JACK WHITE, Live on Austin City Limits.

THE LONE BELLOW is advance streaming their self-titled debut.

INDIANS are advance streaming Somewhere Else.

LOCAL NATIVES drop the studio version of "Heavy Feet."

FREE ENERGY drops "Girls Want Rock."

PERE UBU unleases "414 Seconds" from Lady From Shanghai.

COMPRESSORHEAD: Robots cover Motorhead's seminal "Ace of Spades." It's like watching General Grievous drum.

JOHNNY MARR talks to Stereogum about The Messenger, The Smiths, and why he can't stop joining bands.

BLOOD ORANGE: Dev Hynes talks to BlackBook abouthis personal, professional, and recreational highlights of 2012.

THE 2012 PITCHFORK READERS' POLL.

10 MUSICAL ACTS TO WATCH in 2013, courtesy of Flavorwire.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Texas Chainsaw 3D tops your chart with a better-than-expected 23 million (the last Chainsaw movie opened with 18 million).  And this one cost 8 million to make, about half the last budget.  Django Unchained places with 20 million; it crosses the 100 million mark and recoups its production budget domestically.  If not for that budget, it would be a much bigger deal that Django is already the third biggest grossing Western evah, behind Dances With Wolves and the True Grit remake.The Hobbit shows with 17.5 million, but the 45 percent drop suggests it may fall behind the total gross for Fellowship of the Ring, released 11 years of inflation ago.  That said, it already has 825 million in the till worldwide.  Les Miserables takes the fourth slot with 16.1 million; it crosses the 100 million mark, but with less legs than Django.  Parental Guidance rounds out the Top 5 with 10.1 million from people who can't find people being hit in the groin on YouTube.

ZERO DARK THIRTY: The long and winding road that led Seal Team Six to Osama bin Laden's door becomes a long and winding movie from director Katherine Bigelow -- but the movie never feels long, which is a tribute to Bigelow's direction and Marc Boal's screenplay.  Mind you, the screenplay mischaracterizes the role enhanced interrogation of detainees played in the story, though they were important.  Otherwise, the politics that cause so much discussion during the making of the film are largely footnotes to the narrative.  Considerable dramatic license is also taken in focusing the effort on the semi-fictional "Maya" to whom Jessica Chastain brings her considerable talent and restraint.  These issues aside, Zero Dark Thirty plays out as a taut police procedural, with just enough touches of comic relief to keep the audience in the picture.

JUSTIN BIEBER & SELENA GOMEZ just ain't workin'.  But he is smokin' something hand-rolled.

JOSH BROLIN was busted for public intoxication on New Year's Day.

CHARLIE SHEEN has taken up with another adult fil actress. Always ends well.

BRADGELINA's kids accidentally pushed the panic button, sommoning a platoon of cops to the manse.

STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS was screened as a very rough cut for a fan with terminal cancer days before his death.

SAUDI ARABIA denied that its Air Force has targeted al Qaeda militants in Yemen.

SYRIA: Government artillery and aircraft bombarded rebel strongholds in the suburbs of Damascus. Fighting also raged south of the capital. The government claims it captured Mohamed al Zawahiri, brother of al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri.

IRAN began developing software to control social media networking sites. Although the specific sites was not disclosed, both Facebook and Twitter are popular in the country.

A TURTLE checks out a commercial diver.

A CAT carrying a saw and a mobile phone was "detained" as it entered a prison gate in northeast Brazil, Brazilian media reported on Saturday.

A BLIND DOG gets a seeing-eye cat.

A COYOTE killed a puppy in Riverside, IL.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE REPLACEMENTS! Well, sort of. Color Me Obsessed doesn't feature any of the influential indie band's members, or a note of their alternately anarchic and aching music.  Rather, the unlikely rise and fall of the band is chronicled by fans and and associates (and funded by Kickstarter).  Although there are obvious limitations to this approach, there is something esssentially replacements about it.  After all, half the time, the 'Mats fans seemed more interested in the band's fate than the band itself.

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

THE CRAMPS: Lux and Ivy's Favorites, Vols. 1-11.

HOLIDAY CHEER: WFUV has a stream of the full concert -- and individual sets from Lake Street Dive, Shelby Lynne, Steve Earle, Shawn Colvin and Lucinda Williams.

SOUNDCHECK'S BEST PERFORMANCES of 2012: Part One and Part Two.

THE FIFTH BEATLE:  Most people forget that brief period when David Lee Roth fronted the Fabs. (slight profanity)

THE BEATLES: Henry Grossman releases an expensive book of previously unseen photos from his trove of over 7000 snaps.

