Much-buzzed digi-punk duo Crystal Castles has tapped Robert Smith of The Cure to sing new vocals on ‘Not In Love,’ a cut off the band’s second self-titled album that will be released as a single Dec. 6.

While it wasn’t quite as momentous as last February’s performance of ‘Somebody’ at London’s Royal Albert Hall, former Depeche Mode bandmates Alan Wilder and Martin Gore teamed once again up last night, with Gore appearing as a post-show DJ at Wilder’s Recoil performance in Santa Ana, Calif.

This week’s releases include a new studio albums from Bryan Ferry (‘Olympia’) and Elvis Costello (‘National Ransom’), a live DVD from R.E.M. (‘Live From Austin, TX’), a 4CD ‘omnibus edition’ from The Fall (‘The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall’) and the belated U.S. release of Prefab Sprout’s new album (‘Let’s Change the World With Music’).

Although his catalog was just put back into print last month, Peter Gabriel is planning a full series of new reissues in 2011, including an expanded 25th anniversary edition of his crossover smash ‘So’ packaged with mixes, demos and new artwork.

With his 30th anniversary ‘Pleasure Principle’ U.S. tour now underway, synthpop figurehead Gary Numan this week released separate CD and DVD documents of his Dec. 3, 2009, London performance of that landmark 1980 solo debut and other assorted selections from his ample back catalog.

Double dose of Nine Inch Nails news today: Trent Reznor this afternoon announced the band’s 1989 debut ‘Pretty Hate Machine’ will be reissued next month on CD, vinyl and digital formats, newly remastered ‘for a greatly improved sonic experience.’

Reissue specialists Vinyl 180 will follow up their recent Cocteau Twins and Gary Numan box sets next month with the first of two multi-record Dead Can Dance sets, a 4LP box that collects the band’s first three releases plus a new Peel session disc on audiophile vinyl.

After some delay, the 33⅓ book series — pocket-sized titles that dissect one classic album at a time — will publish its much-anticipated title on Nine Inch Nails’ 1989 debut ‘Pretty Hate Machine’ in March.

X will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its debut ‘Los Angeles’ by performing the album in its entirety during a run of Christmas dates along the West Coast — including a pair of special San Francisco shows featuring the record’s producer, Ray Manzarek of The Doors.

The surviving members of INXS finally have unveiled the tracklist and release dates for their long-in-the-works ‘Original Sin’ greatest-hits collection, featuring re-recordings of the band’s classics with new vocals by the likes of Ben Harper, Rob Thomas, Tricky and even occasional frontman J.D. Fortune.

A day after Ari Up, iconic frontwoman of The Slits, succumbed to a long illness, her label Narnack Records has released what it bills as the band’s ‘final work’: a heretofore unreleased video for the song ‘Lazy Slam,’ off last year’s ‘Trapped Animal’ album.

After teasing fans with a couple 30-second clips from its forthcoming ‘Tour of the Universe: Live in Barcelona’ DVD and Blu-ray, Depeche Mode today offered up something a bit more substantial: a nearly 6-minute electronic press kit for the film, featuring performance footage, backstage clips and interviews with Dave Gahan, Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher.

German-born punk pioneer Ari Up — the frontwoman of The Slits who learned guitar from Joe Strummer and was John Lydon’s stepdaughter — died today at age 48 following ‘a serious illness,’ Lydon and her mother, Nora Foster, announced via Public Image Ltd.’s website.