Topic: Karl

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with SQUEEZE!  Despite a new LP, some of you whippersnappers may never heard of Difford, Tilbrook & Co., who previously reeled of stellar string of pop gems, including "Take Me I'm Yours", "Cool for Cats", "Up the Junction", "Goodbye Girl,"  "Another Nail in My Heart", "Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)", "If I Didn't Love You", and the one most people know -- even if they don't know it's Squeeze -- "Tempted", which features transient member Paul Carrack on vox and keys.  Fun fact: Carrack was also responsible for the classic, "How Long" as a member of Ace.

THE DUKE SPIRIT advance streams KIN.

NOTHING advance streams Tired of Tomorrow.

CORINNE BAILEY RAE advance streams The Heart Speaks In Whispers.

COUNTRY SOUL SISTERS III: An Aquarium Drunkard mixtape.

AMANDA PALMER and her father Jack cover Richard Thompson's great “1952 Vincent Black Lightning."

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS stream a cover of War's "Summer," ahead of Amazon's Songs of the Summer playlist.

THE HOUSEMARTINS: It's "Happy Hour" again.

JULIANA HATFIELD writes about her financial struggles and the letter from Kurt Cobain she may sell.

TEDDY THOMPSON & KELLY JONES talk about their old school collaboration.

PRINCE and his three personas. Also, Paul McCartney went a little crazy in Mpls. Authorities in Minnesota have made the overprescribing practices of Prince's doctors the focus of their investigation.

THE TOP 10 BEATLES BOOKS, according to Rolling Stone. I'd add Tell Me Why.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR is the weekend's sole wide release, currently scoring 92 percent on the ol' Tomatometer. One of the great things about the Marvel Cinematic Universe is their ability to change up the genre of their films.  Captain America: The First Avenger was largely a classic WWII movie that happened to have a super-soldier in it. Captain America: Winter Soldier is basically a 1970s-era political thriller with a super-soldier in it.  Captain America: Civil War is largely a superhero movie with a super-soldier in it.  The Avengers are here, minus a couple who are swapped out for three of the newest additions to the MCU -- two provide comic relief, two to further expand the universe, and one to further the drama. At a plot level, much of the film addresses the collateral damage of the emergence of superheroes in the world. This idea has already surfaced in films like Batman v Superman and even Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. It also brings in the notion of forced retirement for some heroes, as seen in Watchmen and The Incredibles.  What distinguishes Civil War from those movies and keeps those ideas fresh is that this main plot -- and another plot involving the actual villain of the piece -- are ultimately not just a device but a backdrop to explore the emotional themes of loyalty, guilt and revenge, as well as the small-p political theme of individual vs collective responsibility. Moreover, for fans of the Marvel films, these themes get unspooled among characters and relationships we have seen developed over the course of these franchises, lending them more ballast than one tends to get from the DC films (this parallels the history of comics, in which DC created most of the icons, while Marvel's appeal came from developing the people behind the masks). For example --and I will keep this vague to not spoil anything -- there is a discussion between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers which gets echoed in Stark's conversation with a new (but familiar) character in a different context which is so subtly handled that many may miss how Stark processes it the second time.  Rest assured that Civil War is not as heavy as all of this may suggest; it's also got plenty of action set-pieces, surprises and laughs.  Yet it is the degree to which the film succeeds in balancing all of these things and managing an even-larger ensemble cast that left me rarely wondering about its 2 hr, 26 minute running time. It is stuffed with much more than a movie like Batman v Superman while feeling much less overstuffed.  And yes, stay to the very end of the credits.

ROBERT DOWNEY JR nursed CHRIS EVANS after an on-set injury.

RHIANNA & DRAKE  have been “secretly dating for months,” according to People magazine.

ALDEN EHRENREICH is reportedly set to play young Han Solo in a future Star Wars spin-off.

POWER RANGERS have a new look for their upcoming movie.

ARSENIO HALL is suing SINEAD O'CONNOR for five million bucks.

NORTH KOREA: Kim Jong-un arrives at the seventh congress of the governing Workers’ Party today; he will essentially be attending his own coronation.

PAKISTAN: Police arrested members of a tribal council Thursday for killing a teenage girl for helping a couple elope.

AN ADORABLE BEAVER turned up outside a DC Metro stop.

HEY, IS THAT A PYTHON in your pants, or...oh.

A BUNNY HOARDER freaks out in court.

A LOST DOG on a London bus was reunited with his family.

ERIC BACHMANN (Archers Of Loaf, Crooked Fingers) shows "Mercy." A little bit indie, a little bit Spector. (NSFW)

BEVERLY streams The Blue Swell.

OLIVER WILDE advance streams Long Hold Star, An Infinite Abduction, a “long form EP."

LITTLE SCREAM advance streams Cult Following.