ANDY SUMMERS, who just turned 70, walks The A.V. Club through his Police records (and more).

ADAM YAUCH: The NYT Magazine profile of the late Beastie contains a number of sublime sentences.

POTENTIAL 2013 BREAKOUTS, courtesy of PopMatters.

PATTI PAGE, the apple-cheeked, honey-voiced alto whose sentimental, soothing, sometimes silly hits like “Tennessee Waltz,” “Old Cape Cod” and “How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?” made her one of the most successful pop singers of the 1950s, has died at 85.

CUTOUT BIN: From Luis Baclov to the Pretenders, from Teenage Fanclub to Fontella Bass, from ABC to XTC, plus Paul Westerberg, The The, Allah-Las and more -- this year's final fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: Texas Chainsaw 3-D is the weekend's sole wide release, which was not screened for critics. Shocka. A good weekend to catch up on holiday releases you missed.

KIM KARDASHIAN is venting to close friends about her estranged husband, Kris Humphries,parhaps in part because the law would presume (probably incorrectly) that he's the father of her child. Jenny Craig is not interested in signing her to a Jessica Simpson type deal.

JUSTIN BIEBER was stalked and harassed by the photographer who was killed while taking pictures of the singer's car on New Year's Day, and he lied about J.B. smoking pot, according to sources connected with Bieber.

ZOE SALDANA & BRADLEY COOPER are reportedly dunzo again.

LINDSAY LOHAN was paid 100K to party with Brunei's Prince Azim on NYE.

BROOXE MULLER obtained a six-figure settlement from a rehab facility she accused of leaking private information to the tabloid press.

JULIANNE HOUGH claims she was abused as a child.

THE BLACK LIST: Sorry this is a .pdf Acrobat file, but these are Hollywood's most-buzzed-about screenplays.

THE UNITED KINGDOM: Abid Naseer, wanted by the US on terror charges relating to an al Qaeda plot to bomb New York subways, was extradited to the US.

SYRIA: Heavy fighting raged around Taftanaz military airport in northwest Syria. Aleppo's international airport remained under siege. Government forces attacked the rebel stronghold of Daraya in Damascus.

LIBYA: Gunmen from a militant Islamist group kidnapped Abdulsalam al Mihdawi, the acting head of criminal investigation in Benghazi. The militants attacked al Mihdawi and two colleagues in his car as it waited at a stoplight in the city.

EGYPT: The Muslim Brotherhood claimed that the recent arrest of some of its members in the United Arab Emirates was unwarranted. Egypt's opposition liberal and secular groups prepared to create a new political party to contest upcoming parliamentary elections. A senior Muslim Brotherhood official said that Israel would cease to exist within a decade.

A FOX plays fetch.

SUITCASE FULL OF LOBSTER: Not a progressive rock album.

COLO the GORILLA -- the first to be born in a zoo -- celebrated her 56th birthday.

FINCHES were tricked into changing their tune.

J.D. McPHERSON recently blew the roof off the Ed Sullivan Theater with "Fire Bug."

DROPKICK MURPHYS are advance streaming Signed And Sealed In Blood.

MIGUEL played a Tiny Desk Concert at the offices at NPR.

SCOTT WALKER: The reclusive former pop singer visits WNYC Soundcheck to discuss his album for this decade.

PAUL McCARTNEY, Live at the Apollo, Dec. 13, 2010.

THE BONGOS: "Numbers With Wings" was nominated for Best Direction at the first MTV Video Awards.

MOUNTAIN GOATS: There's an online petition to have the White House name John Darnielle the US Poet Laureate.

REDD KROSS: Steven and Jeff McDonald talk to the L.A. Times about family, reunions, and more...

BOBBY WOMACK, who released an acclaimed comeback album in June, revealed that he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

2012: The Year In Comebacks.

JUSTIN BIEBER: A paparazzo was killed chasing Bieber's Ferrari.

SOFIA VERGARA and her fiancé, Nick Loeb, got into a New Year's Eve fight while clubbing in Miami — which ended with her dress ripped down and him being thrown out by security.

KIM KARDASHIAN: Pregnancy has exploded sales of her sex tape.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE talks to Vanity Fair about the stupidity of acting and shooting suspected home invaders with her bow and arrow.

ANNE HATHAWAY bemoans her "very vanilla" image.

QUENTIN TARANTINO has audio commentary for the Django Unchained soundtrack.

THE MAKING OF THE BLUES BROTHERS: A great oral history, courtesy of Vanity Fair.

IRAN warned foreign surveillance ships and aircraft to stay away in the Strait of Hormuz.

