THE NEW YEAR'S WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with THE BEAT FARMERS!  Because I was in the mood for an encore of this more sober than usual, professionally-shot, early BF gig recorded at Universal Studios, including "There She Goes Again" (VU); "Road to Ruin," "Bigger Fool," "Reason to Believe" (Springsteen), "Powderfinger" (N. Young), "Happy Boy," "Big Ugly Wheels," "Bigger Stones," "Gun Sale at the Church," "Dallas Blues," "I Wanna Be Free," "Lakeside Trailer Park," "Death Train," and "Seven Year Itch."  If you're new to the band, my picks would be "Bigger Stones," "Happy Boy" and the cover of your choice.  SUPER-SPECIAL BONUS:  Now how much would you pay?  But wait... there's more!  If you really want to see someone put the "bar" in "bar band," watch these NSFW clips from Houston, TX of the late Country Dick Montana leading the band through "Lucille" (K. Rogers) -- complete with his favorite beer bottle stunts -- followed by "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Wino," "Are You Drinkin' With Me, Jesus?" and "Mondo."

YEASAYER is offering a live album for download. Name your price, including free.

THE KLAXONS are offering the Landmarks of Lunacy EP for streaming and download.

THE TOP EPs of 2010, according to KCRW social media host Betsy Moyer, with streaming tracks from Dale Earnhart Jr. Jr., The Smiles, The Generationals, Sufjan Stevens and more...

THE ROXY MUSIC STORY: A BBC documentary presented by Jarvis Cocker. One day left to listen!

BELLE & SEBASTIAN: The webcast is over, but the band's Holiday Spectacular, with popular classics, fan favorites and a few festive surprises, remains available in audio.

MARK RONSON & BUSINESS INTL stopped by WNYC's Green Space for a mini-session.

JOE JACKSON: Pate frequently attempted "One More Time" to hilarious effect, so today I stick with Joe's early material, including "Sunday Papers" live on the OGWT, "Kinda Kute" on the Kenny Everett Video Show, a Beat Crazy-era run of "On Your Radio" the official clip for "It's Different For Girls" and a bracing live take on "I'm The Man." That last one is taken from the Rock Goes To College show, which also boasts this pulsing version of his signature "Is She Really Going Out With Him?"

SHARON VON ETTEN is interviewed by The Dumbing of America, so it's worth a backlink to her recent World Cafe session. (Thx, Chromewaves.)

BOB SEGER is celebrated at The Guardian, including a vintage video of one of my all-time favorite Seger tracks, "Rambklin' Gamblin' Man."

THE TURD in the CAVIAR: 24 songs that almost derail great albums.

IN MEMORIAM: NPR's accounting for Musicians We Lost in 2010.

THE CUTOUT BIN: From Guy Lombardo to AC / DC, from Otis & Carla to Ray Davies & Alex Chilton, from Guided by Voices to Roy Orbison, plus the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Members, Sylvia and more -- the final fortuitous finds of the year are now streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NICK CAVE & SHANE MacGOWAN: "What a Wonderful World."

NOW SHOWING? There are no new wide releases this weekend.  The controversial Blue Valentine opens on a whopping four screens, which I'm guessing are in NYC and LA for awards purposes.  However, I do have a couple of capsule reviews of current releases...

THE FIGHTER: I was tempted to say "it's a boxing movie." It has many of the boxing tropes, but it's really more about family (and as such, not really a family film).  Accordingly, while Mark Wahlberg is the lead in the film, and capable enough as such, it's really Amy Adams, Melissa Leo and especially Christian Bale who fuel this film (as the girlfriend, mother and brother, respectively).  Wahlberg may take the punches, but it's Bale's scenes that are the most brutal, in no small part to the way in which he melts into his role, even at the physical level.

BLACK SWAN: The family behind the performer is here, though not the centerpiece. Here I give into the temptation to say "it's a backstage drama." Indeed, Black Swan pulls out the gimmick of having the backstage parallel the onstage to some degree.  And a movie which does that had better be good at it or be dismissed as formula.  In this case it is good, for the opposite reason as The Fighter.  Here, while Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey (plus Vincent Cassel and Wynona Ryder in lesser roles) are a capable supporting cast, Black Swan rises on the star turn of Natalie Portman, who makes her Nina Sayers far more compelling and sympathetic than she ought to be on paper.  I have seen this compared to Darren Aronofsky's last film, The Wrestler, because he originally had the characters in the same script -- and that's unfair.  Granted, both characters sacrifice themselves for their performances, but in terms of genre and tone, The Wrestler may be closer to The Fighter (which Aronofsky exec produced) than the psychodrama of Black Swan.

SHOWBIZ NEWS is truly dead, so we'll meet back here in the New Year!