DRAGONETTE wants you to "Pick Up the Phone." Might be the Breakfast Club on the line.

THE MONSTERS OF FOLK are advance streaming their album.

VOLCANO CHOIR, featuring Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, is advance streaming their album this week via NPR.

THE RIFLES: Frank Yang (of Chromewaves) notes that this London-based band is working a Mod/Jam vibe on their new album, which is streaming in full this week via Spinner.

MEGAFAUN stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set streaming now via MPR.

PAVEMENT -- after years of rumors -- is reuniting for a benefit concert a year from now.

SONDRE LERCHE turns on the "Heartbeat Radio."

ART BRUT: Eddie Argoes visits the offices of DC Comics on PitchforkTV.

FREE SAMPLERS from Anti- and Rykodisc are available via Amazon.

THE BEATLES: America's Newest Hit-makers.

BEST OF THE 2000s Pitchfork presents Guest Lists from indie luminaries including Britt Daniel (Spoon) and John Darnielle (Mountain Goats).

MARY TRAVERS of Peter, Paul and Mary, has died of cancer at age 72.

MEGAN FOX is the cover of the Rolling Stone. And she serves up a heaping helping of crazy in the accompanying interview, including revealing she once threatened to kill on-again/off-again boyfriend Brian Austin Green.

HENRY GIBSON, a wry comic character actor whose career included "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In," "Nashville" and "Boston Legal," died Monday at his home in Malibu after a brief battle with cancer. He was 73. I hate Illinois Nazis, but Gibson was good in The Blues Brothers.

JENNA ELFMAN is knocked up.

LEELEE SOBIESKI is also knocked up.

LINDSAY LOHAN seems to be making a habit of clubbing with her 15-year-old sister.

SEAN PENN has a new galpal.

HARRY POTTER and the GINORMOUS PROFIT: Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson have entered the Guinness World Records book as the highest grossing lead actors of the decade.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, a low-budget haunted house flick in the mode of Blair With or Cloverfield, has a trailer onlne.

TERROR in NYC: The FBI's elite Hostage Rescue Team arrived in New York in anticipation of the offensive to thwart a Denver-based terror cell with ties to Al Qaeda, police sources told the NY Daily News. Law enforcement officials tell ABC News that agents discovered 14 brand new black backpacks in the New York raids, leading to concern the men may have been planning to use the backpacks to carry suicide bombs.

IRAN: Presidents Obama and Sarkozy discussed Iran's nuclear "compliance." Sarkozy said on Tuesday that France's intelligence agencies are certain that Iran is pursuing a nuclear bomb. Tehran agreed to the new framework of agreements with the IAEA.

PAKISTAN: The Long War Journal takes detailed look at the Predator strikes against Taliban and al Qaeda fighters.

AFGHANISTAN: EU election observers said more than 1.5 million of the estimated 6 million votes cast are "suspicious."

A SPANISH SOCCER TEAM has a trick-performing bear as their mascot. C'mon, Chicago!

HYBRID MAN-EATING PYTHONS could emerge from non-native breeds currently slithering free in south Florida.

WILCO, a staffordshire ridgeback cross, demonstrated why dogs should never be left alone in a running vehicle.

A GOAT SHORTAGE threatens a big religious festival in Kathmandu.

EDWARD SHARPE and the MAGNETIC ZEROS played "Home" for the network TV debut at the Ed Sullivan Theater.

RICHARD HAWLEY is advance streaming Truelove's Gutter via The Guardian.

GIRLS are advance streaming their Album via the Matablog.

TIMES NEW VIKING also are advance streaming their Born Again Revisited album via the Matablog. Same link, in fact.

MASON JENNINGS stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set streaming now via MPR.

THE PROCLAIMERS passed through town yesterday, so I caught a little "500 Miles" on the AM radio.

BILLY BRAGG has an audio interview with SoCal Public Radio. (Thx, LHB.)

SON VOLT: Jay Farrar talks to Prefix about the latest turns in the band's journey.

FANFARLO frontman Simon Balthazar talks to LAist about the band's current album, with embedded audio and video.

YO LA TENGO: Ira Kaplan talks to The A.V. Club about the changes in the music business over the past quarter-century, how the band resolves disputes, and how to manufacture spontaneity.

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM returns Sunday with a story arc that will include a Seinfeld reunion.  HBO is promoting the show with a behind-the-scenes video. Language warning.

KANYE WEST was called a jackass by Pres. Obama in off the record comments accidentally tweeted (then leaked) online. And here I was hoping he was going to arrange a summit between West and Taylor Swift.

PATRICK SWAYZE is remembered by Dirty Dancing co-star Jennifer Grey.

