College-rock fixture-to-be R.E.M. released its landmark debut EP, ‘Chronic Town,’ 28 years ago today, and to commemorate the anniversary, we present alternate versions of three of the record’s five songs: a faster version of ‘Wolves, Lower’; ‘Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)’ with different vocals and no fadeout; and ‘Shaking Through,’ featuring an organ in the mix.

Early-’80s indie-pop outfit Orange Juice this fall will release a comprehensive 6CD/1DVD box set called ‘Coals to Newcastle’ that will include all four of the Scottish band’s albums, a host of singles and B-sides, BBC sessions, live performances and a DVD featuring the rare concert film ‘Dada With Juice.’

The recently reunited Yazoo — or Yaz, as the Vince Clarke/Alison Moyet group was known here in the U.S. — have released a short video trailer for their upcoming ‘Reconnected Live,’ the 20-song document of the duo’s 2008 reunion tour, which arrives Sept. 27 in the U.K.

Shaun Ryder — leader of Factory Records troublemakers Happy Mondays — celebrates his 48th birthday today, and to mark the occasion, here’s a vintage live performance of the band’s biggest hit: ‘Step On,’ their cover of John Kongos’ 1971 single ‘He’s Gonna Step On You Again.’

This week’s new releases include ‘Acoustic & Electric Live,’ a new concert Blu-ray from the Pixies; ’25: The Very Best Of,’ a new 2CD compilation from a-ha; and ‘Fidelity!,’ the debut from Chrissie Hynde’s new project JP, Chrissie & The Fairground Boys.

Highlights of tonight’s ‘Dark Wave’ on Sirius XM’s classic-alternative outlet 1st Wave include Depeche Mode’s classic ‘Waiting For the Night,’ a rare airing of The Sisters of Mercy’s ‘Driven Like the Snow’ plus Yaz’s ‘Ode to Boy.’

Today we commemorate Tears For Fears co-founder Roland Orzabal’s 49th birthday with this choice 1983 clip of the band performing ‘Head Over Heels’ sandwiched between two halves of ‘Broken’ (the latter of which, at that point, had been released as ‘We Are Broken’ on the B-side of ‘Pale Shelter’).

Just seven dates into the 360° Tour’s second European leg, U2 has now debuted four unreleased songs with the addition of tonight’s premiere of ‘Every Breaking Wave’ in Helsinki, Finland.

When Peter Hook’s Freebass finally released last spring’s debut EP, ‘Two Worlds Collide,’ on CD last week, the band also issued a digital-only EP featuring five new mixes of the Tim Burgess-sung ‘You Don’t Know This About Me’ by longtime New Order collaborator Arthur Baker.

There’s been no official word since last fall’s announcement by Robert Smith of plans for a series of archival releases, but this week ex-keyboardist Lol Tolhurst revealed that Smith is at work on a reissue of ‘Mixed Up,’ a BBC box set and a DVD release of ‘The Cure in Orange.’

Singer/bassist Michael Been of modern-rock trio The Call — best known for their ’80s radio hits ‘The Walls Came Down,’ ‘I Still Believe’ and ‘Let the Day Begin’ — suffered a heart attack and died tonight backstage at the Pukkelpop music festival in Belgium. He was 60.

The Smithereens will celebrate their 30th anniversary with a special homecoming concert next month in their birthplace of Carteret, N.J., as well as with a retrospective performance at frontman Pat DiNizio’s fifth-annual Halloween bash.

Beggars Archive is readying a major This Mortal Coil re-release campaign, featuring a new 4CD box set, individual vinyl and CD reissues of the 4AD collective’s three studio albums, and a hi-def Blu-ray release that collects all of the band’s records and music videos on a single disc.