THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with R.E.M.!  Live in Germany circa 1985, more complete than what has previously turned up on the Tube. Songs include "Feeling Gravity's Pull," "Harbourcoat," "Sitting Still," "Maps & Legends," "Fall On Me," "Green Grow The Rushes," "Driver 8," "Hyena," "So. Central Rain," CCR's "Have You Ever Seen The Rain," "Can't Get There From Here," Roger Miller's "King Of The Road," "Seven Chinese Bros.," "Auctioneer," "Old Man Kinsey," "Little America," "Pretty Persuasion, " "Theme From Two Steps Onward," Aerosmith's "Toys In The Attic," and Television's "See No Evil." Plus, previously unlinked here: "Second Guessing," "Ghost Riders In The Sky," "(Don't Go Back to) Rockville," "We Walk/ Behind Closed Doors" and "Paint It Black."

DYLAN LeBLANC advance streams Cautionary Tale.

BAABA MAAL advance streams The Traveller.

RYLEY WALKER plays a Lagniappe Session.

MAVIS STAPLES drops "High Note" ahead of the cameo-laden Livin' on a High Note.

WHITE DENIM drops “Holda You (I’m Psycho)” ahead of Stiff...and it reminds me of prime Meat Puppets.

YEASAYER drops "I Am Chemistry," their first track in years.

ART BRUT get you off to a "Good Weekend."

DAVID BOWIE: Theories of Evolution. (Thx, Frank Yang.) ALSO: The full video for "Lazarus."

VINYL SALES continued their upward march, in a nearly 30 percent increase over 2014.

THE TOP 10 ELO SONGS, as ranked by Stereogum.

THE DECEMBERISTS' Colin Meloy Started an Erotic Oregon Militia Fanfiction Craze.

NICOLAS CALDWELL, a founding member of The Whispers whose hits included "Rock Steady" has died ... he was 71 years old.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases are the expansion of The Revenant, which is currently scoring 81 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; and The Forest, which is scoring 22 percent.

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS overtook Avatar Wednesday as the top grossing film in North America.

BEYONCE will join Coldplay at the Superbowl.

BILL COSBY will not face criminal charges in 2 alleged sexual assault cases ... one from 2008 at the Playboy Mansion, and the other against a then 17-year-old in 1965.

KERI RUSSELL & MATTHEW RHYS (The Americans) are expecting a baby.

KATE HUDSON & NICK JONAS were caught canoodling in a California ski town.

JILL WHELAN, who hit it big played Capt. Stubing's daughter on “Love Boat,” has fallen on hard times ... she's getting divorced and has no source of income to support herself.

PAT HARRINGTON, the popular comedian and voice-over talent who made a lasting impact as superintendent Dwayne Schneider on the hit sitcom One Day at a Time, has died, according to his agent. Harrington was 86.

GERMANY: Some of the 100 women caught in dozens of sexual assaults and robberies on NYE have begun speaking of their ordeal.

A SNOWY OWL, captured on a traffic cam.

THE SQUIRREL THREAT: A militant rodent cut power to thousands in Milwaukee's southwest suburbs.

A RARE SNAKE was used as a weapon in ancient Sicily.

HUNTSMAN-KILLING SPIDER WASPS have been observed beginning their gruesome reproduction cycle in Adelaide.