JESSICA SIMPSON's malti-poo was snatched by a coyote. (Maybe a dingo ate her baby.)

KATY PERRY and RUSSELL BRAND were... wait for it... caught canoodling at Lady Gaga's MTV VMAs after-party.

BORED TO DEATH: The debut of the new HBO series starring Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson and Zach Galifianakis, can be seen online at Fancast.  And at Amazon. Schwartzman plays a writer who moonlights as a private detective.

JAY LENO got off to a strong start in the ratings for his new primetime show.

SOMALIA: Airborne US Special Operations forces attacked a car in southern Somalia on Monday and killed one of east Africa's most wanted al Qaeda militants.

PAKISTAN provided nuclear tech to Iran and likely cooperated with North Korea, according to AQ Khan, the architect of the Pakistani nuclear program and an infamous proliferator of nuclear weapons designs and technology.

AFGHANISTAN: More American troops likely will be needed to win the war, Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee. Premature Western military disengagement from Afghanistan would risk catastrophic turmoil in the region, Western and Afghan officials say.

KITTEH WATCHES A CAT VIDEO: So very meta.

KITTEH in a COUCH, discovered by Goodwill.

TWEET the GIRAFFE, star of  Toys R Us ads and "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" has died at a Boston zoo.

BUFFY THE GATOR SLAYER: A Midlands teenager spent Saturday night on a boat hunting of all things, alligators--and she came back with a big one.

GIRLS: "Lust For Life" is not the Iggy Pop classic, but is lovely little pop nugget with a NSFW lyric.

NEW RELEASES: Cotton Jones, Stars of Track and Field, Big Star, Taken by Trees and more are streaming this week via Spinner.

SONDRE LERCHE has an interview + tracks streaming via All Things Considered.

THE MEAT PUPPETS are profiled by the Arizona Republic, with embedded audio.

CAMPER VAN BEETHOVEN embraces their cult status.

WAYNE FONTANA and the MINDBENDERS serve up "Game of Love" and "Groovy Kind of Love" for Twofer Tuesday.

THE TOP 20 BEATLES SONGS are getting a countdown at American Songwriter.

THE ROLLING STONES' former guitarist Mick Taylor scrapes a hand-to-mouth existence by playing pub gigs and hasn't seen a penny in royalties since 1982.

AMY MILLAN talks to ChartAttack about her next solo LP, plus tidbits on Stars and Broken Social Scene.

TELEKINESIS: Michael Benjamin Lerner talks to Under the Radar about the recording of his demos and debut.

PATRICK SWAYZE, star of films including "Dirty Dancing," "Road House," "Ghost" and "Point Break," has died after a nearly two-year battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 57.

KANYE WEST apologized for interrupting Taylor Swift at Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards, though he had refused to apologize to the 19-year-old's mother backstage. Beyoncé -- West's choice for the Best Female Award -- brought Swift onstage for a do-over at the event. Swift said she doesn't have any ill-will toward West, of whom she said she was once a fan.

ELTON JOHN will be banned from adopting a Ukrainian toddler he found in an orphanage because he is too old and unmarried, a minister for the country has confirmed.

HARRISON FORD gives a status report on the next Indiana Jones flick.

DAVID DUCHOVNY, arriving stag at the Toronto Film Festival, assures us everything is great at home.

TWILIGHT: The third New Moon trailer is online, for those who didn't suffer through Kanye to watch it on the VMAs.

NEIL PATRICK HARRIS used to be an underage doctor on TV. Now he's another Hollywood first: an out gay actor who can host award shows, play a womanizer, walk the red carpet with his boyfriend, and then get cast in movies as a straight dad.

MICHAEL MOORE: Shut out at the Venice Film Festival.

TERROR in the USA: Authorities raided properties in New York City Monday in an effort that was intended to disrupt the plans of a terror suspect whose travels had been tracked by the FBI, according to an official briefed on the raids. US Senate committees were briefed on the investigation that led to the raids.  A senior official familiar with the case said some counterterrorism officials were concerned that the individual at the center of the investigation may have had access to, or an interest in acquiring, materials that could be used for a chemical, biological or radiological device.

ISLAMISM in INDONESIA: The province of Aceh has passed a new law making adultery punishable by stoning to death.

PAKISTAN: Former Pres. Musharraf has admitted that Pakistan diverted US aid to programs designed to strengthen the military against India. The Times of London reports on former CIA agents hunting Osama bin Laden and other top al-Qaeda leaders.

FANTIK the LLAMA and children's entertainer Dmitry are roommates.

THREE ITALIAN GREYHOUNDS, trying to get it on.

