THE LABOR DAY WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with CHEAP TRICK, live at ChicagoFest '81! Your set list includes: "Stop This Game," Hello There," "I Want You to Want Me," "On Top of the World," "Reach Out," "Baby Loves to Rock," "Gonna Raise Hell," "Dream Police," "Ain't That a Shame," "Surrender," "Just Got Back," "Day Tripper" and "Goodnight." You can access the individual songs from the link, or let the whole thing roll.

TWIN PEAKS is streaming Wild Onion.

THE LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT advance streams its self-titled LP.

PARQUET COURTS delivered a live performance in the KEXP Studio.

HAMILTON LEITHAUSER delivered a special concert for KEXP's VIP donors at The Triple Door in Seattle.

VASHTI BUNYAN drops "Holy Smoke" ahead of Heartleap.

FIRST CLASS: "Beach Baby" may fall into that category of summer song Oliver Wang once described "tinged with fragility and marked by melancholy."  It's even more true of the long version, with those French Horns and choral vocals in the c-section...

BOB DYLAN & THE BAND: The Strangest (and Funniest) Moments on the Basement Tapes.

THE RAMONES' estates have reconciled and are making big palns.

THE POP POWER SHIFT: How online armies replaced fan clubs.

TWELVE ESSENTIAL 80s ALBUMS, according to PopMatters.

ALBUM SALES hit another all-time low.

CUTOUT BIN: From the Beach Boys to Billy Bragg, from Thin Lizzy to Temper Trap, from the Modern Lovers to the Jackson 5, plus the Replacements, David Bowie, Shonen Knife, CSN and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: The November Man opened wide Wednesday, scoring 32 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; As Above/So Below opens with 33 percent. And Ghostbusters returns to 784 lucky big screens at 97 percent.

JOAN RIVERS was in critical condition following complications from throat surgery. Rivers was placed in a medically induced coma Thursday as her daughter flew cross-country to her mother’s side. She's now reportedly resting comfortably.

BRYAN SINGER: The Special Victims Squad of the New York Police Department is investigating the embattled Hollywood director for a forcible sexual assault that was allegedly committed last year against a man in his twenties.

SHAKIRA is pregnant with her second child.

BRITNEY SPEARS dumped her boyfriend of 18 months ... after finding out there's a video of him cheating on her that's being shopped around Hollywood.

STAR WARS: EPISODE VII has resumed production after Harrison Ford's on-set injury stalled filming for a couple weeks.

THE ACME CORPORATION may be headed to the big screen.

BRADGELINA were married Saturday in the French hamlet of Correns, a spokesman for the couple says. Even Jon Voight was surprised.

UKRAINE: Supported by NATO satellite imagery showing Russian forces on the move in eastern Ukraine, its president accused Russia on Thursday of an invasion to aid the separatists, and his national security council ordered mandatory conscription to help counter what he called an “extremely difficult” threat.

NEW YORK: An Egyptian lawyer charged in the 1998 embassy bombings in Africa is trying to distance himself from other acts of terrorism even as British investigators reportedly look at his son in the killing of an American journalist.

EGYPT said it would carry out military strikes in Libya if so requested by the Libyan parliament.

THE ISLAMIC STATE: President Obama on Thursday said his administration has not yet developed a comprehensive strategy to counter Islamist militants operating inside Syria. White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest subsequently insisted that Obama specifically articulated a "comprehensive strategy" for dealing with the Islamic State during the briefing. In the Syrian city of Raqqah on the banks of the Euphrates River, Islamic State militants are busy building a capital fit for their followers. No one is falling over themselves to respond to Barack Obama's quest for a new "coalition of the willing" to attack the jihadis of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria - least of all, it seems, the Arab governments that are most immediately threatened by its brutal, border-demolishing agenda.

MARU & HANA get a head start on the weekend.

YOYO the BASSET HOUND is a "very large cat" to Cambridge University.

FISH Raised to Breathe Air, Walk on Land.

AN ORPHANED HIPPO nursed back to health by his canine chums has been successfully released back into the wild.

HELLO KITTY IS PEOPLE!

J MASCIS and Fred Armisen join a cult in "Every Morning" from Tied To A Star.

THE ROSEBUDS perform on WNYC Soundcheck.

THE SILOS played a mini-set in KUTX's Studio 1A.

BENJAMIN BOOKER stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

THE DISTRICTS play a mini-set at World Cafe Live.

