JON PRATT plays "Symmetry," a belated valentine, standing up. Gets a bit Macca in the middle-eight.

BENNY SINGS visits Morning Becomes Eclectic.

GREYSON CHANCE plays a mini-set in the Paste studio,

NEYLA PEKAREK (ex-Lumineers) plays the World Cafe.

MORRISSEY covers Roy Orbison's "It’s Over."

MOUNTAIN MAN covers John Denver's "Take Me Home, Country Roads."

EX HEX shares "Rainbow Shiner."

BIG THIEF shares "UFOF."

THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN:  "Just Like Honey".

MARK HARRIS, the reluctant pop star who redefined rock, is remembered throughout the music world. Stereogum celebrates him in 15 songs.

SUZANNE VEGA talks to the Creative Independent about carving out a spot to do your work, the pleasure of writing from someone else's perspective, and doing whatever it takes to make a song work for you.

ANDY ANDERSON, longtime drummer for The Cure, has died of cancer. He was 68.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at the Chi-Lites' gorgeous soul elegy "Oh Girl."

HARVEY WEINSTEIN has been reportedly trying to hire hotshot female lawyers—but at a discount, telling them it will be good for their careers.

EMMA THOMPSON confirms she does not want to work with John Lasseter.

DETECTIVE PIKACHU has a new trailer online.

ROTTEN TOMATOES will stop allowing users to rate movies prior to their release in theaters.

CAPTAIN MARVEL: A behind-the-scenes look at Brie Larsen in a real F-16.

REESE WITHERSPOON learned how to apply highlighter from her daughter.

KINGSMAN is getting a prequel and a threequel.

AT THE DOG PARK, slathered in peanut butter.

CHIMP BROTHERS do not forget.

A HUMPBACK WHALE is found dead in the Amazon, leaving experts baffled as to how it got there.

THE UNDERWATER PHOTOGRPAHER OF THE YEAR contest has a winner.

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS, Live at the Swedish American Hall in San Francisco, Feb. 2009.

NATALIE PRASS plays a Tiny Desk Concert.

THE GOSPEL ROOTS of Rock and Soul, hosted by Cece Winans.

WILD PINK shares "Coaches Who Cry."

VAMPIRE WEEKEND shares a video for "Harmony Hill."

MARK HOLLIS, the frontman for Talk Talk, is reportedly dead at 64.The band got a deep dive on the apolitical Political Beats podcast about a yar ago.

IAN HUNTER on Glam Rock’s Heyday and Mott the Hoople’s Return.

DOLLY PARTON on sexual politics: "I’ve probably hit on some people myself!"

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Roberta Flack's jazz-folk wonder "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face."

THE OSCARS ratings were up 12 percent, so it's only the second-least-watched ceremonies. And there were the usual In Memoriam snubs.

SPIKE LEE tried to leave the Oscars theater after Green Book won Best Picture.

RAMI MALEK fell off the stage at Sunday's award ceremony.

KRYSTEN RITTER and the War on Drugs' Adam Granduciel are expecting their first child together.

JAMIE FOXX announced he was single during a charity Oscars gala in Beverly Hills on Sunday. Hmm.

R. KELLY is out of jail and at McDonald's.

MARCH OF THE PENGUINS, in a minute.

A RUNAWAY MONKEY is caught at a Berlin train station after escaping from the zoo.

CITA THE ELEPHANT died after a fight at the Miami Zoo.

AN AUSSIE PYTHON stowed away to Scotland.

THE KNACK: "Frustrated."

THE CHOCOLATE WATCHBAND is streaming their first LP in 19 years, This Is My Voice... and it's both what you'd expect and better than you'd think.

GUY CLARK JR stops by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

STEVE GUNN visits Morning Becomes Eclectic.

CAR SEAT HEADREST paid tribute to the late Peter Tork by closing their show with a cover of The Monkees' "For Pete's Sake."

GURR shares "She Says."

BEN GIBBARD joined TEENAGE FANCLUB on "The Concept" in Seattle.

PETER FRAMPTON has been diagnosed with a degenerative muscle disease and announces his farewell tour.

MAVIS STAPLES sres her wealth of songs and stories on World Cafe.

JEFF TWEEDY talks to the St Louis Jewish Light about his conversion, the next Wilco LP, and why he loves his synagogue.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at America's daffy folk-rock smash "A Horse With No Name."

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World tops the chart with 55.5MM, which is the biggest debut of 2019 so far and well beyond projections. Alita: Battle Angel places with 12MM on a 58 percent drop, which would be deadly against a 170MM production budget, but for the 200MM it's grossed overseas even before opening in China and Japan (that said, the overseas share of grosses flowing to the studio is smaller, so this is still an iffy proposition). The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part shows with 10MM on a 52 percent drop, a victim of the dragons. It now lags the original by 100MM (and LEGO Batman by ~50MM) after three frames. Fighting With My Family successfully platforms into the fourth slot with 8MM against an 11MM budget. Isn't It Romantic rounds out the Top Five with 7.5MM on a 47 percent post-Valentine's drop.

THE OSCARS went to these folks. Congrats!

VANITY FAIR disinvited the New York Times from its post-Oscars party after the paper ran a story suggesting the event has lost its luster.

THE INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS went to these folks. Congrats!

R KELLY's bail was set at 1MM; he could be behind bars until at least Tuesday, if not Wednesday. 

FAST AND THE FURIOUS director Rob Cohen denies sexual assault allegations made by his daughter.

AN ORIGINAL PROP SHARK from Jaws gets a new lease on life.

WHY WE THINK CATS ARE PYSCHOPATHS: It's just resting catface.