CRAZY ANTS spread destruction northward in Texas.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: A snake with a foot.

AN 18-FT PYTHON NAMED DELILAH was recaptured by Florida Wildlife officials.

GRIZZLY BEAR have a new video for "While You Wait for the Others."

NEKO CASE stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set now streaming via NPR. Find out what a "shigby" is!

REGINA SPEKTOR stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set now streaming via MPR.

YO LA TENGO's Ira Kaplan gives listening recommendations at Paste.

GANG OF FOUR singer Jon King gives ClashMusic a track-by-track tour of the band's classic debut, Entertainment!

JIM CARROLL, author of The Basketball Diaries, and "People Who Died," died. He was 60.

KANYE WEST stormed the stage of the MTV Music Video Awards, taking the microphone from Best Female Video Taylor Swift to announce Beyoncé deserved the award. Swift was seen hysterically crying backstage after Kanye's outburst. Kanye was promptly tossed from the VMAs after interrupting Swift's speech.

TEN MODERN ALBUMS INSPIRED BY SPRINGSTEEN, according to the Arizona Republic, with ebedded audio.

THE 25 BEST BEATLES SONGS, according to Entertainment Weekly, with embedded audio and video.

THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART lead singer/guitarist Kip Berman sat down with The A.V. Club to discuss the band's painfully long moniker, the lo-fi movement, and ripping off his favorite bands.

THE FLAMING LIPS: Wayne Coyne continues criticizing Arcade Fire at The Independent.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: The No. 1 movie this weekend was Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself, which made 24 million -- not nearly as big as his Madea Goes to Jail (40 million), but well in excess of its 13 million budget.  The animated 9 came in second with 10.9 million; it will likely recoup its 33 million budget in theaters before cashing in on DVD. Inglourious Basterds drops to the third slot, but sits just a few million short of Pulp Fiction's 108 million total. All About Steve came in fourth (surprising given the reveiews and word of mouth), dropping 48 percent to make 5.8 million. The Final Destination rounds out the Top Five, dropping 56 percent and making 5.5 million.  Below the fold, Sorority Row opened in sixth place with 5.3 million, with Whiteout debuting right behind it with 5.1 million.  Moral of the story: Kate Beckinsale does much better in a catsuit than in a parka. Who knew?

TOM BRADY and GISELE BUNDCHEN are expecting a child in December.

MEGAN FOX is trashed by anonymous Transformers crew members defending Michael Bay from her comments about the director.

TILA TEQUILA is lashing out at the San Diego D.A.'s office for their decision to not file criminal charges against her ex-boyfriend Shawne Merriman. Purely coincidentally, TMZ has obtained photos of her bruises taken the day after her alleged run-in with the NFL star.

MERYL STREEP tells The Times of London whether playing Julia Child improved her cooking, and why Hollywood does not trust "chick flicks."

A CHRISTMAS CAROL, the latest mo-cap animated flick from Robert Zemeckis, starring Jim Carrey, has a trailer online, hinting at how it will exploit the Disney 3-D tech.

PENELOPE CRUZ denies pregnancy rumors.

LARRY GELBART, the award-winning comedy writer best known for developing the landmark TV series "MASH," co-writing the book for the hit Broadway musical "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and co-writing the classic movie comedy "Tootsie," died Friday morning. He was 81.

BRUCE CAMPBELL says Spider-Man 4 starts shooting in January, with a bigger part for him.

THE VAMPIRE DIARIES cast was nabbed by police for vamping it up and distracting passing motorists during a promotional photo shoot last month in Georgia. Free head shots!

STEPHEN FRY creates a best-seller with a single tweet.

HIPPOS MAKE LOVE: Let's go to the video.

CELEBRITY PARROT attacked a police officer after its owner was pulled over for driving with the bird perched on her shoulder.

LEVITATING MICE could lead to advances in treating bone loss for astronauts living for extended periods in low gravity environments.

SMOKA the CAT, presumed to have perished in a fire, was found alive last week, 26 days after a blaze broke out in her owner's apartment building in Franklin, Ohio.

