THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with LLOYD COLE! His debut with the Commotions is right in the heart of Pate's heyday, so I'm partial to the early tracks, like "Perfect Skin," "Rattlesnakes," "2CV" and "Forest Fire," and even tracks from the sophomore LP, like "Brand New Friend" and "Lost Weekend." I haven't been as big a fan of his later solo work, though he does still come up with gems like "She's a Girl and I'm a Man."  BONUS: Cole's "Are You Ready To Be Heartbroken" later inspired Camera Obscura's "Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken."

WILCO played a full hour-long set as an online-only Live On Letterman session.

THE OLIVIA TREMOR CONTROL, live at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City.

ZOLA JESUS: Nika Roza Danilova talks about and advance streams Conatus.

BIG TROUBLES are advance streaming Romantic Comedy (produced by Mitch Easter).

YOUTH LAGOON is advance streaming The Year of Hibernantion.

BEIRUT palyed a Tiny Desk Concert at the offices of NPR.

50 ARTISTS Who Influenced Kurt Cobain. Plus, Nevermind producer Butch Vig (who also produced The Service's George's Duty-Free Goulash) talks to Morning Edition.

MOUNTAIN GOATS: John Darnielle talks to the Des Moines Register about headlining the first Maximum Ames Music Festival tomorrow. Go Ames!  His version of Ace of Base's "The Sign." is obligatory for this.

GIRLS: Christopher Owens gives The Atlantic a track-by-track tour of Father, Son, Holy Ghost.

MATES OF STATE talk to Paste about keeping their duo dynamic.

VAN DYKE PARKS talks to the Daily Swarm about his first new music in 15 years, what it was like to watch Harry Nilsson sing, and more...

THE TOP 100 BEATLES SONGS, according to Rolling Stone. Introduced by Elvis Costello.

CUTOUT BIN: From KISS to Glen Campbell, from Todd Rundgren to Lou Rawls, from Dramarama to Jay & the Americans, plus the Kinks, John Lennon, Marshall Crenshaw, Cheap Trick and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are now streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases include Dolphin Tale, which is currently scoring 84 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; Abduction, which is currently scoring zero (albeit on few reviews); Moneyball, which is scoring 92 percent; and Killer Elite, scoring 27 percent.

EMILY DESCHANEL (Bones) and her husband David Hornsby(, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) welcomed their first child Wednesday, a baby boy.

BRAD PITT tells the Today Show Jennifer Aniston is a dear friend. Really.

DENISE RICHARDS turned down a 100K offer to appear on Two and a Half Men.

LINDSAY LOHAN is ignoring advisers telling her to complete her community service.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON and... Kieran Culkin? Or was it just two old friends reconnecting?

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER is writing an autobiography.

DARK SHADOWS: Your first look at Johnny Depp as a non-sparkly vampire.

J. EDGAR, directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, has a trailer online.

IRAN: Ahmadinejad speaks to the UN, denying the Holocaust, suggesting the US was involved in the 9/11 attacks and asserting Tehran wouldn't recognize Israel's right to exist even if the United Nations were to accept a Palestinian state into its ranks. Imagine how much fun he'll be with nukes!

SYRIA: The European Union plans to impose new sanctions on Syria, including a ban on oil investments. Turkey is considering imposing sanctions and coordinating its efforts with the US.

EGYPT: Islamists reach out to secular liberals... but do they mean it?

PAKISTAN: US officials said there was mounting evidence that Pakistan's powerful intelligence agency had encouraged a guerrilla network to attack US targets, while a Senate committee voted to make aid to Islamabad conditional on fighting the militants.

IRAQ: On the eve of what is likely to be a nearly complete withdrawal of United States forces from Iraq, one of the great questions is what radical Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr is going to do.

GRAEME the CAT visits a Melbourne train station twice a day to drop off and pick up his owner.

A MACAQUE clings to a DOG after Typhoon Roke hit Japan... Mass hysteria!

A YOUNG FEMALE GRIZZLY fitted with a satellite collar for more than a year embarked on several lengthy swims across portions of Flathead Lake, wildlife officials in Montana said.

A BALD BABY PENGUIN who was abandoned at birth has been accepted back into his family thanks to the nurturing intervention of staff at an aquarium in China.

ONE SQUID SPECIES swings both ways, nttawwt.