SYRIA: Fighting erupted around Aleppo's international airport. Government aircraft attacked rebel positions in Damascus suburbs. Rebels blew up a natural gas pipeline feeding electricity plants and a fertilizer factory.

THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: Security services arrested 10 members of a cell linked to Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood.

EGYPT: State prosecutors began investigating an Egyptian satirist, after he was accused of "undermining the status" of President Morsi. Islamists announced the formation of a new political party.

A GOAT imitates a chicken.

THE IKEA MONKEY did not go home for the holidays.

NINETY ELEPHANTS entered a beauty contest in Nepal.

THE DEER EXPLOSION is affecting British woodlands.

VERONICA FALLS has a video out for the jangling "Teenage," ahead of an LP due in February.

ERIN McKEOWN is advance streaming Manifestra.

BROADCAST is posthumously streaming Berberian Sound Studio.

SOUND OPINIONS: Critics Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis offer their 2012 mixtapes.

PERFUME GENIUS frontman Mike Hadreas talks to Morning Edition about the "creepy, beautiful mix" that goes into his songwriting.

DUANE EDDY was a "Rebel Rouser" back in 1959; the introductory voice may sound familiar around New Year's.

JAPANDROIDS talk to CBC Music about the cold, the cat, and landing on the world's biggest year-end lists. (Thx, Chromewaves.)

THE ABBA MUSEUM: Group members -- esp. Björn Ulvaeus -- are taking a bigger role in developing the interactive facility.

MUSIC WRITING 2012: In which Maura Johnston laments the democratization of the music conversation.

GUEST LISTS of 2012: Pitchfork invited artists to submit lists of their favorite things from 2012-- music-related or not-- and as usual there were a wide range of responses.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey topped the chart with 32 million in a very close race for the top three slots.  It crossed the 200 million mark faster than Fellowship of the Ring (which opened about the same time of year), but that was 11 years ago and The Hobbit was boosted by 3-D and IMAX receipts.  The Hobbit is slower to reach 200 million than the later LotR movies and about on the pace of Skyfall, which opened before the Christmas rush.  Django Unchained was a close second with 30.1 million; it is now outpacing Tarantino's prior film, Inglourious Basterds.  It should beat Basterds domestically, but may not make as much worldwide, given the difference in plot.  Les Miserables shows with 27.3 million and a 66 million total that must delight studio execs, particularly given that this will do boffo box office overseas.  Parentl Guidance rode the family formula to the fourth slot with 14.6 million and will likely make money. Sigh.  Jack Reacher rounded out the Top 5 with 14 million on a good hold, but even with a low-for-Cruise budget of 60 million, it's tough to see this launching a franchise. Below the fold, Skyfall crossed the 1 billion mark worldwide, Sony's highest-grossing movie ever.

DJANGO UNCHAINED: It's a Quentin Tarantino movie, so really, you should basically know what to expect by now.  This Spaghetti Southern is less talky than Pulp Fiction and less suspenseful than Inglorious Basterds, but retains the Basterds revenge vibe, as well as QT's trademark humor and ultraviolence.  Indeed, this may be QT's funniest film in a while and even rollicks as a good buddy movie should.  The music remains impeccable, complete with what may be QT's best incongruous 70s callback since Reservoir Dogs.  If you like Tarantino, you'll be thoroughly entertained.

KIM KARDASHIAN & KANYE WEST are having a baby. Imma let them finish, but Beyonce had the best celebrity pregnancy evah.

CHARLIE SHEEN has opened a bar in Mexico... and hurled a homophobic slur at the audience during its opening.

MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY's wife gave birth to their third child. Alrightalrightalright.

EMMYLOU HARRIS is now in the crosshairs of the L.A. County District Attorney for allegedly hitting a car on an L.A. Freeway and then hightailing it out of there.

HUGH HEFNER married Crystal Harris.

KATE WINSLET was said to be "over the moon" after Sir Richard Branson bought her a trip to space as a wedding present.

ANNE HATHAWAY's quest to be taken seriously.

NICK STAHL: Missing, found, missing, found, and now ... arrested for "touching himself" in a pr0n store. I hope the rehab is going better.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE is a big fan of reality TV and junk food.

THE UNITED STATES: A Senate report harshly criticized the State Department for its "grievous mistake" of failing to close the US Consulate in Benghazi before the Sept. 11 attack in the face of known security risks.

IRAN's navy claims it has tested the Iranian-manufactured air defense system Raad ("Thunder") during an exercise near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran also conducted a "cyberwarfare drill" during the same exercise.

