DUFFY brings the Dusty-esque melancholy in the video for "Warwick Avenue."

THE B-52s played for WXPN at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia; you can stream the whole gig on demand via NPR. 

NICOLE ATKINS talks to the Times of London about dreams and monsters, and how Rick Rubin put her Neptune City album on hold to remix it.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED:  New tracks from Circulatory System, Elf Power, the Black Keys, Gnarls Barkley and folk singer Laura Gibson are featured in the latest edition of the long-running series from NPR.

THE NATIONAL frontman Matt Berninger talks to JamBands about R.E.M., lyrics and Phish.

WEEKEND VAMPIRE talks to The List, with guitarist and singer Ezra Koenig commenting on the African rhythms in some of their music: "But it was important for us, if we were going to be playing rock instruments, not to use the same rhythms, the same styles of playing that so much rock has used. It becomes kind of boring."  The band was joined by a drum line on Kimmel for a rendition of "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa."

MICK JONES (The Clash, B.A.D., Carbon/Silicon) has written a song ttitled, "Don't tase me, bro!" after the arrest of an excitable college student.

CLOUD CULT stopped by WNYC for a chat and a twofer you can stream on demand va NPR.

AMY WINEHOUSE was released from a London police station Saturday after spending a night in custody following her arrest for an assault -- but her distraught dad wants her forcibly locked up in a mental hospital for her own good.

PHIL COLLINS is to retire from recording and performing after over 30 years in the music industry.

MILEY CYRUS issued a statement apologizing for a series of playfully provocative photos that circulated on the Internet last week, as well as those from a racy, as-yet unreleased Vanity Fair photo shoot in which she appears to be nude. Retail sales for her Hannah Montana franchise are expected to total about $1 billion in 2008. A motion picture is in the works for 2009 and Ms. Cyrus signed a seven-figure book deal with the Disney Book Group last week.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE:  Over the the weekend before summer box office season, Baby Mama takes the top slot with 18 million on a 30 million budget.  Harold & Kumar 2 followed with 14 million on a 12 million budget.  That's good, as Baby Mam may have more legs as a counter to Iron Man this weekend and Speed Racer next weekend.  Harold & Kumar made almost as much as the entire theater run of the original, thouhg that went on to make 60 million in DVD sales.  Forbidden Kingdom edged out Forgetting Sarah Marshall, though the latter dropped only 38 percent -- not bad in the face of Baby Mama.  The Judd Apatow production has laready recouped its budget.  Nim's Island rounds out the Top Five and also recoups its production budget.  Deception debuted in tenth and is DOA, for all sorts of good reasons.

JENNIFER ANISTON & JOHN MAYER are in a hot new romance - thanks to matchmaker Sheryl Crow, according to the ever-reliable National Enquirer.

BENNIFER, ROB LOWE, PAM ANDERSON and ASHLEE SIMPSON were among the celebs attending this year's White House Correspondents' Association dinner Saturday night. "Pamela Anderson and Mitt Romney in the same room?" Pres. Bush said. "Isn't that one of the signs of the apocalypse?"

SCARLETT JOHANSSON talks to The Scotsman about her new album, and sitting in with the Jesus And Mary Chain with a show at the 2007 Coachella Festival.

SHANNON ELIZABETH & DEREK HOUGH getting married in Vegas?  I'm pretty sure they were kidding.

MADONNA hired her gardener to direct her new documentary about HIV/AIDS orphans in Malawi, which delivers a sizeable wallop of the Kabbalah Center of Los Angeles without informing the audience about what's going on.

GYLLENSPOON: Looking more serious all the time.

RUMER WILLIS picks up where Carrie Underwood left off? 

CHRISTINA RICCI is used to steamy scenes, but nothing could prepare the actress for being groped a chimpanzee on the set of Speed Racer.

UNTOONED: Homer Simpson, Mario and Jessica Rabbit are made flesh through the magic of Photoshop at Pixeloo.  Jessica even has a video showing how it's done.

GLOBAL SOMETHING: While the last Arctic summer was the warmest on record, we had a cold summer with a sea-ice maximum in the Antarctic.

INDONESIA: Chastity belts, which went out of fashion with knights in shining armor and damsels in distress, are making a comeback in the massage parlors of East Java. In recent years, conservative Islamic values have gained influence in a society that has long enjoyed liberal freedoms, such as easy access to alcohol, gambling and the sex trade.

