Recent Dark Wave Playlists

New releases: The Blow Monkeys, Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie, plus Heaven 17 DVD

New releases: The Blow Monkeys, Cocteau Twins’ Robin Guthrie, plus Heaven 17 DVD

This week’s new releases include ‘Staring at the Sea,’ the second post-reunion album from The Blow Monkeys; ‘Bordeaux,’ a new collaboration between Cocteau Twins’ Robin Guthrie and Harold Budd; and the belated U.S. release of Heaven 17’s ‘Live at Scala’ DVD.

Photo: Billy Bragg and Morrissey — in shorts and a Hawaiian shirt — circa 1985

Now here’s something you don’t see every day: A snapshot of Billy Bragg and Morrissey — clad in knee-bearing shorts and some sort of floral or Hawaiian shirt, with his tongue jutting out — at Canada’s Wonderland amusement park in Toronto while on tour with The Smiths in 1985.

Slicing Up Eyeballs marks second anniversary

Hey, what do you know: Turns out exactly two years have passed since Slicing Up Eyeballs: The Legacy of ’80s College Rock launched, and here we are — 1,276 posts and 1.7 million pageviews later — still chugging along.

Milestones: Ian Brown is 48 today; watch The Stone Roses lose power live on BBC in ’89

It’s Ian Brown’s birthday today — he’s turning 48 — so to mark the occasion, we present one of those oft-told tales of Stone Roses lore: The band’s appearance on BBC’s ‘The Late Show’ in September 1989, which ended less than a minute into a live performance of ‘Made of Stone’ when the power abruptly cut out.

Video: Maureen interviews J Mascis

Video: Maureen interviews J Mascis

To help promote ‘Several Shades of Why,’ the forthcoming solo album from Dinosaur Jr mastermind J Mascis, the folks at Sub Pop Records have posted this rather odd interview with some woman named Maureen.

World Party playing SXSW and NYC in March, releasing rarities box, plan full U.S. tour

World Party playing SXSW and NYC in March, releasing rarities box, plan full U.S. tour

With a new multi-disc box set of live and studio rarities due this spring, Karl Wallinger will kick off World Party’s 25th anniversary year with five concerts at South By Southwest and in New York City in March — a prelude for the band’s ‘most extensive U.S. tour since 2006.’

Video: The Cars, ‘Blue Tip’ — first single off May’s ‘Move Like This’ reunion album

The surviving members of The Cars today released the video for their first single in 24 years: ‘Blue Tip,’ off the reunion album ‘Move Like This,’ due out May 10 via Concord Music. Watch it here.