SHE & HIM play "Don't Look Back" for Ferguson.  Zooey looking more relaxed on TV than at the start of the tour.

BEST COAST: All Things Considered has a feature and a free download of "Boyfriend."  The duo also discuss a few of their favorite things for Pitchfork's Guest List.

REAL ESTATE does three free songs for Daytrotter.

HOT HOT HEAT does a session at Morning Becomes Eclectic.

JENS LEKMAN a new single titled, "The End Of The World Is Bigger Than Love."

ROSEBUDS drop two new tracks, including a cover of the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive." Yes, really.

BLACK MOUNTAIN drops "The Hair Song" to stream and download.

THE BLACK KEYS play "Next Girl," also for Ferguson.

NEW PR0NOGRAPHERS: Carl Newman talks to Boise Weekly about the dichotomy between message and music, the Neko Case incident, and more...

NEIL YOUNG: The Guardian claims that Archives Vol. 2 will be four previously unreleased vinyl albums. Daniel Lanois talks about the multi-media premiere of tracks from Young's next LP. Ben Keith, the respected Nashville multi-instrumentalist whose distinctive and evocatively lonely steel-guitar adornments provided an inescapably haunting accompaniment to many of Neil Young's biggest hits, died this week at age 73 at Young's ranch.

THE XX: The Telegraph offers an introduction for those who have missed what the fuss was about.

THE CARS hint at a reunion on Facebook. Ben Orr was unavailable for comment.

BELINDA CARLISLE talks to Spinner about her 30-year drug addiction, retirement and more...

LINDSAY LOHAN is now thinking - and worrying - about what comes next: her mandatory three months in rehab. In the clearest sign yet that Lohan will get out of jail this week, several top stylists as well as hair and makeup people have been put on call from midnight on Thursday through the entire weekend.

MAD MEL UPDATE: Gibson made up to 30 "terrorizing" phone calls to Oksana Grigorieva on the same night she walked out on their volatile three-year relationship, with the usual audio from RadarOnline.

BRADGELINA have reportedly bought a 40-million-dollar luxury home in the picturesque hills of Valpolicella, Italy, according to Sky Italy magazine. Meanwhile Star magazine bought some family-unfriendly pics of Jolie from 1999.

ORLANDO BLOOM & MIRANDA KERR are expecting a child.

TIGER WOODS: First mistress Rachel Uchitel ran away from the set of Celebrity Rehab.

SCOTT PILGRIM vs THE WORLD's cast goes pantsless for GQ.

IRAN: Domination of a fairly sophisticated, energy-rich economy has been handed to a secretive military organization that started out as a religious militia. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is now believed to control a third of the Iranian economy.

AFGHANISTAN: Hundreds of Afghan civilians who worked as informants for the US military have been put at risk by WikiLeaks' publication of more than 90000 classified intelligence reports which name and in many cases locate the individuals.  Noah Shachtman explains that the leaked reports may be less than fully accurate.  Meanwhile, The Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Omar, has ordered his forces to kill or capture any civilians, including Afghan women, who cooperate with Coalition forces.

BULLDOG & TORTOISE, eating Cheerios together... Mass hysteria!

SNAKE in a PT CRUISER: A Covina family found themselves in an unusual predicament Sunday when a large boa constrictor wedged itself in the engine compartment of their car while they were shopping.

THE SWARM: A beekeeper was stung about 50 times when a swarm of approximately 1000 bees attacked her in the driveway of her Pittsfield Township home. Firefighters used 750 gallons of water to disperse the colony of bees after the woman called for help.

PETS WITH BENEFITS: Pinellas County Commissioners have heard from people who want to roll back laws that prohibit people from keeping chickens in non-agricultural settings.

SUPERCHUNK plays The Cure's classic "In Between Days" for the A.V. Club Undercover.

LOCAL NATIVES did three free songs for Daytrotter.

DANA FALCONBERRY did five free songs for Daytrotter.

DAVID DONDERO is advance streaming Number Zero With a Bullet.

NEWPORT FOLK FEST PREVIEW, streaming via All Songs Considered.

THE NASHVILLE TEENS: Their cover of "Tobacco Road" closed the Season Four premiere of Mad Men.

