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An early, acoustic take of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" has hit the internet. Rolling Stone premiered this gentle rendition of the oft-covered song, featuring George Harrison on guitar and Paul McCartney, who follows along on harmonium. It's far from polished — "Yeah, maybe you'd have to give him his own mic," Harrison interjects early on — but it sounds lovely. The duo recorded this take on July 25, 1968; the finished product made it onto the White Album. This version hits streaming tonight (Thursday) at midnight EDT. (Rolling Stone)

SXSW announces inital line-up

South by Southwest, vaunted Texas music/tech/film festival, has named 240 acts who'll perform music at the fest. They include Fugees alum Wyclef Jean, cult favorite Amanda Palmer, '90s shoegazers Swervedriver, Kiwi rockers The Beths, Minneapolis up-and-comers Bad Bad Hats, trip-hop Brits Haelos, Duluth violinist Gaelynn Lea, frequent Live From Here guest Madison Cunningham, and Laura Jane Grace & the Devouring Mothers (fronted by Against Me! lead singer Laura Jane Grace). Additional musicians Shirley Manson and Lauren Mayberry are not slotted to perform but will speak at the earlier SXSW Conference. The music festival portion of SXSW runs March 11-17, 2018. (Pitchfork)

Chaka Khan to serve as 2019 Rose Parade grand marshal

Chaka Khan will serve as grand marshal at the 130th Rose Parade in Pasadena on New Year's Day. It's apparently one of the perks of being the Queen of Funk. After all, who better to lead a parade themed "The Melody of Life"? "It is so appropriate," Khan told the Los Angeles Times today. "I'm so honored. This is something so new and different for me." (Los Angeles Times)

Archaeologists declare pre-Roman artifact to be musical instrument

The artifact that archaeologist Giovanni Carboni found in 2006 outside of Rome has now been pronounced a musical instrument, thanks to work by Italian archaeology student Martina Nicole Cerri. It looks like a ceramic oval bowl, marked by holes along the rim, and it dates to around 3000 B.C. At first, the Gaudo culture artifact was thought to be a cheese strainer — but it turns out that similar objects have been identified as sound boxes for musical instruments, and this one could've been something like a lyre or lute. Cerri recreated two versions of the object: one as if it were a lyre, and the other as if it were a lute. This year, a fellow archaeology student and his brothers performed a concert using the replicas and a recreated prehistoric drum. (New York Times)

YouTube and Eventbrite team up to sell concert tickets

Fans who watch videos from YouTube Official Artist Channels may notice Eventbrite ticket listings below the videos, YouTube says in a blog post. All they'll need to do is click to be brought to an Eventbrite page with events relevant to them and their geographic area. This feature will be available on both desktop and mobile. (Rolling Stone)

Lana Del Rey's stalker sentenced to one year in jail

After being arrested on charges of aggravated stalking and attempted kidnapping with a weapon, Michael Shawn Hunt took a plea deal, resulting in a one-year prison sentence and the heaviest charges being dropped. Hunt had threatened to kidnap Del Rey over social media, which the Orlando Police Department considered a "credible threat" and led to his arrest on Feb. 2, 2018. That same week, Del Rey tweeted, "Hey kiddos. I'm doing fine thanks for the messages." (Pitchfork)

Indian women go viral with dance on a train

We've reached the final day of Navaratri, the annual Hindu festival, and many Indians are in good spirits. For example: the women aboard a train dancing to the song "Kamariya" from Bollywood film Mitron. They're performing garba, a form of dance from the state of Gujarat in India. Piyush Goyal, India's current minister of Railways, Coal, and Corporate Affairs, tweeted the clip, saying, "Now this is an experience only Indian Railways can provide!" The tweet has drawn tens of thousands of views and many spin-off videos. (Hindustan Times)

Songs sampled in this episode:
Jahzzar: "Comedie" (CC BY 4.0)
BoxCat Games: "Against the Wall" (CC BY 3.0)
Chaka Khan - I Feel For You
The Beatles - While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Acoustic Version, Take 2)
David Szesztay - Smiling Cars (CC BY-NC 3.0-02)
VideosAboutChannel - Italian Mandolin, La Dolce Vita (no copyright)
Darshan Raval - Kamariya