PRE-HOLIDAY SQUEALING: There’s nothing like a good old-fashioned weaselfest before the close of the year. And just when we were about to crawl under our desk and cry in fetal position, Montreal-based The Arcade Fire came into Tinseltown and brought a smile to all who attended. Their Spaceland gig on Tuesday (12/7) was sold out far in advance. It’s been awhile since most, if not all, of the West Coast A&R hitters were in one club checking out one band. Label reps from Sire, Epic, Capitol, Atlantic, Island, Hollywood, Warner Brothers, Virgin, Columbia, Jive, RCA, Interscope, Universal, Chrysalis Music, Warner/Chappell, Sony Music/ATV and EMI Music Publishing were all present. And that’s pretty much all the major players left in operation on the Left Coast. Inside sources share that the group still has one more album commitment to indie Merge Records. And rumor has it that the band isn’t looking to do a major label deal. Stay tuned as this one has now been turned up to 11… Word on the street is that the derby for U.K. band Hard-Fi is closing with Atlantic… CAN YOU PIMP MY RIDE?: BMG Songs prexy Scott Francis and VP of A&R Derrick Thompson has signed hip-hop star and MTV personality Xzibit to a global music publishing deal. The Sanctuary-managed artist will release his fifth LP Weapons of Mass Destruction on Columbia on 12/14. See X-to-the-Z on the big screen in the forthcoming sequel to XXX, entitled XXX State of the Union next year. Meanwhile, looks like Scott Francis and crew had a good year with BMG Songs pub acts—Maroon5, Nelly, Yellowcard, Lil' Flip, Chad Hugo and Chingy all rocking the album chart this year… The Scissor Sisters have inked a North American pub deal with Mark Fried and Justin Kalifowitz at Spirit Music… Producer Luke Ebbin, who has produced records for Rival Schools, Wakefield and Bon Jovi has joined Lippman Entertainment as a new client… BUZZ/GIGS: Check out Mastodon at the Universal Amphitheatre on Friday (12/17) in L.A. They’re on tour with Slayer and Killswitch Engage. And Revolver Magazine just named the band’s current LP Leviathan as 2004 Album of the Year… Also on the gig list next week is Indie 103.1/Filter Magazine’s night at the Viper Room on Monday (12/13). Check out Cerulean at 8:30p.m. and Vagenius at 10:30p.m. You may want to stay on top of the Vagenius (no pun). We have a funny feeling about this one (again, no pun)… BUZZIN’: Toothpick… Hit me up: brotherxx@earthlink.net