Martin Lister, the keyboardist and musical director for German synthpop group Alphaville (“Forever Young”) since the mid-1990s, died unexpectedly this past week, the band today announced, saying, “We are all speechless and shocked” and that “Alphaville will never be the same again.”

The Cure is set to headline the Bottle Rock Festival in Napa Valley, Calif., next weekend, but that won’t be Robert Smith and Co.’s only appearance in Northern California: San Francisco radio station Live 105 has announced it has booked the band for a “secret” show that is to be announced on air at 3 p.m. EDT Friday.

It’s been a big week for R.E.M. fans — even bigger than we thought, with not just the release of the band’s 1991 and 2001 “MTV Unplugged” sets and the previously reported digital collection of I.R.S.-era rarities, but also a digital companion featuring a whopping 131 tracks from the band’s Warner Bros. period.

He may be releasing an expanded vinyl reissue of 1983’s Soul Mining next month, but Matt Johnson isn’t only looking backward: He’s recorded not one but two new film soundtracks under the The The banner, new music composed for the independent films “Hyena” and “Penthouse North.”

With Echo & The Bunnymen’s 11th studio album Meteorites set for release in Europe one week from today, the band this morning began streaming the record — which Ian McCulloch calls “more edgy than anything I’ve ever done” — in full via both The Guardian in the U.K. and VPRO in the Netherlands.

The Mission is following up last year’s reunion album The Brightest Light with a brand-new EP that will feature four new songs that each are sung by a different member of the band — plus, for those who purchase the digital version, a bonus fifth track in the form of a cover of Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower.”

This week’s releases include a pair of titles from R.E.M. (the band’s 1991 and 2001 “Unplugged” sessions, plus a digital rarities set), a collection of Devo demos, a new best-of from The MIssion, a new album from Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbot of The Beautiful South, a Cramps vinyl reissue and more.

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Tonight’s edition of “Dark Wave” on Sirius XM’s 1st Wave featured brand-new music from Morrissey, The Mission and Daniel Ash, plus favorites from X-Ray Spex, Alien Sex Fiend, Cassandra Complex, Balaam and the Angel, Shriekback, Cranes, Front 242, Soft Cell and more.

Echo & The Bunnymen today rescheduled most of the remainder of the band’s U.K. tour as frontman Ian McCulloch recovers from a throat infection, announcing several makeup dates in June and early July following the release of the band’s new album Meteorites.

Paul Weller’s already been announced as performing at two of the three Cure-headlined Riot Fests this September — Toronto and Chicago, but not Denver — and now the modfather has announced four dates in the Midwestern U.S. to fill the gap between those two festival appearances.

The Cure’s penchant for topping festival bills continues as Robert Smith and Co. were announced this evening as the headliners of all three Riot Fests — set for Toronto, Chicago and Denver this September — joining the band’s appearance at Bottle Rock in Napa Valley, Calif., this month.

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