THE BLACK KEYS cover the Edwyn Collins gem "A Girl Like You." And Edwyn digs it.

CHRISTOPHER OWENS advance streams A New Testament.

THE VASELINES advance stream V For Vaselines.

IMELDA MAY advance streams Tribal.

GARY CLARK JR advance streams a live album.

MARIANNE FAITHFULL drops collaborations with Nick Cave, Roger Waters and Anna Calvi ahead of Give My Love to London.

THE MOODY BLUES "Ride My Seesaw" on French TV for Twofer "Tuesday Afternoon."

THE REPLACEMENTS are profiled by Rolling Stone, and reveal they'll likely make an album at some point in the future.

A.C. NEWMAN & NEKO CASE talk to Morning Edition about pop songwriting. And mondegreens.

PERFUME GENIUS: Mike Hadreas talks to Drowned In Sound about the new album and video, etc.

30 UNDERRATED ALBUMS, rated by musicians.

AMBER HEARD, Johnny Depp's fiance, is the latest victim of the celebrity photo hacking scandal.

ARIANA GRANDE has become such a diva that even her life coach couldn't handle it.

KRIS JENNER  has filed for divorce, and TMZ reports it's already a done deal.

TOM HARDY & CHARLOTTE RILEY: Secretly married?

BRYAN SINGER has inked a  to direct X-Men: Apocalypse.

TOTAL RECALL inspires some odd plastic surgery.

THE UNITED STATES: Some of the estimated 100 Americans who have tried to get to Syria and join up with groups like the Islamic State have returned to the United States and are under FBI scrutiny, a top US official told reporters on Monday.

JORDAN arrested 11 members of the Islamic State group who it said confessed to planning "terrorist operations" in the kingdom, a security official said on Sunday.

YEMEN: Shiite rebels seized the Yemeni government headquarters Sunday and the premier resigned as violence raged despite a UN announcement of a power-sharing deal to end days of fighting, officials said.

SYRIA: The US and partnered forces began striking the Islamic State in Syria. Meanwhile, Al-Qaeda-linked rebels have, for the first time, established a permanent presence on the Syrian frontier.

IRAQ: After six weeks of American airstrikes, the Iraqi government’s forces have scarcely budged Sunni extremists of the Islamic State from their hold on more than a quarter of the country, in part because many critical Sunni tribes remain on the sidelines.

PAKISTAN is advancing toward a sea-based missile capability and expanding its interest in tactical nuclear warheads, according to Pakistani and Western analysts.

FROGS go wild for worm videos.

A GOLDFISH is saved from a door step by a police sergeant.

A PUPPY sparks a fatal sword duel near Lawrenceville, GA.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT: A calf with six legs.

THE POP ALL-STARS-- Win Butler, Will Butler, Justin Vernon, Regine Chassagne, Nikolai Fraiture, A-Trak, and Kid Koala--covered  ’In The Air Tonight’ by Phil Collins at a "Pop vs Jock" basketball event.

JULIAN CASABLANCAS + THE VOIDS advance stream Tyranny.

LUCINDA WILLIAMS advance streams Down Where The Spirit Meets The Bone.

KAT EDMONSON advance streams The Big Picture.

APHEX TWIN is streaming Syro via Spotify (but is it official?)

GEORGE HARRISON: Hear an alternate take of "The Inner light."

THE REPLACEMENTS have been covering the Jackson 5 classic "I Want You Back" on their latest tour to honor ill guitarist Slim Dunlap. And the crowd goes wild.

JEFF TWEEDY talks to The Guardian about why the album still matters; Sukierae is a double.

30 OF THE BEST DOUBLE-LPs, according to NME.

MIKE WATT talks to PopMatters about his second LP with il Sogno del Marinaio.

THE BEST SCOTTISH ACTS, according to Amoeba Music. (Thx, LHB.)

