THE LABOR DAY WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

...with CHEAP TRICK, live at ChicagoFest '81!  Your set list includes: "Stop This Game," Hello There," "I Want You to Want Me," "On Top of the World," "Reach Out," "Baby Loves to Rock," "Gonna Raise Hell," "Dream Police," "Ain't That a Shame," "Surrender," "Just Got Back," "Day Tripper" and "Goodnight." You can access the individual songs from the link, or let the whole thing roll.

SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS stopped by Morning Becomes Eclectic for a session.

ROCKY VOTOLATO did the four free songs thing for Daytrotter.

EXTRA LENS (John Darnielle and Franklin Bruno) is advance streaming Undercard.

FREDDIE MERCURY is one of NPR's 50 Great Voices.

NIRVANA: Roma, which may be their last known live recording, from February 22, 1994.

BOB DYLAN: Roio offers still-unreleased tracks from the infamous Great White Wonder.

POP CANDY has a new podcast featuring tracks from The Like, Superchunk and more...

AQUARIUM DRUNKARD has a new summer mixtape from Mondo Boys.

ALL SONGS CONSIDERED Guest DJ Jim Jarmusch Previews The All Tomorrow's Parties Music Festival.  Includes a great track from The Greenhornes with Holly Golightly.

FIRST CLASS: "Beach Baby" falls into that category of summer song Oliver Wang described last year as "tinged with fragility and marked by melancholy."  It's even more true of the long version, with those French Horns and choral vocals in the c-section...

THE TOP 200 TRACKS OF THE 90s, according to Pitchfork.

THE 40 BEST NEW BANDS, according to Stereogum.

THE POGUES are arguing online about the band's status.

TIFT MERRITT talks to the Santa Barbara Independent about her songwriting  process, mixtapes and more... (Thx, LHB.)

OK GO frontman Damian Kulash writes about net neutrality at the Washington Post.

ROYAL TRUX: Jennifer Herrema talks to Exclaim about her life in the band, , the reissue series, life on a major, that notorious Sweet Sixteen album cover and how Nelly is influencing the next RTX album.

PASTE ceases print publication, but continues online.

CUTOUT BIN: From Wire to Earth, Wind & Fire, from Big Star to Jimi Hendrix, from the Sweet to Matthew Sweet, from Iggy Pop to the Ronettes, plus the Replacements, King Floyd, the Ventures, Hoodo Gurus and more -- this Friday's fortuitous finds are streaming from the Pate page at the ol' HM.

NOW SHOWING:  This weekend's wide releases include Going the Distance, which is currently soring 38 percent on the ol' Tomatometer; The American, which is scoring 60 percent; and Machete, scoring 67 percent.

LINDSAY LOHAN was disinvited from the the Machete premiere.

THE FRENCH HOTEL's "borrowed purse" defense to her cocaine possession charge may have a hole in it.

JOHN TRAVOLTA has been involved in "lewd sex acts with other men" as part of a "secret gay spa subculture," according to the ever-reliable National Enquirer.

JENNIFER LOPEZ is in the final stages of negotiations with "American Idol."

JENNIFER ANISTON hit the town Wednesday night with Hard Rock Café heir Harry Morton.

HARVEY KEITEL replacing Steve Carell on The Office? I wouldn't bet on it.

NATALIE PORTMAN is already getting Oscar buzz for her work in Black Swan.

WERNER HERZOG answered questions from Twitter on video to promote his film My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? A highlight may be his account of saving a man's life after a car crashed in front of his house.

ZSA ZSA GABOR to be plastinated after death?

OLIVIA MUNN - the newest correspondent on The Daily Show - gets a feature in GQ.

AFGHANISTAN: Gen. Petraeus said initial approaches to some Taliban members as part of a reconciliation initiative have shown promise and could help resolve the conflict in the country. Meanwhile, US and Afghan troops beat back another attempt by the Haqqani Network to overrun a US base in eastern Afghanistan, the third such attack since Aug. 28th.

HOPPING OTTERS: Let's go to the video.

PINKY the PUPPY jumped to the rescue and saved her best friend, 9-year-old Richie Bragg, after he was attacked by a swarm of bees.

STRANDED WHALE put to death with explosives.

THE BIRDS: Mail delivery in Bayview, Calgary, has been temporarily suspended because a hawk has been nose-diving the local mail carrier. Not to be confused with the hawks in Moose Jaw, Sask.

BABY BLACK RHINO born at the Cleveland Zoo. Awww...some pics and video at the link.