FIERY FURNACES: Matthew Friedberger talks to Assembly Journal about albums vs playlists, regionalism, the Pitchfork Effect and more... (Thx, LHB.)

BONNIE PRINCE BILLY: Will Oldham talks to the Irish Times about the craft of Merle Haggard, Leonard Cohen, and R. Kelly.

NICK CAVE is writing the screenplay for a remake of The Crow?

ARCADE FIRE's MSG webcast will be directed by Terry Gilliam.

MAD MEL UPDATE: RadarOnline has more photos of a seemingly battered Oksana Grigorieva.

SANDRA BULLOCK, contra prior rumors, has absolutely no intention of getting back together with Jesse James, according to RadarOnline.

ROMAN POLANSKI 'Handcuffed, Drugged, & Raped Me,' Charges New Victim.

OLIVER STONE apologizes for claiming that claiming that America's focus on the Holocaust was a product of the "Jewish domination of the media."

SUSAN SARANDON brought her 31-year-old ping-pong teammate Jonathan Bricklin to the Giffoni Film Festival in Italy.

ANGELINA JOLIE: Worth her Salt?

DANIEL CRAIG has closed his deal to play journalist Mikael Blomkvist in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.

COMIC-CON: A post-convention list of 15 Films The Geek Crowd Really Wants To See.

SUCKER PUNCH: Zack Snyder's latest has a trailer online.

SCOTT PILGRIM vs the WORLD has a clip online.

IRAN: Ahmadinejad says Paul the Octopus, the sea creature that correctly predicted the outcome of World Cup games, is a symbol of all that is wrong with the western world.

AFGHANISTAN: The Afghan government, in its initial reaction to the leak of 75000 internal US military documents about the war, zeroed in on reported Pakistani support for the Taliban-led insurgency-hoping that the disclosures, and the resulting public outcry, would force Washington to turn up pressure on Islamabad.

IRAQ: Members of Al Qaeda in Mesopotamia have been holding up blood banks and hospitals at gunpoint, stealing blood for their wounded fighters rather than risk having them arrested at medical facilities.

DOG MOWS LAWN: Let's go to the video.

ANGRY COWS have launched a spate of attacks on hikers in the French Pyrnees.

HALF of UK DOGS could die of complications due to obesity.

LION CUBS at Israel's Ramat Gan Safari had their media debut. Aw.

MONKEYS are probably not being trained as snipers by the Taliban. Shocka!

EELS drop a video for "Spectacular Girl."

NEW RELEASES: Albums from Mark Olson, Jesca Hoop, Stornoway and more are streaming this week at Spinner.

LOS LOBOS is advance streaming Tin Can Trust.

BEST COAST get features from All Things Considered and the Boston Globe. (Thx, LHB.)

LOST IN THE TREES is advance streaming All Alone in an Empty House.

TWOFER TUESDAY:  "The Dawn Of Correction" by The Spokesmen is an "answer song" to Barry McGuire's immortal "Eve Of Destruction."

DEAN & BRITTA: Dean Wareham talks to Billboard about "13 Most Beautiful Songs... ," the score for screen tests Andy Warhol created of the famous and unknown personalities who made their way through the Factory.

SPIN editors rank the 125 Best Albums of the Past 25 Years.

TEGAN & SARA: The latter talks to ARTISTdirect about remixing a single song 17 times and having the result be more like an arthouse project; being hands off for once in their career; playing arenas; about decompressing and disconnecting when returning home; and how the press has stopped focusing solely on their sexual orientation in favor of their music.

TIFT MERRITT talks songwriting and musical influences with Kentucky.com.

LINDSAY LOHAN was in lockdown after having a "hysterical fit" in front of her fellow Los Angeles County jail inmates, according to the ever-reliable British media.  There are reports that the inmates are sick of her and the security measures allegedly employed around her.

MAD MEL UPDATE: RadarOnline has fresh audio of a seething, cursing and furious Gibson ripping into Oksana Grigorieva during a jealous rant about her ex-lover, former James Bond star Timothy Dalton.  RadarOnline also claims the couple's final blow-up was triggered when Gibson believed Grigorieva was "smiling too much" at a gardener.  D.H. Lawrence, anyone?