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: The Maze Runner tops the chart with 32.5 million, a litle below industry projections, though the studio indicated it would be happy with anything over 30. That sounds about right with a 34 million budget, particularly in September. A Walk Among the Tombstones places with 13.1 million, which is pretty soft for a Liam Neeson action pic (Non-Stop opened  more than twice as big).  But with a 28 million budget, Neeson's international appeal should pull this one into the black. This Is Where I Leave You shows with 11.9 million; the cast and director would make this a disappointment, but not against a 19.8 million budget. No Good Deed drops to the fourth slot with 10.2 million; that's a 58 percent drop, but a 40.1 million total against a 13.2 million budget.  Dolphin Tale 2 rounds out the Top 5 with 9 million, on 43 percent drop suggesting this won't have the legs of the original and may even lose money.  Guardians of the Galaxy drops out of the Top 5, but enters the all-time Top 40.

THE OVERSEAS MARKETS: Note that summer staples like Lucy and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes are continuing to do do big biz in markets like China.

HACKED NUDE CELEBS: A second round of photos hit the internet, including  Kim Kardashian West, Vanessa Hudgens, Hope Solo, Jennifer Lawrence,Kaley Cuoco, Gabrielle Union, Kate Bosworth, Hayden Panetierre, Lake Bell, and possibly Aubrey Plaza.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE turned up again fro Chris Martin's Coldplay gig in Vegas.  Could be serious.

POLLY BERGEN, who in a long acting career played Robert Mitchum in Cape Fear, not to mention The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, has passed away at 84.

COLIN FARRELL confirmed his casting in True Detective Season 2.

L. FRANK BAUM, the man who brought to life the magical world of Oz is getting his own big-screen treatment. The screenpaly is already up for an award.

FRIENDS: How NBC almost killed the comedy of the 90s.

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin privately threatened to invade Poland, Romania and the Baltic states, according to a record of a conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart.

YEMEN: Shi’ite Houthi rebels and government forces fought for a fourth straight day in the Yemeni capital, residents said, despite the announcement of a UN-brokered peace agreement due to be signed later on Sunday.

SYRIA: Islamic State militants tightened their noose on a northern Syrian border town on Sunday as the United Nations said the number of Syrian Kurds fleeing into neighbouring Turkey may have topped 100,000 and was likely to go much higher.

IRAQ: As America re-engages with Iraq and deepens its involvement in the region’s web of sectarian conflicts, the Pentagon has made a practical assessment of the brutal job of stabilizing Baghdad: in the future, U.S. forces may be needed on the front lines.

A KITTEN mesmerized by its own tail.

A PLUCKY RAT uses a L.A. subway escalator as a treadmill.

A 100-LB TORTOISE blocked traffic in Sarasota.

GEESE, A CROCODILE, and a hunter make for a dandy Aussie police report.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with THE BYRDS! To everything there is a season, and when the leaves start turning, my thoughts turn to this rare live threefer of "Turn! Turn! Turn!", "Bells of Rhymney" and "Mr. Tambourine Man", introduced by... David McCallum? There are more screaming girls, plus go-go dancers when they hit Shivaree for "All I Really Want to Do" and "Feel A Whole Lot Better."  There are even more dancers when they cover "Long Tall Sally" and "Not Fade Away" for Shindig! on June 23, 1965, while I'm pretty sure that's Ed Wynn introducing "Chimes of Freedom."

BOB MOULD performs on WNYC Soundcheck.

BENJAMIN BOOKER plays songs from his debut LP at KEXP.

JD McPHERSON stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

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

COUSTEAU: "The Last Good Day of the Year." Or close to it.

GUIDED BY VOICES breaks up again.

JEFF TWEEDY talks to The Atlantic about Daniel Johnston and subconscious songwriting.

JACK WHITE had words for Rolling Stone and Foo Fighters; he took back some of them, sort of.

R.E.M.'s TOP 10 COVERS, according to Stereogum.

THE CUTOUT BIN: By popular demand, it's another special back-to-school edition streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: This weekend's wide releases include The Maze Runner, currently scoring 64 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; This Is Where I Leave You, currently scoring 42 percent; and A Walk Among the Tombstones, scoring 58 percent.

JOAN RIVERS' personal doctor, contra prior reports, did not take a selfie while the comedienne was under anesthesia.

