PHOENIX plays a set on Austin City Limits.

DR DOG stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

PHOSPHORESCENT makes his Morning Becomes Eclectic debut.

VALERIE JUNE played a Tiny Desk Concert at the offices of NPR.

THE RAMONES, Live at the Whisky a Go-Go, Oct. 21, 1977.

SUFJAN STEVENS drops a lo-fi demo titled "Take Me." 

WE FIVE were on my mind when I woke up this morning, introduced by no less than Fred Astaire.

LEE RANALDO talks to Interview about science fiction novels, exploring his newfound role as a frontman, virtual reality, and an enlightening trip to India. 

BLOC PARTY's Kele Okereke talks to Clash about Canadian movies and Cat Power. (Thx, Chromewaves.) 

ANNA CALVI talks to The Line Of Best Fit about how limitations spark creativity, and more...

BEST COAST: Bethany Cosentino talks to Stereogum about plans for her new Jewel City imprint, her thoughts on Fade Away and her increasing love for life on the road.

METALLICA, ranked by Stereogum.

KUMAR PALLANA, an Indian plate spinner turned Texas yoga instructor turned — in his late 70s and long beyond — sought-after character actor in films by Wes Anderson, Steven Spielberg and others, died on Thursday at his home in Oakland, Calif. He was 94.

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY: Dakota Johnson, slated to play Anna Steele in the adaptation of the raunchy bestseller, is reportedly having difficulty with the media attention from her casting.

KATIE HOLMES & JAMIE FOXX are not dating, contra yesterday's gossip.

UNDERAGED KARDASHIANS Kylie and Kendall hit a sex-themed nightclub.

BRUCE & KRIS JENNER are preparing to file divorce papers once their reality TV show concludes, RadarOnline has been told.

MILEY CYRUS is a naked alien in a new rap video.

NINA DOBREV & DEREK HOUGH are dunzo after six weeks.

MIKE MEYERS and his wife Kelly are expecting their second child.

SYRIA: A rebel claiming to speak for some 65 Free Syrian Army units said they were withdrawing from the Syrian National Coalition.

AFGHANISTAN: Mullah Omar pledged on Monday that the Taliban will keep fighting if the government in Kabul signs a crucial security deal with the United States.

IRAN: EU head Catherine Ashton said the next round of talks on Iran's nuclear program will begin in November. The current talks ended with no breakthrough, despite Iran's offer to allow unannounced IAEA inspections of its nuclear facilities.

IRAQ: Al Qaeda in Iraq killed three children in an IED attack in Hamdaniyah and two soldiers in a mortar attack on a military base in Mosul.

ELI THE BEAR loves playing tetherball.

AN 18-FOOT SEA SERPENT carcass was captured by SoCal snorkelers.

JELLYFISH are taking over the seas, and it might be too late to stop them.

MAN'S BEST FRIEND Eats Man's Toes.

PAUL McCARTNEY is advance streaming New via Spotify.  Sir Paul also told Morning Edition about historical revisionists, dividing his new songs among four superstar producers, and why a little insecurity can be a successful artist's best friend.

PALEHOUND: Ellen Kempner advance streams the Bent Nail EP.

ACTIVE CHILD: Pat Grossi advance streams the Rapor EP.

JIM JAMES recently performed songs from his soulful solo debut in front of a small audience at Apogee Studio for Morning Becomes Eclectic. 

FLEETWOOD MAC: "Go Your Own Way," live circa 1979. Sounded great, fellas, but I coulda used a little More Cowbell. Heard this over the weekend and wondered how good it would be with some Slim Whitman-esque yodeling.

THE DISMEMBERMENT PLAN talks to Morning Edition about their uplanned return.

THE PIXIES: Black Francis talks to Rolling Stone about band life after Kim Deal.

HAIM is the death rattle of indie indie rock? Grantland thinks so.

PETER MURPHY: The Bauhaus fronyman pleaded guilty to meth possession, gets 3 years' probation.

THE 2014 ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAME NOMINATIONS include everyone from The Replacements and Nirvana to Yes and The Zombies.

