THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with ARETHA FRANKLIN, Live in Stockholm, 1968! The "Lady Soul" concert was broadcast on Swedish TV, including "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," "Come Back Baby," "Dr Feelgood (Love Is A Serious Business)," "Since You've Been Gone (Sweet Sweet Baby)" "I  Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)," "Chain Of Fools," and "Respect."

ROBYN HITCHCOCK stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

CHARLES BRADLEY stpped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

PHOSPHORESCENT: Matthew Houck visits the KEXP studios along his band to perform his brand of indie rock featuring songs from his latest record "Muchacho."

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

THE LOVE LANGUAGE drops "Calm Down" ahead of Ruby Red.

WILLIAM SHATNER, BEN FOLDS & JOE JACKSON: Just some "Common People."

VAMPIRE WEEKEND talks to Pitchfork about the making of Modern Vampires of the City.

GOGOL BORDELLO: Eugene Hutz talks to Rolling Stone about throwing Latin American music into his Balkan stew.

ORIGINAL MTV VJS NINA BLACKWOOD AND MARTHA QUINN talk to USA Today to promote their joint memoirs of the early days of the once-revolutionary channel.

20 UNEXPECTED COVER SONGS, compiled by the HuffPost.

CUTOUT BIN: From REM to the Coasters, from Billy Bragg to James Brown, from Thomas Dolby to King Khan, plus, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Proclaimers, Ramones, Bruce Foxton and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases are Baz Luhrmann's take on The Great Gatsby, which is currently scoring 42 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; and Tyler Perry Presents Peeples, also scoring 42 percent.

AMERICAN IDOL is axing Mariah Carey, Randy Jackson, Nicki Minaj, and Keith Urban.

AMANDA BYNES pleaded no contest to driving on a suspended license.

NINA DOBREV & IAN SOMERHALDER split, making The Vampire Diaries a bit awkward.

MACAULAY CULKIN has moved in with Babyshambles frontman Pete Doherty in Paris. What could possibly go wrong?

24 may return as a limited series on Fox. Kiefer Sutherland is negotiating and establishing a perimeter.

THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. may have its woman in Alicia Vikander.

THE WORLD'S END: Director Edgar Wright, with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) have an international trailer for the completion of the Cornetto trilogy.

HEZBOLLAH leader Nasrallah said Syria will provide the terror group with "game-changing weapons" as a strategic response to Israeli airstrikes on Hezbollah weaponry in Syria.

SYRIA: The Syrian Army is trying to retake lost territory in Qusayr, Aleppo, and Idlib.

LIBYA: Militiamen continue to blockade the Foreign and Justice ministries. Prime Minister Zeidan said militiamen threatened him with a grenade and a gun during negotiations yesterday. Security forces evicted irregular brigades from 56 sites in and around Tripoli.

EGYPT: An American citizen was stabbed near the US embassy in Cairo. Authorities discovered a cache of weaponry in the South Sinai. Two senior Muslim Brotherhood officials failed to show up for a speaking engagement at a Washington, D.C. think tank; their current whereabouts are unknown.

THE CAT That Loved Concrete.

FEED ME, SEYMOUR: A new species of carnivorous plant has been found in Aichi Prefecture, on the central-southern coast of Japan's main island.

GRASSHOPPERS swarm ex-Beatle Paul McCartney in Brazil.

PYTHON in a Winnipeg dumpster.