THE EDGE covers Leonard Cohen's “If It Be Your Will” during the first contemporary set in the Sistine Chapel.

BIG STAR's THIRD: An all-star cast of musicians teamed up to cover Big Star’s 1978 album Third (and a few encore tracks).

LEAPLING shares a "One Hit Wonder" ahead of Suspended Animation.

JACKIE WILSON performs "Higher and Higher" plus "Lonely Teardrops" for Twofer Tuesday, introduced by Del Shannon and Roy Orbison. (via Pate's Jon Hahn).

JOHN DOE of X gives Fresh Air a personal history of L.A. Punk.

THE CARS: Ric Ocasek talks to Magnet about producing, songwriting, and the band's box set.

RUSH: 40 Years of 2112.

PRINCE: Rolling Stone's lost cover story. His heirs have "agreed to openly communicate with each other and to have regular communication." In the months leading to his death, Prince suffered from frequent sore throats and seemed to be losing weight, his personal chef has said.

KATE UPTON & JASON VERLANDER are engaged.

KERRY WASHINGTON is pregnant and expecting her second child with husband Nnamdi Asomugha.

SPACE JAM may be getting a sequel starring LeBron James.

KATE HUDSON & NICK JONAS were spotted on another dinner date.

JULIA ROBERTS made 3MM for four days of work.

JON FAVREAU could return to a director's chair in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

TOM HIDDLESTON talks to THR about sex appeal, The Night Manager, and (obligatory) James Bond.

KITTENS do things for the first time.

A GIANT FEMALE SPIDER forces males to perform 'oral sex' up to 100 times in one session.

CATTERBOX purports to be the first cat-human translator.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: Orphaned baby squirrels are being hand-reared and fed from syringes after they were made homeless when their tree was chopped down. Humanity will regret its weakness someday.

OVER 47 MILLION SERVED! Thanks to everyone who keeps stopping by...

JIMMY FALLON & PAUL RUDD make a shot-by-shot recreation of the video for Styx's "Too Much Time on My Hands."

COURTNEY BARNETT stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

ALOHA advance streams Little Windows Cut Right Through.

BLESSED ISLES stream Straining Hard Against the Strength of Night.

THE MONKEES drop "She Makes Me Laugh," written by Weezer's Rivers Cuomo.

THE RAVEONETTES' April single is "Junko Azawa."

FRIGHTENED RABBIT covers Bruce Springsteen’s “Streets Of Philadelphia."

LOCAL NATIVES share "Past Lives," their first new track in three years.

R. DEAN TAYLOR: "Indiana Wants Me." I have fond memories of The Service's cover version.

PRINCE: Authorities descended on a Walgreens near Paisley Park and served a search warrant, looking for a prescription paper trail that could unravel the cause of Prince's death. On a nicer note, Tom Petty reminisces about Prince's spectacular turn at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

RADIOHEAD has erased its internet presnce. Is something brewing?

ELVIS COSTELLO talks to The Guardian about social media, surveillance being British, and his love of curling.

THE ZAPPAS are in a family trademark dispute.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: The Jungle Book threepeats atop the chart with 42.4MM, on a leggy 31 percent drop...but Captain America: Civil War will almost certainly be king of the cinema jungle next weekend. Of course, they're both from Disney, so the House of Mouse won't be terribly distraught. The Huntsman: Winter's War places a distant second with 9.39MM on a steep 52 percent drop from what was already a bad debut. Keanu shows close behind with an estimated 9.35MM (and could squeak into second when the actual receipts are tallied), which should be fine against a 15MM production budget, given that it's more likely to play as counter programming to the Marvel juggernaut over the ext few weeks.  Mother's Day, otoh,debuted in the fourth slot with 8.3MM against a 25MM budget, which means it must do boffo biz next weekend to have a shot at profit in theaters. Barbershop: The Next Cut rounds out the Top Five with 6.1MM, which continues to disappoint, though it should reach profit on the big screen.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR -- Behind the scenes with NME.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE has no love life, and may not want one at the moment.

JOHN KRASINSKI will play Jack Ryan for Amazon.

WILL FERRELL has backed out of playing an Alzheimer's-stricken Ronald Reagan for laughs.

PHILIP KIVES, the founder of K-Tel International, tireless TV pitchman whose commercials implored viewers to "wait, there's more!" while selling everything from vegetable slicers to hit music compilations on vinyl, has died at age 87.

NORTH KOREA sentenced a U.S. citizen of Korean heritage to 10 years in prison after convicting him of espionage and subversion, the second American it has put behind bars this year.

IRAQ: Hundreds of supporters of Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr stormed parliament inside Baghdad's Green Zone on Saturday and camped out nearby after Sadr denounced politicians' failure to reform a political quota system blamed for rampant corruption.Meanwhile, Iraq’s oil exports approached a record high in April, adding barrels to a worldwide supply glut.

