Sean Lennon did not publicly acknowledge the eighteenth anniversary of his father's death yesterday (Dec. 8), but instead spent the day in Sao Paolo, Brazil, where he is on tour with Cibo Matto, the Japanese pop duo he's been playing with for the past two and a half years. Lennon returns to New York City on Dec. 12 with longtime girlfriend Yuka Honda (from the aforementioned Cibo Matto) and, according to a spokesperson, they intend to spend the holidays in peace and quiet until New Year's Eve, when the band is scheduled to perform at the infamous cradle of punk civilization, New York's CBGB's. As soon as everyone recovers from their hangovers, Sean will start rehearsals with his band for Australia's annual Big Day Out concert, which kicks off Jan. 15 in Perth. It's none too soon, since insiders reveal that Lennon's guitarist Smokey Hormel, whom he purloined from Beck's band last year, has been feeling rather adrift. So adrift in fact, that he's been making phone calls to his former employer and asking Beck to take him back.

Although Beck replaced Hormel last year with San Francisco strummer Tony Hoffer -- and that arrangement has been working out just fine -- Beck has told Hormel that he could return to play some of the acoustic shows he has planned for early next year. "Smokey was an integral part of Mutations, and Beck wants him to play with him whenever he's around," a spokesperson from Gold Mountain Management said. "Since Beck really hasn't been touring much, it hasn't come up -- and Smokey has been on tour with other people like Sean Lennon. Smokey will always be a part of any band Beck has." How does this bode for Hoffer? "Tony will do the four Christmas shows, and Smokey will play on the dates that Beck will do early next year."

That's not to say that the future looks dire for Hoffer. The guitarist has been working alongside Beck, drummer Joey Waronker, keyboardist Roger Manning and bassist Justin Meldal-Johnson at Beck's home studio, where they're laying down tracks for his next album. According to DGC Records, Beck has not yet brought in a producer, but rumors are rampant that he is producing it himself. Insiders say that the impish musician plans to book some studio time for next summer and is ruminating over the names of producers. It's unlikely that Nigel Godrich will turn the knobs again, since he's booked up both for the next Radiohead record, as well as John Squire's next Seahorses album.

In other Beck news, the singer is human just like the rest of us, and after buying a sprawling mansion in Pasadena, Calif., last year (after he sold his Silverlake abode to E of the Eels), he decided that it was just too damn hot there. So he and his girlfriend plunked down $495,000 for a pied a terre in Santa Monica, situated right on the beach where they can catch the ocean breezes when it simmers in Los Angeles.

JAAN UHELSZKI
(December 9, 1998)