I'M FROM BARCELONA: The 29-person band have signed to Mute North America; Let Me Intruduce My Friends will be released in the US o­n March 20th, 2007. I've linked to their signature song "We're From Barcelona" before, so here's frontman Emanuel drafting folks o­n the streets of Paris to join in singing it o­n La Blogotheque.

NEW RELEASES: A raft of compilations getthe jump o­n the holiday season this week. The remixed Beatles, the U2 Singles comp, the Doors' remasters box, the Tom Waits Orphans box, an Oasis "best of" and the Sufjan Stevens Christmas collection are all streaming in full from AOL, which pretty much sums it up.

BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE frontman Kevin Drew says the band intends to take a "significant" hiatus, though there will be solo and side projects aplenty.

TV o­n the RADIO plays a streamable, unpluggety mini-set for the Interface via AOL.

THE SHINS: Drowned in Sound runs Part 1 of an interview with frontman James Mercer, who talks about the music at his wedding, the leak of the new album, and more.

SEEN YOUR VIDEO: The new video for "Lie to Me" from the Tom Waits Orphans set is kinda strange, though very Tom Waits.

THE SMITHS: The Times of London has an essay o­n the new crop of bands influenced by Bigmouth & Co.

THE DECEMBERISTS performed a mini-set for the World Cafe, which is streaming from NPR.

THE HOLD STEADY is profiled in London's Guardian: "I always tell the audience at our shows they should call in sick from work the next day," says Craig Finn, the 34-year-old singer of the Hold Steady. "And then the next day I get a whole load of emails telling me I was right."

YUSUF ISLAM, the Artist Formerly Known As Cat Stevens, is being allowed back into the US to promote his first new album in 30 years, having previously been refused entry in 2004.

MICHAEL RICHARDS, the actor formerly known as Kramer, launched into a profane racial tirade caught o­n video at a famous L.A. comedy club last Friday. Jerry Seinfeld, who was already scheduled to appear o­n The Late Show with David Letterman Monday night, issued a statement: "I am sick over this. I'm sure Michael is also sick over this horrible, horrible mistake. It is so extremely offensive. I feel terrible for all the people who have been hurt." So it was no coincidence that Richards appeared o­n Letterman via satellite to apologize. He has been banned from the comedy club, but maybe he'll still be able to get work in the next Mel Gibson movie.

COMING SOON: More movies open Wednesday to kick off the holiday season, including: Deck the Halls, a comedy which has not been screened generally for critics; Tony Scott directing Denzel Washington (again) in Deja Vu, the time-travel action pic that's currently scoring 71 percent o­n the Tomatometer; rawk comedy Tenacious D in: The Pick of Destiny, scoring 83 percent; and the The Fountain, which finds Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz in a reportedly baffling immortality romance pic scoring 53 percent. The star-studded Bobby, a paean to RFK, opens wide Thursday, but is currently scoring 47 percent. Christopher Guest's latest mockumentary, For Your Consideration, expands to 613 screens, with a score of 54 percent.

BRITNEY SPEARS may give away her sex tape herself, to ensure that estranged hubby Fed-Ex doesn't cash in o­n it. I guess "free" would be in my price range. Meanwhile, the pop tart is endangering her classy comeback by hanging with the French Hotel, smoking and lounging around a club without her pants.

JESSICA SIMPSON has been spotted with John Mayer again, endangering the Strange New Respect he had been cultivating o­n the internet. The super-reliable Perez Hilton reports that the pair were spotted together at the Sunset Marquis hotel in L.A.

MADONNA: A High Court judge in Malawi has postponed his ruling o­n a challenge to Madge's plans to adopt a 13-month-old Malawian baby.

TOM-KAT UPDATE: The couple's vows were reportedly capped with a "never-ending kiss," according to Georgio Armani, who must be a Springsteen fan. But isn't an over-the-top smooch exactly what you expected? So very... Liza Minelli and David Gest of them. I saw someone from US Weekly o­n TV reporting that Holmes and her dad first danced to Louie Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World," while she and Cruise first danced to Fleetwood Mac's "Songbird." BTW, it appears that Cruise brought his best man -- senior Scientologist David Miscavige -- o­n honeymoon with him. NTTAWWT. BONUS: "Tom and the Beanstalk" is the latest exhibit at the Gallery of the Absurd. (btw, thank our site admin Lance for the cool tech touch on that link.)

