MAN ABOUT TOWN

A seemingly unlikely figure has been making the rounds of all the coolest places in London recently--R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, who is reportedly head-hunting U.K.-based stars to appear on the soundtrack of “Velvet Goldmine,” the forthcoming film about ‘70s glam-rock for which he is executive producer via his Single Cell film company.

Stipe was spotted in the modest confines of the North London club the Garage earlier this month taking time out for a performance of American band Fountains of Wayne. A few days later he accompanied Radiohead’s Thom Yorke to the University of London for a show by the English band Drugstore, where Yorke jumped on stage for a duet with singer Isabel Monteiro on “El Presidente,” a song from Drugstore’s upcoming second album.

Acts that Stipe recruits will join a soundtrack that has already had contributions from L.A.’s Grant Lee Buffalo (doing David Bowie-like songs) and a band featuring Mike Watt and Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore (in the mode of Iggy & the Stooges).