KIM KARDASHIAN's engagement ring from ex-husband Kris Humphries sold at a Christie's auction in NYC yesterday for a whopping 620K.

THOR: THE DARK WORLD is coming soon, so Natalie Portman hits Marie Claire and Chris Hemsworth is profiled by Details.

MICHAEL FASSBENDER talks about relationships and not campaigning for an Oscar nod at GQ.

KATIE HOLMES & JAME FOXX are dating?

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY: Alexander Skarsgard and Jamie Dornan are just two of the actors lining up to take Charlie Hunnam's place.

ASTON KUTCHER tops the latest Forbes list of TV's highest-paid actors.

SYRIA: Fighting continued throughout Syria despite the Eid a-Adha holiday. Rebel bombs targeted churches in Damascus suburbs, as well as areas of central Damascus. Regime aircraft bombed rebel-held areas south and east of Damascus.

THE UNITED KINGDOM: MI5 estimates that as many as 200 British jihadists have traveled to Syria to fight. Intelligence sources say most of them are university-educated British Pakistanis in their 20s. The majority of British jihadists in Syria are thought to be fighting with extremist and al Qaeda-linked groups.

LIBYA: Mayhem in Benghazi is being blamed on Ahmed Boukhtala, a militant leader with ties to Ansar al Sharia who is also suspected in the Sept. 11, 2012 on the US Consulate.

EGYPT: Officials said a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood was arrested over suspected links to the recent attack on a satellite station in Maadi, which has been claimed by the al Furqan Brigades. Security forces closed off a number of major squares to prevent protests by supporters of former president Morsi.

ISRAEL: Days after announcing the discovery of a major terror tunnel from the Gaza Strip, the IDF announced that it had located and destroyed a second tunnel.

HOUDINI: An Australian Shepherd escapes from an animal sanctuary. He was there because he escaped from home.

FOSSIL MOSQUITO yields 46 million-year-old blood. They spared no expense.

A ROGUE KANGAROO wreaks havok with landings at a Queensland airport.

A GOAT causes a three-car pile-up.

PRINCE: "Breakfast Can Wait." That man is a chick, baby.

BEST COAST is advance streaming the Fade Away mini-album.

MATTHEW E. WHITE advance streams the Outer Face EP. Groovy.

EEF BARZELAY played live in the KEXP studio. 

SHOVELS & ROPE play a Tiny Desk Concert.

SCREAMING FEMALES drop "Ancient Civilization" as a single.

NIRVANA discussed autographs, Punk kids vs Metal kids, and more in rare interviews with Metal Hammer.

OF MONTREAL: Kevin Barnes talks to Rolling Stone about the band's new Sylvia Plath-inspired LP, burritos and happiness.

PETER GABRIEL does a lighnning round of over 20 questions at The Guardian.

THE TOP 10 NEW PR0NOGRAPHERS SONGS, according to Stereogum. 

MILEY CYRUS gets another open letter, this one from Sufjan Stevens, who corrects her grammar.

KRIS JENNER cheated on Bruce? Inquiring minds want to know. Actually, it's Star magazine.

SANDRA BULLOCK is a "Rapper's Delight."

JENNY McCARTHY reportedly drives people to tune out The View. So her hiring isn't a total loss.

MADONNA has been barred from the Alamo Drafthouse theater chain because she wouldn't stop texting during a festival screening of 12 Years A Slave.

KATY PERRY & JOHN MAYER: Together again. Prep the bunkers.

ANT-MAN: If Marvel gets Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Paul Rudd for Edgar Wright, it will be awesome.

GILLIAN ANDERSON & DAVID DUCHOVNY did a Reddit Ask Me Anything.

ANTHONY HOPKINS wrote a fan letter to Bryan Cranston after binge-watching Breaking Bad?

THE UNITED STATES: Al Qaeda operative Abu Anas al Libi, who was recently captured in Libya, has been transferred from a Navy ship to the US for trial in New York.

THE UNITED KINGDOM: Police arrested four British nationals in London suspected of plotting a potentially "very serious" terror attack.

SYRIA: A car bombing in Idlib killed at least 27 people and wounded dozens more. The Al Nusrah Front clashed with regime forces in Deir Azzour; rebels have reportedly taken over the military hospital there.

