Remember when relevant indie band Car Seat Headrest and "All Star" hitmakers Smash Mouth expressed mutual admiration, saying they planned to release covers of one another's songs? It seemed like a cute joke on Twitter, but now it's actually happening. On Thursday, SiriusXMU host Jenny Eliscu will debut a Car Seat Headrest cover of Smash Mouth's "Fallen Horses"...and Smash Mouth's take on Car Seat Headrest's "Something Soon." (Pitchfork)

Remembering Tom Rapp

Singer-songwriter Tom Rapp has died in hospice care at age 70. Rapp led Pearls Before Swine, a band that was big in the psych rock scene of the late 1960s and early 1970s; later, Rapp went back to college and became a civil rights lawyer.

While Pearls Before Swine never achieved mainstream success, Rapp has a couple of admirable claims to fame: his band's 1970 song "Rocket Man" inspired the 1972 song of the same title that became a massive Elton John hit. Also, when he was young, the North Dakota native played in a Rochester, Minnesota talent competition and placed third. Not bad, especially if you consider that Bob Dylan came in fifth. (Rolling Stone)

Legal victory for Taylor Swift

A California federal judge has ruled that Taylor Swift’s 2014 hit "Shake It Off" does not infringe on the copyright of 3LW’s 2001 song "Playas Gon' Play." The songwriters behind the latter song sued Swift for alleged theft.

"By 2001, American popular culture was heavily steeped in the concepts of players, haters, and player haters," wrote Judge Michael Fitzgerald in his decision. "The concept of actors acting in accordance with their essential nature is not at all creative; it is banal." (Billboard)

Belle and Sebastian politely ask if you'd be interested in joining them on a cruise

Belle and Sebastian are surveying their fans to find out "what it would take to literally get you all on board" with the idea of a Belle and Sebastian cruise. If you go to their website and tell the band how many stops you'd like to take and what other bands you'd like to see, you'll be entered for a chance to win a signed copy of their How to Solve Our Human Problems box set. (Pitchfork)

Mike McCready collaborates with former foster kids

Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready invited five young men who grew up in foster care to collaborate with him on a new song, "Try So Hard." McCready was inspired to make the gesture after volunteering with the Washington state nonprofit Treehouse, which helps to support kids in foster care. The ad hoc band recorded the song in Pearl Jam's studio — the first professional recording experience for everyone but McCready. (Rolling Stone)