SEA URCHINS are decimating underwater kelp forests.

ZOMBIE DEER MEAT is safe to eat.

THE WORLD'S LARGEST BEE has been rediscovered.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with OTIS REDDING!  Otis and the Bar-Kays crank up the energy to 11 for a Ready Steady Go special, crashing through "Satisfaction,"  "My Girl" and "Respect," then "Shake" morphing into "Land of a Thousand Dances" performed by Otis, Eric Burdon and Chris Farlowe.  BONUS: from the same special, Eric Burdon covers "Hold On, I'm Coming," while Chris Farlowe covers "It's a Man's World.

HAND HABITS advance streams Placeholder.

TEEN advance streams Good Fruit.

DELLA MAE advance streams The Butcher Shoppe.

RYUCHI SAKAMOTO advance streams the 20th anniversary edition of BTTB.

MARISSA NADLER shares “Poison” (ft John Cale) and ”If We Make It Through The Summer”.

SPIRAL STAIRS shares "The Fool."

PETER TORK, a blues and folk musician who became a member of the Monkees, the wisecracking, made-for-TV pop group that imitated and briefly outsold the Beatles, died Feb. 21.  He was 77. He sang on their novelty number, "Your Auntie Grizelda," but was more a bit more serious sharing the lead with Davy Jones on "Shades of Gray," A versatile musician, he also contributed the harpsichord on "The Girl That I Knew Somewhere" and the jaunty piano on "Daydream Believer." And got a bit more psychedelic  on tracks from Head, writing "Can You Dig it?" (sung by Micky Dolenz) and "Long Title: Do I Have to Do This All Over Again?" And in the movie of Head, Tork is featured in the segment using Gerry Goffin and Carole King's "As We Go Along." But my fave of his may his co-written "For Pete's Sake," which became the TV show's end theme. BONUS: The Monkees episode of the Political Beats podcast (which is not a politcal podcast at all) is still geat listening.

ALEX CHILTON: Aquarium Drunkard essays his Great American Songbook period and his N'awlins blues period.

KEITH RICHARDS, Lord of the Undead, says kicking heroin is easier than quitting smoking.

CHASING RAINBOWS: Inside the battle between Radiohead and EMI's Guy Hands.

THE NUMBER ONES looks at the dusty and countrified "Heart Of Gold," Neil Young's only massive chart hit.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's new releases include How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, which is currently scoring 92 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; Fighting With My Family expands wide scoring 93 percent; and Run The Race expands to ~850 screens but unscreened for critics.

THE OSCARS' backstage drama may be better than the telecast.

JUSSIE SMOLLETT may get suspended from Empire after being charged with filing a false police report.

MICHAEL JACKSON's estate is suing HBO over its upcoming documentary Leaving Neverland, claiming the company violated a nondisparagement agreement made when it aired a Jackson concert in 1992.

MILEY CYRUS is profiled by Vanity Fair.

ROCKETMAN: The Elton John biopic has a new trailer online.

THE TWILIGHT ZONE reboot has a trailer online.

DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE, ft Mel Gibson and Vince Vaughn as disgraced cops, has a trailer online.

THE 50 BEST MOVIE SCORES, according to Pitchfork.

A BOY AND HIS DOG play Tee-ball.

THIS TORTOISE was thought to be extinct for 100 years— until now.

A HAPPY GATOR gets a scrubdown.

EARL THE LLAMA needed killin'. That's how the ballad will begin.

THE FOUR TOPS: Levi Stubbs works up a sweat on live French TV, belting out a supercharged "I'll Be There."

NELLIE McKAY plays the Mountain Stage.

DOROTHY stops by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

THE CACTUS FLOWERS also stop by The Current.

TEENAGE FANCLUB shares “Everything Is Falling Apart.”

BOB MOULD talks to Stereogum about his '00s DJ stint, writing the theme for The Daily Show, his friendship with Dave Grohl, Sunshine Rock, and more.

BUFFALO SPRINGFIELD's  misunderstood-but-understood "For What It's Worth" gets an American Anthem essay.

NIRVANA: Kurt Cobain would have turned 52 this week. Brooklyn Vegan has 15 great covers of Nirvana songs and their 15 best non album songs. 

THE NUMBER ONES looks at Nilsson's grand, theatrical power ballad "Without You".

JUSSIE SMOLLETT is now officially classified as a suspect in a criminal investigation by the Chicago Police Dept. for filing a false police report... and as of this writing he's reportedly been charged with felony disorderly conduct. Local media obtained exclusive video of two men linked to the attack on the Empire actor Jussie Smollett buying a red hat and ski masks from a store the day before the assault.

KYLIE JENNER is having enormous trouble processing the revelation her best friend was involved in a cheating scandal with her sister's baby daddy.

GWYNETH PALTROW files a counter-suit alleging she was the real victim of a skiing accident.

CHRIS HEMSWORTH s set to portray wrestling superstar Hulk Hogan in a biopic.

GHOSTBUSTERS: Jason Reitman promises the reboot reboot that will “go back to original technique and hand the movie back to the fans.” Which will be interpreted as slightiing the 2016 film.

CAPTAIN MARVEL is getting good early buzz on social media.

RUSHMORE took the movie soundtrack back to school 20 years ago.

CHARO talks about her husband's suicide.

PUFFERFISH: Dolphins purposely inflate them to get high and pass them around to their dolphin friends.

A DOG lost in the California wildfire is reunited with his family 101 days later.

THE BERLIN ZOO's POLAR CUB is "a perky, strong girl."

TUDDER: Tinder for cows.