CASS McCOMBS & MEAT PUPPETS dropped a split single ahead of a co-headlining tour.

CHRISTOPHER OWENS dropped "Never Wanna See That Look Again" ahead of A New Testament.

SAM AMIDON fropped "Walkin' Boss" ahead of Lily-O.

ALICE COOPER topped the UK singles chart on this date in 1972 with "School's Out."

INTERPOL: Daniel Kessler talks to BrooklynVegan about the new album, Arctic Monkeys, The Jam, social media and more.

BOB MOULD talks to Marc Maron about becoming a writer for pro-wrestling, composing The Daily Show theme song and coming to terms with his true identity.

THE 50 BEST ALT ALBUMS of the 90s, according to Metro Weekly. (Thx, LHB.)

AC/DC, ranked by Stereogum.

IS TONY SOPRANO DEAD? Vox reported that The Sopranos creator David Chase said, No." Chase's rep claims the comment was misconstrued. And while Chases says the search fro an answer is fruitless, I always bought the analysis at Masters of Sopranos.

JENNIFER ANISTON says her womanhood should not be defined by motherhood. Fair enough.

KRISTEN STEWART covers Vanity Fair France and explains her acting method and her two-year break from the biz.

BRADGELINA share some “crazy sex scenes” in their upcoming movie, written and directed by Jolie.

JESSICA CHASTAIN wants a Scarlett Johansson superhero movie? Who doesn't?

SHERLOCK: Season 4 is devastating, according to creator Steven Moffat.

ENGLAND: in Rotherham, approximately 1400 cases of child rape, exploitation and violencewere dismissed for years by local leaders who feared they would be branded as racist for pursuing the perpetrators — the majority of whom were men of Pakistani origin.

UKRAINE said Russian forces had crossed the border and were supporting separatist attacks. The word they're looking for is "war."

LIBYA: In recent days, armed battles, inflamed by airstrikes and fueled by deep divisions among Libyan political factions have been “unprecedented in their gravity and very alarming,” the outgoing United Nations envoy to that country told the Security Council today.

THE UNITED STATES has begun to mobilize a broad coalition of allies behind potential American military action in Syria and is moving toward expanded airstrikes in northern Iraq, administration officials said on Tuesday. Don't call it a coalition of the willing, y'all.

A CHUBBY PRAIRIE DOG is freed from his hole.

A GIANT PANDA faked pregnancy to get better teatment.

SPIDERS force a recall of 19000 Suzukis.

A MOOSE ON THE LOOSE in the eastern German city of Dresden evaded capture before getting stuck inside an office building, tantalizingly close to the canteen.

PINK MOUNTAINTOPS drop a video for the new-wavey "Shakedown," which includes a ripping solo from J Mascis.

INTERPOL advance streams El Pintor.

HALF JAPANESE advance streams Overjoyed.

RYAN ADAMS: His 1984 EP has been ripped from vinyl to the Tube. And it rawks.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED: New tracks from Lucinda Williams, Weezer, Sufjan Stevens and more highlight the current edition.

THE CAPTAIN & TENNILLE may have ultimately divorced, but here's "Love Will Keep Us Together" for Daryl Dragon's birthday.

BOB DYLAN is releasing The Basement Tapes Complete. Garth Hudson of the Band is helping to compile the set.

MERCHANDISE gets a meaty profile at Stereogum.

NEIL YOUNG has filed for divorce from Pegi Young, his wife of 36 years and frequent musical collaborator.

THE NEW PR0NOGRAPHERS are going to play Brill Bruisers in the Brill Building. Brill idea!

THE PSYCHO SISTERS: Vicki Peterson (The Bangles) and Susan Cowsill (The Cowsills) talk to Magnet about finally making an album after 20 years.

JUSTIN BIEBER is under investigation for several crimes — including attempted robbery — for lunging at a fan at an arcade and sports bar.

SOFIA VERGARA slams critics of a supposedly "sexist" stunt at the Emmys. Some people missed the entire point of the joke.

MILEY CYRUS let a homeless dude accept her VMA; it turns out the guy is wanted by Oregon police.

SUGE KNIGHT is not talking to police after being shot six times at Chris Brown's pre-VMAs party.

SARAH SILVERMAN seemed stoned at the Emmys, for good reason.

JUSTIN THEROUX turned up at an Emmys afterparty with a big ring on his left hand.

FULL HOUSE could be retruning to TV, with some of the original cast.

