BEIRUT has a new video for "Concubine," from the Holland EP.

MARIA TAYLOR stopped by Oregon Public Radio for a chat and mini-set, streamable on demand.

BRENDAN BENSON has a new track, "Feel Like Taking You Home" posted at the 'Gum (streamable from the 'Gum Mix in the sidebar). A little 'tronic for my taste (esp. compared to the also-posted "Alternative to Love"), but still good.

HERE WE GO MAGIC stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set, streaming via NPR.

CRACKER: David Lowery talks to Glide about rockin' the suburbs, recording on a time clock, and more...

NEKO CASE played "This Tornado Loves You" for Conan at his new digs.

HANDSOME FURS: Alexei answers 5 questions for Muzzle of Bees. Audio at the link, too.

DEAN & BRITTA: Dean Wareham talks to Decider about riding around town in a Galaxie 500, chronicling the drug aspect of the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, and eventually having to explain his own drug use to his son.

BAND OF HORSES talks to the Charleston City Paper about rolling with the changes.

SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS is briefly profiled at BlackBook.

LINDSAY LOHAN's terminally on-again, off-again relationship with Samantha Ronson has now hit an ultimate dead end, due to her "maniac" behavior.

SEAN PENN has pulled out of two films, "Cartel" and "The Three Stooges," citing personal reasons. No word on whether he plans on remaining a stooge in real life.

BILLY JOEL and his latest wife, Katie Lee, are splitting up. Rumors have swirled for months that Joel's third marriage was on the rocks.

SARAH JESSICA PARKER:  Two police chiefs in the area where SJP's surrogate mother lives are under investigation -- for allegedly concocting a plan to break into the surrogate's home to get info for a tabloid.

BRITNEY SPEARS is not engaged to her agent. He's still only getting ten percent.

TRANSFORMERS 2: Another day, another clip. This one is called "We're Going to Die!"

KRISTEN STEWART & JOAN JETT are both rockin' the Jett-black hair as the former gets ready to play the latter in The Runaways movie.

ANGELINA JOLIE: A fashion designer hung up on her, twice.

IRAN: The Lede at the NYT continues to be a handy, oft-updated source for news, pictures, video and tweets from within the Islamic theocracy in the midst of an electoral crisis.  The Ahmadinejad camp seems to have Photoshopped a rally pic to inflate its supporters.

PAKISTAN: Gen. David Petraeus denies that the US is providing direct combat assistance to Pakistan in its fight against terrorists.  Local tribesmen have encircled the Taliban in the inaccessible mountain terrain of Dhog Dara.

THE GREAT EASTERN IOWA TRACTORCADE gets coverage in the UK.

THE SKUNK WHISPERER rescues two raccoons from a Pepsi machine.

FIVE PUPPIES have been cloned using DNA from the rescue dog credited with finding the last survivor in the smoking rubble of Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks.

ANIMALS + STAR WARS TOYS = Crazy Delicious!

KNIFE WIELDING GORILLA shocks zoo visitors. Well, yeah...

IF A BEAR can get through your pet door, the pet door may be too big.