New releases: ‘Athens, GA – Inside/Out,’ plus Clan of Xymox, Kirsty MacColl, R.E.M.

Record Rack: A round-up of the week’s new albums, expanded reissues and/or box sets, appearing each Monday on Slicing Up Eyeballs.

ARTIST : Various
RELEASE: Athens, GA – Inside/Out
BACKSTORY: Omnivore Recordings this week releases the soundtrack to the cult 1987 documentary — which chronicled the music scene that spawned R.E.M., The B-52s and more — on CD for the first time, packaging it with a DVD of the film and five bonus tracks, two of which are billed as “previously unheard performances” (see full tracklist).
BUY: Amazon.com (CD/DVD)

ARTIST : Clan of Xymox
RELEASE: Kindred Spirits
BACKSTORY: The long-running darkwave favorites this week release, in the U.K. (it’s out Oct. 23 in the U.S.), a tribute to some of their own favorite bands with a collection featuring covers of tracks by The Cure, Depeche Mode, The Sisters of Mercy, Siouxsie and the Banshees and both Joy Division and New Order (see full tracklist).
BUY: Amazon.co.uk (CD)

ARTIST : Kirsty MacColl
RELEASES: Desperate Character, Kite, Titanic Days
BACKSTORY: Originally released between 1981 and 1993, three albums by the late Kirsty MacColl, who died in a tragic boating accident in 2000, are reissued in expanded editions this week in the U.K., with her debut album, Desperate Character, receiving its first-ever release on compact disc.
BUY: Amazon.co.uk (Desperate Character, Kite, Titanic Days)

ARTIST : R.E.M.
RELEASE: Document
BACKSTORY: Following the release of the expanded 25th anniversary edition of R.E.M.’s 1987 album on CD comes a limited-edition, 180-gram audiophile vinyl pressing this week from Mobile Fidelity. The record is half-speed mastered from the original mastesr tapes and pressed at RTI in a numbered pressing.
BUY: Amazon.com (Vinyl)