KENYA: Nairobi's chief criminal investigator said so far none of the key suspects in the Westgate Mall attack have been apprehended. Detectives are also looking for at least eight suspects thought to have been indirectly involved in the attack; four were seen on CCTV footage from the mall.

ELEPHANT FAMILY REUNION: Let's go to the video. Adorbs.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT:  Militant rodents are feasting on tomatoes from the First Lady’s beloved White House garden while federal gardeners remain idle during the government stalemate.

A DEER in Bethel Park has a basketball stuck in his horns.

RATS fly business class in China.

THE DISMEMBERMENT PLAN plays Heart's "Barracuda" for The A.V. Club Undercover.

WE ARE SCIENTISTS return with an advance stream the Business Casual EP.

POLICA is advance streaming Shulamith.

BRANDY CLARK is advance streaming 12 Stories.

EDWARD SHARPE & THE MAGNETIC ZEROS talk and play a few new songs in WFUV's Studio A.  

THE FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS cover "Six Days on the Road."

PETER BUCK talks to Salon about R.E.M., Tired Pony and the future in perhaps his last interview.

PU$$Y RIOT detainee Nadezhda Tolokonnikova accused Russian authorities on Friday of imposing an "information blockade" on her since she declared a hunger strike last month.

DAVID BYRNE wites at The Guardian that the internet will suck all the creativity out of the world.

KATE BUSH, ranked by Stereogum.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: Gravity repeats atop the chart with 44.3 million on a mere 20 percent drop, despite strong competition for the adult drama audience from Captain Phillips, which placed with a 26 million debut. There are only a handful of big-budget movies that have ever held as well or better than Gravity did this weekend: Avatar; How the Grinch Stole Christmas; Star Wars: Episode One - The Phantom Menace; and (arguably) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (and some of these had second frames during the holiday season).  Thus, Gravity looks to be a sure bet for 200 million domestic -- Clooney's biggest film (and possibly Bullock's, though The Blind Side made just over 250 million). For all of that, Captain Phillips did better than many expected -- and better than Argo's opening, keeping Oscar noms on the table for this one.  Keep in mind Hanks's last live action hit was The DaVinci Code (2007), which had a built-in fanbase; this is arguably his biggest live opener since Catch Me If You Can (2002). Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 shows with 14.2 million on a 32 percent drop, which is respectable.  This sequel is just barely lagging the original, on a smaller budget.  Machete Kills debuts in fourth with a paltry 3.8 million, which spells flop against a 20 million budget.  Runner Runner rounds out the Top 5 with a mere 3.7 million on a 52 percent drop as bad word of mouth sinks Timberlake and Affleck.

FIFTY SHADES OF GREY: Charlie Hunnam is exiting the leading role he just landed, overwhelmed with the (negative) attention he received.

MICHAEL DOUGLAS reveals he actually had tongue cancer, not the less threatening throat cancer he originally claimed.

MEG RYAN will produce and star in a new NBC comedy.

LAUREN CONRAD is engaged to boyfriend William Tell. Cue the overture.

ROSE McGOWAN married artist Davey Detail.

BEN FELDMAN (Mad Men) tied the knot with his girlfriend Michelle Mulitz on Saturday.

COLUMBUS DAY:  I get it as a holiday, so I thought a few words might be in order. Over the course of my life, I have seen the image of Columbus swing from unvarnished hero to genocidal criminal, and the subject of many misconceptions.  Columbus was certainly no sweetheart, but at the end of the 15th Century, it is fair to say that Europeans often did not treat each other all that well. Moreover, before the furriners showed up, Native North and South Americans engaged in tribal massacre, infanticide, scalping, human sacrifice, and the ritual skinning of slaves for their priests to wear. It was a far less civilized time all 'round. But the West is civilized today in part because of Columbus. Some four centuries-plus later, we all are still struggling to become more civilized, but focusing criticism o­n the more-civilized while giving the less civilized a pass is not particularly useful to that struggle.

