JIMMY WEBB joined a 23-piece version of the CBS Orchestra foran epic version of his "MacArthur Park," though he stuck to the keys and let Will Lee sing it.

THE RAVEONETTES surprise released Pe'ahi: You can stream it on Spotify while Sune Rose Wagner talks to Drowned In Sound about it.

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT played a full set at the Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival Festival.

NATALIE MERCHANT stopped by WFUV Live for mini-set and chat about life, love and of course, music.

SAINTSENECA stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set. 

WILL PLAYLISTS kill the album, or encourage it?

JESSE WARE talks to The 405 about Tough Love.

MERGE's TOP 25 RELEASES, according to PopMatters.

GEORGE HARRISON's memorial tree was killed by beetles.

LOW covers Springsteen's "I'm On Fire."

JUSTIN BIEBER's  trail of liquor and litter at his Beverly Hills condo has set his neighbors off; the police have raised the idea of a citizens' arrest.

PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN told his former accountant that he "did not want his children to be considered 'trust fund' kids," and therefore left the entirety of his reported 35 million dollar estate to his partner Mimi O'Donnell.

EMMA STONE & COLIN FIRTH, co-stars of Woody Allen's 44th feature, Magic in the Moonlight, discuss ghosts, skinny-dipping, and that time Stone live-texted Bridget Jones to Firth.

LUCY LAWLESS joins the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

MANIMAL: The cult 1980s TV show is headed to the big screen.

TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES have a new teaser trailer online.

ISRAEL: American air carriers suspended flights from the United Stated to Israel "for a period of up to 24 hours" after the FAA issued a warning in response to a rocket strike near Tel Aviv's main airport, officials said. As the conflict entered its third week and the death toll on both sides climbed, the U.S. pressed Hamas to accept an Egyptian cease-fire proposal. But militants in the Palestinian territory showed no sign of letting up on rocket fire.

UKRAINE:  The U.S. government believes that pro-Russian separatists most likely shot down a Malaysia Airlines jet "by mistake," not realizing it was a civilian passenger flight, U.S. intelligence officials said on Tuesday. Russia has shown no sign of backing off its shipments of arms to separatists in Ukraine despite these allegations.

TURKEY: The deputy of the opposition CHP party showed news media yesterday copies of official records confirming that Syria-bound trucks stopped in January by unwitting local authorities in Adana were carrying rockets that Turkish intelligence was supplying to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham.

IRAQ: Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is losing political support for his bid for a third term from core backers, including the country's Shiite religious establishment and ally Iran, say Iraqi officials. Using its own version of "soft" and "hard" power, the Islamic State is crushing resistance across northern Iraq so successfully that its promise to march on Baghdad may no longer be unrealistic bravado.  In Mosul, the Islamic State ordered Christians out, robbed them at checkpoints, and then reportedly set fire to a 1800-year-old church.

A GUILTY DOG atones for stealing a baby's toy.

A RED KING CRAB...but blue.

DEADLY GIANT HORNETS are rumored to have landed in the UK.

SNAKES in a Playground.

MARK LANEGAN's video for "Sad Lover" is pretty driving.

SHARON VAN ETTEN stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session. 

JOSH RITTER played a full set at the Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival Festival.

THE FRESH & ONLYS stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

SUNO DEKO streams the Thrown Color EP.

SPOON drops "Inside Out" ahead of They Want My Soul.

WEEZER goes "Back to the Shack" ahead of Everything Will Be Alright In The End.

THE TUBES: "She's A Beauty" and "Talk To Ya Later" are your Twofer Tuesday.

NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL: Did Jeff Mangum really talk to Phawker?

HALL & OATES talk to The Guardian about their long career.

DEV HYNES is profiled by Sasha Frere-Jones at The New Yorker.

OVERLOOKED ALBUMS of 2014 (So Far), according to Pitchfork.

ROBERT DOWNEY, JR tops the Forbes list of Top Earning Actors. Again.

JONAH HILL officiated at Adam Levine's wedding.

VAMPIRE CANOODLING? Vampire Diaries' Ian Somerhalder and Twilight's Nikki Reed are officially dating.

JUSTIN BIEBER is testing his probation with loud parties.

KANYE WEST tells GQ he's a porcupine and a blowfish.

