As had been hinted at last week, a pair of new vinyl releases from The Smiths — 7-inch and 12-inch singles of “The Queen is Dead” — slipped into U.K. shops unannounced today to mark the 31st anniversary of the original release of the band’s classic third album, The Queen is Dead.

Echo & The Bunnymen announced this week that the band has signed to BMG, marking the group’s return to a major label for the first time since the 1990s. On top of that, the band said, in a Facebook post, that it’s “looking forward to sharing future releases very soon.”

For this week’s installment of Vintage Video, we present The Sisters of Mercy’s long-out-of-print concert film “Wake,” recorded  at London’s Royal Albert Hall on June 18, 1985 — the final concert by the lineup that included Wayne Hussey and Craig Adams, who went on to form The Mission.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds are in New York City for a two-night stand at the Beacon Theatre, and between those two gigs, managed to slip in a rare late-night TV appearance, performing the haunting song “Rings of Saturn” off the band’s new Skeleton Tree album on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” last night.

Alexey Navalny, a prominent Russian opposition leader planning to challenge President Vladimir Putin in next year’s election, was found guilty this week of repeatedly calling for unlawful protests and was sentenced to 30 days in jail, according to news reports. His response? He’s not happy he’ll miss Depeche Mode.

Pet Shop Boys today announced a new reissue series titled “Catalogue: 1985-2012” that will see the duo’s Parlophone studio albums remastesred and reissued in two- and three-disc editions featuring “Further listening” bonus discs with previously unreleased bonus tracks and demos.

The Rain Parade’s 1983 debut album Emergency Third Rail Power Trip — one of the seminal records of Los Angeles’ early-’80s Paisley Underground movement — will be reissued by Real Gone Music this summer in remastered, single-disc edition that features an extra song and the 1984 EP Explosions in the Glass Palace.

Boutique record label Futurismo next month will reissue The Psychedelic Furs’ classic single — both the original off 1981’s Talk Talk Talk and the re-recording used in John Hughes’ 1986 film — as a gatefold double 7-inch single pressed on pink vinyl.

The Hüsker Dü catalog famously has been in dire need of a sonic upgrade and expansion, and it seems, at long last, that it’s happening, courtesy of the Chicago-based reissue pros at the Numero Group, who are assembling something “massive” around the band’s archives.

Record Rack: A round-up of the week’s new albums, expanded reissues and/or box sets, appearing each Monday on Slicing Up Eyeballs. All releases due out this Friday unless noted. This week: Alison Moyet, Ride, Simple Minds, Big Star, Can, Matthew Sweet and Jason Loewenstein.

“Dark Wave,” hosted by Slicing Up Eyeballs’ Matt Sebastian, airs 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. EDT every Sunday on Sirius XM satellite radio’s 1st Wave (Channel 33). The most recent two episodes also are available via Sirius XM’s On Demand service for online subscribers.

Dean Wareham will step out of his ongoing Luna reunion next month to celebrate his earlier band with a one-off performance of Galaxie 500’s 1988 debut album Today in San Francisco — a concert Wareham is calling a “one time only” event. Tickets are on sale now for the July concert.

Rumors have circulated since early this year that the title track to The Smiths’ 1986 album The Queen is Dead would receive a new 12-inch vinyl single release — and they appear to have been substantiated today by Morrissey’s longtime guitarist Boz Boorer through a photo he posted to Facebook.