DOWNLOAD: White Hinterland, "Dreaming of the Plum Trees" (mp3)

Back when she was studying at New England Conservatory, Casey Dienel put out a demo called "Grandmother Rock," a quick suite of songs suggesting rocking chairs more than rock-n-roll, a genre you'd coin if you were precocious, shy, and out of love with your generation.

Mission of Burma, 2wice (Live at Great Scott, 2008)

Mission of Burma, Academy Fight Song (Live at Great Scott, 2008)

As Justin Timberlake says, what goes around comes around: as the story goes, Mission of Burma took their name off a consulate building they happened to pass in New York.

P&N: Putting the amp back in ampersand

DOWNLOAD: Pretty and Nice, "Grab Your Nets" (mp3)

Pretty and Nice? No and no, actually -- ugly and raucous is more like it -- but they've got "Your New Favourite Band" written all over 'em. This Boston-via-Vermont foursome (or maybe threesome? MySpace is inconclusive) infuses thrill-crazed power-pop with the mad-noisy, chimp-like energy of juvie-hardened teenage degenerates.

P&N: Putting the amp back in ampersand

DOWNLOAD: Pretty and Nice, "Grab Your Nets" (mp3)

Pretty and Nice? No and no, actually -- ugly and raucous is more like it -- but they've got "Your New Favourite Band" written all over 'em. This Boston-via-Vermont foursome (or maybe threesome? MySpace is inconclusive) infuses thrill-crazed power-pop with the mad-noisy, chimp-like energy of juvie-hardened teenage degenerates.

The Fed this, the Fed that. Metal Americans know the real reason the Dow Jones took a jump yesterday: it was the dude ringing the fucking bell, yo. See?

We love Dee Snider. Here he is describing his qualifications for appearing on the new CMT reality series Gone Country:

And here he is putting his money where his mouth is: hosting this ridonculous benefit down in Providence for the families affected by the Station hair-metal fire, on a once-in-a-lifetime bill featuring half of Big & Rich, Gretchen Wilson, Twisted Sister, Stryper, Kellie Pickler, Tesla, Twisted Sister, and the dude from Stain'd. Get your tickets now.

In the animated world, creatures that would otherwise be seen as unsavory have been given a family-friendly makeover, from a disease-ridden rat that happens to be an innate culinary genius to a pesky honeybee that cracks jokes and falls in love.

Coolest-reading-of-next-week award: Brookline native John Hodgman (click link to read Mike Miliard's hysterical interview) -- whose jobs include "resident expert" on The Daily Show and, of course, the PC in the Mac-vs-PC commercials -- shows up to read from his The Areas of My Expertise, alongside Kansas poet Ed Skoog, Small Beer Press's Kelly Link and McSweeny's/Nerve short-storyist Rachel Sherman

The first time you hear the OUTBURST's "New York Surprise," you'll wonder if this is it, the one: the absolute worst song you've ever heard. By the 20th time, you'll be singing the out-of-tune chorus -- "You fucking did it/I know you did it!" -- to everyone you meet. In just over a month, the Outburst, a trio of teenage Dropkick Murphys fans from Quincy, have gone from anonymous MySpace geeks to 2008's first big worldwide web meme.