IRAN: A ship contracted by the US Navy had to fire warning shots in the direction of two unidentified speedboats in the Gulf, US military officials say.  In January, the US said speedboats from Iran had harassed US Navy ships in the Gulf.  In the latest incident, Tehran said its vessels had had no confrontations with US ships.

IRAQ: Less than one week after threatening to conduct an uprising against the Iraqi government and US forces, Moqtada al Sadr called for the Mahdi Army to maintain the self-imposed cease-fire. Five British hostages who were kidnapped in Iraq almost a year ago are being held inside Iran by Revolutionary Guards, according to two separate sources in the Middle East and London. If confirmed, the involvement of Revolutionary Guards would be seen as evidence that senior figures in the Iranian government had backed the decision to hold them in the country.  Have the US's three most important Asian alliances - with Australia, Japan and South Korea - been strengthened by the Iraq campaign?

PIERRE the PENGUIN,  a venerable 25 years old, was going bald -- so the California Academy of Sciences had a wetsuit created to help him get back in the swim of things.  Let's go to the video.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: It used to be Grey vs. red, but now mutant black squirrels have already taken over in parts of England and appear to be spreading.

THE BIRDS: Hungry seagulls have forced playtime to be cancelled in Croatian schools after they started grabbing pupils' packed lunches.

THE SWARM:  A giant cloud of thousands of bees mysteriously appeared and began to swirl in a "tornado pattern" around a Central Florida Mexican restaurant. Video at the link.

GONNA NEED A BETTER BOAT: A day after a deadly shark attack near San Diego, a hardy few ignored warnings that a killer great white might still be lurking below the surface and paddled back into the Pacific Ocean on Saturday. What say you, Police Chief Brody? (nsfw)

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE CUTTING EDGE!  One of the original MTV indie rock showcases, backed in part by IRS Records, airing from March 1983 to September 1987. Set the Wayback Machine to 1985 to share some BBQ in Austin, TX with Zeitgeist (later The Reviers).  Daniel Johnson has a cameo in that clip, but is featured in this one.  You'll see a young Alejandro Escovedo playing in the True Believers.  Also in a rootsy vein is a segment with Lone Justice.  The show's host, Daniel Zaremba, brings the garage with his band, The Fleshtones, in N'awlins.  Going further afield, there's a segment with Squeeze.  All those clips are on Yahoo!, but there are also clips from Flat Duo Jets and Red Hot Chili Peppers on the Tube that date back to 1984.

LOU REED & LAURIE ANDERSON: Hitched!

COACHELLA: Various acts from the big fest will be streaming at AT&T's Blueroom Fri-Sun nights, starting just before 6 ET.

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS drove by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set you can stream on demand via NPR.

PETER MOREN talks to The Stranger about his solo album, F. Scott Fitzgerald and the next Peter Bjorn & John album (which is finished, and instrumental). 

JANE'S ADDICTION reuinited at the first-ever NME Awards USA; winners and shaky cam video at Stereogum.

SMOOSH rocked Kids-At-Work Day at the Bryant Park Project; you can stream videos of "Great Skies" and "Dark Shine" via NPR.

DESTROYER:  Dan Bejar talks to DC's Express about playing with different drummers -- a phenomenon familiar to Pate fans.

THE CONNELLS: From the "Where are they now?" file.  Dig 'em. Stream 'em.  Pretend, for a brief moment, that you are Craig O'Neill.  Unless you are Craig O'Neill, in which case you are beyond all help.

TIFT MERRITT stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set you can stream on demand via NPR.

JOAN JETT and her longtime manager, Kenny Laguna, talk to the San Joaquin Record about her longevity and the upcoming Runaways movie.

AMY WINEHOUSE was facing arrest last night after allegedly attacking two men while out on a wild drug-fuelled bender.

CUTOUT BIN: From Buzzcocks to Blues Magoos, from Game Theory to Glen Campbell, from Al Wilson to ABBA, The Replacements, The Kinks, Nilsson, Marti Jones and the Mountain Goats this Friday's fortuitous finds overfloweth and can be jukeboxed or streamed individually on the Pate page at the ol' HM.

TOM-KAT UPDATE:  Cruise is headed back to Oprah's couch for the May sweeps!