LINDSAY LOHAN had to cough up

LET'S ACTIVE, the brainchild of wunderkind producer Mitch Easter, was a band that, between 1983 and 1988, released some of the finest Southern power-pop/jangle-pop of the decade. Here's their best-known, tune, "Every Word Means No," from the Afoot EP (1983); "Waters Part," from 1984's Cypress LP; "In Little Ways," from 1986's Big Plans For Everybody; and the title track of 1988's Every Dog Has His Day.

POWER POP: Stylus magazine's Stypod notes that it's hard to define, but that people know it when they hear it, giving three examples: 20-20's "Remember the Lightning"; The Raspberries' "Overnight Sensation"; and The Sweet's "Teenage Rampage."

IGGY POP smearing peanut butter all over his chest has become an iconic rock image, so it's wonderful that A&M Records is promoting some Iggy reissues, by sending out jars of Iggy Peanut Butter with the slogan, "Choosee Mothers Choose Iggy!"

ONE BANK: I was going to spare you the awesome awfulness of this viral video, but now that comedian David Cross and guitarist Johnny Marr have gotten in o­n the act, I cannot resist.

ROBERT POLLARD talks to the Washington Square News about living where the weather has seasons and playing Guided by Voices songs o­n his solo tours: "There are some songs I

THE WEEKEND STARTS HERE...

...with THE REPLACEMENTS, live in Rotterdam, Holland circa 1991, in a set drawing heavily from Pleased To Meet Me, with rarities and covers. Your set includes "I'll Be You," "Within Your Reach," "Alex Chilton," The Only Ones' "Another Girl, Another Planet," "The Ledge," T.Rex's "Raw Ramp," "Never Mind," "Satellite," "Kissing In Action," and in true 'Mats fashion, "Hello Dolly" and "Roadhouse Blues."

BRIAN WILSON has cut a deal to make a biopic with producer Mark Gordon and Beach Boy/Wilson historian David Leaf.

THE BEATLES -- MASHED-UP: SoundMojo can hook you up with a variety of streams from Love, Sir George Martin's reworkings of original Beatles recordings for the Cirque du Soleil. I am relieved to say they are interesting, rather than horrific.

THE TOP 40 BANDS IN AMERICA: It's the fourth annual music-bloggers' poll conducted by Information Leafblower. The article includes a fair number of MP3s, some of which you can stream from the Hype Machine.

ELVIS COSTELLO, JEFF TWEEDY, GEORGE JONES and a host of indie folk are pitching in o­n country legend Charlie Louvin's first new album in more than a decade. It's due in February.

THE MOUNTAIN GOATS: Frontman John Darnielle sits down for an interview and three songs o­n the DL, via AOL.

THE PLUG AWARDS nominees have been announced. And it's o­ne of the few awards with a high percentage of cool selections, so you may want to check them out, either to vote or to see if you've missed anyone this year.

NELLIE McKAY: Christian Bordal of KCRW has a streaming review of Pretty Little Head, also discussing McKay's split with Sony/Columbia over its release.

RICK SPRINGFIELD: Dr. Noah Drake is getting Strange New Respect, as chroncled at Stereogum. His answers for the "Inside the RockersSudio" are amusing, though he needs to learn to take off the caps lock. And yes, there's a link to the video for "Jesse's Girl."

THE DECEMBERISTS frontman Colin Meloy tells Seattle Weekly that he changed up his lyrical syle a bit for The Crane Wife.

THE CUTOUT BIN: This Friday's fortuitous finds from the Hype Machine include: The Lemonheads - Alison's Starting To Happen; The Wrens - Everyone Chooses Sides; The Beatles - Rain; I'm From Barcelona - Jenny; Prince - I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man; The Ides of March - Vehicle; Joe Cocker - Feelin' Alright (live); Buck Owens - Streets of Bakersfield; Lucinda Williams - Drunken Angel; El Perro Del Mar - Here Comes That Feeling; Ronettes - Then He Kissed Me; The Supremes - Where Did Our Love Go? (Quarterbar's surprising remmix); and Robyn Hitchcock - A Day In The Life.

TOM-KAT UPDATE: The celebs have started jetting into Rome for the Cruise-Holmes marriage rituals of Scientology, including Jim Carrey & Jenny McCarthy, Jennifer Lopez and Marc Antony, Will & Jada Pinkett Smith, John Travolta & Kelly Preston, Russell Crowe, Steven Spielberg and yes, even Brooke Shields. Is your survival kit already packed by the shelter?

NOW SHOWING: This weekend's widest release is of dancing penguins in Happy Feet, currently scoring 85 percent o­n the Tomatometer. Daniel Craig debuts as James Bond in Casino Royale, currently scoring 94 percent. The comedy Let's Go to Prison has not been screened for critics. In limited release is the non-documentaries Fast Food Nation (57 percent) and Christopher Guest's For Your Consideration (59 percent). There are more wide releasess coming next week that haven't been reviewed yet, so be sure to check back Tuesday for a bonus blurb.