UKRAINE: Russian Pres Putin held inconclusive talks late Tuesday with the president of Ukraine, extending a reluctant hand to a new leadership vilified in Russia’s state-run news media as the fruit of a fascist putsch. Just hours earlier, Ukraine released videos of captured Russian soldiers that directly challenged Mr. Putin’s longstanding claim that his country has nothing to do with the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

ISRAEL: A long-term ceasefire has been agreed between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip.

SYRIA: US citizen Douglas McArthur McCain, 33, of San Diego, Cal., was killed while fighting for the Islamic State in Syria. The US has begun flying surveillance missions over Syria to gather intelligence on the Islamic State.

LIBYA: Air strikes by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates on Libyan Islamists - affirmed by Washington on Tuesday despite denials from Cairo and the Gulf state - would mark an escalation of a regional struggle over the future of the Arab world.

A TINY PIGLET: Be sure to turn the sound on.

A CRAZY CAT terrorizes a Houston neighborhood. No comment from Ignatz.

A FLATULENT HIPPO leads to a lawsuit involving CBS.

LOBSTER CAM is back online in Halifax harbour.

KING KHAN & THE BBQ SHOW, n/k/a The Bad News Boys, drop a video for "We Are The Champion": "This was the first song we wrote for the album. Not the best song on the record, and not a single, but where our heads were at during the recording."

THE AFGHAN WHIGS stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH performed live in the KEXP Studio.

PHIL & DAVE ALVIN play a mini-set of Big Bill Broonzy covers at KUTX.

THE MAGIC NUMBERS share three songs off their upcoming LP, Alias.

REAL ESTATE covers the Nerves' "Paper Dolls."

THE KINKS: Esquire essays The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, dubbed "the best rock album you've never heard."

HENRY ROLLINS writes the inevitable apology for his column on depression.

SINKANE talks to Stereogum about his new album and his other endeavors.

PETE BEST talked to PopMatters about a lifetime of incredulous “What If’s.”

ZOOEY DESCHANEL was caught canoodling on camera with rumored new boyfriend Jacob Pechenik.

THE EMMYS --in a rare Monday appearance--went to these folks.

HAYDEN PANETTIERE is expecting a baby girl.

AMANDA PEET is expecting her third child with her husband David Benioff.

LENA DUNHAM excerpted her book at The New Yorker.

SHUTTER ISLAND may spawn a series on HBO.

UKRAINE: Amid reports of a surge in fighting between government forces and Russian-backed rebels in eastern Ukraine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Monday that Moscow will be sending a second humanitarian convoy into the war-torn region as early as this week. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has dissolved Ukraine's parliament and announced an election on October 26.

NORWAY: Some 5,000 people protested in Oslo against the Islamic State, in a demonstration organized by Norwegian Muslim groups.

LIBYA: Islamist militias said Sunday they have consolidated their hold on Tripoli and its international airport, driving out rival militias to the outskirts of the capital following a weekslong battle for control of the strategic hub.

SYRIA: The United States is preparing military options, including surveillance flights, to pressure Islamic State in Syria, U.S. officials said on Monday, but they cautioned no decision had been made to expand U.S. action beyond the limited airstrikes under way in Iraq. The White House, however, refused to commit to asking for congressional authority for airstrikes in Syria.

LIONS vs CROCODILE: Who You Got?

A HARBOR SEAL napping on a Jet Ski.

CAMBODIAN RAT MEAT: A growing export market.

WAS A DOG run over by Google Street View?

BUSTER POINDEXTER joins ARCADE FIRE in Brooklyn for "Hot Hot Hot" after the band syncs David Johanssen's "Personality Crisis." And there was a conga line.

BLONDE REDHEAD advance streams Barragán.

THE GOTOBEDS advance stream Poor People Are Revolting.

ZAMMUTO advance streams Anchor.

SINKANE advance streams Mean Love.

THE KNACK: "My Sharona" topped the chart at this time in 1979 and would remain there for five weeks.

CRAIG FINN: The Hold Steady frontman talks to The Rumpus about his writing process, the purpose and function of songs, and the relationship of songs to other forms of writing.

TY SEGALL Guest DJs All Songs Considered, mixinng his new material withclassic songs that inspired him.

PAST MTV VMA WINNERS, ranked by Stereogum. REM beaten by Katy Perry. Sigh.

