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