More than three months after Duran Duran reissued its self-titled debut and ‘Seven and the Ragged Tiger,’ the band’s label, EMI, is defending the albums’ remastering amid fan complaints, acknowledging that ‘the mastering on these versions is different to that of previous remasters — however that does not necessarily make it wrong.’

Squeeze took time out from their current U.S. tour to drop by “Late Night With Jimmy Fallon” last night to deliver a rousing take on their 1980 single ‘Pulling Mussels (From the Shell),’ one of the 14 tracks the band has re-recorded for its forthcoming compilation ‘Spot the Difference.’

The members of R.E.M. today marked the release of the 25th anniversary edition of ‘Fables of the Reconstruction’ by looking to their future, announcing they’ve ‘just completed recording their next record in Berlin.’

Nearly two months after scrubbing its North American summer tour, U2 today announced 16 rescheduled dates for the 360° Tour’s second stateside leg, which now will open May 21, 2011, in Denver and run through July 23, 2011, in Minneapolis.

Synth maestro Gary Numan appears in a clever new commercial for DieHard automotive batteries, playing his signature tune ‘Cars’ via, well, two dozen actual cars.

For the latest installment of the A.V. Club’s weekly web series “Undercover: 25 Bands, 25 Cover Songs, 1 Small Room,” prog-metal outfit Coheed & Cambria stripped down to an acoustic duo and performed a tender cover of The Smiths’ ‘A Rush and a Push and the Land is Ours,’ which opens 1987’s ‘Strangeways, Here We Come.’

Today marks the 25th anniversary of Live Aid, the Bob Geldof-organized African famine relief concert that remains one of the cultural signposts of the ’80s. For readers of this site, the event is perhaps best remembered as the tipping point in U2’s ascent from college-rock upstarts to global superstars.

Six previously unreleased Morrissey tracks finally will see the light of day this fall when EMI releases a 20th anniversary reissue of the ex-Smith’s iconic early-career singles compilation ‘Bona Drag.’

Short-lived British postpunk act The Pop Group — which somehow melded punk, dub, noise and funk — will reunite this September after nearly 30 years apart, with four concerts scheduled in the U.K. and Italy and a new album reportedly in the works.

Reactivated U.K. post-punk greats Wire — who are eying a January release for their as-yet-unnamed 12th album — have announced the launch of their ‘Legal Bootleg Series,’ a download-only concert series that kicks off with choice gigs recorded in 1978, 1988 and 2000.

This week’s new releases include expanded reissues from R.E.M. (‘Fables of the Reconstruction’), Concrete Blonde (‘Bloodletting’), The Teardrop Explodes (‘Kilimanjaro’) and That Petrol Emotion (‘Babble’), plus a new compilation from My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult (‘Sinister Whisperz’) and the belated U.S. release of Crowded House’s new album ‘Intriguer.’

We’re still experiencing some technical difficulties in bringing you playlists from ‘Dark Wave’ on Sirius XM’s 1st Wave, as was the case last Sunday — but we’ve been able to pull together most of the night’s show.

The penultimate album by The Replacements — 1989’s ‘Don’t Tell a Soul’ — is set to be reissued on 180-gram audiophile vinyl by Original Recordings Group on Aug. 17 — the first time the long out-of-print album has appeared on vinyl since its original release.