20 CONTOVERSIAL MUSIC VIDEOS, listed by NME.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Guardians of the Galaxy retakes the top of the chart with 17.6 million, as all of the new competition fell short.  Marvel's 251.9 million domestic take officially pushes GotG past Transformers 4 to become the top grosser of the summer.And it will soon pass Captain America: The Winter Soldier to become the biggest grossing movie of the year. Worldwide, Guardians is just short of the roughly 500 million it needs to profit...but has yet to open in China or Japan. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shows (if the estimates hold up) with 16.8 million, and is on track to wind up in the black. If IStay, which most gurus picked for the top slot, showed with 16.4 million, as a strong Friday petered out over the weekend proper. Nevertheless, the teen weeper has a mere 11 million production budget.  Let's Be Cops takes the fourth slot with a fairly leggy 11 million and is near profitability on domestic receipts alone. The debut of When The Game Stands Tall rounds out the Top 5 with 9 million; it may need some help from the faith-based community to recoup a 15 million budget plus marketing costs. Normally, this is the spot where I'd note that Expendables 3 is flopping, but Frank Miller's Sin City: A Dame To Kill For did even worse in its debut, coming in eighth with 6.5 million, mostly bad reviews and bad word of mouth against a rumored 60-70 million budget. Ouch.

FRANK MILLER'S SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR, btw, pretty much deserved the bad reviews and bad word of mouth.  Most of the reviews note the sequel is more explicit--both in nudity and violence--than the original, yet more boring.  On the last point, I tend to disagree.  The problem with A Dame To Kill For is not necessarily that it's boring; it's certainly as visually stylish (and stylized) as the first one.  Rather, the problem is that this one is much more joyless.  Granted, it seems Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez set out to tell a more grim set of stories this time around, but there's even less sense of comic relie, let alone outright fun this time.  Moreover, the original tended to focus on the classic noir theme of the ambigous antihero rising to some level of heroism and --while other noir tropes abound here, there's much less heroic in these tales.

SUGE KNIGHT: The famed music producer (and jailbird) was shot six tiimes at a pre-VMAs party in a Los Angeles nightclub hosted by singer Chris Brown.

NICKI MANAJ: One of the singer's backup dancers was bit by a boa constrictor during a VMAs rehearsal of "Anaconda."

IGGY ALZALEA is so Fancy that she fell offstage at a pre-VMAs benefit show.

THE MTV VMAs went to these folks; there's also video of the perfomances at the link.

GWYNETH PALTROW is very happy that Chris Martin is dating Jennifer Lawrence. No, really, she is totally happy. Totally.

IAN SOMERHALDER & NIKKI REED are already living together after three weeks of dating.

JOSH CHARLES and his wife Sophie Flack are expecting their first child together.

LORD RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH, the actor (The Great Escape, Ghandi, Jurassic Park) and film director (Cry Feedom, Chaplain), has died just days before his 91st birthday. At various times he was chairman of the British Film Institute, Channel 4, Goldcrest Films, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and Capital Radio and a director of the Young Vic and the British Film Institute.

CHINA broadcast an andless loop of James Foley's execution on a giant video screen in downtown Beijing.

UKRAINE: The Russian military has moved artillery units manned by Russian personnel inside Ukrainian territory in recent days and is using them to fire at Ukrainian forces, NATO officials said on Friday. Don't call it an invasion, y'all. Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine have marched dozens of captured government soldiers through the city of Donetsk.

LIBYA: Tripoli Airport is reportedly in flames, after its capture by Islamist forces following weeks of fighting.

EGYPT: The top Islamic authority in Egypt, revered by many Muslims worldwide, launched an Internet-based campaign Sunday challenging an extremist group in Syria and Iraq by saying it should not be called an "Islamic State."

SYRIA: The Islamic State captured a major airport, reportedly beheaded a number of captured Syrian soldiers and put their severed heads on display in the city of Raqqa. An American held hostage for two years by the Jabhat al-Nusrah terrorist group has been released. British intelligence agencies MI5 and MI6 have identified 23-year-old Abdel-Majed Abdel Bary as the man suspected of the horrific beheading of American journalist James Foley. Bary is the son of an Egyptian-born militant who is awaiting trial on terrorism charges in Manhattan, due to his alleged involvement in the bombing of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT, fought with Vaseline.

PUPPIES, Photographed Underwater.

A STRAY KITTEN named Alfonso won a cat casting call, pouncing on a role in the upcoming Broadway revival of You Can’t Take It With You.

THE ELEPHANT WHISPERER: Peter Mbulu is on a mission to save Kenya's orphaned baby elephants.