THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE:

... with GRAM PARSONS! As a member of both The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, and as a solo artist, Parsons anticipated the so-called country rock of the 1970s and the alt-country movement that began around 1990. There is not a lot of GP video floating around, but "Christine's Tune" is a good place to start, though the video for "Older Guys" is great because someone made them go out to christen Judge Smails' sloop. The Hell's Angels make an unfortunate cameo in the clip of "Six Days o­n the Road" from the infamous Altamont festival in 1969. The posthumous video for "Sin City" is nice also. BONUS: Dwight Yoakum covers "Wheels" at a Parsons tribute concert. DOUBLE BONUS: Frequent duet partner Emmylou Harris covers "Return of the Grievous Angel" with Ryan Adams (and Buddy Miller o­n bass) at a different tribute.

M WARD plays KEXP.

THE NATIONAL shares "Space Invader" and "Alphabet City."

GREEN DAY shares 4-track demos from Dookie.

JONI MITCHELL shares a demo for "Help Me."

DAVID BYRNE regrets how he handled the breakup of Talking Heads.

OSEES' John Dwyer talks to Brooklyn Vegan about the band's new wave-y LP.

THE SONG OF THE SUMMER, according to Stereogum readers.

GARY YOUNG, Pavement’s original drummer, has died at 70.

BARBIE surpasses The Dark Knight as Warner Bros' biggest domestic grosser.

OPPENHEIMER becomes the biggest grosser to not top the domestic box office chart.

THE BLIND SIDE LAWSUIT: Author Michael Lewis says the money satyed in Hollywood via creative accounting.

SHE CAME TO ME has a trailer online.

BRITNEY SPEARS is going to face story after story during her divorce from Sam Ashgari, who is contesting their prenup.

THE BEST JAMES BOND MOVIE, according to a poll of UK fans.

DID YOU KNOW This Movie Even Exists?

DOG & CALF, reunited.

A DOGGO persuades a newly adopted Rottweiler to play with him.

THE DUCK makes a break for it.