ROMAN POLANSKI: Yet another woman has come forward charging that the director raped her in 1974, according to RadarOnline.

HALLE BERRY was spotted flying to South Africa with ex-bf Gabriel Aubry and their 2-year-old daughter Nahla.

KATE WINSLET is dating a male model as she gets over her marriage split from movie director Sam Mendes, according to the uber-reliable News of the World.

ELTON JOHN is working on a musical version of George Orwell's Animal Farm.

LET ME IN: The US version of the vampire flick Let the Right One In has a trailer online.

IRAN: Russia turned on the Islamic theocracy, accusing it of "fruitless and irresponsible rhetoric" and adding its voice to a diplomatic assault Monday which included unilateral sanctions from both the EU and Canada, as well as warnings from Iran's opposition party that Ahmadinejad's regime could suffer the same fate as the deposed Shah.

AFGHANISTAN: An ongoing Pentagon review of the massive flood of secret documents made public by the WikiLeaks website has so far found no evidence that the disclosure harmed US national security or endangered American troops in the field, a Pentagon official told NBC News on Monday.

SHAKESPEARE the TOROISE moves a barbeque grill.

BRITISH DOGS can now enjoy a gastropub lunch alongside their owner, thanks to the new 'doggy menus' launched by Butcher's Pet Care. Your dog wants Guinness.

A FALLING MOUNTAIN GOAT sends an Austrian hiker to the hospital.

ARIEL PINK'S HAUNTED GAFFITI drops a video for "Mistaken Wedding."

BROKEN BELLS stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

ROGUE WAVE did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

DALE EARNHARDT, JR., JR. claim a quasi-psych mix of folk, hip-hop inspired drum programming, and effervescent pop -- and that's about right.  Check out the Beatle-esque "Single Girl" at TheirSpace, but I'm digging "Vocal Chords" even more.

GRAM RABBIT stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

ROXY MUSIC plays "Dream Home" on a part of the Jonathan Ross show that was cut for time by the BBC.

ST. VINCENT: Annie Clark talks to the Calgary Herald about Janet Jackson and more...

FANFARLO: Simon Balthazar talks to Paste about Under the Reservoir, a four-part series of mini-documentaries about the London-based band's experiences at this year's SXSW.

THE NEPTUNE MUSIC PRIZE -- Drowned In Sound's alternative to the Mercury Music Prize --  has its nominees.

KINGS OF LEON canceled their St. Louis gig after three songs, after getting the High Anxiety treatment from pigeons.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Inception repeats at No.1 with 43.5 million; its 143 million total reveals a consistent performance all through last week. Salt comes in second, at the lower end of what the so-called gurus projected, with 36.5 million.  With some legs, the Jolie thriller should recoup its 110 million budget domestically.  Despicable Me shows with 24.1 million on a mere 26.5 percent drop.  The Sorcerer's Apprentice drops a much steeper 45 percent to the fourth slot with 9.7 million; this seems unlikely to make back its 110 budget domestically.  Toy Story 3 rounds out the Top Five with another 9 million, for a 379 million total to date.  Ramona and Beezus opened below the fold at No. 6 with 8 million, though this is an extremely low-risk, 15 million dollar flick.

MAD MEL UPDATE: Oksana Grigorieva says she told authorities that Mel Gibson made an anti-Semitic death threat toward TMZ's chief, Harvey Levin, but the gossip site determined the story to be false.

LINDSAY LOHAN had another two days shaved off of her sentence.

CHARLIE SHEEN and the Aspen District Attorney's office are close to reaching a plea deal over his domestic violence case.

ANGELINA JOLIE admits there is still a side of her that's not entirely sane.

CASEY AFFLECK has been slapped with a two million dollar sexual harassment lawsuit; he intends to counter-sue for malicious prosecution.

BRITTANY MURPHY and her husband may have been killed in part by mold in their home.

ERIC ROBERTS is headed to Celebrity Rehab.

MARK RUFFALO is looking even more like The Hulk in The Avengers.

