THE DECEMBERISTS premiere a video for "Calamity Song" influenced by David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest.

NEW RELEASES from Stephin Merritt, CSS, Dave Stewart and Active Child, the Muppets tribute LP, a Patti Smith "best of" and more are streaming this week at Spinner.

DISAPPEARS, the Chicago-based super-group featuring Brian Case of the Ponys and 90-Day Men, John Dwyer of Coachwhips and now Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth, did the four free songs thing at Daytrotter.

TINARIWEN, nomads from Saharan North Africa, are "just about the best guitar-based rock band of the 21st century"? (As Vincent Vega would say, "That's a bold statement.") Take an advance listen to Tassili and judge for yourself.

25 BANDS YOU NEED TO HEAR, according to NME.

FUN BOY THREE play "Our Lips Are Sealed" and "Summertime" for Twofer Tuesday. I suppose I should remind the young'uns that singer Terry Hall co-wrote "Lips."

STEPHEN MALKMUS talks to Vulture about his album title controversy, the NBA, online scrabble, etc.

JOLIE HOLLAND talks to PopMatters about the recording of Pint of Blood.

24 SONGS that prematurely expanded our vocabularies.

FIVE SONGS that mock Bob Dylan.

NICK ASHFORD, one-half of the legendary Motown songwriting duo Ashford & Simpson that penned elegant, soulful classics for the likes of Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye and funk hits for Chaka Khan and others, died Monday at age 70, his former publicist said.  He had been suffering from throat cancer and had undergone radiation treatment.

LINDSAY LOHAN ws reportedly "was drinking and partying hard" at the Kardashian wedding.

KIM KARDASHIAN is set to make almost 18 million off her wedding to Kris Humphries.

JENNIFER GARNER & BEN AFFLECK are expecting a third child.

KIMBERLY STEWART gave birth to Benicio del Toro's baby.

BRAD PITT: Why an A-list actor was willing to go to bat for Moneyball -- an adventure story about sabermetrics. (Also, check out Pitt's assistant on World War Z.)

DANIEL RADCLIFFE talks Harry Potter and why Twilight's Robert Pattinson has it harder.

HILARY DUFF got dumped from The Story of Bonnie and Clyde. Apparently, pregnancy was a deal-breaker.

DONALD FAISON (Scrubs) got engaged to Cacee Cobb, Jessica Simpson's BFF.

THE AVENGERS: D23 footage discussed at AICN.

IRAN has started moving the machines that enrich uranium for nuclear fuel from its main atomic complex in the central city of Natanz to an underground bunker near the holy city of Qom, its top nuclear official was quoted as saying on Monday.

SYRIA: Arab nations on the UN's top human rights body cautiously joined the call for Syria to cease its bloody crackdown and cooperate with an international probe, illustrating President Bashar al-Assad's growing isolation.

LIBYA: With attention focused on important cities and bigger battles to the east, Gaddafi may have underestimated the tenacity of the uprising in the western mountains.

AN ORANGUTAN washes his face with a towel. He wants to be like you.

A KINKY KANGAROO with a love for frilly knickers managed to escape from its owner and go on a lingerie loot.

BEAKY the EMU: From washing in the bath to joining in at mealtimes, Beaky loves being the family pet.

SAYCHELLES ISLANDERS are stunned by two fatal shark attacks in just two weeks, fearing it will kill their crucial tourism industry.