CASINO ROYALE: Having just returned from the midnight showing (which I attended solely as a service to you), I can report that it's the best Bond movie in a long time, though it would have been better with about 15 minutes trimmed from the running time. After decades of over-the-top sound and fury signifying nothing, this is a leaner, meaner Bond that proves less is more. Almost all of the core Bond elements are there (except Q and Moneypenny), but inventively reimagined. Grittier, even more humane, but with funny flourishes that (almost) never descend into Roger Moore-era camp. Daniel Craig seemed an unlikely Bond... until you see the first five minutes of the film. Even the opening credits pay due respect to the classics while putting a fresh spin on them. A smashing entertainment; I recommend you ante up.

THE REAL JAMES BOND, however, is most likely a woman with a cat named Hoogli.

BORAT: Comedian Sacha Baron Cohen gives an exclusive interview as himself to Rolling Stone, which is excerpted at the link. Plenty of interesting stuff -- he keeps Kosher, and says of the flap with the government of Kazakhstan: "I wish I would have been there at the briefing that Bush got about who I am, who Borat is. It would have had to be great."

JACKO bombed at the World Music Awards, singing the chorus line of his charity single

GRAM PARSONS, as a member of both The Byrds and The Flying Burrito Brothers, and as a solo artist, anticipated the so-called country rock of the 1970s and the alt-country movement that began around 1990. There is not a lot of GP video floating around, but "Christine's Tune" is a good place to start, though the video for "Older Guys" is great because someone made them go out to christen Judge Smails' sloop. The Hell's Angels make an unfortunate cameo in the clip of "Six Days o­n the Road" from the infamous Altamont festival in 1969. The posthumous video for "Sin City" is nice also. Steve Earle,Dwight Yoakam,Emmylou Harris and Chet Flippo give good quote in a five-minute BBC story o­n Parsons. BONUS: Dwight Yoakum covers "Wheels" at a Parsons tribute concert. DOUBLE BONUS: Frequent duet partner Emmylou Harris covers "Return of the Grievous Angel" with alt-country icon Ryan Adams (and Buddy Miller o­n bass) at a different tribute.

THE ALL-TIME 100 ALBUMS, unranked by decade in Time magazine. The mag wants you to "Read and listen to the arguments for the selections, then tell us what we missed or got wrong." Missed? Dark Side of the Moon, though argubly overrated. Elvis Costello, The Replacements and Husker Du... and more, I'm sure. The inclusion of "Greatest Hits" albums is also debatable... but (as I've long maintained) debate is the point of The List.

MODEST MOUSE: Hearsay is among those posting live tracks of new songs featuring new Mouse ( and ex-Smith) Johnny Marr. You can stream 'em via the Hype Machine.

MOTORHEAD is sponsoring an under-10 boys soccer team. The team runs out to "Ace of Spades," with the band's skull logo o­n their jerseys.

LUCINDA WILLIAMS had a cameo from Bruce Springsteen o­n Lil' Son Jackson's "Disgusted" and her own "Joy" in London: "I'm just beside myself about this... It's o­ne of the highlights of my entire life."

PATE recorded, but never released, a cover of the Bee Gees' "Nights o­n Broadway." Pate's version rawks much harder than the original. But Pate never got to play theirs o­n The Helen Reddy Show.

P.J. HARVEY: Her Peel Sessions are streaming from The Booth at MySpace.

CALEXICO: False 45th posted three high-quality bootleg tracks from the 2005 Telluride Bluegrass Festival. You can stream 'em via the Hype Machine.

BONO is getting his cowboy hat back. It's a proud day for the Irish legal system.

PETE DOHERTY UPDATE: The Daily Mail has been cleared of breaking the Press Complaints Commission code after a reporter entered a "private" area of celebrity rehab clinic The Priory without permission to find out whether the troubled singer was complying with a court order to visit the clinic..

TOM-KAT UPDATE: Former Cruise target Brooke Shields will likely attend the Cruise-Holmes wedding. Which makes it even more indefensible that they did not invite Oprah. They should have invited Matt Lauer, too. They could have had a wedding photo that would be like the cover of Sgt. Pepper's for Cruise's Year of Crazy, but they've blown their opportunity. And having reported o­n Holmes buying wedding lingerie yesterday, it's o­nly fair that I note Cruise has bought boxers and briefs -- perhaps the latter will be part of a Risky Business re-enactment for Holmes. Ironically, while Cruise was directly involved in whipping Holmes back into shape for the wedding, he is having trouble fitting into his wedding suit. Let's call him Tom-Fat, just for spite.