RARE RED PANDA TRIPLETS were born at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

ALICE, the daughter of the world's biggest rabbit, has hopped off with the title herself - after her huge mum died of stage fright.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with THE BEATLES AT BUDOKAN! With all of the hoopla surrounding the Fabs' new box of remasters (including The Guardian's chart list of singles and albums and word and phrase breakdown, as well as Popdose's album-by-album review), it seemed like an opportune moment to revisit the lads in a judo arena. In June-July of 1966, the lovable moptops became the first musical group to perform at the Nippon Budokan Hall in Tokyo, which engendered complaints from the older generations who considered it near-sacred ground. Consequently, the security for the trip was extensive; police stood shoulder-to-shoulder along the road from the airport to the hotel.  They performed five times in three days to audiences of about 10000 per performance. Oft-bootlegged, this is their show from June 30th --  Part 1 includes "Rock & Roll Music," "She's A Woman" and "If I Needed Someone."  Part 2 includes "Day Tripper," "Baby's In Black" and "I Feel Fine."  Part 3 includes "Yesterday," "I Wanna Be Your Man" and "Nowhere Man." Part 4 concludes with "Paperback Writer" and "I'm Down."

KITTY DAISY and LEWIS stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set that is wrongly labeled rockabilly (heck, one number is ska).

ALELA DIANE talks to The Guardian about touring with her Dad as backup. Her next project is an EP with Alina Hardin; you can stream a track online.

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS: Patterson Hood talks to the Florence Times Daily about the upcoming Drive-By Truckers LP, and "The Fine Print," a rarities collection. (Thx LHB.) Captain's Dead is streaming Southern Rock Opera live from 2002.

THE BEST WORST VOICES in INDIE ROCK, according to Paste, with embedded audio.

THE 24 BEST VIDEOS THAT DIDN'T WIN A MOONMAN: This year the MTV Video Music Awards will include one for "Best Video (That Shouda Won a Moonman)" -- the nominees can be seen at the link.  My inner music geek says The Replacements' "Bast^rds of Young" should be on that list, while my innder dude says Aerosmith's "Crazy" should be there. But even within the myopic vision of MTV, how did Britney's "Baby... One More Time" end up empty-handed?

BIG STAR drummer Jody Stephens talks to Spinner about compiling the box set due next Tuesday.

THE TOP 100 ALBUMS of the 2000s, according to Complex. Lotsa clicking involved.

BILLY CORGAN has started EverythingFromHereToThere, "a collective of thoughts about spirituality and the greater good of life in general."

THE CUTOUT BIN: It's a raft of classics this week from Nick Lowe, the Undertones, Big Star, the Velvet Underground, the New York Dolls, Mission of Burma, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan, plus a big 80s hunk  -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases include Whiteout, currently scoring zero percent on the ol' Tomatometer; the remade Sorority Row, currently scoring 56 percent; and Tyler Perry's I Can Do Bad All By Myself, which was not screened for critics (as usual).  The animated 9 opened Wednesday, and is scoring 60 percent.

ELLEN DeGENERES is taking Paula Abdul's place as the fourth judge on American Idol.

HUGH HEFNER finally files for divorce. Shocka!

ASHLEE SIMPSON rubs Jessica's nose in it.

JOHN MAYER denies Kristin Cavallari rumors.

WHIP IT: Cinema Blend has four new clips from the roller derby pic starring Ellen Page and (director) Drew Barrymore.

DC ENTERTAINMENT: After years of lagging rival Marvel Entertainment in adapting comic-book properties for the big screen and other media, Warner Bros. unveiled a major restructuring of its DC Comics unit Wednesday that will bring its operations under tighter control.

BARRY MANILOW's catalog will support a new rom-com in development by Tom Hanks and Michael Stipe.

CHARLIE SHEEN wants to meet with Pres. Obama to discuss his 9/11 conspiracy theory. Unlikely.

9/11: The first five minutes of CNN coverage. I came out of the shower, saw the second plane hit on NBC, and knew had had to contact my boss, whose daughter lived in NYC. Only 9 of 17 nations surveyed last year had a majority who think Al Qaeda was responsible for the attacks.

AL QAEDA is under heavy pressure in its strongholds in Pakistan's remote tribal areas and is finding it difficult to attract recruits or carry out spectacular operations in western countries, according to government and independent experts monitoring the organization.

IRAN: Legendary NYC prosecutor Robert Morgenthau notes that Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez have created a cozy financial, political and military partnership rooted in a shared anti-American animus. Morgenthau claims that over the past three years a number of Iranian-owned and controlled factories have sprung up in remote and undeveloped parts of Venezuela-ideal locations for the illicit production of weapons. Meanwhile Israeli PM Netanyahu may have made a secret trip to Russia to discuss Iran's nuclear threat -- though Russian press reports should be taken with at least a grain of salt.

SURPRISE CAT DANCE: Let's go to the video.

FAT CAT: A Chinese man believes his two-and-a-half stone cat could be the heaviest in the world.

CARRIER PIGEONS are being used to transfer data between offices because bosses believe it is quicker than broadband.

UNDERWEAR-STEALING MONKEYS defeated by cactus.