SCARLETT JOHANSSON is streaming six tracks from her debut album, Anywhere I Lay My Head.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases are the Tina Fey-Amy Poehler comedy Baby Mama, currently scoring 57 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, currently scoring 55 percent; and the thriller Deception, scoring 10 percent.

WESLEY SNIPES was sentenced to 36 months in prison for tax evasion, the maximum sentence allowed.

CARMEN ELECTRA is engaged to her boyfriend, Rob Patterson, the former touring guitarist for Korn.

JESSICA SIMPSON & TONY ROMO seem like the picture-perfect couple, but OK! magazine reports that the pneumatic blonde's creepy dad-manager Joe is a problem-causing third wheel in the relationship.

ASHLEE SIMSPON, meanwhile, continued to dodge pregnancy rumors, even as Ellen DeGeneres rubbed her maybe bump.

ASHTON KUTCHER has webbed feet. Yes, really. Pics at the link.

JIMMY FALLON is set to take Conan O'Brien's job as host of "Late Night" in 2009. Conan will be taking over for Jay Leno, who will leave the "Tonight" show in May 2009 as part of a forced retirement.

GARY COLEMAN is splitting from his new wife Shannon Price on a special two-part session of Divorce Court.  Diff'rent Strokes, and all that.

MEGAN FOX tops FHM magazine's annual 100 Sexiest Women in the World readers' poll; you will find a pop wreck at the bottom.  But I think there may be some dudes in TV Guide's Sexiest Stars 2008, for those who go that way. Call it Gratuitous Friday.

WISH LIST: The Gryphon attack glider, designed to penetrate combat zones at 135 miles per hour, could revolutionize the art of parachuting. Video and pics at the link.

AL QAEDA increasingly faces sharp criticism from once-loyal sympathizers who openly question its ideology and tactics, including attacks that kill innocent Muslims, according to US intelligence officials, counter-terrorism experts and the group's own communications.

MIDEAST MYSTERY: North Korea helped Syria construct a nuclear reactor that was "within weeks of completion" when Israel destroyed the facility in September, the Bush admin. said on Thursday.  A CIA briefing for Congress contains a video that brings together a compilation of still images, including satellite imagery, ground imagery, and photographs taken inside the facility. One photograph shows a North Korean nuclear scientist Chon Chibu standing beside his Syrian counterpart. Mr Chon, who worked at North Korea's Yongbyon plutonium reactor, has previously dealt with US officials.

IRAN: NATO's secretary-general told Gulf Arab states on Thursday that Iran's nuclear ambitions were a major threat to regional stability.

AFGHANISTAN:  At Jane's US Defense Conference, Anthony Cordesman gave a briefing on Afghanistan and Iraq. Cordesman sees far more progress toward  "armed nation-building" in Iraq, adding that withdrawing troops there will not solve problems in Afghanistan.

IRAQ: The Baghdad Zoo and Entertainment Experience, a massive American-style amusement park that will feature a skateboard park, rides, a concert theatre and a museum, is being designed by the firm that developed Disneyland. New data on Iraq oil revenues suggests that country's government will reap an even larger than expected windfall this year - as much as 70 billion - according to the special US auditor for Iraq. Moqtada al-Sadr is considering setting aside his political ambitions and restarting a full-scale fight against US-led forces.  The reconstruction of the Samarra shrine helps bridge sectarian divides.  The New York Times reports that Iraq's largest Sunni bloc has agreed to return to Prime Minister al-Maliki's cabinet -- about a week after you read it here.

DOG NURSES MOTHERLESS KITTENS in Burlington, IA. Let's go to the awww...some video.

...AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT:  A six-legged kitty.  Video at the link.

KILLER STUNT BEAR UPDATE: State work safety officials opened an investigation today into the death of an exotic-animal trainer who was killed by a 700-pound grizzly bear while filming a promotional video, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Industrial Relations said.  The AP has part off the 911 call.

A ZEBRA was discovered in Emory University's Seney Hall about 8 a.m. Wednesday.  Georgian Zebra trifecta now in play.

STRAY DOGS saved a baby girl who was abandoned in a mound of mud by her mother near a remote village in India. "The dogs removed the soil around and began to bark and the baby started crying which drew attention of the local villagers," Ram Narayan Sahani, a senior government official, said on Tuesday.

SHE & HIM brought YO LA TENGO as backup when they hit the Peacock to play "Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?"

