August 17, 2012 – Last week, a New York Times profile revealed that Paul D. Ryan — a Republican representative of Wisconsin, Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney's running mate, and the mastermind behind a new conservative budget — counts vehemently liberal hard rockers Rage Against the Machine among his favorite bands. As everyone likely presumed, this didn't go over too well with members of the band, who had previously made a scene at the 2008 Republican National Convention, where they started a protest march. Now Rage guitarist Tom Morello is joining other musicians who are decrying the Romney-Ryan campaign, responding to the Representative in an op-ed piece for Rolling Stone. In it, he says Ryan is "clueless" about the group's music (after comparing Ryan's love of Rage to Charles Manson's love of the Beatles, of course).

August 17, 2012 – Baroness' tour bus plummeted 30 feet off a viaduct near Bath in the U.K. earlier this week, and as of right now, three-quarters of the Georgia metal band remain in the hospital, while one has been dismissed. According to a new statement from the band, vocalist-guitarist John Baizley broke his left arm and his left leg in the accident, while drummer Allen Blickle and bassist Matt Maggioni both fractured vertebrae; guitarist Pete Adams was treated and released from the hospital. Three of the five crew members who were traveling with the band have been released as well. One is still undergoing testing while the driver remains in critical condition.

August 16, 2012 – A couple of days ago, Britney Spears tweeted at Curiosity — NASA's radioisotope-powered Martian space rover — "So @MarsCuriosity... does Mars look the same as it did in 2000?" She then linked to her video for "Oops!... I Did It Again," which takes place on, of course, Mars. The $2.5 billion piece of electronics was actually kind enough to reply, "Hey Brit Brit. Mars is still looking good. Maybe someday an astronaut will bring me a gift, too. Drill bits crossed ;)." Adorable! But the rover might not be as keen on "Brit Brit" as it lets on. As revealed in an AMA session with the "engineers and scientists on the Mars Curiosity Rover Mission" here (via Business Insider), the rover listens to a variety of classic rock and metal (even Anthrax), but no Britney Spears.

August 16, 2012 – Today marks the 35th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. While a reported 75,000 fans and mourners are visiting the King's Graceland estate today, we've decided to pay tribute to Elvis' legacy as a cover artist by revisiting some of our favorite cover versions that indie and underground rockers have done of his songs. With respect to the heartfelt renditions by Fine Young Cannibals, Danzig and especially a David Lynch-directed Nicolas Cage (and, sure, UB40, for the sake of positivity), we've selected 10 of the best (or most interesting) Elvis cover versions we could find. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, "In the Ghetto" The neon lights and Nick Cave's golden vest may project more of an Elvis influence than Nick's take on Presley's 1969 tale of poverty (oh, and let's not forget Cave's hair), but in a weird way, it makes perfect sense.

August 16, 2012 – This morning the Internet was convinced Ke$ha had written a fierce letter to Lady Gaga about wearing fur.

August 16, 2012 – While fans of 18-year-old pop star Justin Bieber may go batty over songs like "Boyfriend," in which he promises to "take you places that you've never been before," he's just proved that he is indeed going places his fans have likely never been before: a Phish concert. He and girlfriend Selena Gomez hung out with the jam band (whose singer Trey Anastasio is putting out an indie-rock-influenced solo album in October) at yesterday's Long Beach Arena show, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Bieber was wearing a green tie-dyed shirt. There are pics over at THR that you should probably see. The couple was reportedly first spotted by the soundboard (maybe to get a good line mix to trade) and later with friends. Bieber apparently came at the behest of his music director and guitarist Dan Kanter.

August 16, 2012 – In a somewhat surprising turn of events, Michael Jackson's enterprising father, Joe, has dropped a wrongful death lawsuit levied at the pop star's former doctor, Conrad Murray, according to the Guardian. Joe had filed the suit in June 2010, on the one-year anniversary of Michael's death, though his attorneys later had to re-file in an L.A. state court after a federal judge rejected the case. The suit claimed that Murray did not keep satisfactory records about treating Michael and lied to doctors and paramedics about the nightly doses of propofol he was administering to the King of Pop. Joe was seeking damages for loss of income, emotional distress, and pain and suffering.

August 16, 2012 – In 1983, Mitt Romney made a 12-hour trip in a station wagon from Boston to Ontario with his family… and "family" apparently included the family's Irish setter Seamus, who made the entire half-day journey on Romney's roof rack in a dog carrier equipped with its jerry-rigged windshield. As originally reported in the Boston Globe, Romney warned his family he would stop only at predetermined locations — though an off-schedule one occurred when the dog soiled himself — and that was that. When the subject came up again, Romney said people who care about the humane treatment of animals are "not happy that my dog likes fresh air." Now, with Romney campaigning as the Republican presidential candidate, musicians are attempting to remind people about what a heinous act this was.

August 15, 2012 – First! Since launching the U.S. version of the popular U.K. Top 40 various-artists comp in 1998, with a track listing of now-golden oldies by past-era hit-makers the likes of the Backstreet Boys and Harvey Danger, the producers behind Now! That's What I Call Music have garnered one chart topper after another. This week, the latest installment — and third this year — Now! 43, is its 16th(!) No. 1, according to Billboard, having sold 111,000 more copies of Carly Rae Jepsen's megahit "Call Me Maybe," per Nielsen SoundScan. It also contains tracks by Katy Perry, Justin Bieber and hard rockers Halestorm. 2 Through 10: Rick Ross may not forgive, but he's probably not too disappointed with moving only one place down to the No. 2 slot this week, having sold 60,000 copies of God Forgives, I Don't.

August 15, 2012 – Last December, SPIN reported that Phish phrontman Trey Anastasio was working on a solo album with members of the National and Mates of State. As it turns out, the Phish-head is actually a big fan of indie rock and at one point even convinced his bandmates in the group to learn TV on the Radio's "Golden Age" to perform live. Producer Peter Katis said at the time that Anastasio "wants to do something totally out of left-field, and from what we heard, the record was to be a mix of Afro-tinged rock and experimental indie pop. A few days after our report, we learned that Anastasio and Katis actually joined the National onstage for a jam in New York. The National even introduced him as "a hero of ours." We've reposted video of the National and Anastasio doing "Bloodbuzz Ohio" below. The album Anastasio was working on, titled Traveler, is coming out October 16.