OUR FRIENDS, THE SAUDIS: A popular Muslim cleric says it is permissible for Saudi women to reveal their faces in countries where the Islamic veil is banned, while criticising efforts in Europe to outlaw the garment.

IRAN: Ahmadinejad has said his country plans to send a man into space by 2019, official state media report. The head of Iran's nuclear energy agency announced Saturday that the country had launched a "serious" nuclear fusion research program. Plus unicorns.

AfPAK: The New York Times reports that a six-year archive of classified military documents made public by Wikileaks offers an unvarnished, ground-level picture of the war in Afghanistan that is in many respects more grim than the official portrayal.  The paper ran a second feature noting that Americans fighting the war in Afghanistan have long harbored strong suspicions that Pakistan's military spy service has guided the Afghan insurgency with a hidden hand -- something that should not be news to regular Pate readers.

IRAQ: Recent reports have accused the US military of irresponsible disposal of millions of pounds of hazardous waste, mostly from the Iraq war. But after investigating, the military says EPA standards are being upheld.

DJ MAMA on the scratch.

A SPECIAL NEEDS CAT was adopted by Mr. & Mrs. Howard Stern.

ROTTWEILERS: Get in their face, and they'll take yours.

BEAR goes on a joyride.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with THE HOLLIES!  Improbably live in Split, Croatia, circa 1968 -- just months before Graham Nash left the band.  Your set list includes "Stewball," "On A Carousel," "Dang Me," "Very Last Day," "Do The Best You Can," "A Taste Of Honey," "Jennifer Eccles," and "Carrie Anne."

THE NATIONAL stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

SONNY & THE SUNSETS did six free songs for Daytrotter. Recommended.

PAVEMENT: Live at Mississippi Nights, October 14, 1999.

JOSH RITTER stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

SEU JORGE is advance streaming Seu George and Almaz.

DEE-LITE finds that "Groove Is In the Heart," with a little help from Bootsy Collins and Q-Tip.

WOLF PARADE: Dante DeCaro sounds off to Straight.com on the things that enquiring minds want to know.

SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS: Benjamin Curtis talks to New York magazine about bonding with rock stars, working with twins, and how Brian Eno saved their record.

10 PARTY SONGS Gawker never wants to hear again.

CUTOUT BIN: From the Jam to the Jags, from Ray Charles to Gang of Four, from Martha & the Muffins to Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes, plus Pavement, Social Distortion, Red Rider, Big Star, the Jackson 5 and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases are Salt, currently scoring 57 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; and Ramona and Beezus, which is scoring 52 percent.

MAD MEL UPDATE: A text message from Gibson to Grigorieva in which he admitted, "Oksana, I wasn't safe for you last night," is a key part of the explosive domestic violence investigation into their January 6 bust-up.  Another text message may figure into Gibson's claim of extortion.

BRADGELINA collect an undisclosed sum of cash from the uber-reliable News of the World, which falsely reported that Jolie and Pitt were legally separating and had negotiated custody arrangements. ALSO: Pitt will star in "World War Z," which chronicles a worldwide zombie outbreak through the first-hand accounts of survivors.

LINDSAY LOHAN did an interview and photoshoot for the October issue of Vanity Fair just before going to jail.

JEREMY LONDON's troubled wife  has been released from a Los Angeles hospital after she suffered a brain hemorrhage.

ROMANTIC COMEDIES are ruining relationships.

TRON: LEGACY has a new trailer online, with more Olivia Wilde added.

XERXES: Zach Snyder is working on a screenplay for Frank Miller's coming sequel to "300."

PAKISTAN: Days after India-Pakistan talks broke down on the issue of terror, the US pointed out links between the Taliban and Pakistani spy agency ISI and assured India that its role in Afghanistan was "not being diminished" to the advantage of Islamabad.

AFGHANISTAN: The threat of plunder.

TORTOISE humps a plastic bag. The audio is key.

CARELESS BEAVER floods the highway. Hey, nice beaver!

HEFTY MARMOTS: Blame global warming.

BEDBUGS: Listen All Of Y'all This Is Sabotage.

AUTOMATIC COW WASH aims to boost milk production. Sing it with feeling, y'all.