SYRIA: Unconfirmed reports claim heavy clashes between Syrian and Jordanian military forces occurred near the Ramtha border crossing. As Assad's regime becomes increasingly isolated, Iranian officials and clerics appear divided on how to respond to their longtime ally.

PAKISTAN: The government released eight more Afghan Taliban detainees, including former Taliban justice minister Mullah Nooruddin Turabi.

IRAQ: Multiple explosions across Iraq targeted government officials, police patrols and members of both the Sunni and Shiite sects. Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq survived a purported assassination attempt in Ramadi.

GIRAFFE BATTLE: Let's go to the video.

VULTURES attack tourists at the Everglades.

CLUCK CLUCK the CHICKEN turned fire alarm to save a Wisconsin couple.

CONTROL A COCKROACH via Twitter.

THE NEW YEAR'S WEEKEND STARTS HERE (see y'all next Wednesday):

...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).

DIVINE FITS plays Morning Becomes Eclectic in this end-of-year encore link.

DIRTY PROJECTORS plays Morning Becomes Eclectic in this end-of-year encore link.

AC NEWMAN plays The Current in this end-of-year encore link.

ALABAMA SHAKES play SXSW in this end-of-year encore link.

FATHER JOHN MISTY plays Morning Becomes Eclectic in this end-of-year encore link.

THE dB's play World Cafe Live in this end-of-year encore link.

MAYER HAWTHORNE plays Morning Becomes Eclectic in this end-of-year encore link.

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."

CLAUDE PATE: Don't forget you can stream a live version of "New Year" at PateSpace, or a fan-made video on the Tube, which has comments from a member of The Eclectics and Friend of Pate Ken King.

JOE JACKSON: Pate frequently attempted "One More Time" to 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, a Beat Crazy-era run of "On Your Radio" the official clip for "It's Different For Girls" and a bracing live take on "I'm The Man." That last one is taken from the Rock Goes To College show, which also boasts this pulsing version of his signature "Is She Really Going Out With Him?"  BONUS: The appropos finale, "Got The Time?"

IN MEMORIAM: Musicians who passed in 2012, courtesy of NPR, while Stereogum has band breakups.

THE 50 MOST ANTICIPATED LPs of 2013, according to Stereogum.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED has a 2013 Winter Music Preview.

FONTELLA BASS, a great R & B and jazz singer, best known for the 1965 hit "Rescue Me," died in her hometown of St. Louis after suffering a heart attack. She was 72.

RAY COLLINS, singer and co-founder of the Mothers of Invention, has died at the age of 74.

CUTOUT BIN: and more -- this year's final fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

THE ZOMBIES: "This Will Be Our Year."

NOW SHOWING: There are no new wide releases this post-Christmas weekend, but Silver Linings Playbook platforms to 745 screens, scoring 91 percent on the ol' Tomatometer.  I also liked it.

BRITNEY SPEARS is on her way out as a judge for the X Factor.

KATE WINSLET secretly tied the knot with Richard Branson's nephew; Leonardo DiCaprio gave her away.

MILEY CYRUS: Married?

TOM CRUISE: Dirty Dancing on a date in NYC.

EMMA STONE & ANDREW GARFIELD adopted a dog together.

NATALIE PORTMAN & KRISTEN STEWART: Hollywood's best actors for the buck, according to Forbes.

GEN. NORMAN SCHWARZKOPF (Ret.), who commanded coalition forces during the Gulf War, died Thursday, a U.S. official said. He was 78.

SYRIA: UN envoy Brahimi proposed a peace plan that included a transitional government with executive powers until new elections could be held. The National Coalition said it would agree to any plan that excludes President Assad. Russia sought to revive an earlier peace plan without the stipulation.

ISRAEL's internal security service arrested 10 members of an armed cell of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Two suspects are charged with plotting to kidnap an Israeli soldier; the other eight face related terror charges.

EGYPT: Prosecutors ordered an investigation into opposition leaders over allegations that they planned to overthrow the government. An Islamist group in Sinai threatened to launch a crusade against drug use and cigarette smoking. Two ministers resigned over economic reforms.

IRAQ: Thousands of protesters from Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority kept up a week-old blockade on a key highway on Thursday and readied mass rallies for Friday to demand concessions from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

A DOG loves "Auld Lang Syne." (Or does it?) All my life, I don't know what this song means...

ABBY, A BLIND DOG, was rescued after a week in the Alaskan wilderness.

THE MOOSE SEX PROJECT: The program is aiming to raise 35000 to buy a narrow strip of the Chignecto Isthmus - a strip of land between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick -- for moose hookups.

ENDANGERED TIGERS are making a comeback due to better law enforcement, protection of habitat and strong government partnerships, a U.S. wildlife group says.