THE ANNUALS played an unpluggedety mini-set you can stream or download from the Interface. They recently made their network TV debut with an electric, two-drummer version of "Carry Around."

THE STOOGES have posted the aptly-titled "My Idea of Fun," from their upcoming reunion LP, The Wierdness, for streaming via TheirSpace.

GUIDED BY VOICES: The Electrifying Conclusion, documenting the band's last performance (at Chicago's Metro, no less) airs tonight o­n Starz Cinema. Check your local listings.

DAVID BOWIE: Jefitoblog is killing music by posting Naked & Wired, which is 18 tracks of demos and TV appearances by the Thin White Duke. Those prone to guilty conscience can jukebox it via the ol' HM.

THE POLICE are rumored to be rehearsing a reunion tour at North Vancouver's Lions Gate Studios.

CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH drummer Sean Greenhalgh tells the New York Post that staying DIY made sense because it made dollars: "The reason that we decided to continue to do it ourselves is really economic as much as anything else. We make more money doing it ourselves than we would with a label." Hard numbers at the link.

PAUL WELLER: With a career-spanning CD in stores and a similar DVD o­n the way, Weller talked to Billboard about a number of subjects, including the demise of The Jam: "It would have been nice to have conquered America, but, ya know, I haven't lost sleep over it. I'll be more disappointed in the fact that there are an awful lot of people in America that don't know my music. If they did, I think they'd like it. But it doesn't stop me sleeping at night..." The Jam certainly gave the US a try, even stooping to be interviewed by Robb Weller o­n AM Chicago, a show whose final hostess was some woman named Oprah. When the band got to the West Coast, they performed "Heatwave" and "Strange Town" o­n a show that must remain nameless, with a crowd clad (inappropriately) in proto-80s fashion.

THE SMASHING PUMPKINS have announced their first official tour dates, which are June festival dates in Germany.

THE APPLES IN STEREO have posted two new songs o­n TheirSpace. Two more new tracks, "7 Stars" and "Sundial Song," can be streamed via the ol' HM. All very much in line with their sunny psych-pop pedigree.

TOM WAITS settled his lawsuit against a German division of General Motors over television commercials that he says mimicked his vocal style without his permission. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but in a statement Mr. Waits

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE...

...with THE FEELIES: The Jonathan Demme-directed clip for "Away" -- shot at the legendary Maxwell's in Hoboken, NJ -- probably best captures the band's more hyperkinetic live show, even moreso than this early clip of the title track to the band's first LP, "Crazy Rhythms." But songs like "Away" and "Deep Fascination" also had an etherial quality that I thought distinguished them from other groups inspired by the Velvet Underground. Their network TV debut o­n Late Night with David Letterman, "Doin' It Again," rocks more, though that's in part because it's really just Glenn Mercer, Bill Million and Dave Weckerman with Paul Shaffer's band. I like that Dave seems a bit unsure introducing them, but was clearly won over by the performance.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED is streaming new and advance tracks from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Modest Mouse, Lucinda Williams, Erin McKeown and more.

JOHNNY MARR talks to Harp about being "the new guy" in Modest Mouse. Contrary to the rock stereotype, Marr is the stay-at-home type, with his family encoraging him to get out and about.

THE 2006 BLOGGREGATE -- a weighted survey of bloggers

REUINTED, AND IT FEELS SO GOOD: Crowded House are set to reform for a world tour 11 years after they spilt. Manchester indie band James are to reform after a five-year hiatus. Dinosaur, Jr. has signed with Fat Possum, which will release in the spring unveil the band's first album with its original lineup since 1989. Even Sneakers did a o­ne-off opening for Mitch Easter and the reunited dB's. And we have a full-on Van Halen Reunion Warning from Billboard. The logical clip here seemed to be Crowded House playing "Don't Dream It's Over" at their "farewell to the world" concert. But I've thrown in VH's "Dance The Night Away" and James's "Laid" for good measure.

THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN: Damon Albarn (and ex-Clash bassist Paul Simonon) mess with MPR's Steve Seel, strting with Albarn's insistence that they are an orchestra, not a band, and are not named The Good, The Bad & The Queen. Streaming audio at the link. And you can stream TGTB&TQ in full via Spinner this week.

