Eight months after the release of ‘Olympia,’ occasional Roxy Music frontman Bryan Ferry is embarking on a mammoth tour this summer and fall that will take him to Israel and all across the U.K. and Europe — plus his first U.S. dates since 2003.

Twenty-five years ago today, The Smiths released their third — and, arguably, best — album, ‘The Queen is Dead,’ a note-perfect marriage of Johnny Marr’s peerless pop songcraft and Morrissey’s pointed political commentary, lovesick laments and wicked humor.

No stranger to odd musical detours — whether it be ‘Metal Machine Music’ or his most recent project, ‘Hudson River Wind Meditations’ — the legendary Lou Reed has a particularly unlikely musical partner for his next album: thrash-metal titans Metallica.

San Francisco noise-rock act Railcars this summer will release a cover of the classic first side of Kate Bush’s 1985 album ‘Hounds of Love’ on limited-edition cassette and one-sided vinyl formats — and you can hear three of the genre-bending tracks here.

Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark will release a 20-track live album and hardback book called ‘History of Modern Tour: Live in Berlin’ this August to commemorate the group’s rapturously received comeback last year. Stream one of the tracks here.

Morrissey debuted three new songs — ‘Action Is My Middle Name,’ ‘The Kid’s A Looker’ and ‘People Are The Same Everywhere’ — in a live session recorded last week and broadcast tonight on Janice Long’s late-night show on BBC Radio 2. Hear all three here.

Tonight’s installment of Slicing Up Eyeballs on Strangways Radio featured new music from Gary Numan, The Primitives and The Cure’s Robert Smith, plus new live cuts from Duran Duran and Joe Jackson, and favorites from Camouflage, Orange Juice, Pavement and The Danse Society.