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."

YEASAYER is advance streaming their new album.

AMANDA PALMER stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and twofer streaming via NPR.

BLITZEN TRAPPER stopped by the World Cafe for a chat and mini-set, also via NPR.

DAWES: I missed their World Cafe session last week, but better late than never.

BIG STAR, "the unluckiest band in America," got a feature on Fresh Air.

SOUL ASYLUM: Captain's Dead has them Live at the Aragon Ballroom, on Sept. 15, 1995.

ST. VINCENT is "Laughing with a Mouth of Blood." And Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein.

SHANE MacGOWAN recruited singer Nick Cave, Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie, the Pretenders' Chrissie Hynde, Sex Pistols bassist Glen Matlock Clash guitarist Mick Jones, Johnny Depp and singer Paloma Faith to cover "I Put a Spell on You" for Haiti relief.

DEERHOOF and XIU XIU will cover Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures at an Austrian music fest this spring.

DEAD MILKMEN frontman Joe Jack Talcum talks to the Chico News and Review about his current projects. (Thx, LHB.)

PITCHFORK FEST tix go on sale today.

JAY REATARD died January 13 due to "cocaine toxicity," and "alcohol was a contributing factor in his death."

KISS vs. MINI-KISS: Coming to a Super Bowl near you.

CUTOUT BIN: From Husker Du to Mama Cass, from Buddy Holly to Pavement, from Cheap Trick to Fairport Convention, plus Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, the Beach Boys, the Zombies, Mountain Goats and more -- this weekend's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's wide releases are From Paris With Love, which is currently scoring 37 percent; and Dear John, which is scoring 28 percent.

TIGER WOODS is leaving sex addiction rehab by the end of this week, and his wife is picking him up.

BRITTANY MURPHY died from multiple drug intoxication, pneumonia and "iron deficiency anemia" in what the coroner has concluded was a accidental death.  L.A. County Coroner officials believe Brittany's condition was "treatable" but no one took her to the hospital in time.

CHARLIE SHEEN will be charged with felony menacing in connection with the Christmas Day incident with wife Brooke Mueller, according to law enforcement sources.

LINDSAY LOHAN, secret hoarder? Let's go to the video.

REESE WITHERSPOON: Back in the dating pool?

JENNIFER ANISTON wants to be set up with a wealthy businessman.

IRAN said on Wednesday that it had fired a rocket into space carrying living organisms - a rat, two turtles and worms.

PAKISTAN: In their joint operations against Taliban militants hiding in the tribal areas, the United States and Pakistan seem to have embraced a classic bit of battlefield advice: Don't get mad, get even.

AFGHANISTAN: Domestic political resistance is building to Pres. Karzai's two-track plan to end the war by negotiating with Taliban leaders while enticing their foot soldiers with the promise of jobs and development projects. Meanwhile, in a rare break from traditional military secrecy, the US and its allies are announcing the precise target of their first big offensive of the Afghanistan surge in an apparent bid to intimidate the Taliban.

CAT IN BED: Your moment of Zen.

GOTH KITTENS = Cruelty.

A PHEASANT is terrorizing a North Yorkshire village - trapping people in their homes and attacking people in the street.

AN AUSSIE is facing charges after his attempts to kiss a police sniffer dog led to a row in which he was pepper sprayed and arrested.

THREE CHEETAHS spare tiny antelope's life and play with him instead... Mass hysteria!

SHARKS attacked and killed a 38-year-old man near Stuart Beach in southern Florida on Wednesday. What say you, Police Chief Brody?