HOOTS, HOLLERS & BARBARIC YAWPS: PopMatters attempts to categorize the shrieks and wails and uhs and hey-hey-heys that exalt the passion of performing in the midst of the performance itself. There is a scene in the director's cut of Almost Famous addressing this as well, but (sadly) it's not o­nline.

THE MILLION-DOLLAR TRIO: Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, and Ray Price plan to release a jointly recorded, two-disc, 22-song collection of newly-recorded country classics o­n March 20th. Plenty of cameos, too.

LUCINDA WILLIAMS talks about her upcoming album and comments o­n her body of work for Harp magazine. At the moment you can stream a bunch of Lucinda's body of work via the ol' Hype Machine.

THE BOY LEAST LIKELY TO play "Hugging My Grudge" o­n GMTV in the UK. You can stream more songs -- including their cover of George Michael's "Faith" -- via MySpace. The duo is now being promoted by the guy who launched the Spice Girls, which I find hilarious.

BONO is promoting "trade, not aid" by partnering with college students in Ohio o­n a T-shirt business.

OF MONTREAL frontman Keith Barnes talks to Harmonium about getting out of the indie ghetto and gives details of the current tour -- e.g., the elaborate staging, cover songs, etc. You can stream Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer? in full via Spinner this week.

I'M WITH THE BAND: YesButNoYes reaches into the "Where Are They Now?" file to track down famous rock groupies of the 70's.

PETE DOHERTY UPDATE: As previously rumored, the troubled singer's band Babyshambles has signed with Parlophone records for a reported

PETE TOWNSHEND and the RACONTEURS: Stereogum has posted video of The Who's frontman leading the lads (Jack White, mostly) through "The Seeker."

NEW & IMPROVED RELEASES: 13 alt-rock albums, including The Shins, The Broken West, Dustin Kensrue, Deerhoof, Mew and more are streaming from Spinner this week, which I hope becomes a regular thing. And Kensrue does sometimes sound a bit like Paul Westerberg. You can stream the Menomena album, too.

BRIGHT EYES has announced US tour dates, plus release dates for an EP in March and an album in April. SoundMojo has "Tourist Trap" for download now, or you can stream it via the ol' HM.

THE TOP ALBUMS OF 1978, complete with MP3s, kick off a new series at The Morning News. Pate fans will be glad to see Cheap Trick and The Jam make the list.

TOUCH & GO RECORDS is starting to post videos from the label's 25th anniversary birthday bash.

THE JESUS & MARY CHAIN is reuniting for Coachella 2007. Now that's "Some Candy Talking."

CHRISSIE HYNDE of the Pretenders doesn't see herself as a role model for female rockers: "I haven't done anything for women. I just wanted to front my little rock band." But she does have criticism for those trying to sell a video by "sticking their boobs out": "Remember you're in a rock and roll band. It's not f... me; it's f... you!" Plenty more o­n more topics at the link.

ANI DI FRANCO gave birth to a 7 pound, 8 ounce little girl, Petah Lucia, at her Buffalo home early Saturday morning.

FROM THE BASEMENT: Award-winning producer Nigel Godrich is interviewed by NPR about his attempt to bring music video back to the performance.

BLOG BUZZ: Eric Harvey, who usually blogs at marathonpacks, has a perceptive piece for Stylus magazine about how the independent promotion industry is working the music blogosphere.

THE OSCARS: Babel, The Departed, The Queen, Letters From Iwo Jima, and Little Miss Sunshine are vying for Best Picture. The Envelope has the full list of nominees. The Gold Derby highlights the major snubs (United 93 would be mine.); ironically, Dreamgirls gets the most noms while snubbed for Best Pic. It's a record year for Black actors and Hispanic nominees (despite Pedro Almod

LEE HAZLEWOOD releases what he calls his last record, Cake or Death, today. I take that claim seriously, as he's dying a painful death from renal cancer. You can stream his "original" version of "These Boots Were Made For Walkin'" and the single "Baghdad Nights" via HisSpace, and "It's Nothing to Me" from the HM via Stereogum. There's also a short video for "Boots." And no Hazlewood blurb here would be complete with out the video of his duet with Nancy Sinatra o­n "Some Velvet Morning."

OTHER NEW RELEASES: The long-awaited, much-leaked Shins album is streaming in full from AOL this week. Alt-supergroup The Good, the Bad & the Queen releases its self-titled debut, which we dug here. The Sunday Times of London profiles TGTB&TQ's Damon Albarn, who describes his the album as the