MADONNA now wants to adopt a second youngster from Malawi -- this time a baby girl, to "redress the balance" in her family. Which is a great reason to adopt.

BRITNEY BREAK-UPDATE: A handwritten letter from Fed-Ex, mostly blaming Britney for all their problems, was the last straw for the pop tart, according to US Weekly. The blog entry asks, "Who staged an intervention o­n November 1 and finally convinced Britney that Kevin was wrong for her?" (Her family and returning manager Larry Rudolph) and "What has Britney been doing to get revenge o­n Kevin?" (Cutting off his credit cards and cellphone, leading him to ask for doggy bags at a Manhattan burlesque spot.)

THE NAME IS BOND: The Casino Royale countdown continues with IGN's list of Top Ten Bond Gadgets.

BRADGELINA: Jolie must have deserved a break from filming A Mighty Heart, as she hit the Mickey D's in Mumbai while still in hair and makeup. She had the McVeggie burger, so I don't know whether the joint serves the Royale with Cheese (an obvious profanity warning).

GEORGE CLOONEY been named People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive for 2006

SELLING OUT: RetroCrush has posted a video-filled feature o­n "Favorite Retro Pop Songs Ruined in Commercials." Pop Candy solicited more ads from readers (AdFreak responds that punk bands selling out is the worst), while Whitney Matheson took issue with Of Montreal's "Wraith Pinned to the Mist (And Other Games)" appearing in an Outback Steakhouse ad (the band also covers "Everyday Is Like Sunday" for NASDAQ). Stereogum cringes over Coldplay in a CineMax promo for an upcoming Star Wars marathon, as well as Gary Jules' Tears For Fears cover in an XBox ad, with even more commercial mentions. This topic has come up here before, most recently in May and March.

LLOYD COLE laments (sort of) places that are gone: "That idea of Lauren Bacall walking across the bar to Humphrey Bogart, it's an incredibly dated mid-20th century concept that really does place me in the sense of where my aesthetic is rooted. And it's rooted in the past, in a place that no longer exists..." He is talking about "Woman in a Bar," but there's more to stream via the Hype Machine.

RYAN ADAMS has lost his mind again, posting another eight albums of... "stuff" o­n Cardinal Radio. Lots more bad rap songs; check under WereWolph for his mercifully brief cover of Creed's "Higher."

WOLFGANG'S VAULT: Rolling Stone notes that the memorabilia store is streaming soundboard tapes from 300 concerts, with the promise of more o­n the way. Recommendations at that link, with more from Stereogum. Wolfgang says downloads are coming, but you may want to register to start listening now.

XTC ECSTACY: At Chromewaves, Frank recently posted an audio/video link-rich piece o­n XTC and frontman Andy Partridge. Even more recently, he noted the official XTC fans MySpace page, which has a nifty blog that interviews the reclusive Partridge about the songs streaming o­n the main page each week.

THE RONETTES perform "Be My Baby" & "Shout" for a screaming throng o­n The TAMI Show in 1964, even getting a bit raucous o­n the latter.

I DID NOT PAY THE BOSTON GLOBE TO WRITE this: "Adults of all ages, especially in their 20s and 30s, aren't willing to give up the kind of freewheeling fun that they had when they were teenagers. That refusal to give it up is much less stigmatized now. You're not thought of as being insane if you're a 30- something snowboarder or extreme-sports guy or you're into indie rock and anime. In fact, those things now mark you as kind of iconoclastic and hip."

CHRIS SMITHER has been around since 1970, so I'm very late to his party. He plays the kind of smart, sometimes funny folk-blues that I think Friend of Pate Sylvia Hauser would like a lot. NPR has three streaming tracks, including covers Mississippi John Hurt's "Blues in the Bottle" and Bob Dylan's "Visions of Johanna." (His songs have been covered by Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Raitt and Diana Krall.) There's also a streaming set from the World Cafe. He also has studio tracks posted o­n MySpace.

THE ARTIST CURRENTLY KNOWN AS PRINCE was so moved by the dancing penguins in the upcoming movie Happy Feet that he wrote an original song as well as modifying his classic "Kiss."

PETE DOHERTY-KATE MOSS UPDATE: The troubled singer -- who had to promise the supposedly sober supermodel he would stay clean before she would agree to marry him -- has told the BBC: "Abstaining isn't really my thing. I don't think I'll ever give up drugs. But I do know I don't think I can keep smoking crack anymore. Not just because of the police, but because it was f***ing my life up." Moss, his attorney and the British courts will all love to hear that.

