Today marks the release of the 25th anniversary reissue of R.E.M.’s ‘Lifes Rich Pageant,’ and to help celebrate, the fine folks at EMI Music have provided us with a copy of the set — featuring a whopping 19 previously unreleased studio demos — to award to one lucky Slicing Up Eyeballs reader.

New York rockers Bones Howell claim to draw on punk and goth influences, and they certainly aren’t afraid to show off that inspiration on a new 7-inch that arrives this week and features both a cover of Bauhaus’ ‘Hair of the Dog’ and a remix of their own song ‘Nephritis’ by none other than Daniel Ash, Bauhaus’ guitarist.

Former Depeche Mode member Alan Wilder is auctioning off a treasure trove of studio equipment, records and other memorabilia that spans his tenure with the synthpop group — including everything from Dave Gahan’s custom mic stands from the Devotional Tour to a pair of the keyboardist’s trousers.

Today we commemorate the birthday of Peter Murphy — he’s 54 — by turning the clock back to the Bauhaus era and presenting “Shadow of Light,” a 40-minute film released on VHS in 1984 that includes live performances mixed in with music videos.

Next week, Little, Brown and Company will publish ‘David Bowie: Starman,’ an exhaustive 544-page biography of the Thin White Duke by former Mojo magazine editor Paul Trynka — and the publishing house has been kind enough to offer up copies for three lucky Slicing Up Eyeballs readers.

This week’s new releases include the expanded 25th anniversary reissue of R.E.M.’s ‘Lifes Rich Pageant,’ plus Dead Can Dance’s 4LP ‘Box Set II’ and ‘Weird Pop,’ the brand-new double-vinyl best-of from Bauhaus spin-off Tones on Tail.

The playlist from tonight’s ‘Dark Wave’ — the weekly Sunday night ‘darker side of alternative’ show on Sirius XM’s 1st Wave — features tracks by Shriekback, Clan of Xymox, Nine Inch Nails, Tubeway Army, Ciccone Youth, Theater of Hate and many more.

Today marks the birthday of Neil Tennant — he’s 57 — and we celebrate by presenting the Pet Shop Boys’ earliest concert film, ‘Highlights.’ Released on VHS in 1990, this short film — which has yet to be released on DVD — features eight songs performed at London’s Wembley Arena in July 1989 during the duo’s MCMLXXXIX Tour.

Our partners at GroopEase are giving away two pairs of three-day passes along with $500 cash to see The Cars, Big Audio Dynamite, Foo Fighters and more at the massive Lollapalooza festival in Chicago’s Grant Park on Aug. 5-7.

Rhino Records later this month will re-release the Ramones’ first four albums — ‘Ramones’ (1976), ‘Leave Home’ (1977), ‘Rocket to Russia’ (1977) and ‘Road to Ruin’ (1978) — on 180-gram audiophile vinyl and in special limited-edition sets packaged with bonus 7-inch singles on blue vinyl.

This week’s episode of the ‘Sound Opinions’ radio show — billed as ‘the world’s only rock ‘n’ roll talk show’ — will look back at the legacy of Wax Trax! Records and will feature an interview with former Revolting Cocks and Ministry members Chris Connelly and Paul Barker.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark will follow up this past spring’s North American tour — the classic lineup’s first U.S. concerts since opening for Depeche Mode’s breakthrough ‘Music for the Masses’ shows — with a return visit to the United States, Canada and Mexico this fall.

Next week sees the release of the latest installment in R.E.M.’s ongoing reissue series: an expanded 2CD, 25th anniversary re-release of ‘Lifes Rich Pageant.’ Thanks to an exclusive pre-release stream at Spin.com, you can go ahead and check out the fully remastered 1986 album and the 19-track bonus disc.