Rather than take the traditional released route with his new EP, "Weird Al" Yankovic embraced the inevitable, titled it 'Internet Leaks' and started putting out the tracks one at a time digitally. "My next album isn't going to be out for quite some time, I'm guessing next year, but I wanted to give the fans something new to keep them excited," Yankovic tells Spinner. "I thought 'you know, there's no point in holding these tracks back' so I decided instead of having them illegally to the Internet, I'll just leak them myself."

After last year's fast food-themed parody of T.I.'s 'Whatever You Like' and last month's Doors-inspired 'Craigslist,' the three remaining tracks from 'Internet Leaks' will be released over the course of the summer. "They're all originals, mostly style parodies of other artists and bands," Yankovic says, refusing to reveal any more about the content. "While 'Craigslist' was a live action video, the other three will be animated. I'm very happy with them and I hope the fans respond to them."

As part of an Independence Day tradition, editors at the Boston Phoenix crafted a state-by-state guide to the best emerging bands in America. To celebrate our country's melting pot of independent music, the staff chose one band for each of the 50 states.

It appears we have similar taste. Many of the Phoenix's '50 Bands, 50 States' choices are acts we've also featured in Spinner's Free MP3 of the Day. See where the Phoenix and Spinner cross paths, and help yourself to some free MP3s for your July 4th barbecue soundtrack.

Remember the summer of 2005? Seems so long ago, doesn't it? Led Zeppelin had yet to reunite (they still do, really), the Foo Fighters had a hit record with 'In Your Honor,' and Queens of the Stone Age released not one but two albums sandwiched by a blockbuster tour. Still, that's the year when Foo frontman Dave Grohl dropped the big one in a Mojo Magazine interview.

No, he wasn't planning on reuniting Nirvana by filming a reality-TV series about the search for Kurt Cobain's replacement. Instead, he was looking to form a new power trio featuring him on drums, naturally, QOTSA's Josh Homme on guitar, and ... drum roll please, Mr. Grohl ... Led Zeppelin's John Paul Jones on bass.

"That's the next album," he told Mojo at the time. "That wouldn't suck."

For her new film, '500 Days of Summer,' Zooey Deschanel did double duty, starring as the female lead and contributing to the soundtrack with She and Him partner M. Ward. In the wonderfully entertaining and funny romantic comedy -- helmed by veteran music video director Marc Webb (Green Day) -- music plays a big part, including one character's obsession with Brit-pop. That theme led She and Him to cover the Smiths' 'Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want.'

"Matt and I had a choice, basically a list of songs [from] different artists that were already on the soundtrack that we could cover," Deschanel tells Spinner. Tackling Morrissey is a big responsibility, as you have to be able to convey that sense of desperation that marked the classic song, But Deschanel felt Moz's anguish. "Oh, definitely. I feel he was like a new Chet Baker. It's like a classic voice with a classic sense of longing, classic torch-song kind of voice," she says. "I love singing that kind of music and this song, you can't help but feel tortured like Morrissey."

Prior to his death last week, Seeds singer Sky Saxon teamed with Billy Corgan to write and record a duet called 'Choose to Choose Love.' A video of the previously unreleased tune is available on a Facebook page dedicated to the late garage rocker.

"Sky lived everyday with the concept of love as his guide, and he walked the talk," blogged the Smashing Pumpkins frontman in a recent post. "He was a spiritual warrior who would tell me that Yahowha knew the beauty of our hearts, and that musicians were the living prophets of the world." Corgan also posted the lyrics for the song here.

Artist: Solid Gold
Songs: 'Get Over It'
Album: 'Bodies of Water' [iTunes]
Sounds Like: MGMT, Postal Service

Download: 'Get Over It' (MP3)

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From Motown to the White Stripes, Detroit has always been a hot bed for groundbreaking music. To that end, melodic rockers the Silent Years are carrying the torch and well, doing a pretty good job, with Paste Magazine and NPR singing their praises.

Drawing comparisons to bands like the Arcade Fire and fellow Michigan native Sufjan Stevens, the Silent Years create addictive tunes aided by odd instruments like the glockenspiel and the soothing falsetto of singer Josh Epstein, who tells OurStage.com, "lyrics come last for me, as I like to consider music as the pure emotional release ... I'm a poetry guy, I can't help it." But don't think they take themselves too seriously, though: a recent gig found the band employing a chorus of singers wearing Snuggies. Find out more about the band and download their first album for free here.