MILEY CYRUS could go to jail for an onstage stunt with a Mexican flag.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE was the guest of honor at boyfriend Chris Martin's Coldplay gig in L.A.; she knew all the words.

DARRELL HAMMOND wil replace the late, legendary Don Pardo as the SNL announcer.

AUBREY PLAZA will be the voice of Grumpy Cat.

MATTHEW McCONNAUGHEY won't return for the Magic Mike sequel.

MATT SMITH (Doctor Who) has joined the cast of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.

SCOTLAND, as I write this, isn't breaking up with the United Kingdom.

UKRAINE: President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine on Thursday implored the US Congress to provide Ukraine’s soldiers with heavy military equipment as his country seeks to repel what he called a continuing invasion by Russian forces. But after meeting with President Obama in the Oval Office later in the day, Mr. Poroshenko said he was satisfied with American support that falls short of his request.

FRANCE: President Hollande said France would provide air support Iraqi army efforts against the Islamic State in Iraq, but would not participate in strikes on the IS in Syria and in any cause would not be providing ground troops for the effort against the group.

SYRIA: Islamic State fighters besieged a Kurdish city in northern Syria on Thursday after seizing 21 villages in a major assault, prompting a call to arms from Kurds in neighboring Turkey who urged followers to go and help resist the group's advance.

IRAQ: Three top Iraq Shiite militias, which receive considerable backing from Iran, warned the United States not to reoccupy the country—and leading the charge was Muqtada al-Sadr. U.S. aircraft have targeted a training camp for Islamic State jihadists in northern Iraq, bombing buildings, troops and vehicles in the first such air strike, military officers said Thursday.

THIS DOG WEDDING is elaborate.

A YARD-LONG TEGU LIZARD was mistaken for a crocodile on the loose in Huntington Park in L.A. County.

LEASH YOUR BEAR before going into the pub.

DOGS possess skills similar to those of a five-month-old baby, researchers have revealed.

THE REMBRANDTS played "I'll Be There For You" in a pop-up Central Perk. Introduced by the dude who played Gunther.

J MASCIS  treats KEXP listeners to a live in-studio performance from The Cutting Room in NYC.

SHOVELS & ROPE stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set.

HAMILTON LEITHAUSER delivers a special concert for KEXP's VIP donors at The Triple Door in Seattle.

PHANTOGRAM performs live in the KEXP studio.

RESTORATIONS drop "Misprint" ahead of LP3.

BEACH SLANG drops "Dirty Cigarettes" ahead of Cheap Thrills On A Dead End Street.

U2's religiousity is examined in The New Yorker.

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS' John Darnielle talks to Fresh Air about his novel, The Hulk, heavy metal, heavy drugs, and more.

THE 100 BEST SINGLES OF 1984: Pop's Greatest Year, according to Rolling Stone.

BOB CREWE, hit songwriter and record producer for the Four Seasons, has died at the age of 83. His co-compositions also include the Tremeloes' Silence is Golden (1964), the Walker Brothers' The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore) (1966), Labelle's Lady Marmalade (1974), and the Bay City Rollers' Bye Bye Baby (Baby Goodbye) (1975).

JOAN RIVERS: The cardiac arrest leading to Joan Rivers' death happened as the comedian's personal doctor began performing a biopsy on her vocal cords. A staff member at Manhattan's Yorkville Endoscopy clinic told investigators that the doctor, who has not been publicly identified, took a selfie photo in the procedure room while Rivers was under anesthesia.

GEORGE CLOONEY is not paying for his wedding to Amal Alamuddin.

IGGY AZALEA is suing the ex-boyfriend/producer who says he shot a sex tape with her -- because she says the creep also illegally copied data from her laptop.  In the suit, she also accuses him of forgery.

AVRIL LAVIGNE and Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger are headed for a split after a year of marriage.

KIM KARDASHIAN says she nd Kanye West are trying for a second child.

BEYONCE: Photoshopping her own photos? She and Jay Z reportedly renewed their wedding vows and are looking at an 85 million dollar manse. Trying to squash those breakupr umors in a big way.

BEN-HUR: British actor Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire) is expected to take the lead role in a remake of the 1959 classic.