TOM-KAT UPDATE: Holmes spent about three grand o­n lacy underthings, a grand of which was for a "bridal collection" set. Oh, that will work. Holmes' camp "respectfully declined" an offer to include her name for a possible Oscar nod o­n the screener of Thank You for Smoking sent to Academy members. I'm sure that was her idea. Oprah Winfrey was not invited to the Cruise-Holmes wedding. That's a big mistake; in an Oprah-Xenu smackdown, put your money o­n the Big O. Apparently, Cruise's ex-companion Penelope Cruz was not invited, either.

THE McCARTNEYS: Page Six reports that the question of whether Heather Mills McCartney was o­nce a high-priced hooker for wealthy Arab clients has been put to reputed arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi -- the man who is accused of hiring her -- and he's not denying it.

NOT-SO-BLIND ITEM: Page Six asks: "Which singer had to deliver her child via Cesarean because of a raunchy STD her estranged husband gave her?"

THE NAME IS BOND: In preparation for Casino Royale this Friday, Cinematical has every Bond movie trailer posted o­n YouTube. Entertainment Weekly lists The 10 Worst Bond Girls.

BRADGELINA: It's a nix day for a wax wedding. Las Vegas' Madame Tussauds wax museum nixed a plan to stage a depiction of a fictional Jolie-Pitt wedding today after Pitt's rep protested. The couple visited an orphanage in Pune, India. I would go with the "just window-shopping" joke, but Madonna owns those now. Lost hottie Evangeline Lilly wants Jolie to be the first female American president.

NATALIE PORTMAN was caught canoodling with ex-beau and Mexican movie hunk Gael Garcia Bernal at a Seu Jorge show in London.

TOBEY MAGUIRE: He's your friendly neighborhood Spider-Dad.

JUDE LAW-SIENNA MILLER BREAK-UPDATE: Law reportedly dumped Miller over her party girl lifestyle.

TARA REID: Speaking of party girls, Ms. Reid cleaned up nicely for the red carpet premiere of The Fountain.

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY says she's done with piracy after Pirates Of The Caribbean: At Worlds End.

EVA LONGORIA and BEYONCE KNOWLES are not lesbian lovers in an upcoming movie adaptation of Sarah Waters's love story Tipping the Velvet.

KRISTANNA LOKEN (the T3) and MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ (Lost), otoh, seem to be chummy enough for The Advocate. NTTAWWT. The two co-starred in BloodRayne.

AUSTRALIA'S TOP MUSLIM CLERIC, who used a Ramadan sermon to complain about long sentences for gang rare and to compare immodestly dressed women to uncovered meat, suggesting they invited sexual assault, has decided not to resign, after all.

MIDEAST CONFLICT in the MEDIA: At Lightstalkers, a forum for pro photogs, Bruno Stevens claims that both Time and US News & World Report distorted his photos with false and misleading captions slanted against Israel.

IRAN is seeking to take control of al Qaeda and is supplying terrorists with weapons and cash in Iraq. The regime is also supplying anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons to Islamists in Somalia. Meanwhile, Pres. Ahmadinejad said time is running in favor of Iran going nuclear, even as International Atomic Energy experts found unexplained plutonium and enriched uranium traces in a nuclear waste facility in Iran.

IRAQ: The Iraq Study Group -- mentioned here as far back as September -- is all over the headlines now. But those familiar with the panel's work predict that the recommendations will not be new and that there are few, if any, good options left facing the country. Reuel Marc Gerecht, an adviser to the group, wrote as much in The Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, Iraqi officials say a report that most of the academics kidnapped Tuesday in Baghdad were released is false, while the exact number of victims has yet to be confirmed Note the academics were with the Higher Education Ministry is controlled by Sunnis, while the Interior Ministry -- whose employees may be implicated -- is controlled by Shiites. Note also that about 50 Shiites were kidnapped by Sunni gunmen o­n Nov. 11th.

A DEER whose head was stuck in a plastic jack-o'-lantern for nearly a week has freed itself and will be fine.

A WISCONSIN BUCK attacked a ceramic deer in someone's front yard. Excitable Buck, they all said.

A DRUNKEN ELK is scaring some schoolkids in Sweden.

WEST PALM BEACH PIGEONS are trippin' their tailfeathers off o­n hallucinogenic corn, but locals hope it's not a bummer for the local falcon.

GIANT PYTHONS are being forced to inform o­n their fellow snakes in the Everglades, by way of implanted radio transmitters.

...AND THERE WERE FROZEN PIGS all over the highway in Sylmar, Calif.