KEITH RICHARDS, LORD of the UNDEAD, answers reader questions for Blender magazine.  It's all embedded audio, because who would want to try to transcribe Keef to English?

THE DUKE SPIRIT guitarist Dan Higgins talks to JamBase about the band's hard-to-peg sound (mid-period VU meets early Stones, with a dash of Debbie Harry?).  If you didn't stream their Neptune album when it was on Spinner this month, you can still stream extended clips via the album's mini-site.  JamBase also has a full song.

FAKE BEATLES:  I meant to flag this for The Rutles reunion, but was reminded to link Gaylord Fields's series at WFMU when The Knickerbockers' "Lies" popped up yesterday.  Many more Faux Fours streaming at the link.

THE B-52s dummer-turned-guitarist Keuth Strickland shuffles his iPod for the "Random Rules" feature at The A.V. Club.

THE CONSTANTINES rock kinda hard in the new video for "Hard Feelings."

BIRDS OF AVALON do the four free songs thing (one nifty one unreleased) for Daytrotter, which name-drops The Raconteurs and raft of 70s bands -- none of which fully nails the band's sound.

ERYKAH BADU talks to Blender and says things like: "Time is for white people. It doesn't work with me."

SUPERGRASS drummer Danny Goffey talks to PopMatters about the band's endurance, recording in Berlin, and more... A/V linkage there also.

MUSIC BLOGS and their promo value are surveyed at the Guardian: A New York University study published in February, Does Chatter Matter?, found that the volume of blog posts about a new album can significantly affect sales.

BRITNEY SPEARS has reportedly dropped 20 pounds in new pics that somehow turn up only in Star magazine.  The Daily Mail thinks Spears is slimming down to get back on How I Met Your Mother, but I would guess it's connected to her negotiations with Bally's Fitness Clubs.

MAMA LYNNE SPEARS is disappointed that Jamie Lynn gt knocked up, and prays for Britney to be a better mother... when she isn't talking to Life & Style magazine.

THE McCARTNEYS:  Sir Paul unveiled an exhibition of his late wife Linda's photographs (which was her actual talent), while Heather Mills was the subject of a TV program featuring damning revelations from former friends and estranged relatives. One of the former friends, Denise Hewitt, described the months the pair allegedly spent working as £10,000-a-night prostitutes, including acting out sizzling lesbian fantasies for their rich clients.

OJ SIMPSON has asked Donald Trump to allow him to appear on the next season of Celebrity Apprentice.

JOHN CLEESE faces a costly divorce from his third wife which could see him hand over two homes, half his earnings and maintenance of almost £1 million a year. Cleese was said to be taken aback by the scale of the divorce claim.

IRON MAN: Robert Downey, Jr. talks to the New York Times  about Tony Stark's demons and ultimately, his own.  Paramount and Marvel are trying to lower expectations for the movie, though they still think they can make 50-60 million next weekend.

HEATH LEDGER:  Actress and baby mama Michelle Williams told friends that the late actor had twice visited her as a "shadowy apparition."

PETER FALK looked dazed and confused as he walked near his Beverly Hills home on Tuesday afternoon. Sad pics at the link.

STAR JONES has filed for divorce from husband of three-and-a-half years, Al Reynolds, who is getting ready to rumble.

TINA FEY, promoting her upcoming movie Baby Mama, tells the Philly Inquirer just how busy she is: "If I get enough time in the morning to go to the bathroom and brush my teeth and put on the clothes that I wore the day before, that's it. The idea of putting lotion on my legs, that's not happening."  She tells the NYDN that she and co-star Amy Poehler reworked the script to take out some of the car jokes, to avoid having to shoot for weeks in hot cars: "But it's not like we added anything really Lifetime-y. I think by and large, there's not that big a difference between guy and girl humor. Funny is funny."  Defamer posts video of Universal's three marketing strategies for the movie.

GO SPEED GO!  There's a good review and all-new car-fu in seven clips from Speed Racer posted at Collider (mild spoilers).

TERROR in the UK: Police have foiled 15 terror plots since the turn of the century, with suspects continuing to emerge from unexpected quarters, senior officers said yesterday. The figure emerged as police backed the Government's controversial proposals to hold terrorist suspects for more than 28 days without charge. Meanwhile, a network of ex-radicals launched on Tuesday a movement to fight the same ideology that they once worked to spread.

