THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with GARAGE ROCK! It's the time of year when I bring out The Standells - "Dirty Water/ Why Pick On Me", but I couldn't stop there. Let's have a dozen Nuggets, like Music Machine - "Talk Talk"; Blues Magoos - "We Ain't Got Nothin' Yet"; The Knickerbockers - "Lies"; The Outsiders - "Time Won't Let Me"; Count Five - "Psychotic Reaction"; The Seeds - "Pushin' Too Hard"; 13th Floor Elevators - "You're Gonna Miss Me"; The Leaves - "Hey Joe"; Electric Prunes - "I Had Too Much To Dream Last Night," the Crazy World of Arthur Brown - "Fire" and The Nazz- "Open My Eyes."

THE CHURCH stopped by World Cafe for a chat and mini-set, including that one.

TORO Y MOI stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

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

ALEXEI SHISHKIN advance streams the low-key, lo-fi The Dog Tape.

RHETT MILLER drops "Most In The Summertime" ahead of The Traveler.

RIVERGAZER covers Stillwater's "Fever Dog." It's All Happening.

THE LA's: "There She Goes." Again.

BRIAN WILSON talks to The Guardian about the Love and Mercy biopic, incontinent dogs, Punk rock, and "God Only Knows" what.

LIZ PHAIR revisits Exile In Guyville with SPIN.

RIOT GRRRL got a holiday in Boston, so NPR essays the movement.

THE NATIONAL are putting out a six-hour version of "Sorrow" as a box set.

THE REPLACEMENTS: Ten of the Best.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases are The Longest Ride, which is currently scoring 34 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; and Woman In Gold, which expands wide scoring 50 percent.

TAYLOR SWIFT's mother was diagnosed with cancer.

TRUE DETECTIVE: Season 2 has a trailer online.

JENNIE GARTH is engaged for the third time.

TEN SUMMER TENTPOLES, compiled by NME.

MONTY PYTHON & THE HOLY GRAIL turned 40 yesterday.

RICHARD DYSART, a stage and screen actor known best for his performance as Leland McKenzie in the NBC legal drama L.A. Law, died Sunday in his home in Santa Monica. He was 86.

LIBYA: A spiritual leader and top judge with Ansar al Sharia defected to the Islamic State.

IRAN: Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Thursday he neither backed nor rejected an interim accord with six world powers on Tehran's disputed nuclear program but demanded all sanctions be lifted immediately once a final agreement was concluded.

A JAGUAR eats a steak. Your moment of zen.

GODZILLA was welcomed in Tokyo and made an unofficial tourim ambassador. Then he destroyed the city.

THE GOLDFISH was murdered.

TORONTO declares war on raccoons.

ST VINCENT: Annie Clark busts out "Teenage Talk" for Fallon, and explains how she wrote it.

FATHER JOHN MISTY stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

OK GO goes acoustic at The Current.

ANDY KIM stopped by World Cafe to play songs old and new.

MOON KING advance streams their forthcoming debut Secret Life.

WHITE REAPER drops “Make Me Wanna Die,” from their forthcoming full-length debut White Reaper Does It Again.

SMOKEY & THE MIRACLES: "Going to a Go-Go."

ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN: Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant talk about "The Killing Moon" at The Guardian.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE's Ben Gibbard talks to Drowned In Sound about not putting the band back together (entirely).

FRANCES BEAN COBAIN prefers Oasis to Nirvana.

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS: John Darnielle shares favorite wrestling videos with Vulture.

TWIN PEAKS cast members make a video titled, "Twin Peaks without David Lynch is like...??"

EMMA STONE & ANDREW GARFIELD are "taking a break" after three years. It totally wasn't my fault.

SOFIA VERGARA tells Vanity Fair how she turned her biggest liability into gold, and how she thought fiancé Joe Manganiello was “too handsome” for her.  Also, pics.

CRISTOPH WALTZ denied he is set to play Blofeld in Spectre, calling the claims "absolutely untrue."

MISCHA BARTON calls her Mom a financial vampire.

BARRY MANILOW and his longtime manager Garry Kief tied the knot last year in a private ceremony. Shocka!

LOGAN'S RUN: Could it return with a star actress?

GEOFFREY LEWIS, longtime character actor and father of Juliette, died Tuesday in Woodland Hills, Calif., of natural causes, according to a family friend. He was 79.

BOSTON: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted on all charges Wednesday in the Boston Marathon bombing by a jury that will now decide whether the 21-year-old should be executed or shown mercy for what his lawyer says was a crime masterminded by his big brother.

