Recent Dark Wave Playlists

Stream: Ministry live at Misfits in Chicago, March 1982 — earliest live recordings

Stream: Ministry live at Misfits in Chicago, March 1982 — earliest live recordings

For fans of Ministry’s early synthpop incarnation, here’s a real treat: Four tracks recorded live in Chicago at the short-lived Misfits club in March 1982, the earliest known live recordings of Al Jourgensen and Co. made nearly 30 years ago — and long before the group morphed into an industrial giant and then near-metal act.

Stream: VCMG, 'Single Blip' — 2nd track from Depeche Mode's Martin Gore, Vince Clarke

Stream: VCMG, ‘Single Blip’ — 2nd track from Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore, Vince Clarke

Former Depeche Mode bandmatesVince Clarke and Martin L. Gore, working together again for the first time in 30 years under the name VCMG, will precede their debut album with a second teaser, in the form of ‘EP 2/Single Blip’ — featuring the title track, which you can hear here, plus remixes by Byetone and Mathew Jonson.

Stream: Jesus and Mary Chain's 'Way We Were: 1980-85’ mix by Bobby Gillespie & Douglas Hart

Stream: Jesus and Mary Chain’s ‘Way We Were: 1980-85’ mix by Bobby Gillespie & Douglas Hart

Following up on last fall’s vintage Jim Reid mix, Demon Music Group — the label behind the new Jesus and Mary Chain reissues — posted a new mix by ex-JAMC rhythm section Bobby Gillespie and Douglas Hart representing what was on their tour-bus mixtapes during the band’s early days.

Video: Jane's Addiction, 'Underground' — third clip from 'The Great Escape Artist'

Video: Jane’s Addiction, ‘Underground’ — third clip from ‘The Great Escape Artist’

With their North American tour set to open in less than two weeks, Jane’s Addiction — Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro and Stephen Perkins, along with bassist Chris Chaney — today released the third video off new album ‘The Great Escape Artist,’ a fairly straightforward performance clip for the record’s opening track, ‘Underground.’

Video: Kate Bush, 'Eider Falls at Lake Tahoe' — new ‘50 Words for Snow' animation

Video: Kate Bush, ‘Eider Falls at Lake Tahoe’ — new ‘50 Words for Snow’ animation

Kate Bush this week released the latest ‘animation’ made for one of the tracks off her latest album, ’50 Words for Snow.’ Set to a five-minute segment of the ethereal song ‘Lake Tahoe,’ the clip — called ‘Eider Falls at Lake Tahoe’ — illustrates, with shadow puppets, the song’s story of a spirit woman looking for her lost dog.

Social Distortion takes 'Hard Times' back out for 33-date North American tour

Social Distortion takes ‘Hard Times’ back out for 33-date North American tour

A year after the release of ‘Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes,’ Los Angeles punk warriors Social Distortion will head back out on the road yet again for another massive string of shows, this time a planned 33-date North American tour that stretches from late January to early May.

Playlist: Slicing Up Eyeballs on Strangeways Radio; Episode 58, first aired 1/24/12

Tuesday night’s episode of Slicing Up Eyeballs on Strangeways Radio featured brand-new music from the Pixies’ Black Francis, Concrete Blonde and Hoodoo Gurus, plus old favorites by Close Lobsters, Pulp, The Psychedelic Furs and Lloyd Cole, plus new remixes of tracks by The Cure and Depeche Mode.