MIDEAST MYSTERY: According to the L.A. Times, the CIA will tell Congress today in classified briefings that the North Koreans had begun to build a nuclear reactor at a site in Syria bombed by the Israelis last year.

PAKISTAN's new government has drafted a peace agreement with Taliban militants in its troubled tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, officials and a rebel spokesman said Wednesday.  The Jonestown Foundation has much more detail.

IRAQ: The Bush admin. picked Gen. Petraeus to take charge of operations across the Middle East and chose his former No. 2 to take over in Baghdad. Austin Bay argues that the battle for Basra is an integrated political-military operation and the most decisive example of a country-building measure we have seen since Saddam fell in April 2003. US and UK special forces are carrying out operations in Basra against Shia militiamen, a Western military source has told the BBC. Iraq's national security advisor has claimed Iran is hosting 100 al-Qaeda leaders and members, some of whom are under house arrest.

THERE'S A GATOR IN MY KITCHEN: Let's go to the video.

A HOLLYWOOD STUNT BEAR killed one of his handlers during a rehearsal for a film stunt.

THE FIRST WILDLIFE HIGHWAY to enable animals and plants to escape the worst effects of climate change will be announced today. A corridor 30 miles (50km) long and up to 10 miles wide is to be created in the Severn Vale in Gloucestershire to provide an escape route for wildlife.

PUPS and their pop stars; a photo gallery. (Thx, Dad.)

RAW VIDEO of the Somali wild a$$, an extremely rare horse species born at the St. Louis Zoo.

GRIZZLY BEAR played a new song, "While You Wait For The Others," on the Peacock the other night.  It has me waiting for more...

THE REPLACEMENTS are thinking of semi-reforming after 17 years. Tommy Stinson tells Billboard that he and Westerberg were close to accepting lucrative festival offers this year.  Hold out for Chris Mars!  Meanwhile, PopMatters uses the reissues for a critical evaluation of the band's Twin/Tone output.

THE HELIO SEQUENCE stopped by KEXP for a chat and mini-set you can stream (together or just the music) via NPR.

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS: John Darneille talks to PopMatters about the Mighty Riff, the uneasy relationship between indie and metal camps, and the life experiences behind his new book on Black Sabbath's Master of Reality.

HEADLIGHTS singer-keyboardist Erin Fein talks to The A.V. Club on harmonies, making a summer record and more.  Plus vidoe at the link.

MATES OF STATE release the video for "Get Better," from their upcoming release, Re-Arrange Us.

KATHLEEN EDWARDS talks songwriting, major-league exposure and human behavior of the worst kind with the Toronto Star.

DESTROYER:  So Much Silence has posted stream/download for a vinyl rip of "Madame Butterflies," a heretofore unreleased track that appears on a 7" split-single issued for Record Store Day.

FEIST tells the Dallas Morning News that the success of "1 2 3 4:' is a double-edged sword and that her backup plan is to franchise herself with Feist puppets.

THE TOP TEN ACTS going green, compiled by Reuters for Earth Day.

NATALIE PORTMAN was the unfortunate victim of a surprise soaking by a pooch who mistook her for a fire hydrant at a downtown NYC dog run.  Or the dog may have seen the Star Wars prequels.  But hanging with Devendra Banhart clearly puts Portman in a groovy mood, as he was hugging the paparazzi just moments beforehand.

LINDSAY LOHAN is denying falling off the wagon on her possibly fake Facebook page under the name "Lindsay Ronson."  And allegedly screaming at Ashley Olsen to "Get your 15-year-old 'Full House' a$$ away from my girlfriend," referring to lesbian lover Samantha Ronson.

EWAN MacGREGOR says he is "fine" after having a cancerous mole removed from just below his right eye.

RICHIE SAMBORA has been charged with two counts of DUI, but escapes child endangerment charges.

AL PACINO & ROBERT DeNIRO are ripped at length in the L.A. Times: "The two icons of '70s New Hollywood, heroes to a generation of young actors and filmmakers, have become parodies of themselves, making payday movies and turning in performances that are hollow echoes of the electrically charged work they did in such films as Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon, Mean Streets and Taxi Driver."

SHANNON ELIZABETH was... wait for it...  caught canoodling with her Dancing With the Stars partner Derek Hough on Thursday, while frolicking at the beach in Malibu.  Of course, it may be just for show - a cynical ploy for votes in the hoofing contest.