FARRAH FRANKLIN, a fmr Destiny's Child singer, was arrested for disorderly conduct after waking up on someone's front lawn.

JUSTIN THEROUX talks about The Leftovers at Elle.

RUSSIA presented a combination of conciliation and bluster on Monday over its handling of the downed Malaysia Airlines jet, with President Vladimir V. Putin seemingly probing for a way out of the crisis without appearing to compromise with the West.

ISRAEL:  The top Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip signaled Monday that the Islamic militant group will not agree to an unconditional cease-fire with Israel, while Israel's defense minister pledged to keep fighting "as long as necessary" - raising new doubt about the highest-level mediation mission in two weeks.

SYRIA: The Islamic State beheaded a man in Raqqah; blew up some houses in Deir Izzour; clashed with the Islamic Front and rebels in Damascus; battled regime special forces around the Sha'er gas field in Homs, where some 60 soldiers were killed; and fought against the Al Nusrah Front, the Islamic Front, and Kurdish YPG forces in Aleppo, where the IS is massing reinforcements for attacks on Ayn al Arab.

IRAN has moved to eliminate its most sensitive stockpile of enriched uranium gas under an interim nuclear deal reached with six world powers last year, according to a monthly update by the U.N. nuclear watchdog obtained by Reuters on Sunday.

IRAQ: The Islamic State now controls or threatens key facilities on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, generating fears that the Al-Qaeda splinter group could turn off the taps to the Shiite south of Iraq, sparking a massive humanitarian crisis.

PETS INTERRUPTING YOGA: Let's go to the video.

THE MAYFLY HATCH along the Mississippi River was big enough to be seen by Doppler radar.

A CANADIAN BEAR tries to eat a Danish...tourist.

A COW charged cyclists at a charity event.

THE POLYPHONIC SPREE returns with a video for "Hold Yourself Up."

TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS advance stream Hypnotic Eye.

JENNY LEWIS advance streams The Voyager.

WILDEST DREAMS advance streams Wildest Dreams.

BEAR IN HEAVEN advance streams Time Is Over One Day Old.

EVERY MOTHER'S SON: "Come On Down to My Boat," baby.

JENNY LEWIS tells All Things Cosidered how The Voyager got her through one of the most difficult periods of her life.

GAME THEORY is getting a reissue campaign this Autmn.

BLONDIE's Debbie Harry and Chris Stein have paid tribute to the late Tommy Ramone.

HUSKER DU: Zen Arcade turns 30; The Current pays tribute. Get Off My Lawn.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes repeats atop the chart with 36 million, crossing the 100 million mark (domestic) on a 50 percent drop that ain't bad for this soft cinema summer. The Purge: Anarchy places with 28.4 million; thats' less than the original did...but with better reviews and word-of-mouth than the original, this one still might make more by the end of its run.  Planes: Fire & Rescue shows with 18 million; this one also opened to less than its predecessor, but the budget was controlled enough that the kids' merch will more than compensate. Sex Tape took the fourt slot with 15 million dollars, underperforming already low expectations. Transformers: Age of Extinction rounds out the Top 5 with another 10 million, and 886 million worldwide.

JAMES GARNER, the wry and handsome leading man who slid seamlessly between television and the movies but was best known as the amiable gambler Bret Maverick in the 1950s western “Maverick” and the cranky sleuth Jim Rockford in the 1970s series “The Rockford Files,” was found dead in his California home on Saturday night, the Los Angeles Police said. He was 86.

ADAM LEVINE married Behati Prinsloo in a tent at Flora Farms in Los Cabos, Mexico on Saturday.

DWAYNE WADE & GABRIELLE UNION have banned phones and photography from their upcoming wedding.

LINDSAY LOHAN gets a comeback award(?)

THE TELEVISON CRITICS ASSCOIATION AWARDS went to these folks.

CASEY KASEM's remains have been moved from a Washington state funeral home, against the wishes of three of his adult children, a spokesman for the siblings said on Friday.

UKRAINE: The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal both report Washington now believes the SA-11 anti-aircraft missile used in the attack on MH17 was just one of the powerful weapons Moscow supplied pro-Russian militants in Ukraine with in recent weeks.