KANGAROOS: What nightmares are made of?

RATS are (re-)invading NYC.

SLEEPLESS SLUGS are on a very slow march in the UK.

A GANG OF SEX-CRAZED PEACOCKS is making life pretty tricky for the residents of Ushaw Moor in Durham.

D'ANGELO covered Prince's “Sometimes It Snows In April" for Fallon.

PETER FRAMPTON comes alive for a Tiny Desk Concert.

HAYBABY advance streams their Blood Harvest EP.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED: New tracks from New Moon Hooch, Summer Cannibals, PUP, and more highlight the latest edition.

THE GRATEFUL DEAD tribute, Day Of The Dead, drops five more tracks.

PRINCE asked for Journey's blessing before releasing "Purple Rain."

PARQUET COURTS' Sean Yeaton talks to Pitchfork about Prince (before his death), Limp Bizkit, Kurt Vile, ghosts, and more.

LED ZEPPELIN: The "Stairway to Heaven" plagiarism trial gets important pretrial evidentiary rulings...and a settlement offer.

OUTSIDE THE LINES: Behind-the-scenes pictures, outtakes and lost images from the cover shoots of punk and new wave's most famous LPs.

KELLY RIPA is threatening to quit Live! unless certain demands are met.

JAY-Z has been fully on board with how Beyoncé has chosen to deal with their marital issues on Lemonade.

ROBERT DOWNEY JR feels like he could do another Iron Man pic, tho there isn't one in the works.

MELISSA McCARTHY opened up about her emotional return to the Gilmore Girls set.

WILL FERRELL will star in a comedy about Ronald Reagan's Alzheimer's disease.

WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER: TEN YEARS LATER is coming to Netflix.

SAUDI ARABIA isn’t ready to end the world’s only ban on women driving.

RUSSIA has resumed bombing moderate opposition fighters in Syria, a U.S. military officer from Baghdad told reporters at the Pentagon.

ISIS is facing cash and manpower shortages, the deputy commander of the counter-ISIS coalition said.

A RACCOON bites the hand that feeds it.

THE BISON may become the national mammal of the United States.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: A goat with a human face.

THE SWARM: An unusual problem is buzzing around a family’s garage in Waukee, IA.

LCD SOUNDSYSTEM busted out Prince's "Controversy" at the Coachella.

MUSEUM MOUTH advance streams Popcorn Fish Guinea Pig.

DOWSING advance streams Okay.

JAGGERY advance streams Crux.

TERRY drops “Don’t Say Sorry" ahead of Terry HQ.

FAYE makes “Ancient Bones” ahead of their self-titled debut EP.

PRINCE reportedly died without a will. The Revolution announced it would reunite for some shows, presumably including the planned Prince tribute concert in Mpls. The Current offers an hour-long documentary, featuring interviews from Bobby Z, producer Susan Rodgers, Jimmy Jam, Wendy and Lisa and more.

MORRIS DAY becomes one of The Guardian's Cult Heroes.

IGGY POP is releasing an "as told to" Stooges memoir that will include contributions from Joan Jett, Johnny Marr, Jack White, and others.

FREDDIE MERCURY: A research team in Europe looked into the science behind his voice.

CHRIS EVANS wants to continue playing Captain America, which isn't surprising, but interesting given where Marvel's Cinematic Universe seems headed.

RACHEL ROY denies she was ever a third woman to Jay-Z, let alone the "Becky" Beyonce refrs to on Lemonade. Rita Ora may want that title tho.

MICHAEL STRAHAN will be leaving Live with Kelly Ripa four months early. Top executives at Disney and ABC have personally apologized to Kelly Ripa for last week's bungled announcement about the departure of her co-host Michael Strahan.

DAKOTA JOHNSON, Intervewed by Chrissie Hynde (who talks about her forthcoming solo LP along the way).

CHRIS MARTIN was spotted with HEATHER GRAHAM.

DAISY RIDLEY practices her lightsaber skills for Star Wars: Episode VIII.

DISNEY announced a slate of nine live-action films.

TURKEY: Ebru Umar, a Dutch journalist, was arrested after she wrote a column last week critical of president Erdogan, and his government’s growing crackdown on freedom of expression.

THE ISLAMIC STATE: The flow of foreign fighters into Iraq and Syria has dropped from roughly 2,000 a month down to 200 within the past year, according to the Pentagon, which says the waning numbers are further proof of the Islamic State’s declining stature. OTOH, US director of national intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. says the Islamic State is operating clandestine terrorist cells in Britain, Germany and Italy.

PALLAS CATS: The "Most Expressive Cat In The World"?

AN ELEPHANT, snapped topless.

MOST DOGS aren't huggers.

A MISSING CAT returns home after six years.