HEATHER MILLS gave Sir Paul McCartney an ultimatum to marry her or she would leave him, according to a friend and ex-prostitute.  I'm shocked.

DAVE NAVARRO was... wait for it... caught canoodling a dancer of indetermiate gender backstage at his Miami concert.  Pic at the link.

JULIA ROBERTS just says "no" to deodorant.  Video at the link.

PENELOPE CRUZ is setting pulses racing with her steamy new film, Elegy.  The pics at the link may well be NSFW; the video at Egotastic certainly is.  Call it Gratuitous Wednesday.

ELISHA CUTHBERT says many men blow their big chance of a romance with her by committing first-date sins.  Seriously, who goes to a movie with Cuthbert and falls asleep?  Who goes to a movie with Cuthbert and watches the movie?  Who takes Cuthbert to a movie instead of chatting her up?  ALSO: Cuthbert is on the cover of this month's Maxim magazine.  Call it Doubly Gratuitous Wednesday.

OUR FRIENDS, THE SAUDIS executed a convicted murderder with the 48th beheading in the Kingdom this year.

IRAN: Seventy-five young people accused of 'immoral acts' have been arrested by police at a birthday party in the city of Shiraz. Dangerous drivers in Iran face being flogged under a tough new law that comes into effect next month.

IRAQ:  The national government  began releasing thousands of detainees accused of all but the worst of crimes during the 2003-2008 time period, most of them Sunnis -- fulfilling another demand of the US Congress and the Sunnis in Iraq towards national reconciliation.  The Iraqi army command in Basra is giving top leaders of the Mahdi Army in the city 24 hours to surrender.  Anthony H. Cordesman argues that Prime Minister al-Maliki's offensive in Basra is more of a power struggle with Sadr than an effort to deal with security, ‘militias,' and ‘criminals.'  I would argue it is both; having the Mahdi Army turn into another Iranian-backed group like Hezbollah was likely too big a risk for the Iraqi govt and for the US.  Moreover, al-Sadr may not be that popular even within his own family these days.

SAY WHAT?  The talking goat is cracking this woman up.

A PLUCKY EWE gave birth to a whopping five lambs - beating odds of one in a million.  Awww...some pic at the link.

BRITISH BEEKEEPERS beg Parliament to prevent an economic and ecological disaster, as honey bees are under threat from a mysterious disease which is spreading across the world.

A HEDGEHOG which had fallen down a hole outside a Yorkshire Dales hotel was rescued by the local fire brigade.  Much like the Jessica McClure story, but with Spiny Norman.

ITALIAN WALL LIZARDS introduced to a tiny island off the coast of Croatia are evolving in ways that would normally take millions of years to play out, new research shows.  Don't buy real estate in Tokyo.

THE KOOKS hope to crack the Star-Spangled Ceiling with their second album, Konk -- named after Ray Davies's studio, where it was recorded.  The single is "Always Where I Need To Be."

NEW RELEASES: Albums from Billy Bragg, El Perro Del Mar, A.A. Bondy, Flight of the Conchords, The Replacements reissues and Love's Forever Changes are among those streaming this week at Spinner.

THE CONSTANTINES singer/guitarist Bryan Webb tells DC's Express about how touring affects your ability to play AC/DC and your reaction to "Islands in the Stream," which they cover with Feist.

SHE & HIM talk separately to Pitchfork about the importance of musical history in their collaboration, as well as how people react to them and their material.  You can still stream the album via Merge.

DAN BEJAR talks to the Duke Chronicle via e-mail about his lengthy career with Destroyer, New Pornographers and Swan Lake, and his upcoming tour.  You can stream the new Destroyer LP via Merge.

THE REPLACEMENTS reissues make for a natural Twofer Tuesday of "Kick Your Door Down" and that version of "Bast*rds of Young" that the lawyers are usually good at keeping offline.

SANDY DENNY: Thirty years after her untimely, lonely death, the woman lauded as the British Joni Mitchell may finally get the recognition she deserves.

BIG DIPPER: Gary Waleik tells the Boston herald that the band's reunion really got rolling after reading a blog post by Merge records owner Mac McCaughan saying someone needed to put out a good Big Dipper collection.  You can still stream the collection via Merge.  Yeah, it was Merge-heavy today; no, they aren't paying me.

