Better known as the half of the Pet Shop Boys that wears hats and stands motionless behind banks of keyboards, Chris Lowe takes a rare vocal turn on a new cover of New Order’s ‘Subculture’ by Finnish DJ/producers Jori Hulkkonen and Alex Nieminen, performing under the name Stop Modernists.

Twenty-five years ago today, The Cure released ‘Standing on a Beach: The Singles,’ a seminal compilation — and yes, we’re talking about the cassette here, not the ‘Staring at the Sea’ CD — that stands alongside New Order’s ‘Substance’ and ‘Catching Up With Depeche Mode’ as one of the signpost compilations of the ’80s college rock era.

In our last installment of MBV Watch, we reported a new May release date for the long-rumored, near-mythical reissues of My Bloody Valentine’s two albums: 1988’s ‘Isn’t Anything’ and 1991’s ‘Loveless.’ Now they’ve been bumped to September.

With three week left before Thurston Moore’s new solo album, ‘Demolished Thoughts,’ arrives, the folks at Matador Records are offering a second free MP3 from the Sonic Youth frontman’s record.

Ousted keyboardist Lol Tolhurst will rejoin The Cure after 22 years to help perform the band’s first three albums — 1979’s ‘Three Imaginary Boys,’ 1980’s ‘Seventeen Seconds’ and 1981’s ‘Faith’ — in their entirety on May 31 and June 1 at the Vivid Live Festival at Australia’s famed Sydney Opera House.

To commemorate Ian McCulloch’s 52nd birthday today, here’s a full, 53-minute Echo & The Bunnymen live performance filmed in Madrid and broadcast on Spanish TV on Sept. 4, 1984.

Back in March, we brought you a stream of ‘I Spit Roses,’ the first new single in more than six years from Peter Murphy.