Sparkle:

A peek at Whitney Houston‘s final acting effort before her tragic death in February made its debut on CBS, via the forthcoming (August 2012) Supremes-era film Sparkle. A remake of a 1976 film of the same name, Houston played the single mother role of “Emma,” a character in which lost some dreams jumping a few of life’s familiar roadblocks, of which was her fourth appearance on the silver screen, silencing a 16-year absence from the craft.

The Idler Wheel…:

Fiona Apple now donezo with her short comeback tour in promotion of her return to the singer-songwriter game via her 23-word titled album The Idler Wheel is wiser than the Driver of the Screw, and Whipping Cords will serve you more than Ropes will ever do got to Facebook blasting both the abstract cover art, the full track-list and an official drop date of June 19 (Epic). Meanwhile, if you missed said tour stops, there are a handful of live debuts available on her website. Don’t miss the swing from I-am-woman to the fragility of “Every Single Night.”

Hip-Hop Hoo-Rey:

There was a rather amazing collaboration floating around the intranets with Brooklyn production crew The KickDrums and Lana Del Rey dubbed “Ridin’,” featuring LDR doing her drawl thing in hip-hop form, mass amounts of stoner-flute and a rap-and-response tale with a guest spot from A$AP Rocky, but The KickDrums pulled the mixtape it resided on because the “song got too big too fast,” according to a tweet from the crew. However! A preview still exists with a couple verses, including this LDR contribution: “I’m delicious to the maximum/Chewin’ up like bubblegum/I’m his pretty party favor/Who says I’m his favorite flavor.” And A$AP’s response: “Lana, that’s my bitch, oh/You can tell by the swagger and the lips, ah” (via Paste).

That’s What’s Up:

2009 neo-folk L.A. sweethearts Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros unveiled a second single from their May 29 sophomore effort Here, just chalk full of handclaps, tambourine shakes, whistles and sing-song summer lovin’ cheer. They’re calling it “That’s Whats Up.” And you will be dancing to its stand-up bass line barefoot soon, crooning its churchy outro “Love is our shelter/Love is our cause/Love goes on forever/Yeah, love will lead us all.”

Lyricapsule:

“Yakety Yak” doo-wop quintet The Coasters boosted their cool cred on this day in 1959 when the BBC banned the sax-threaded finger-snapper “Charlie Brown” – no relation to the cartoon – on account of a sass-talkin’ character in the song who threw one too many “spitballs.” In case you missed that – the BBC banned the song over the word “spitballs.” True story. Apparently they later recanted. But here’s the full verse that pissed some conservative radio exec off so infamously so:

Who’s always writing on the wall?
Who’s always goofing in the hall?
Who’s always throwing spitballs?
Guess who? Yeah, you.