SHARON JONES, a powerhouse soul singer with a gritty voice, fast feet and indomitable energy, died Friday of pancreatic cancer. She was 60.  Here's what I wrote after I first saw her back in October 2005: "Though my weekend schedule was in flux, I was able to scurry down to the Double Door (where Barry Jive and the Uptown Five played at the end of High Fidelity) to see Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings at the last minute Saturday night. ... That band puts o­n o­ne helluva hot, sweaty, funky soul extravaganza. Indeed, the Dap-Kings did an entire power-packed set before they brought Sharon Jones out. the set included not o­nly highlights from Dap Dippin' With Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings and Naturally (an Amazon Best of 2005 (so far) pick and one of mine too), but also several new songs that were equally smokin'. It's like finding a big stack of Stax wax that somehow never got released in the late '60s or early '70's. You can see video at the Daptone records site, but it really doesn't do the band's James Brown Live at the Apollo energy level justice. Ms. Jones may be built more like Aretha, but moves like Tina Turner. Suffice it to say the Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land" and Janet Jackson's "What Have You Done For Me Lately" have never sounded funkier."  This 2007 clip of Miss Jones and the band strutting and percolating thru Naturally's "How Do I Let a Good Man Down?", with a Brown-style introduction, captures what I was writing about pretty well.  Her cover of Marva Whitney's "Things Got To Get Better" also captures it pretty well.  They even sound pretty dang hot just rehearsing a James Brown medley with Lee Fields.  And while the band could bring it down for a ballad like "100 Days, 100 Nights"or go a little Motown on songs like "Retreat!" or "Stranger to My Happiness,"  I will always remember her working a crowd with mastery as in this Paris performance of "When I Come Home" where Prince stops by to solo. BONUS: Here's Sharon joining Iggy Pop on Bowie's "Tonight", and singing "Sweet Jane" with Lou Reed.

THE MAGNETIC FIELDS advance stream 5 songs from the upcoming 50 Song Memoir.

ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO stops by The Current for a chat and mini-set. On his latest album, Burn Something Beautiful, Escovedo collaborated with R.E.M. alumni Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey.

THE ARKELLS also stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

THE ROLLING STONES brought Mick Taylor out for "Can't You Hear Me Knockin'" at Glastonbury 2013.

SUICIDE: Pitchfork runs an uncondensed version of a 2002 interview the late Alan Vega did with author Simon Reynolds.

BRATMOBILE's Allison Wolfe shares the soundtrack of her life with Pitchfork.

ANDY SCHAUF talks to Now about the Polaris Prize, Christian pop-punk and why he doesn't leave his new neighborhood.

DWEEZIL ZAPPA talks to Magnet about his new LP and his family woes.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them domianted the chart with 75MM, but with a 180MM budget may need to make 350-400MM to break even; the additional 143MM it has grossed overseas suggests that's doable, esp since it has yet to open in China.  Doctor Strange places with 17.7MM on a 59 percent drop borne not only of the competition from Fantastic Beasts, but also the drop-off from a holiday weekend; global receipts are still on track for this one to make a decent profit in theaters.  Trolls showed close behind with 17.5MM on a 50 percent drop.  Arrival, the highly-acclaimed-including-by-me sci-fi flick, takes the fourth slot with 11.8MM on a 51 percent drop; it's just getting stararted in foreign markets.  Almost Christmas rounds out the Top Five with 7MM on a 54 percent drop, all tribute to how much oxygen the Potterverse consumed this weekend.  The Edge of Seventeen and Bleed For This, both generally well-reviewed, debuted seventh and eight, respectively.

EMILIA CLARKE (Game of Thrones) is joining the Star Wars Han Solo spinoff.

DEADPOOL 2 has a new director: John Wick‘s David Leitch.

KANYE WEST was booed at a concert on Thursday in San Jose, California, revealing that he didn't vote - but he would have cast his ballot for President-elect Donald Trump.

DWAYNE JOHNSON talked about his heavily publicized feud with Fast 8 costar Vin Diesel in a new interview with The Los Angeles Times.

MARC ANTHONY is separating from his wife of 2 years.

WEDDING CRASHERS is getting a sequel, or so Vince Vaughn told Isla Fsher.

KITTENS Make Everything Better.