SYRIA: Two suicide car bombs detonated outside the Syrian state TV headquarters in central Damascus. The Islamic State of Iraq and the Sham reportedly bombed a Sufi shrine in Deir Azzour; another shrine in the area was bombed on Sept. 24. George Sabra, president of the Syrian National Council, which is the biggest bloc in the Syrian National Coalition, said the Council will shun the proposed Geneva II peace talks; the talks have been tentatively postponed from October to November.

IRAN's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi rejected the West's demand that enriched uranium be shipped out of the country. Speaking of negotiations on Iran's nuclear program, US Secretary of State Kerry said that "no deal is better than a bad deal."

IRAQ: Al Qaeda in Iraq killed 36 Iraqis in a series of bombings and attacks in Baghdad, Hillah, Suwayrah, Samawah, and Samarra.

HUSKIES teach a baby to crawl. Or vice versa.

GIANT KILLER SLUGS from Spain have invaded Britain.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: A giant flying squirrel has been discovered in Laos.

WHEN BEARS ATTACK, grab their tongues.

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with R.E.M! Live at the Capital Theater, in Passaic, NJ, on June 9, 1984. Your set list includes: "Pale Blue Eyes"; "Second Guessing"; "Hyena"; "Letter Never Sent"; "Harborcoat"; "7 Chinese Brothers"; "Pretty Persuasion"; "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)"; "Gardening At Night"; "9-9"; "Windout"; "Old Man Kensey"; "Sitting Still"; "Driver 8"; "Carnival Of Sorts (Boxcars)"; "Radio Free Europe"; and "Little America."

OKKERVIL RIVER play a mini-set on WFUV LIve.

BLACK JOE LEWIS stopped by The Current for a chat and mini-set. 

DAUGHTER plays a mini-set at KUTX. 

TENACIOUS D stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

THE PSYCHEDLIC FURS broke through with this video for "Love My Way" on the MTV.

PAUL McCARTNEY played a high-school assembly.

SLEIGH BELLS: Alexis Krauss talks to Stereogum about Def Leppard, Janet Jackson, Lisa Lisa, & the music that influenced Bitter Rivals

THE HEAD & THE HEART talks to Mother Jones about their rise to indie fame, their fear of improvisation, and how they've grown on their new album.

THE 20 MOST OVERUSED SONGS in Film and TV.

CUTOUT BIN: From T. Rex to Wings, from the Jesus & Mary Chain to Donny Hathaway, from Creedence Clearwater revival to David Lee Roth, plus the Embarrassment, Lou Reed, the Bongos, Deep Purple and more  -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases are Captain Phillips, which is currently scoring 93 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; and Machete Kills, which is scoring 33 percent.

MILEY CYRUS was offered one million dollars to direct pr0n. Also one of the little people in her infamous VMAs performance speaks out.

BRUCE JENNER's sons are overjoyed that he's separating from Kris.

EMMA WATSON is reteaming with The Perks Of Being A Wallflower writer-director Stephen Chbosky.

CRAIG ROBINSON: Outside the Office, he might be carrying weed and ecstasy.

QUENTIN TARANTINO explains some of his "Best of 2013 (so far)" picks... and is asked about Ben Affleck as the Batman.

JAMIE FOXX & OLIVER STONE circle a MLK, Jr biopic.

PAKISTAN: Twelve people were killed in a series of bombings in Karach­i, Lahore, Peshaw­ar, and Quetta.

LEBANON: The UN-backed Special Tribunal said it secretly indicted Hassan Habib Merhi, a fifth suspect in the assassination of former prime minister Rafik Hariri, in August. Merhi, like the other four indicted suspects, is linked to Hezbollah and remains at large, despite alleged efforts by Lebanese officials to arrest him.

IRAN: The exiled dissident National Council of Resistance claimed that Iran is quietly moving a nuclear weaponization research and planning center to a site in a defense ministry complex in Tehran ahead of talks with world powers on the Iranian nuclear program.

IRAQ: The government executed 42 convicted terrorists over the past few days.

GINGER CAT vs PAPER ARMY: Who you got?

EASTERN BOX TURTLES get it on.

BRIDES THROWING CATS is a thing. Who knew?

JELLYFISH vs ROBOTS: Who you got?