RUSSIA: The commander in charge of defending North America from attacks said Tuesday that Russia has a "far more capable military than the quantitative, very large military that the Soviet Union had." 

YEMEN: The new American defense secretary acknowledged Wednesday that Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen had exploited the tumult partly created by the Saudi-led airstrikes there to capture territory, in what has become a broad expansion by the Sunni extremist group.

IRAN's Defense Minister categorically rejected as a "lie" a Guardian report alleging that Tehran has granted access to its military facilities under the recent framework agreement with the world powers.  Meanwhile, the Foreign Minister said that Pakistan and Iran should cooperate to solve the crisis in Yemen.

CAT STUCK IN A FISHBOWL: I know it's serious.

FOUR TINY MONKEYS are caught in a diplomatic spat between Sweden and Saudi Arabia.

A FLORIDA BOBCAT fishes a shark from the ocean.

THE BRONTOSAURUS is back, Baby!

ST VINCENT: Annie Clark busts out "Teenage Talk" for Fallon, and explains how she wrote it.

FATHER JOHN MISTY stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set.

OK GO goes acoustic at The Current.

ANDY KIM stopped by World Cafe to play songs old and new.

MOON KING advance streams their forthcoming debut Secret Life.

WHITE REAPER drops “Make Me Wanna Die,” from their forthcoming full-length debut White Reaper Does It Again.

SMOKEY & THE MIRACLES: "Going to a Go-Go."

ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN: Ian McCulloch and Will Sergeant talk about "The Killing Moon" at The Guardian.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE's Ben Gibbard talks to Drowned In Sound about not putting the band back together (entirely).

FRANCES BEAN COBAIN prefers Oasis to Nirvana.

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS: John Darnielle shares favorite wrestling videos with Vulture.

TWIN PEAKS cast members make a video titled, "Twin Peaks without David Lynch is like...??"

EMMA STONE & ANDREW GARFIELD are "taking a break" after three years. It totally wasn't my fault.

SOFIA VERGARA tells Vanity Fair how she turned her biggest liability into gold, and how she thought fiancé Joe Manganiello was “too handsome” for her.  Also, pics.

CRISTOPH WALTZ denied he is set to play Blofeld in Spectre, calling the claims "absolutely untrue."

MISCHA BARTON calls her Mom a financial vampire.

BARRY MANILOW and his longtime manager Garry Kief tied the knot last year in a private ceremony. Shocka!

LOGAN'S RUN: Could it return with a star actress?

GEOFFREY LEWIS, longtime character actor and father of Juliette, died Tuesday in Woodland Hills, Calif., of natural causes, according to a family friend. He was 79.

BOSTON: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was convicted on all charges Wednesday in the Boston Marathon bombing by a jury that will now decide whether the 21-year-old should be executed or shown mercy for what his lawyer says was a crime masterminded by his big brother.

RUSSIA: The commander in charge of defending North America from attacks said Tuesday that Russia has a "far more capable military than the quantitative, very large military that the Soviet Union had." 

YEMEN: The new American defense secretary acknowledged Wednesday that Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen had exploited the tumult partly created by the Saudi-led airstrikes there to capture territory, in what has become a broad expansion by the Sunni extremist group.

IRAN's Defense Minister categorically rejected as a "lie" a Guardian report alleging that Tehran has granted access to its military facilities under the recent framework agreement with the world powers.  Meanwhile, the Foreign Minister said that Pakistan and Iran should cooperate to solve the crisis in Yemen.

CAT STUCK IN A FISHBOWL: I know it's serious.

FOUR TINY MONKEYS are caught in a diplomatic spat between Sweden and Saudi Arabia.

A FLORIDA BOBCAT fishes a shark from the ocean.

THE BRONTOSAURUS is back, Baby!

ANDREW BIRD covers the New Pronographers' "Fake Headlines."

KATHRYN CALDER (the youngest member of New Pronographers) advance streams her self-titled solo LP.

THE LEISURE SOCIETY advance streams The Fine Art of Hanging On.

NEON WALTZ advance streams First Light, a collection of demos and live recordings.

DEL PAXTON & GULFER stream a split 7".

VAN HUNT drops "Old Hat" ahead of The Fun Rises, The Fun Sets.

THE ONLY ONES: "Another Girl, Another Planet," live in '79.

TEENAGE FANCLUB talks to SPIN about their unlikely breakout LP, Bandwagonesque.

