Merry Christmas from us here at Slicing Up Eyeballs to you — wherever you may be this fine Dec. 25. And if you partake in other holidays, or none in particular, hope you’re having a wonderful day, too. We’ll leave you with this classic video featuring a tall Jewish man issuing a heartfelt plea for peace on Jesus’ birthday.
For the second straight year, The Ocean Blue has posted a free Christmas single, once again pairing the band’s David Schelzel with Don Peris of The Innocence Mission. This year, the pair recorded a cover of ‘Walking on Air,’ from the 1982 animated adaptation of the children’s book ‘The Snowman.’
The reunited New Order — featuring keyboardist Gillian Gilbert, but not bassist Peter Hook — is releasing a live recording of its full 90-minute performance two weeks ago at London’s Troxy. The concert is being released as ‘Live at The London Troxy — 10th December 2011’ in both a 2CD set and a 320kbps MP3 download.
As 2011 quickly winds to an end, we’re happy to roll out our fourth and final days’ worth of results from our second-annual Slicing Up Eyeballs Readers Poll, in which nearly 500 of you cast ballots for your favorite music of the year. Today, we bring you the big one: The best albums of 2011.
Morrissey has issued a wide-ranging statement upon the completion of his recent U.S.-Mexico concerts (“It was a dream tour”) in which he seemingly gives up hope of signing a deal with a “grownup label,” claiming “the follow-up to Years of Refusal grows less and less likely.”
Al Jourgensen’s newly reformed Ministry will release its first original music in four years later this week in the form of the pro-Occupy Wall Street single ’99 Percenters,’ which will go on sale digitally on Friday and then be streamed from the industrial juggernaut’s Facebook page beginning Christmas Day.
Today we roll out the third of four days’ worth of results from our second-annual Slicing Up Eyeballs Readers Poll, in which nearly 500 of you cast ballots for your favorite new, reissued and freshly compiled music of the year. This time, it’s your Top 10 singles of the year.
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 