GOAT YOGA: All the news that's fit to print, in the New York Times.

RIVER RAT is the hot new hambuger in Russia.

A HALF-DOZEN YAKS in British Columbia are looking for a home.

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 has a link-rich piece on the Rain Parade and other Paisley Underground bands.

GILLIAN WELCH advance streams The Official Revival Bootleg.

HIGHLY SUSPECT advance streams The Boy Who Died Wolf.

METALLICA streams the double album Hardwired… To Self-Destruct. 'Member when they sued Napster? I 'member.

THE DECEMBERISTS shared the demo for “The Crane Wife 1, 2 & 3."

THE ROLLING STONES: Mick & Keef do a little "Country Honk" acoustic.

DAVID BOWIE: Carlos Alomar excerpts part of his book.

SLEIGH BELLS: Alexis Krauss discusses the band's newest LP at the NY Observer.

THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN are releasing a new album, their first in 18 years.

THE 10 BEST LEON RUSSELL SONGS, according to Paste.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases include: Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, which is currently scoring 83 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; The Edge of Seventeen, which is scoring 94 percent; and Bleed For This, scoring 65 percent.

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM:  The continuation of the Potterverse is not as immediately compelling as J.K. Rowling's original saga.  Some of the characters are less sharply-drawn as the students of Hogwarts; indeed, I'd argue the secondary characters may be a bit more interesting than the leads.  But the differences drawn by moving the setting to America 1926 are intriguing enough to warrant the sequels already in development.  And there's a nice reveal at the end the WB kept hidden in plain sight.

KALEY CUOCO isn't afraid to talk about her plastic surgery.

CHARLIE SHEEN is addressing his ex-wife Brooke Mueller's recent ordeal with a poem.

CARRIE FISHER denies calling Harrison Ford bad in bed.

TOM HANKS spoke about the election at a Museum of Modern Art’s film benefit.

KING KONG: SKULL ISLAND hs a second trailer online.

AN ORPHAN HIPPO is befriended by AN ORPHAN RHINO.

A DEER struck a Gwynedd Mercy University cross country runner during the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional at DeSales University

A NEW SPECIES OF FROG, whose groin flashes orange to scare away predators, has been discovered in Australia.

AN OCTOPUS rode the tide to a Miami Beach garage.

MOUNT MORIAH shared a video for "How to Dance."

WARPAINT, Live at the 9:30 Club.

BAND OF HORSES stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

FLOCK OF DIMES stopped by Oregon Public Broadcasting for a chat and mini-set.

MICHAEL CHAPMAN shares “Sometimes You Just Drive.”

MOSE ALLISON, a pianist, singer and songwriter who straddled modern jazz and Delta blues, belonging to both styles even as he became a touchstone for everyone from The Who to The Clash and Elvis Costello, died on Tuesday at his home in Hilton Head, S.C. He was 89.

TEMPLE OF THE DOG: Chris Cornell talks about the triumphant first tour of a band that existed for two weeks in the 90s.

JOHN LENNON wrote to Paul McCartney in 1971, and it wasn't pretty.

BOB DYLAN will not travel to Sweden to receive his Nobel Prize for Literature.

CHARLIE SHEEN'S ex, Brooke Mueller, is reportedly on the run with his kids.

THE PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL OF FREEDOM is being awarded to a bunch of celebs...and some people like the late Grace Hopper.

BRANGELEXIT: Brad Pitt is crushed that he's only seen his kids thrice since splitting from Angelina Jolie.

ANNA KENDRICK already has memoirs.

VAL KILMER got an apology from Michael Douglas.

TAYLOR SWIFT tops the latest Forbes list of highest-paid celebs under 30.

RYAN GOSLING is confused by his internet meme.

COREY FELDMAN proposed to his longtime girlfriend Courtney Anne on last weekend.

THE GREEN HORNET is getting a more realistic reboot.

DOGS ON TRAMPOLINES, a compilation.

TWO SAINT BERNARDS adopt a baby goat.

GIANT HISSING COCKRAOCHES can grow bigger testicles to impress a mate or horns to battle rivals.

TIGERS, A COUGAR & A SKUNK were found in a Texas home.

HALEY BONAR covers the Crystals’ "Then He Kissed Me"with a Joy Division sort of vibe.

