THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with THE ANIMALS! I may have been quite remiss in not featuring them so let's dive in with their signature cover of "House of the Rising Sun" and "Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" from Top Gear, "We Gotta Get Out of This Place" from Shindig, a creepy clip for  "It's My Life" from Hullabaloo, and "Don't Bring Me Down" on the Ed Sullivan Show.

BEST COAST played DC's 9:30 Club; you can stream the gig on demand.

SHAWN COLVIN stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

BEAR IN HEAVEN stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

DIAMOND RUGS: The indie supergroup stopped by WFUV for a chat and mini-set.

THE VACCINES drop "Teenage Icon" and talk to The Sun about their punkier sophomore LP.

THE ROLLING STONES Paste has 26 artists weigh in on the group's legacy and lists the 50 Best Stonesongs.

ALLO DARLIN': Elizabeth Morris and Bill Botting talk to DIY about the universal qualities of pop music, and their relationship with their work to date.

JIMI HENDRIX's record collection.

OLD ALBUMS now outsell new ones.

THE TOP 10 BATMAN SONGS, according to PopMatters.

CUTOUT BIN:  From the Rolling Stones to the Muppets, from the Decemberists to Wild Cherry, from Stevie Wonder to Billy Idol, plus Robert Pollard, Fleetwood Mac, Ike & Tina Turner, Bob Dylan & The Band and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES is this weekend's only wide releases (shocka) and is currently scoring 87 percent on the ol' Tomatometer.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES:  This is that Batman movie you may have heard about.  My critical notes? The second act is a bit convoluted.  Christopher Nolan likely could have trimmed 10-15 minutes from the 2 hour, 44 min. running time and had a tighter movie.  Anne Hathaway does a bit better job filling out the Catwoman suit literally than she does figuratively.  Bane is a formidable match for the caped crusader, but has never been as compelling a character (imho) as The Joker or Two-Face.  That said, I don't think the film ever loses people, and the third act largely makes up for the second act's flaws (although longtime Batfans should see one major plot twist coming well in advance).  I have heard and read about the film's politics from those who haven't seen it, but don't worry; the politics here are pretty much those of the first two installments.  Nolan has been mining the anxieties of post-9/11 America throughout the series, and this is no major departure.TDKR may return a bit more to the question raised in Batman Begins about what happens when institutions break down, but the comic book genre also dictates that some types of lawlessness will be favored and others not so much. None of it distracts from what is overall a satisfying conclusion to Nolan's trilogy.

FRED WILLARD was arrested for lewd conduct in Hollywood when police allegedly caught him with his pants down in an adult movie theater. Wha Hoppen?

SOFIA VERGARA has a multi-million dollar media empire.

TOM CRUISE whisks Suri away on a helicopter, presumably temporarily.

SYLVESTER STALLONE: Authorities investigating the death of Sly's son Sage believe a "likely scenario" is he was dealing drugs - specifically Hydrocodone, according to TMZ.

ALMOST FAMOUS: The 15 best lines, according to Paste.

THE EMMY NOMINATIONS went to these folks. Congrats.

TOM DAVIS, comedy partner of Al Franken and one of the original SNL writers, died Thursday at 59 of neck and throat cancer.

NORTH KOREA: Kim Jong-un was named marshal of the army, the country's top military rank, in a move that adds to his glittering array of titles and cements his power in the isolated and impoverished state that has a 1.2 million strong military.

IRAN: Security experts have uncovered an ongoing cyber espionage campaign targeting Iran and other Middle Eastern countries that they say stands out because it is the first such operation using communications tools written in Persian.

IRAQ said it would sue Syria's former ambassador after he said he helped jihadists enter Iraq starting in 2003.

BUNNY & KITTY, making friends... Mass hysteria!

TURTLES flee a farm outside Summerville GA. Slowly.

CROWS are blamed for a "suspicious powder" scare at Washington state intersection that detoured traffic for more than an hour.

THE SOUTHERN DUMPLING SQUID usually manages to survive for less than a year, which the researchers believe might be a direct result of their risky, sex-filled lifestyle.