ISRAEL: The first major ground battle in two weeks of Israel-Hamas fighting exacted a steep price Sunday: It killed 65 Palestinians and 13 Israeli soldiers and forced thousands of terrified Palestinian civilians to flee their neighborhood, reportedly used to launch rockets at Israel and now devastated by the fighting.

SYRIA: The Islamic State clashed with regime forces near the Sha'er gas field in Homs; bombarded regime-held areas near Al Mab'oje in Hama; clashed with regime forces by Kweris airport, and killed five Islamic Front fighters in a suicide bombing in Aleppo; battled the Islamic Front outside Yilda in Reef Dimashq; stoned two women to death for alleged adultery in Raqqah; and clashed with regime forces in Deir Izzour, where the IS was joined by some Islamic Front fighters. The Islamic State is now said to control 35 percent of Syria's territory, including over 98 percent of oil-rich Deir Izzour.

IRAN: The US agreed with other world powers and Iran to a four-month extension of the deadline for reaching a deal on Iran's nuclear program, but said it will continue to enforce remaining sanctions.

IRAQ: Twenty-seven people were killed in a series of bombings in Baghdad. In one attack, a suicide bomber killed nine people at a checkpoint. The Islamic State reportedly overran Camp Speicher outside of Tikrit.

AN ACCIDENT reunited a lost beagle with his owner, eight weeks later.

SHARK WEEK: Big ratings, based on lies. 

A PET TURTLE was captured after three weeks on the lam.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: A raptor with four wings.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVIAL! Live at the Royal Albert Hall, circa 1970.  Your setlist includes; "Born on the Bayou," "Green River," "Tombstone shadow," "Travelin' Band," "Fortunate Son," "Commotion," "Midnight Special," "Bad Moon Rising," "Proud Mary," "Night Time is the Right Time," "Good Golly Miss Molly," and "Keep On Chooglin'."

ST VINCENT: A full set, Live On Letterman.

ELBOW stopped by WFUV's Studio A for a chat and mini-set.

PHOX stopped by WFUV's Studio A for a chat and mini-set.

HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF performed live on WNYC Soundcheck.

THE MUFFS drop "Weird Boy Next Door" ahead of Whoop Dee Doo.

ABSOLUTELY FREE drops "Beneath The Air" ahead of their self-titled LP.

VASTI BUNYAN drops "Across the Water" ahead of Heartleap.

JOHNNY WINTER, the Texas blues guitarist who added his own unique current of electricity to songs like "Highway 61 Revisited," "Johnny B. Goode" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash" in the late Sixties and throughout the Seventies, died Wednesday in his hotel room in Zurich, according to his publicist. He had been on tour in Europe and most recently had played in Wiesen, Austria. Winter was 70. His appearance on Don Kirshner's Rock Concert opens with his best known hit, "Rock and Roll Hoochie Coo."

THE PITCHFORK MUSIC FESTIVAL will be streaming starting at 3:30p.m. Central today.

ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN: Ocean Rain turned 30 this year; The Quietus reconsiders.

THE HOLD STEADY: Craig Finn talks to the Omaha World-Journal about the new album, the band's new guitarist, playing with The Replacements and "American sadness." (Thx, LHB.)

A HARD DAY'S NIGHT: And Flavorwire has 25 facts about the film.

CUTOUT BIN:  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: Planes: Fire & Rescue, which is currently scoring 49 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; Sex Tape, currently scoring 16 percent; andThe Purge: Anarchy, which was not screened for critics.

KANYE WEST gets high marks for his community service and anger management.

KELLY RIPA loves Botox. So many punchlines.

THE MTV VMA nominations.

ELLEN DeGENERES and PORTAI de ROSSI in couples therapy?

STAR WARS: EPISODE VII casts newcomer Christina Chong.

ELAINE STRITCH,  the brassy, tart-tongued Broadway actress and singer, is dead at 89.

UKRAINE: A Malaysia Airlines passenger jet crashed in a rebel-controlled part of eastern Ukraine on Thursday, spurring swift accusations from Ukrainian officials that "terrorists" shot down the aircraft. The United States has concluded a missile shot down the plane. The Obama administration does not think Ukraine has air defenses in the area of the incident, and did not have the capability, let alone the motivation, to shoot down the plane. Over the last couple of months, pro-Russian separatists have been downing Ukrainian military planes. The Ukrainian government also said on Thursday that a Russian military plane had shot down a Ukrainian fighter jet in Ukrainian airspace the previous evening.

