ST. VINCENT:  Annie Clark's new video for "Jesus Saves, I Spend" makes me appreciate Ken King's continued involvement with Scouting.

NEW RELEASES:  The 'I'm Not There' Dylan biopic soundtrack, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Carbon/Silicon, Nicole Atkins and more are streaming in full via Spinner this week.  The soundtrack has contributions from Stephen Malkmus, Sonic Youth, Jeff Tweedy, Sufjan Stevens, Cat Power, Yo La Tengo, Tom Verlaine, the Hold Steady, Iron and Wine, Eddie Vedder, Los Lobos, Jack Johnson, and Roger McGuinn.  Ian Ball of Gomez has his solo debut out today, too.  The bass line to "Failure" may sound vaguely familiar to fans of The Beatles and The Jam.

A PALER SHADE OF WHITE REDUX:  The recent New Yorker piece by Sasha Frere-Jones on the unbearable whiteness of indie rock is sharply dissected by Tim Mohr on Playboy's music blog.  That's right, I read it for the blog postings.  BONUS:  Will Butler of Arcade Fire responds.

ARCADE FIRE:  London's Guardian has a piece profiling a "band trying to make sense of their ascent to stardom," which one hopes is different from a think-piece on a "mid-level band struggling with their own limitations in the harsh face of stardom."

ANDREW BIRD is backed by veteran indie rockers Dianogah on five songs -- some previously unreleased -- you can stream and download from Daytrotter.

OFF BROADWAY:  The late-'70s power pop group from Oak Park, IL "played a quirky hopped-up blend of Beatlesque melodies and Move-like power" and still perform at local gigs occasionally, as these live videos of "Stay In Time" and "Bully Bully" demonstrate on Twofer Tuesday.  You can stream a few tracks, including a live take on "Full Moon Turn My Head Around," at TheirSpace.

U2:  Last year, the band's music publishing company paid 25.8 million dollars to five unidentified "employees," whom most preume to be the band, plus manager Paul McGuinness.

SHARON JONES:  The soul singer talks to NPR about her breakthrough success, which was decades in the making.

FIONN REGAN:  The folk troubadour talks to Ireland's Independent about songwriting and being compared to such sainted singer-songwriters as Bob Dylan and Nick Drake.  You may want to stream a few tracks at FionnSpace.

YEAR IN REVIEW:  Some folks have gotten a head start on looking back.  At the Guardian's blog, Ben Myers writes that 2007 was a stinker year for music, though he's mostly focused on the UK and his exceptions tend to be from the US.  At the Catbirdseat, you can check out the much beloved music-blogger "Best of 2007" Cheat Sheat.

PORTER WAGONER, the country music legend who charted 81 times and mentored Dolly Parton, died Sunday at a Nashville hospice at 80. The singer was suffering from lung cancer.  In June, he released his last CD, Wagonmaster, to some of the best reviews of his career. And in July, he opened for the White Stripes at a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden.  Full obit at CMT.  Pitchfork has your embeded videos.

BRITNEY SPEARS gave Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo a lap dance, according to American Idol MC Ryan Seacrest.

OPRAH WINFREY made a tearful apology and begged for forgiveness Sunday as she met the parents of students at her all-girls academy, which is reeling from lurid allegations of sexual abuse.

THE McCARTNEYS:  Heather Mills reportedly blew 200K on a lavish fourth birthday party for daughter Beatrice.  Including a pony.

NICOLE KIDMAN turned up at Australia's music industry awards in a see-through dress, but did not seem entirely comfortable in it.

GEORGE CLOONEY recently installed an egg-throwing machine at his mansion on Italy's ritzy Lake Como, according to the ever-reliable Star magazine. The machine, which the hunky actor helped design, hurls rag eggs at those who cross an infrared sensor in front of his 15-bedroom Villa Oleandra.

JESSICA SIMPSON has become the latest in a long line of female celebrities to launch her own perfume.  It will be called "Nitwit."  Okay, I made up that last bit.

JACKO has defaulted on a 23-million-dollar loan and must pay -- with interest -- in 90 days, or he will lose his Neverland Ranch.

JAMES McAVOY is in the frame to play Kurt Cobain in the upcoming biopic about the life and death of the rock star.

SIENNA MILLER:  Her new relationship with scruffy Rhys Ifans has friends of both wondering whether it will end in tears... an if so, for whom.

MADONNA:  Hubby Guy Ritchie has quashed rumors that the adoption of baby David Banda drove a wedge between him and Madge.

LEO DiCAPRIO was a late bloomer, according to Russell Crowe, who tells Entertainment Weekly he'd like to hear more about Leo's social life since then, preferably with pictures.

EVAN RACHEL WOOD, Marilyn Manson's 19-year-old actress girlfriend, is reportedly close to signing a recording contract with Interscope Records, which just happens to be Manson's label.

MICHAEL MOORE's most recent movie, Sicko, has opened in Europe.  Britons who know their National Health Service do not recognize it in his movie... and they support the NHS.  Others would point out that dental care and baby delivery can be self-service if you rely on the NHS.

THE JENA 6:  A local journalist tells the story you haven't heard.  You will be shocked, shocked, to discover that the media got most of the basics wrong.

ISLAMISM in GERMANY:  Chancellor Angela Merkel has joined a growing movement to criminalize forced marriages in Germany, which is growing less tolerant of practices among Muslim immigrants that clash with the nation's liberal social values.

IRAQ:  Iraqi troops on Monday rescued eight of 11 kidnapped tribal leaders after a gunbattle with their captors, defense ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari told AFP.  The US military accused Arkan Hasnawi, a former Shiite militant from radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia, of kidnapping the group of Shiite and Sunni leaders.  The Shiite-dominated national government is resisting efforts to integrate more Sunnis into the police force.  Rockets fired at a US base southeast of Baghdad on Oct. 23 were manufactured in Iran.  The threat from al-Qaeda in several former strongholds in Baghdad has been significantly reduced, but criminals who have established "almost mafia-like presence" in some areas pose a new threat, Gen. Petraeus said Sunday.  Ahmad Chalabi, the controversial, ubiquitous Iraqi politician and one-time Bush administration favorite, has re-emerged to press Iraq's central government to use early security gains from the surge to deliver better electricity, health, education and local security services to Baghdad neighborhoods.  Michael Yon's latest dispatch argues that Iraq is looking better month by month, but at the current rate, surely we shall fail in Afghanistan.

IRAQ II:  Turkey has suspended ratification of a bilateral anti-terrorism cooperation agreement with Iraq, as the number of Turkish troops inside Iraq seeking PKK terrorists reaches 2000.  Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq are warning local people to prepare to run for the hills if Turkey attacks.

THE WAKE-UP CAT is climbing the viral video charts.  (Thanks, Amber.)

STANLEY the TERRIER:  Gunning for the Red Baron, or dressing as Snoopy for Halloween?

WINTER the DOLPHIN, who lost her tail fin after becoming tangled in a crab trap at sea, has been fitted with an artificial tail.

SWALLOWER FISH has eyes bigger than its stomach, and takes on a three-foot-long snake mackerel.

MONKEY SQUADS:  New monkey-catchers have been hired by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to deal with the monkey menace in the city.  Who you gonna call?

MING the QUAHOG CLAM, who has died at age 405, lived longer than any other creature known to man.