Drew Crumbaugh — aka The Analog Loyalist, whose attempt to restore R.E.M.’s I.R.S. Records catalog was thwarted by Universal Music earlier this year — has taken a second crack at cleaning up the 1980 concert included on the reissue of Joy Division’s ‘Closer,’ and is offering the new version as a free download.

Having performed all three of Joy Division’s official albums live in recent years, Peter Hook announced today that he will turn his attention to his other former band, New Order, and perform that group’s first two albums — 1981’s ‘Movement and’ 1983’s ‘Power, Corruptions & Lies’ — live at a pair of U.K. concerts in January.

Journalist Hobey Echlin took advantage of his face time with New Order during a 2001 interview to grab Peter Hook’s four-string and play the bassline to Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” in front of the man who wrote it — only to be told he was doing it wrong. So Hook took the bass back and showed Echlin how it’s done.

For fans disappointed that the online debut of the late John Peel’s record collection didn’t feature actual music off those platters or broadcasts by the legendary British DJ, here’s the real deal: a streaming collection of 458 episodes of Peel’s show that totals 846 hours and spans the years 1967 to 2004.

Long-running darkwave favorites Clan of Xymox — still centered around founding member Ronny Moorings — this fall will pay tribute to some of its own favorite bands with a collection called ‘Kindred Spirits’ that will feature covers of tracks by The Cure, Depeche Mode, Siouxsie and the Banshees and both Joy Division and New Order.

The series launched this summer, and, so far, titles are available on Joy Division/New Order, The Smiths, Cocteau Twins and David Bowie. Next month sees publication of a title on Kate Bush, with books due in spring and summer 2013 on Abba, My Bloody Valentine, Kraftwerk, PIxies, R.E.M. and Roxy Music.

We’ve seen some fairly good webcast footage this summer of the Peter Hook-less New Order playing at various European festivals, but this is far and away the best live film to emerge of the reunited band’s summer touring: a 44-minute reel of footage from the band’s June 21 performance at Berlin’s Tempodrom.