Recent Dark Wave Playlists

Playlist: Slicing Up Eyeballs’ R.E.M. hour on Strangeways Radio, first aired 3/8/11

In honor of today’s release of ‘Collapse Into Now,” tonight’s Slicing Up Eyeballs show on Strangeways Radio took a look back at the career of R.E.M. Watch for a replay at 2 p.m. EST Friday.

Stream: George Michael covers New Order's 'True Faith' for Comic Relief. Literally

Stream: George Michael covers New Order’s ‘True Faith’ for Comic Relief. Literally

Last week’s news that troubled pop star George Michael would be covering New Order’s late-’80s smash ‘True Faith’ as a charity single for Comic Relief was met with the appropriate derision — which turns out to be totally appropriate, now that we can hear the Auto-Tuned bastardization that the ex-Wham! singer has churned out.

Video: Johnny Marr plays ‘What’s In My Bag?’ at Amoeba Music in Hollywood

The latest installment of indie behemoth Amoeba Music’s web series ‘What’s In My Bag?’ asks Johnny Marr the titular question during his recent visit to the chain’s Hollywood store.

Linkage: My Bloody Valentine’s ‘Loveless’ at 20, plus PiL’s ‘Album,’ Peter Hook and Pixies

In this latest round-up stuff, we’ve got an assessment of My Bloody Valentine’s ‘Loveless’ at 20, an audio documentary on Public Image Ltd.’s ‘Album,’ an interview with Joy Division’s Peter Hook and a studio multitrack of Black Francis’ vocals on the Pixies’ ‘Monkey Gone to Heaven.’

Video: The Primitives, ‘Rattle My Cage’

As promised, ‘Rattle My Cage’ — the lead-off track from The Primitives’ new EP ‘Never Kill a Secret,’ due out digitally this week — is ‘a bit noisier’ than our first taste of the four-song release.

New releases: R.E.M., The Primitives, KMFDM, Blancmange, The Mission, X's Exene Cervenka

New releases: R.E.M., The Primitives, KMFDM, Blancmange, The Mission, X’s Exene Cervenka

This week’s new releases include brand-new albums from R.E.M. (‘Collapse Into Now’), Blancmange (‘Blanc Burn’) and Exene Cervenka (‘The Excitement of Maybe’), plus a new EP from The Primitives, two mid-period reissues from The Mission and a new KMFDM single.

Playlist: Sirius XM’s ‘Dark Wave,’ 3/6/11

Playlist: Sirius XM’s ‘Dark Wave,’ 3/6/11

The playlist from tonight’s “Dark Wave” — the Sunday night “darker side of alternative” show on Sirius XM’s 1st Wave — features tracks by Yaz, The Cramps, Cocteau Twins, Concrete Blonde and more.