IT'S NOT A RECORD STORE, IT'S A HANGOUT:  To celebrate Record Store Day, singer-songwriter James McMurtry shared a few memories with All Things Considered of hanging out - and awkwardly self-promoting - in record stores.  PopMatters, Jennifer Makowsky looks back at the way High Fidelity celebrates the era of the dusty record store and the mixtape.

PETE DOHERTY denies taking heroin while incarcerated in Wormwood Scrubs.  Meanwhile, the troubled singer has been kicked out of the Wiltshire pad he hired when he last came out of rehab, after spraying blood all over the walls.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON has leaked "Falling Down" and "Anywhere I lay My Head" from her Tom Waits covers album to... mixed reactions.  She may have peaked with her rendition of Gershwin's "Summertime."

LINDSAY LOHAN was spotted off the wagon, drinking Grey Goose and Red Bull cocktails at a party deejayed by pal Samantha Ronson last Saturday.

RYAN PHILIPPE talks about the effect the paparazzi have had on his kids, which is pretty sad.

OWEN WILSON & KATE HUDSON were... wait for it... caught canoodling at her 29th birthday party last Saturday.

HARRY POTTER star Daniel Radcliffe need only mention his attraction to a mystery girl he met an Australian film function and the young lady is apparently tracked down and headed for London.

JESSICA SIMPSON & TONY ROMO got into some messy cake-play at his 28th birthday party.  Life & Style reports that the pneumatic blonde's romance with Tony Romo is responsible for Simpson dialing back the makeup and hair care -- which certainly sounds nicer than the possibility that Simpson is making much less than she once did and can't afford to have hair and makeup people on call 24/7.

SIENNA MILLER is decked out in a leather catsuit for her part in the movie adaptation of G.I Joe.  So why did you read to the end of that sentence?

BRUCE CAMPBELL, who will be starring in the upcoming 2008 film My Name is Bruce, which he directed and co-produced, answers PopMatters' infamous 20 Questions.

CAMERON DIAZ got some friendly support from her exes Justin Timberlake and John Mayer as her family held a memorial service for her late father Sunday.

DAVID HASSELHOFF is back in the hospital, but not for rehab.  Phew!

QUANTUM of SOLACE: RottenTomatoes has a bunch of behind-the-scenes promos for the next James Bond flick.  But the Daily Mail has pics of the £134,000 Aston Martin DBS that plunged into Lake Garda in Italy on the way to the set.

AFGHANISTAN: The Afghan Army and police forces should be able to secure most of Afghanistan by 2011, allowing international forces to start withdrawing, according to the US commander of the NATO-led force in Afghanistan, General Dan McNeill.

IRAN: The UN nuclear agency's deputy chief arrived in Tehran for talks with Iranian officials on allegations that Iran is testing high explosives and seeking to design a missile re-entry vehicle, two features which could have use for nuclear weapons.

IRAQ: Iraqi soldiers took control of the last bastions of the cleric Moktada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia in Basra. Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari rebuked al-Sadr for his threat of all out war.  US warplanes dropped bombs overnight in the east Baghdad district of Sadr City where Shia militiamen are battling security forces, residents said on Monday.  A US general said on Sunday that the increasingly sophisticated attacks carried out by Shiite extremists in Iraq were evidence they were getting extra aid from Iranian groups in the country.  Al Karama, a new political front, is joining together tribal sheikhs and heads of awakening councils in Baghdad, a group of technocrats and members of armed factions that have fought against AQI.  Three months after US forces dropped tons of bombs on Arab Jubur and put AQI to flight, farmers are everywhere out in their fields tending their tomatoes.

AN ENGINEER'S GUIDE TO CATS: Let's go to the video. The cat yodeling is excellent.

KAISER the BULLDOG has shocked her owner - after giving birth to a whopping 20 pups.  Awww...some pics at the link.

INCREDIBLE JOURNEY:  Moon, a Siberian husky that ran off during a road-trip rest stop apparently made her way nearly 80 miles across Nevada's high desert and two mountain ranges to return home a week later.

GEORGE the HEDGEHOG has shed nearly a quarter of its body weight after adopting a high protein diet similar to the Atkins plan.

PYTHON vs POLICEMAN in a life-or-death struggle in a Eugene, OR pet shop.