Julian Casablancas

While platinum records and guitar picks would make stellar ornaments for a rock star like Julian Casablancas, the lead singer of The Strokes had something more spectacular in mind for his Christmas tree this year. He commissioned French sculpture artist Marie Christophe to create one of her stunning "mobiles sapin" for his holiday home decor. Made of wire dangling with plastic discs — akin to notes on a page of sheet music — the Calder-esque alterna-tree makes an artistic and harmonious statement in a modern home. Better yet, since the silver wire will not rust, it can even be hung outdoors!

Marie Christophe also created two of her delicate Christmas tree mobiles for the windows of Cartier Paris with turquoise and silver discs several years ago, as well as two mobiles for the windows of posh Tokyo shop Tomorrowland in 2007. Check out some photos of these below.

Now that I've gotten a glimpse of how Casablancas celebrates Christmas, I'm eager to see the rest of his home. I wonder what will be wrapped up in bows under that bad boy: a sophomore effort to follow Phrazes For the Young, s'il te plaît?

To say I'm amped for the release of The Kids Are All Right may be an understatement. The trailer has me convinced that the film is going to be solid, and it doesn't hurt that it has great tunes to boot.

The first two songs in the preview are Vampire Weekend's "Cousins" (which, OK, is overplayed) and the Madness classic "Our House"; however, I couldn't quite place the third track, so I did a little digging. It wasn't hard to pinpoint Julian Casablancas's voice, which led me to find "Out of the Blue." The tempo is frenzied and upbeat, while Casablancas sings about the ups and downs of relationships — perfect for a film about a harried family, right? So, imagine my surprise when they announced the soundtrack, and it wasn't listed! No matter, because I'm already adding it to my Summer jams. Listen when you read more

Later today, I'll be heading to Indio, CA along with Fab and the winners in our H&M contest to check out the awesome lineup of artists at this year's Coachella Music Festival. Friday alone has enough bands to make my head spin between She & Him, Vampire Weekend, and Jay-Z, so something tells me I'm going to be very, very tired when all of this is over.

Follow me on Twitter throughout the next few days — I'll be there through Monday! I'll send you guys any star sightings and band pics I get as I wait for each act to take the stage (and, of course, you can check back on Buzz for the highlights). To prep for the whirlwind weekend, I'm jotting down a few must sees to help me prioritize. Give the list a look when you read more

This weekend's Saturday Night Live boasted the ultra-suave Jude Law, but the funniest skit didn't even feature him. That honor goes to the Digital Short, which featured Andy Samberg — and guest Julian Casablancas! The Strokes frontman rocks out in this video for "Boombox," which is actually on The Lonely Island's album Incredibad.

Samberg and Casablancas kill it in this dance-worthy track devoted to the predecessors of the iPod (AKA "ghetto blasters"), complete with misbehaving country club members and nursing home residents. But at the core, it's a cautionary tale: remember, a boombox is not a toy!

To watch the video, just read more

• Want to know who's getting the ax on Heroes? Click here for the spoiler — Watch With Kristin
• Commemorate Election Day '09 with five of the best election campaigns in movies — MTV Movies Blog
• Director/writer Richard Kelly talks about The Box and whether he would push the button — Collider
• Weezer continues their run of head-scratching collaborations. Check them out with Chamillionaire, Sara Bareilles, and . . . Kenny G?! — Stereogum
• Hey Muse fans, here's their new video for Undisclosed Desires! — Rolling Stone
• Your childhood Berenstain Bears are coming to the big screen — Moviefone
• Critics are just not liking the new Chris Brown album cover, and I have to agree — Vulture
• Gordon Ramsay is taking on another cooking show for Fox — YumSugar
• Now here's a holiday cover I can get behind: Strokes singer Julian Casablancas is taking on the SNL ditty, "I Wish It Was Christmas Today." Genius. — Pitchfork

Photo courtesy of NBC