TOP GUN 2 reportedly will emphasize the relevance of pilots in the modern age of drone warfare. Oh boy. 

IRAQ: About half of Iraq’s army is incapable of partnering effectively with the U.S. to roll back the Islamic State group’s territorial gains in western and northern Iraq, and the other half needs to be partially rebuilt with U.S. training and additional equipment, the top U.S. military officer said Wednesday. Army chief of staff General Odierno said airstrikes alone will not root out extremists in Iraq, ground troops will also be needed, and that extremists cannot be permitted a safe haven in Syria.

SYRIA: House Republicans and Democrats backed President Barack Obama’s request to train and equip Syrian rebels in a measure that both parties stressed doesn’t authorize a U.S. ground war to defeat Islamic militants.Meanwhile Syria has revealed a previously undeclared research and development facility and a laboratory to produce the poison ricin to the global chemical weapons watchdog, diplomatic sources told Reuters.

THE ISLAMIC STATE: The campaign against the Islamic State will likely require close-in U.S. training and assistance for irregular ground forces under the command of the Ground Branch of the CIA’s Special Activities Division. The US is allied with Asaib Ahl al-Haq and other Shiite militias, who also pose a central challenge to the creation of a more just and less sectarian Iraqi government.

GOAT Says What?

A CAT hit at 70mph and dragged for 10 miles down a motorway had its ears burned off - but survived.

A GREAT DANE ate 43 and a half socks.

FIELD OF DONKEYS: Near Roswell, NM, to no one's surprise.

RYAN ADAMS joined BOB MOULD for the Hüsker Dü classics, “I Apologize” and “Something I Learned Today”.

RYAN ADAMS also drops the Jacksonville EP.

WHIRR advance streams Sway.

SPRAY PAINT advance streams Clean Blood, Regular Acid.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED: Tracks from Bedhead, Cold Specks, Daniel Lanois and more highlight the latest edition.

THE BOOMTOWN RATS: "Rat Trap," live at the Hammersmith Odeon, 1978.

LEONARD COHEN talks about "Hallelujah" and Popular Problems in London.

NICK CAVE talks to NPR about the 20,000 Days on Earth documentary, why therapists ask better questions than journalists and finding "something where there's still a spark of discovery within the song."

THE MUSIC THAT CHANGED MY LIFE: In which Phil Collins's No Jacket Required prevents a suicide.

SPOTIFY knows Walt Hickey better than he knows himself.

EVA MENDES & RYAN GOSLING welcomed a baby girl on Friday, Sept. 12.

RHIANNA got dumped by CBS entirely after she profanely slammed them for pulling her song from the premiere of Thursday Night Football.

IGGY AZALEA's  former boyfriend/manager now claims Iggy signed her rights away to him, giving him legal authority to market their sex tape.

BEN AFLECK talks Batman and Gone Girl.

BOURNE IS BACK: Universal Pictures has begun making deals with Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass to reunite for their third film in The Bourne Identity series.

THE FACTS OF LIFE, 35 years later (though they would rather you not mention that).

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER is getting a reboot because of course it is.

GERMANY: What's behind the country's renewed anti-Semitism?

THE ISLAMIC STATE: The United States' top military officer said Tuesday he would advise President Barack Obama to use ground troops against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant if the current strategy is unsuccessfuL Almost ureported was his testimony that some of our supposed Arab alliesfund the Islamic State.

IRAQ: What are the 1,600 US troops already doing (or not doing) there?

SYRIA: Congress is expected to vote this week on giving the Obama administration the authority to combat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria by providing arms and training—to someone. But whom?

THE OWL and the PUSSYCAT: Just hanging out.

A COLOSSAL SQUID weighing an estimated 350 kilograms and thought to be only the second intact specimen ever found was carrying eggs when discovered in the Antarctic.

A GOLDFISH underwent micro-surgery to remove a tumor.

AN ALASKAN GRIZZLY CUB abandoned by his mother and seemingly left for dead has been adopted by another female bear in a turn of events that seems more like it belongs in a Disney movie than in the wild.