The Smart Set

- Beck has announced plans to collaborate with my girl Charlotte Gainsbourg on her forthcoming album. Beck's father David Campbell was responsible for the string arrangements on Gainsbourg's last album 5:55.

-In the latest Joaquin Phoenix news, Gorillavsbear notes that not only is Phoenix giving up acting to pursue music, he has chosen rap as his specialty and that Phoenix grabbed the mike at Dam-Funk's Funkmosphere in Culver City! (Casey Affleck was there filming the whole thing for some reason.) The only good thing to come out of this is that a friend of mine knows Dam-Funk and he is very cool, so hopefully he gets loads of publicity out of this.

-I just got done tearing through an illustrated adaptation of F.Scott Fitzgerald's book 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button', that has of course, been made into the much anticipated film starring (Boo) Bradley Pitt and Cate Blanchett and comes out this Christmas. I knew a little about the plot and was leery going in but ended up loving it and would recommend it as a Cliff's Notes version of the book. If you have about $15 and 15 minutes to burn it's a touching shot glass full of thought-provoking philosophy. The story is a fun exercise/tinkering of time within a traditional narrative structure that would be nearly impossible for the studios to screw up. But they'll find a way.

 

-John Legend, Willie Nelson, Feist and Toby the Grinch Keith will be caroling at Stephen Colbert's place this Christmas.

-Here's a mixed bag of songs. I haven't yet heard all of them. Some are from the inbox, some that I've just picked up whilst meandering around the Net and wanted to listen to this weekend. Yers for the takin', sexy readers!