THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with ECHO and the BUNNYMEN!  Live at the Royal Albert Hall, circa July 1983.  Your setlist includes: "Going Up," "With A Hip" and "All That Jazz"; "All My Colours (Zimbo)" and "Silver"; "The Cutter" and "The Killing Moon"; "Rescue" and "Never Stop"; and "Over the Wall." Your encores are "Crocodiles" and a wide-ranging take on "Do It Clean."

TYPHOON advance streams Offerings.

BENJAMIN BOOKER has a set up at La Blogotheque.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED features new tracks from Lucy Dacus, Bethlehem Steel, Anna Burch and more...

THE GO! TEAM shares "All The Way Live." Aw yeah.

ART BRUT get you off to a "Good Weekend."

CRAIG FINN talks to ChicagoNow about the importance of creating a community via the performance of live music, the impact of the Midwest on the characters he's created on We All Want The Same Things and his approach to the ideas of empathy and love on his latest solo album.

U2: Bono talks to Rolling Stone about the state of his band, the state of the world and what he learned from almost dying.

ELVIS COSTELLO talks to The A.V. Club about his acting roles.

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE's guide to Toronto.

NOW SHOWING:This weekend's new wide release is Insidious: The Last Key, which is currently scoring 25 percent on the ol' Tomatometer.  But expanding way wide are Darkest Hour, scoring 84percent; and Molly's Game, scoring 81 percent.

ROSE McGOWAN talks to Vanity Fair about what Weinstein hath wrought.

WEINSTEIN CO: The bidding is down to a handful of suitors.

GAL GADOT & PATTY JENKINS talk about the Wonder Woman sequel.

CATE BLANCHETT will lead this year's Cannes jury.

MATT LAUER is still trying to have a hand in TODAY. Dude.

THE FUTURE OF FOX after a Disney merger.

ANIMANIACS is getting two new seasons on Hulu.

THIS DOG is taking herself sledding.

IT'S SO COLD. How cold is it?  It's so cold that Miami Beach iguanas are falling from their perches in suburban trees.

THE TOP CATS of 2017, according to Mother Jones.

PUPPY BOWL XIV: What You Need to Know About the Fuzziest Starting Lineup.

NANCY SINATRA: "These Boots Are Made For Walking." Are you ready?

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE performs Sung Tongs in full.

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

SIDNEY GISH streams No Dogs Allowed.

JANN WENNER has been accused of sexual assault by a former employee with the company.

SPOTIFY was hit with a 1.6 billion dollar copyright lawsuit over Tom Petty, Weezer, Neil Young songs.

THE TOP 10 CURE SONGS, according to NME.

A ROOM OF THEIR OWN: Teenage bedrooms from the 1980s.

PAUL SORVINO may go Goodfellas on harvey Weinstein.

ELLEN PAGE married her fiancée, Emma Portner.

BROOKLYN DECKER & ANDY RODDICK welcomed their second child, a daughter.

CAMERON DIAZ & BENJI MADDEN are working on offspring.

HODA KOTB is being paid around 18MM less per year than her disgraced male predecessor at TODAY, Matt Lauer.

EMILY BLUNT talks to Vanity Fair about Mary Poppins Returns, her social-media skepticism, and her most recent challenge, in A Quiet Place, directed by her husband and co-star, John Krasinski.

MERYL STREEP & TOM HANKS discuss President Trump, the fallout from the Harvey Weinstein case and why they hadn't worked together until The Post.

BRAD PITT, flirting at the coffee shop.

BOY SAVED FROM SHARKS by drone operator.

THE SWARM: Vandals destroyed 50 beehives in Iowa, killing at least 500K bees.

AND THERE WERE CHICKENS all over the highway.

RAT ON A PLANE: Flight canceled.

GEORGE HARRISON covers "Got My Mind Set On You."

KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD streams Gumboot Soup, competing their promised five LPs for 2017.

JEFF ROSTENSTOCK streams POST- (NSFW)

JAPANESE BREAKFAST covers The Mamas & Papas' "California Dreamin'."

OH SEES share “Dead Medic” and "A Few Days of Reflection."

RINGO STARR is getting knighted, and Sir Paul can dig it.

THE WORST SONGS of 2017, according to Stereogum.

OXFORD AMERICAN magazine has dedicated its annual music issue entirely to Kentucky, and it explores soul jazz, punk rock, rap and more from the Bluegrass State.

RICK HALL, who recorded some of the biggest musical acts of the 1960s and 70s and helped develop the fabled “Muscle Shoals sound”, has died at 85.

CARRIE UNDERWOOD needed 40 stitches to her face following a fall, reportedly.

YOUNG HAN SOLO: Director Ron Howard tweeted a mystery pic.

DAVID CHAPPELLE has thoughts about the Louis CK scandal that are very Chappelle.

BRIGHT, the big-budget Netflix flick starring Will Smith, managed to pull in a total of more than 11 million views in its first three days of release.

PARIS HILTON  is engaged to actor Chris Zylka.

LINDSAY LOHAN was bit by a snake while hiking in Thailand, her shaman says it's good luck.

RUPERT MURDOCH's decision to sell most of 21st Century Fox appears to resolve a mystery: which of his sons will inherit his empire?

ROSE MARIE, the actress who went toe-to-toe in a man’s world as wisecracking comedy writer Sally Rogers on the legendary 1960s CBS sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show, has died. She was 94.

MEET THE BABY ANIMALS saved during Hurricane Harvey.

JOKER THE DOG returns home, ten days after escaping an airport.