TODD RUNDGREN talks to Magnet about his 25th solo LP, an upcoming collaboration with Norway’s Lindstrøm, and time playing and writing with Ringo Starr.

DON McLEAN's  famously enigmatic "American Pie" original manuscript sold for 1.2MM at Christie’s in New York on Tuesday.

GWAR denies stealing the ashes of their late frontman, Save Brockie, a/k/a Oderus Urungus.

TOM CRUISE has not seen his 8-year-old daughter in almost a year, according to sources connected to Katie Holmes.

NBC NEWS: Inside the Civil Wars.

B.B. KING remians hospitalized, but his daughter later said he "is much better."

JON CRYER is coming out with a new tell-all, spilling lurid details on the Charlie Sheen meltdown and his own love life. 

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT Executive Producer Brian Grazer says the beloved sitcom has 17 more episodes in the works.

THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON -- What you won't see in the upcoming Summer tentpole.

TRON 3: Olivia Wilde, Garrett Hedlund, and director Joseph Kosinski will return to helm the threequel.

STAN FREBERG, whose freewheeling comic career in advertising garnered him worldwide acclaim and whose satirical entertainments abounded on TV, the radio and on records, has died. He was 88.

JAMES BEST, who famously played bumbling Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane on The Dukes of Hazzard, died Monday night at age 88.

RUSSIAN hackers behind the damaging cyber intrusion of the State Department in recent months used that perch to penetrate sensitive parts of the White House computer system, according to U.S. officials briefed on the investigation.

THE UNITED STATES is speeding up arms supplies to the Saudi-led coalition against Houthi fighters opposed to U.S.-allied Yemeni President Abed Rabbou Mansour Hadi, Deputy Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday.

IRAN could have the capabilities to build a nuclear bomb almost immediately after the first 13 years of the emerging nuclear deal, President Barack Obama acknowledged on Tuesday.

THE WORLD'S BIGGEST BUNNY may be eclipsed by his son.

THE SWARM menaced the White House Easter egg roll.

THE SNAKE That's Eating Florida.

GATOR in your son's bedroom? Was that wrong?

DAWES drops a video for "Things Happen" ahead of All Your Favorite Bands.

CHRIS FARREN advance streams the Where U Are EP.

TELEPATHIC POWERS advance streams heir debut EP, Powers Of Ten.

AVID DANCER advance streams 1st Bath.

LOWLAND HUM advance streams their self-titled second album.

MAC McCAUGHAN dropped the catchy, lo-fi "Box Batteries" ahead of Non Believers.

ST VINCENT: Annie Clark's "Teenage Talk," from the Girls soundtrack, is on Spotify.

DESAPARECIDOS drop "City on the Hill" ahead of Payola.

FRANK BLACK turned 50 yesterday, so let's have a "Headache" and his cover of "Duke of Earl" for Twofer Tuesday.

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS: John Darnielle talked to PopMatters about Beat the Champ.

COURTNEY BARNETT talks songwriting and shyness on Weekend Edition.

BRYCE DESSNER & RICHARD REED PARRY, from The National and Arcade Fire, respectively, talk composition and collaboration at The Current.

ALVVAYS talks to the Big Takeover, over a vegan platter.

TWIN PEAKS: Showtime continues to hope it can work things out with David Lynch.

JENNIFER LAWRENCE & CHRIS MARTIN were spotted on another date in NYC.

KRISTEN STEWART won the French equivalent of an Oscar.

B.B. KING was rushed to a Las Vegas hospital this past weekend and remains hospitalized at a medical center close to his Vegas home.

DANIEL CRAIG had surgery to repair a knee injury sustained while filming scenes for the new James Bond film.

THE UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT did not drive Dr. Fredric Brandt to suicide.

KENYA's military has carried out airstrikes on Al-Shabaab targets in Somalia.

THE ISLAMIC STATE is almost entirely led by members of Sadaam Hussein’s former Baathist army. Islamic State extremists at Iraq's ancient city of Hatra destroyed the archaeological site by smashing sledgehammers into its walls and shooting Kalashnikov assault rifles at priceless statues.

A GRIZZLY BEAR stops by for biscuits.

THE BASKING SHARK was spotted in Scotland for the first time this season. They could put the jaws in Jaws.

WHEN SEA LIONS ATTACK: A man was injured on Sunday after he was pulled into the water by a sea lion that jumped from the water at a San Diego marina and grabbed a fish he was holding, authorities said.

THE BIG CAT CROSSING: I'll look, but I'm not visiting.