If we needed any reminders that Neko Case's Middle Cyclone is one of 2009's best albums, her performance last night on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon did the trick.

Roughly equidistant from New York and Boston, Newport, RI, is an old-money vacation town where, for one summer weekend a year, flashy cars, big yachts, and bigger estates share attention with folksingers like Pete Seeger and Joan Baez, whose lyrics preach about the dangers of a lavish lifestyle.

This week Green Day gave lucky fans a sneak peek of their summer tour, Jack White's new band, the Dead Weather, debuted live, Rihanna planned her comeback, and Phil Spector was convicted of murder. See all these stories, plus the week's top photo galleries, editor's blogs, audio/video, news, and reviews, below:

Founders of the Newport Folk Festival, the Rhode Island concert series where Bob Dylan infamously switched to electric instruments in 1965, will celebrate the event's 50th anniversary this July with a special weekend dubbed Folk Festival 50 -- and the genre’s finest, from Pete Seeger to Fleet Foxes, are joining the party!

Here's a rundown of the essential albums available online and in record stores today:

This week's top stories had everyone talking: Kanye West mouthed off about Thom Yorke, the White Stripes disappointed on Conan's last night at Late Night, Chris Brown and Rihanna continued to cause controversy, and SPIN's Ellen Carpenter had some eyebrow-raising ideas about how to spend the $787 billion economic stimulus -- and blink-182's Mark Hoppus had something to say about it on his