SYRIA: Islamic State fighters surrounded and attacked the Shaar gas field in Homs, killing at least 23 guards and capturing others before taking it over.

LIBYA:  The Foreign Ministry asked the UN Security Council for help in protecting strategic sites such as oil facilities and airports.

ISRAEL launched a Gaza ground campaign after 10 days of bombardments from the air and sea failed to stop militants' rocket attacks. Israel signaled the invasion would be limited in scope - targeting tunnels dug by gunmen - and said it was not intended to topple Hamas, the Gaza Strip's dominant Islamist group.

A PUPPY comforts an older friend with a nightmare.

520-MILLION-YEAR-OLD SEA MONSTER has been unearthed in China, remarkably well-preserved.

150000 BURMESE PYTHONS have made a home in the Everglades.

A GREAT WHITE SHARK choked on a sea lion.

THE NEW PRONOGRAPHERS drop a video for "War on the East Coast" ahead of Brill Bruisers.

WEIRD AL YANKOVIC is streaming Mandatory Fun at Spotify.

DEAN WAREHAM stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.  

PUSS N' BOOTS: Norah Jones, Sasha Dobson, and Catherine Popper played a set at the Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival Festival, including covers of Wilco and Neil Young.

NEIL FINN performed live on WNYC Soundcheck.

TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS drop "Fault Lines" ahead of Hypnotic Eye.

LITERATURE drops "The English Softhearts" ahead of their sophomore album, Chorus.

EAGULLS cover the Stone Roses' "I Wanna Be Adored" for the A.V. Club Undercover.

BOB DYLAN's New Basement Tapes? Sort of, courtesy of T-Bone Burnett.

SHARON JONES talks to the Baltimore Sun about beating cancer and hitting the road. (Thx, LHB.)

THE DANDY WARHOLS'  Courtney Taylor-Taylor talks to Drowned In Sound about British audiences, home recording, and more...

JUDAS PRIEST, ranked by Stereogum.

RYAN GOSLING has taken on the job of personal chef for his pregnant girlfriend, Eva Mendes.

KIM KARDASHIAN stands to make around 85 million from the new video game iPhone app that boasts her namesake.

THE AVENGERS: Entertainment Weekly has some mild spoilers and  a look at the villain in The Age of Ultron.

ROSE McGOWAN does not like being compared to Michael Jackson.

BRITNEY SPEARS skipped out of The Cheesecake Factory without paying the bill.

DANICA McKELLAR is getting ready to head down the aisle with her boyfriend Scott Sveslosky.

MICHAEL VARTAN is headed for divorce court.

UKRAINE: Insurgents bade tearful farewells Wednesday as they loaded their families onto Russia-bound buses and began hunkering down for what could be the next phase in Ukraine's conflict: bloody urban warfare. Menawhile, the US and EU said they intended to increase sanctions on Russia.

SYRIA: Bashar al-Assad was sworn in on Wednesday as Syria's president for a new term, after an election his opponents dismiss as a sham but his supporters say proves that a rebellion to unseat him has failed after three years of war.

ISRAEL: The military said the Iron Dome defense system shot down 29 of 123 rockets fired into Israel today. The IDF agreed to a five-hour humanitarian truce starting tomorrow. Justice Minister Livni warned, however, that Israel will have no choice but to launch a ground incursion into Gaza if the rocket attacks do not stop. Over 1,000 rockets have been fired at Israel since the start of Operation Protective Edge last week; one Israeli has been killed so far by the attacks.

JORDAN: Imprisoned radical cleric Abu Qatada issued a 21-page statement calling the Islamic State's "caliphate" void and accusing IS emir Abu Bakr Al Baghdadi of heresy.

DOGS IN WHEELCHAIRS Play Fetch.

CHIMPS were taken to the opening night of the new blockbuster, Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes at their local cinema.

GENETICALLY ENGINEERED WORMS Can't Get Drunk. Look out, tequila.

THERE'S A COCKROACH IN YOUR SALAD? Here, I'll eat it.