Here’s a delightful clip that made the rounds over the weekend: A guitar-slinging busker is filmed singing Bronski Beat’s 1984 single “Smalltown Boy” on a Berlin sidewalk when none other than Jimmy Somerville himself, apparently out walking his dog, stops by and pitches it.
The Cure tonight performed what’s been billed as its final show of 2013, a headlining performance at New Orleans Voodoo Music Experience that saw Robert Smith and Co. drop yet another shocker on fans: the first-ever live performance of “Burn,” the band’s contribution to the soundtrack to 1994’s “The Crow.”
With David Bowie reissuing his new album The Next Day next week — a mere seven months after its release — in an expanded three-disc set, he took the opportunity to drop a Halloween surprise: a creepy, puppet-filled video for LCD Soundsystem mastermind James Murphy’s remix of “Love is Lost.”
Erasure this week released the first single off its upcoming Christmas album Snow Globe, a synthpop take on the medieval Latin carol “Gaudete,” which was a folk hit in 1973 for Steeleye Span. The duo also debuted a new stop-motion animation video created by Martin Meunier and Tonya Hurley.
Among the vinyl exclusives earmarked for Record Store Day’s Black Friday event next month is this beauty: Ten Big Stiffs, a box set compiling 10 recreations of Stiff Records 7-inches — nine classics by the likes of The Plasmatics, Kirsty MacColl, Desmond Dekker and The Untouchables.
For this week’s “120 Minutes” Rewind, we revisit a 1989 episode featuring an appearance by three of The Sugarcubes — Bjork, fellow singer Einar Orn and drummer Siggy Baldursson — who discuss their second album, Here Today, Tomorrow, Next Week! Check out a short clip of their interview segments.
With the Throwing Muses’ first new record in a decade out in book form in the U.K. next month, the Kristin Hersh-led band today debuted the first music video from the project, an Orrin Anderson-directed animated lyric video for the song “Sunray Venus.” Purgatory/Paradise is being published as a 64-page book,
Q&A: Daniel Ash on Love and Rockets’ reunion, his new band — and figuring out how to play “So Alive” 
Q&A: Chris Frantz talks Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club and new book ‘Remain in Love’ 
Q&A: Steve Wynn on The Dream Syndicate’s first new album in nearly 30 years 
Q&A: Bauhaus’ David J on his ‘accidental’ concept album ‘Not Long For This World’ 
Q&A: Peter Murphy on ‘Ninth,’ Bauhaus’ break-up, reuniting Dalis Car 
Q&A: Joey Santiago on Pixies’ ‘Doolittle’ tour, possible ‘Surfer Rosa’ shows, new album talk 
Q&A: Prefab Sprout’s Paddy McAloon on new album, changing the world with music 
Q&A: Peter Hook talks ‘Unknown Pleasures’ tour, re-recording Joy Division 