THAO NGUYEN rolls out some cheap but charming claymation for "Bag of Hammers."

NEW RELEASES:  Sigur Ros, Amos Lee and classic reissues from Blondie and Liz Phair are among those streaming in full this week via Spinner. Alejandro Escovedo unleashes his Real Animal. The Watson Twins release Fire Songs.

SNEAK PREVIEW songs from the Hold Steady, Beck, Randy Newman, Conor Oberst and more from NPR's All Songs Considered.

THE SHINS plan to self-release their next album, though they will likely maintain a pressing and distribution deal with Sub Pop records.

MUDCRUTCH  is specially mastering their album's vinyl release for a more traditional sound.

THE B-52s have a new album out, but I dug into the back catalog and came up with "Private Idaho" and "Dirty Back Road" for Twofer Tuesday.

LYKKE LI tells the Independent that she wants to be the next madonna, which seems unlikely, given her mix of pop, soul, folk and hip-hop, with sounds created not only by her voice, but also with foot stomps, chimes, theremin, flute, kazoo and harpsichord.

POMEGRANATES do the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.  Kinda Modest Mouse or Death Cab, with some faux-Brit inflection.

FRIGHTENED RABBIT is briefly profiled in the Portland Mercury.

HIGH GAS PRICES hit Indie bands on tour.

KATE HUDSON & LANCE ARMSTRONG were... wait for it... caught canoodling during a love match on a tennis court in Brentwood Los Angeles Sunday.

CAMERON DIAZ was... wait for it... caught canoodling with Brit model Paul Sculfor (who was linked to Jennifer Aniston last year).

LINDSAY LOHAN & SAMANTHA RONSON appeared stronger than ever as they enjoyed a romantic weekend in Los Angeles.  They were not caught canoodling.

HEATHER MILLS may well appear in the next season of Donald Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice."

KATE MOSS and her clique of Primrose Hillbillies are shunning Sienna Miller not only for breaking up with Rhys Ifans but also for the way she has gone about things.

CHRISTIE BRINKLEY won her battle to open her bitter divorce case with ex husband Peter Cook to the public.  Budding singer Diana Bianchi (Cook's then-19-year-old assistant)  - who was at the center of the divorce scandal two years ago - will testify in the upcoming divorce trial, her lawyer told Entertainment Tonight on Monday.

MAD MEN, about the world of advertising on Madison Avenue set in New York in the early 1960s, returns for a second season on AMC beginning July 27; the DVD set of the first season goes on sale July 1.  The show got a lengthy feature in last weekend's New York Times Magazine.  There are "best ofs," "behind the scenes" and all sorts of videos at AMCtv. Some spoilers there by the time you get to "The Lies."

ANNA NICOLE SMITH IS STILL DEAD, but baby daddy Larry Birkhead paid nearly three grand at an auction Saturday for lingerie she wore in a Playboy shoot. Birkhead explained he wanted to give their 1-year-old daughter Dannielynn a keepsake of her mother.  Not at all creepy.

ISLAMISM in the UK: Extremists are winning the battle for the hearts and minds of Britain's young Muslims, a disturbing police report warns.  Meanwhile, novelist Ian McEwan launched a stinging attack on Islamism, prompted in defense of his friend Martin Amis.

IRAQ will award contracts to 41 foreign oil firms in a bid to boost production that could give multinationals a potentially lucrative foothold in huge but underdeveloped oil fields. Roadside bomb attacks and fatalities are down by almost 90 percent over the last year, according to Pentagon records and interviews with military leaders.  The Counter-terrorism Blog highlights status reports from the Institute for the Study of War and the Government Accountability Office.  Iraqi forces defeat US troops... on the soccer field.

HOPE, the appropriately named two-legged Maltese puppy gets around by using a specially-designed device which features wheels from a model airplane. Pics and video at the link.

BABY CROCODILES start chatting to one another and to their mothers just before they hatch, perhaps signaling that it is time to be born. Audio at the link.

THE SNAIL THREAT: Island apple snails, originally from South America, could threaten public health and the environment in South Carolina.

THE BIRDS: Horny male blackbirds are on the attack in Chicago.  In the event of an attack, bark like a dog. Really.

RAT DUMPING follows the failure of a a reptile business in Marion County, FL.