MY MORNING JACKET plays Austin City Limits. As does Ben Harper.

LAMBCHOP, Live at the Hopscotch Music Festival, Sept. 8, 2016.

THE STRAY BIRDS stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

JONATHAN RICHMAN shares "People Are Disgusting," which turns out to be about motel rooms.

CAR SEAT HEADREST covered Leonard Cohen's "Field Commander Cohen."

JIMMY RUFFIN asks "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted?"

REGINA SPEKTOR tells The Guardian why antisemitism was the making of her.

IGGY POP talked to Rolling Stone about the new book Total Chaos, an oral history of the Stooges.

THE SMITHS: Johnny Marr talks to Noisey about the band's fall-out, why indie isn't dead, and a lifetime of reunion rumors.

LYDIA LOVELESS is profiled by Rolling Stone.

DWAYNE "THE ROCK" JOHNSON is People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive. And maybe your future President.

CARRIE FISHER reveals he had a whirlwind three-month affair with Harrison Ford while shooting Star Wars.

MEGHAN MARKLE is reportedly head-over-heels in love with Prince Harry.

ROBERT DE NIRO was offered post-election refuge by a tiny Italian town. Call it the reverse-Vito Andolini.

KELSEY GRAMMER and his wife Kayte welcomed their third child together and Grammer's seventh total.

LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA is making a secret Disney movie.

GERMAN POLICE in 60 cities staged sweeping raids early Tuesday targeting the Islamist group True Religion on accusations of recruiting for the Islamic State, as authorities intensified a large scale crackdown against religious extremists.

BEARS get down to "Jungle Boogie."

A PIT BULL was elected Mayor of Rabbit Hash, Kentucky.

THE CASE AGAINST CATS, according to The Atlantic. (Thx, Jay, who vehemently dissents)

PARALYZED MONKEYS have been able to walk again using a brain implant that transmits signals wirelessly to stimulators in their legs.

THE FLAMING LIPS share a video for "How??"

SPLIT SINGLE, ft members of Wilco and Superchunk, advance stream Metal Frames.

LOWER PLENTY, using late-period Beatles records as an influence, advance streams Sister Sister.

JASON ISBELL played A Prairie Home Companion.

THE WRENS shared a new demo for a song called "At Irish Exit."

BOTH SIDES NOW: Joni Mitchell performs her 1968 song in 1970 and in 2000, for a reflective Twofer Tuesday.

LEONARD COHEN's albums, ranked by The Telegraph.

THUNDER ROAD: A stranded Springsteen was rescued by bikers.

THE MINUTEMEN: Double Nickels on the Dime gets one of the retrospective reviews Pitchfork has been running on Sundays.  I don't link to these reviews very often, but for a seminal, but not well-known double-LP, I'll make an exception.

CHVRCHES are briefly profiled by DIY.

FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM is getting good early reviews.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST gets its first full trailer.

GHOST IN THE SHELL also gets its first full trailer.

ROBERT REDFORD says he'll soon be retiring from acting to focus on directing.

LINDSAY LOHAN got dragged into one of the most outlandish Las Vegas tales we've ever heard.

MARION COTILLARD talks about working with Brad Pitt on the set of their upcoming romantic thriller, Allied, which required them to film what she described as an “awkward” sex scene.

RYAN REYNOLDS tells GQ that Deadpool gave him an anxiety attack, among other things.

MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS: Kenneth Branagh’s version of the Agatha Christie classic is quickly filling up with more and more famous passengers.

THE INHUMANS now appear to be headed to the small screen.

THE COOLEST Marvel Easter Eggs.

GWEN IFILL, the longtime news anchor who had served as a co-host of PBS's NewsHour and as moderator of “Washington Week,” has died after a battle with cancer. She was 61.

IRAN has exceeded a soft limit on sensitive material set under its nuclear deal with major powers, the U.N. atomic watchdog said.

THREE NEW ZEALAND COWS found themselves stranded on a small island of grass after an earthquake triggered landslides that swallowed the earth around them.

A TENNESSEE HUNTER bagged possibly world record-breaking 47-point buck.

HOW CATS Clawed Their Way Into Our Hearts.

AN ANGRY GOAT attacked a man in his backyard in Queensland.