May 30, 2012 – In 1997, when presenting Arthel "Doc" Watson with a National Medal of Arts, President Bill Clinton said, "There may not be a serious, committed Baby Boomer alive who didn't at some point in his or her youth try to spend a few minutes at least trying to pick a guitar like Doc Watson." Clinton wasn't the last — nor arguably even the highest-profile — figure to honor Watson, the Appalachian singer, songwriter, and guitarist who died Tuesday at age 89, but his words underscore Watson's heavy influence on American music. Watson passed away in a North Carolina hospital, his manager told CNN. He had recently undergone abdominal surgery. Along with the National Medal of Arts, Watson won multiple Grammy awards, including 2004 Lifetime Achievement honors.

May 30, 2012 – Jay-Z and Kanye West's latest joint video speaks like a Molotov cocktail. Directed by France's Romain Gavras, who also oversaw M.I.A.'s bloody "Born Free" video, the clip for Watch the Throne's martial, foreboding opener is as gripping and cinematic as it is oblique. Shot in the streets of Prague — which could almost be mistaken for lower Manhattan until you notice the Slovak storefront lettering and unfamiliar marble statues — the clip shows an apocalyptic confrontation that pits angry young people with improvised explosive devices against police in riot gear. As featured guest Frank Ocean softens Hova and Yeezy's sharply barbed existential musings with his own soaring croon, the conflict erupts into a Hobbesian state of nature, complete with brutality on both sides, lasers, and, of course, an elephant.

May 29, 2012 – Madonna keeps finding ever-cheekier ways to point out the obvious similarities between Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" and the Material Girl's own "Express Yourself." The latest comes via freshly surfaced footage of Madonna performing "Express Yourself" during a rehearsal in Tel Aviv for her MDNA tour. The performance turns into a medley, with Madonna singing the chorus from "Born This Way" before returning to "Express Yourself," intermingling lyrics from both songs to drive the point home. And then, in the masterfully malicious coup de gras, Madonna weaves in a bit of her own Hard Candy track "She's Not Me." The point, we think, is obvious. Madonna has been playing cat-and-mouse with Lady Gaga over "Born This Way" for more than a year now.

May 29, 2012 – When it comes to fight songs, college sports almost always trump the pros. A quarter-century after "The Super Bowl Shuffle," however, Jim Jones' "We Fly High," Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Yellow," and even Future's "Tony Montana" have emerged as pro teams' unofficial theme songs. Over the weekend, Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne unveiled his band's musical tribute to the NBA's Oklahoma City Thunder, and here's hoping the team takes the hint. With a Go! Team-like "Thunder Up!" chant and fan-submitted lyrics gathered via Twitter, "Thunder Up: Racing for the Prize" is a weird, trippy little jock jam, but a highly serviceable jock jam nonetheless.

May 29, 2012 – Earlier this month, Against Me! singer Tom Gabel came out as transgender and revealed plans to begin living as a woman, taking the name Laura Jane Grace. On Friday night, Grace made her live debut under the new name when Against Me! opened for the Cult in San Diego. Rolling Stone reports that although Grace made no mention of her transition onstage, the crowd cheered when she sang, "If I could have chosen / I would have been born a woman," lines from "The Ocean," a song from the 2007 album New Wave. The Against Me! singer's name may have changed, but her voice remains as brusquely powerful as ever, judging by a fan video of the band's roaring rendition of 2005 single "Don't Lose Touch" (via Stereogum).

May 29, 2012 – "Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness." That's the Bible verse that serves as the title of former Clipse half Pusha T's snarling, Notorious B.I.G.-sampling track released last week, "Exodus 23:1." Though most media reports so far have cited modern, Americanized translations, there's a certain poetry in the classic King James version. That word, "wicked," says a lot: The Virginia Beach hip-hop veteran didn't just quote the ninth of the Ten Commandments, which warns against bearing "false witness"; he carefully aimed his shots at someone who was teaming up with, in his Manichean worldview, the bad guys. It's masterful hip-hop marketing, and so far it looks like Pusha is winning.

May 25, 2012 – My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James plans to release his debut solo album in 2013, Rolling Stone reports. "It's done," James is quoted as saying. "I think it's gonna come out in early February of next year." Although no title or track list is available yet, James tells Rolling Stone he's planning on taking the material on the road. He says he's talking with old friends from back home in Kentucky. One longtime friend, who played with James in his first-ever band, is reportedly the drummer on the bulk of the album. As for the music itself, James' high, lonesome voice remains a constant, but don't expect the record to sound exactly like My Morning Jacket. "It's got some mellow stuff on there, but it's also got some really different stuff," James is quoted as saying. "I'm really proud of it.

May 25, 2012 – Lady Gaga won't censor her show, regardless of whether that means some dates on her Asian tour end up being banned by national authorities, the pop diva's manager says. The AP reports that Troy Carter told Singapore's Straits Times newspaper that Lady Gaga "plays the show as it is," and that she isn't "provocative for the sake of being provocative." No word on how Lady Gaga feels about that Will Ferrell sample in Jay-Z and Kanye West's Watch the Throne hit "Niggas in Paris." Indonesian Muslim groups have been assailing Lady Gaga's act as immoral ahead of her sold-out show in Jakarta, scheduled for June 3. Earlier this month, national police gave in to the pressure, denying Gaga a permit for the concert. A police spokesperson reportedly cited concerns about the security of Lady Gaga and her fans in the face of violent threats.

May 25, 2012 – Daddy Warbucks, the rumors are true: Jay-Z will be overseeing music for a remake of the musical Annie and will contribute original tracks. That's according to British actress Emma Thompson, who is writing the film, as she confirmed — along with Jay-Z's involvement — to BBC and the U.K. Press Association. The movie is being produced by Will Smith and will star his daughter, hair-whipping Jay-Z signee and noted Odd Future fan Willow Smith. "I think it's a very good combination," Thompson told the BBC. She added that film's management was hoping to choose a director as early as this week. Thompson is pumped about the project, according to the Press Association, which quotes her as saying: "I'm writing a modern version of Annie for Willow to play, which I'm so excited about because Jay-Z is going to do the music — oh my God I'm so modern!

May 25, 2012 – "It was raining when Lem returned to the brewhouse, muttering curses as water ran off his yellow cloak to puddle on the floor," writes Game of Thrones series creator George R.R. Martin in his 2000 fantasy novel A Storm of Swords. "Anguy and Jack-Be-Lucky sat by the door rolling dice, but no matter which game they played one-eyed Jack had no luck at all." At this point a character named Tom Sevenstrings switches out a string on his "woodharp" and regales his motley audience with a few tunes, one of which has now been set to music by the National. The lyrics to "The Rains of Castamere," the Brooklyn rockers' contribution to the June 19 Games of Thrones: Season Two soundtrack, originally appeared in the book and were written by Martin.