Andreas Thein — who co-founded Propaganda and co-wrote and performed on the German synthpop group’s debut single, 1984’s “Dr. Mabuse,” before being asked to leave the band — lost his battle with cancer and died this past Thursday, according to ZTT Records.

This week’s new releases include new best-ofs from Midnight Oil and Frankie Goes to Hollywood, a collection of covers from Propaganda’s Claudia Brücken, a re-recording of Fear’s debut album (‘The Fear Record’) and an audiophile vinyl reissue of The Sisters of Mercy’s ‘Floodland.’

This week’s new releases include the U.S. reissue of Sugar’s catalog, a live CD/DVD from Propaganda’s Claudia Brücken, a live CD from Happy Mondays, an audiophile vinyl pressing of Yazoo’s ‘Upstairs at Eric’s,’ the U.S. release of Peter Gabriel’s ‘Secret World Live,’ and reissues of Icehouse’s ‘Primitive Man’ and ‘Man of Colours.’

Last week, Erasure frontman Andy Bell was just one of several guests to take the stage at a special retrospective concert in London staged by Propaganda singer Claudia Brücken in conjunction with the recent release of her new best-of ‘Combined.’

This week’s new releases include an expanded reissue of Ride’s debut ‘Nowhere’; a new Bob Geldof album called ‘How to Compose Popular Songs That Will Sell’; a new best-of from Propaganda’s Claudia Brücken (‘Combined’); a reissue of Howard Jones’ ‘The 12″ Album’; vinyl reissues of Bauhaus and Dead Can Dance; and a collection of ZTT 12-inch mixes.

The expanded 2CD/1DVD reissue of Heaven 17’s synthpop classic ‘Penthouse and Pavement’ will pair the remastered 1981 album with 20 previously unreleased ‘demos, instrumentals and experimentation’ from that era, plus a DVD featuring the hour-long documentary ‘The Story of Penthouse and Pavement.’

The biggest surprise of The Buggles’ reunion concert Tuesday night came when Trevor Horn and Co. gamely attempted to cover the newly released single ‘Check It Out!’ by Nicki Minaj and will.i.am, which heavily samples the Buggles’ signature hit ‘Video Killed the Radio Star.’

Renowned producer Trevor Horn promised “very special guest artists” for tonight’s one-off Buggles reunion concert, and he’s delivered: In addition to opening act Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, former Yazoo singer Alison Moyet and Claudia Brücken, of Propaganda, are slated to appear.

This week’s new releases include ‘Live Voodoo,’ a concert DVD/Blu-ray from Jane’s Addiction; ‘Collection,’ a new 16-track compilation from The Stone Roses; a 2CD reissue of ‘Love: And a Million Other Things,’ the only solo album by Propaganda’s Claudia Brücken; and ‘Neon Mirage,’ a new CD from Wall of Voodoo’s Stan Ridgway.