DAVID VANDERVELDE brings the glam on "Jacket."  Even better, you can stream his whole debut album as I write this.

ELVIS PERKINS gets a mini-set at the World Cafe, which you can stream via NPR.

THE DECEMBERISTS are playing with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl July 7th.  They also have a new long-form, 10-minute "Director's Cut" of "O, Valencia."

LUCINDA WILLIAMS talks to Paste, The Baltimore Sun and The Phoenix about her new album West. (Thanks, Chromewaves!)  As usual, you can jukebox a Lucinda mix via the ol' HM.

GUNS 'N' ROSES enter the periphery of the reunion radar.

"WE ARE THE BOYS" (Who Make All the Noise)" is a medley of early rock 'n' roll classics like "Great Balls 'o' Fire" and "Chantilly Lace," as recorded in this one-off project from Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy), Roy Wood (The Move), Chas Hodges (Chas 'n' Dave), and John Coghan (Status Quo).

YO LA TENGO fromtman Ira Kaplan tells X-Press Online how the band's music is shaped by their community.

THE JESUS AND MARY CHAIN reunion may produce a new album, but the Reid brothers will be releasing solo albums this year in any event.  You can stream some Jim solo samples via HisSpace.

JAMES BROWN:  The six adult children of singer James Brown and his partner, Tomi Rae Hynie, have agreed on where the Godfather of Soul will be buried -- which is an undisclosed location, so maybe he will be guarded by VP Dick Cheney.  Brown's former manager reveals he keeps opening the golden casket to make sure Brown is still there; all needs now is to istall a refrigerator light.

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE:  The supposedly sober supermodel's jaw dropped when she saw the "Don't End Up Like Pete the Junkie" signs plastered outside a recent Babyshambles gig .

BRITNEY SPEARS is back out of rehab in less than a day (again).  The pop tart has reportedly claimed her head-sahving was because of a problem with lice, but  an unnamed source told OK! magazine that it was because Fed-Ex threatened that he was going to have people test her hair, which could show whether she had been abusing illegal drugs, which could be used in the couple's looming child-custody battle.  Coincidentally enough, Fed-Ex and his lawyers are seeking to expedite the child-custody proceedings.

JACKO is reportedly meeting with Prince for advice on how to land one of those long-running Vegas gigs like the Purple One has running at his 3121 Club.

TOM BRADY is officially excited about ex-gf Bridget Moynihan's pregnancy.

BRADGELINA:  Jolie and the kids meet a gay man dressed as an Oscar in N'awlins.  NTTAWWT.

LINDSAY LOHAN said she was "seriously considering" moving to London.  Of course, it's not the first time she has said that, either.

ANNA NICOLE SMITH IS STILL DEAD, but it hasn't stopped TMZ from wondering whether Smith -- or her companion/lawyer Howard K. Stern -- were trying to changer her will at the time she died.

GREY'S ANATOMY will spin-off Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd into her own series.

NAOMI WATTS and LIEV SCHREIBER continue to attract pregnancy rumors.

CHRISTINA AGUILERA, otoh, is denying pregnancy rumors.

THE SEVEN WONDERS of the CELEBRITY WORLD, according to the Best Week Ever blog.  And one entry seems especially controversial with the commenters.

FIVE FREAKY MUPPET VIDEOS are presented by Ten Zen Monkeys.  Rockers feature in three of them.  But if you're going to bring Debbie Harry into it, why not feature her duet with Kermit on "Rainbow Connection?"

HONOR KILLINGS:  In the UK, a father torched his wife and four daughters in their sleep because he could not bear them adopting a more westernized, less Muslim lifestyle, an inquest heard. In Chicago, Daryoush Ebrahimi allegedly admitted killing his wife, sister-in-law and mother-in-law because they "disrespected him and said he was not a man."  I note that in the second case, the family was Assyrian Christian.

IRAN publicly hanged a man who confessed to involvement in last week's deadly bomb attack on members of the Revolutionary Guards in the tense border city of Zahedan.  Compare the near-total lack of ourage about this to the media barrage of complaints over the hanging of Saddam Hussein after a lengthy trial.  Apparently, we are unwilling to judge the Iranian government -- which has been around since 1979 -- by the same standards we apply to a fledgling democracy.

IRAQ:  In the L.A. Times, Max Boot asks: "Is Iraq turning into Yugoslavia?"   Time magazine reports that it is "too quiet" in Baghdad -- which may be true, but there's just no pleasing the press, is there?  US troops are also scouring the outskirts of Baghdad to identify threats before they reach the capital.  Citizens and police in Jumaylah attacked an al-Qaeda convoy attempting to enter the town. Seven al-Qaeda were killed and 13 captured in raids in Ramadi, Fallujah and Baqubah.  Hardcore Islamists are trying their own "surge" in Ramadi, but the US was expecting it.

THE RUNNING of the BULL in Upton, Mass. consumed about four hours along Route 140.  Video at the link.

SWARMS of GIANT HORNETS have settled in France, but entomologists fear it will just be a matter of time before they cross to Britain.  Global warming is blamed, natch.

COWS stare unamazed as Switzerland's Agriculture Ministry calls on the country's farmers to stop feeding them cannabis.

SUMATRAN RHINO crosses the ocean to get it on for the species.

THE BAT DEMON is blamed for a rash of sex attacks -- mostly against men -- in Tanzania's main city, Dar es Salaam.  Well, of course, what else could it be?