians in Raqqah it would protect them so long as they observe a long list of conditions, including prohibitions against public worship and owning weapons.

IRAN: The U.N. nuclear watchdog planned a major report on Iran that might have revealed more of its suspected atomic bomb research, but held off as Tehran's relations with the outside world thawed, sources familiar with the matter said. Secretary of State Kerry said yesterday that the US has an obligation to pursue diplomatic and other options to force Iran to give up its nuclear weapons program.

A MONKEY steals a pricey GoPro camera, takes a selfie.

TWO DOGS take a joyride, crash into a river.

TEGU LIZARDS are beginning to overrun parts of Florida.

A TIGER walks into a bar... in Lockport, IL.