Author: Slicing Up Eyeballs

The Week(s) in Rock: Nov. 18-Dec. 1, 2012

The Week(s) in Rock: Nov. 18-Dec. 1, 2012

Welcome to the Week in Rock, where we round up all of the headlines posted on this site over the past week. This edition includes items on R.E.M., Johnny Marr, The Cramps, The Cult, Abecedarians, Peter Hook, The Ocean Blue, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, The Church, The House of Love and more — including a new Pet Shop Boys giveaway.

Stream: Johnny Marr plays 'Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What What I Want' on BBC

Stream: Johnny Marr plays ‘Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What What I Want’ on BBC

As he ramps up for the release of his new solo album early next year, Johnny Marr has been appearing on some U.K. radio programs, most recently recording a session for Dermot O’Leary’s show on BBC Radio 2 earlier this week that aired today. Check out his performance of “Please, Please, Please Let Me Get What I Want.”

Premiere: R.E.M. at Atlanta's 688 Club, February 1981 — watch rare 40-minute set

Premiere: R.E.M. at Atlanta’s 688 Club, February 1981 — watch rare 40-minute set

In February 1981, R.E.M. played three known concerts, including a pair in Atlanta opening for Joe “King” Carrasco at the 688 Club. Little of this period has been seen on video, but Slicing Up Eyeballs is thrilled to be able to premiere — courtesy of Wuxtry Records in Athens, Ga. — this 40-minute set filmed at one of those Atlanta dates.

‘120 Minutes’ Rewind: The Cramps' Lux Interior, Poison Ivy talk to Dave Kendall — 1990

‘120 Minutes’ Rewind: The Cramps’ Lux Interior, Poison Ivy talk to Dave Kendall — 1990

For this week’s “120 Minutes” Rewind, we present this clip from 1990 featuring Poison Ivy and the late Lux Interior of The Cramps talking to host Dave Kendall about the band’s just-released album ‘Stay Sick!’ and its semi-hit single “Bikini Girls With Machine Guns.”

Free MP3: Chris Stamey of The dB's, 'Astronomy' — first track off 'Lovesick Blues' LP

Free MP3: Chris Stamey of The dB’s, ‘Astronomy’ — first track off ‘Lovesick Blues’ LP

Following last year’s reunion album from The dB’s, one of that band’s founders, Chris Stamey, will return early next year with ‘Lovesick Blues,’ his first album since a 2005 collaboration with Yo La Tengo called ‘A Question of Temperature.’ Stamey is previewing the new record with a free download of the track “Astronomy.”

Video: The Cult, 'Elemental Light' (Salem Remix) — originally off 'Choice of Weapon'

Video: The Cult, ‘Elemental Light’ (Salem Remix) — originally off ‘Choice of Weapon’

The Cult recently enlisted witch house act Salem to remix the track “Elemental Light” off the band’s current album Choice of Weapon, and has just released a Kostas Seremetis-directed video for the new version — which, as you can hear from the beat-driven clip posted above, is pretty much and entirely different song than the original.

Abecedarians' debut mini-LP 'Eureka' to be released on CD for first time, reissued on vinyl

Abecedarians’ debut mini-LP ‘Eureka’ to be released on CD for first time, reissued on vinyl

Pylon Records next week will release an expanded reissue of the debut mini-LP ‘Eureka’ on vinyl and, for the first time ever, CD from late-’80s Los Angeles post-punk trio Abecedarians, the only American band to have released a single — 1985’s “Smiling Monarchs” — on Manchester’s legendary Factory Records.