IT'S WINTER: Watch out for falling raccoons.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: The Last Jedi threpeats atop the chart with 52.7MM on a decent 26 percent drop, consdering the lofty heights from which it started. Despite less enthusiasm from some, Episode VIII became the largest grosser of 2017, crossed 500MM domestic and 1 Billion worldwide. The first three Disneymade installments have paid for the company's acquisition of Lucasfilm.  Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle placed with a perhaps surprisiongly close 50MM on a 38 percent increase over the prior frame; it will likely break 200MM domestic next weekend. Pitch Perfect 3 shows with 16.8MM on a 16 percent drop; underwhelming overall, but perhaps not enough to kill the franchise. The Greatest Showman may be the biggest winner of another long weekend, making 15.6MM on a 77 percent increase over last weekend... but it still seems like a bit of an uphill climb to profit on the big screen.  Ferdinand also benefitted from the extra time for family movie dates, and rounded out the Top Five with 11.4 MM on a 56 percent increase from the last frame.  Below the fold, Oscars bait also tended to get a boost from the holdays, while Downsizing and Father Figures continued to flop.

TIME'S UP: Driven by outrage and a resolve to correct a power imbalance that seemed intractable just months ago, 300 prominent actresses and female agents, writers, directors, producers and entertainment executives have formed an ambitious, sprawling initiative to fight systemic sexual harassment in Hollywood and in blue-collar workplaces nationwide.

YOUNG HAN SOLO will get at least a theme from composer John Williams.

MARIA MENOUNOS and Keven Undergaro, who have been together for 20 years, got hitched on live TV.

JESSICA ALBA and Cash Warren are now a family of five.

MEGHAN MARKLE could have been a Bond Girl.

AMANDA BYNES has big plans for 2018.

More tomorrow, most likely.

THE NEW YEAR STARTS HERE:

...with THE BEAT FARMERS!  Making a tradition of this more sober than usual, professionally-shot, early BF gig recorded at Universal Studios, including "There She Goes Again" (VU); "Road to Ruin," "Bigger Fool," "Reason to Believe" (Springsteen), "Powderfinger" (N. Young), "Happy Boy," "Big Ugly Wheels," "Bigger Stones," "Gun Sale at the Church," "Dallas Blues," "I Wanna Be Free," "Lakeside Trailer Park," "Death Train," and "Seven Year Itch."  If you're new to the band, my picks would be "Bigger Stones," "Happy Boy" and the cover of your choice.  BONUS:  Now how much would you pay?  But wait... there's more!  If you really want to see someone put the "bar" in "bar band," watch these NSFW clips from Houston, TX of the late Country Dick Montana leading the band through "Lucille" (K. Rogers) -- complete with his favorite beer bottle stunts -- followed by "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Wino," "Are You Drinkin' With Me, Jesus?" and "Mondo."  SUPER-SPECIAL BONUS: Country Dick rolls out "California Kid" and "Anarchy in the UK" (Language warning).

WFUV'S HOLIDAY CHEER includes mini-sets from Lo Moon, Jeff Tweedy, Randy Newman, and Aimee Mann.

JD McPHERSON stops by WFUV's Studio A.

FRIGHTENED RABBIT shares "No Real Life."

JAMES BLAKE covers Don McLean's "Vincent."

U2: Crushingly obvious, I know. 

NICK CAVE & SHANE MacGOWAN: "What a Wonderful World."

ABBA wishes you a "Happy New Year,"  but it doesn't sound anywhere as celebratory as "Take A Chance On Me." 

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS perform "This Year" at the M-Shop in Ames, IA.

OTIS & CARLA have a "New Year's Resolution."

JOE JACKSON: Pate frequently attempted "One More Time" to often hilarious effect, so today I stick with Joe's early material, including "Sunday Papers" live on the OGWT, "Kinda Kute" on the Kenny Everett Video Show, and a Beat Crazy-era run of "On Your Radio."  The Rock Goes To College show provides live takes on "It's Different For Girls,"  "I'm The Man," and this pulsing version of his signature "Is She Really Going Out With Him?"  BONUS: The appropos finale, "Got The Time?

FLUXBLOG's 2017 Survey Mix.

PASTE's best albums and songs of 2017.

SPIN's best albums and overlooked albums of 2017.

MOJO's Top 50 Albums of 2017. 

NOISEY's best albums and songs of 2017. And their overlooked LPs.

THE AVALANCHE OF ROCK 'N' ROLL DEATH: Want to feel old? Everyone — well, every man — died.

THE ZOMBIES: "This Will Be Our Year."

ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD is this weekend's wide release, currently scoring 80 percent on the ol' Tomatometer.  Molly's Game hits 271 screens, scoring 79 percent.

THE LAST JEDI: A guide to the creatures and how they were made.

HOLLYWOOD is banking on big franchises (again) in 2018.

THE BEST MOVIES of 2017, according to the New York Times' critics.

THE BEST MOVIES of 2017, according to Uproxx's critics.

THE 10 (OR SO) BEST FILMS of 2017, according to Sonny Bunch.

ROBIN WRIGHT is spending the holidays skiing with a handsome new beau, Clement Giraudet.

MILEY CYRUS & LIAM HEMSWORTH "consider themselves married" and have no plans for an actual ceremony.

A LARGE MYSTERY FISH caught on camera in the Chicago River. I presume it has three eyes.

MISSING FOR 10 YEARS, a cat finds his way back to his family after the California wildfires.

AND THERE WAS LOBSTER all over the highway.

A HOUSE with a giant shark in the roof is set to be made a national treasure (by the same council that wanted it demolished).