Five Actor-Musicians Who Don’t Suck

You won't find 30 Odd Foot Grunts or Dogstar on this list.

A more musically seasoned actor is Jason Schwartzman, who was actually a songwriter/drummer for Phantom Planet before making it on the silver screen in films like “Rushmore,” “I Heart Huckabees” and “The Darjeeling Limited.” Fame can be an obstacle to liking someone like Schwartzman, who’s better known for his films and comes from movie royalty as the nephew of Francis Ford Coppola. It’d be easy and tempting to dismiss his pop songs as California emo drivel — too easy, in fact, since there’s undoubtedly something in these catchy tunes to praise once over the well-connected brat hurdle. The ubiquitous “West Coast” from Schwartzman’s recent solo project Coconut Records may be cloying and oversaturating coffee shops, but it just might also be a great pop song.

She & Him is the rather anonymous band name of two relatively famous collaborators, actress Zooey Deschanel and folk singer M. Ward. Old-timey and classic, emotional but playfully so, their first album, “Volume One,” is a pleasure to listen to — it’s your mom’s pop radio station playing in the station wagon on the way to the grocery store, with her singing along and you knowing you’ll probably get a toy before you all head home. Ward brings serious cred to the album: his talent is clearly audible as both the producer and a player. But the songs are Deschanel’s, and it’s her sunny voice that takes top billing.

In a perfect world, creative people could express themselves as they pleased, and not be labeled. In a perfect world, the daughter of two colossal legends like Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin would turn out to be Charlotte Gainsbourg (“Jane Eyre, “The Science of Sleep”). At her best, her music and acting are as provocative as her origins. Her singing career began at the age of 13 with the controversial duet with her father called “Lemon Incest” that caused a stir with its suggestive lyrics and a music video in which both Gainsbourgs appeared in a state of undress. Her last album, 2006′s “5:55,” was a combined effort with Air, Jarvis Cocker and producer Nigel Godrich. Her songs are as breathy as her mother’s, cool as her father’s, and probably more erotic than both.

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