This week’s new releases include brand-new studio albums from Iggy and The Stooges (‘Ready to Die’), The Blow Monkeys (‘Feels Like a New Morning’) and Big Country (‘The Journey’), plus a Melvins cover album (‘Everybody Loves Sausages’) and a Midnight Oil best-of (‘Essential Oils’).

The double-disc, 26-track best-of set from Australian rockers Midnight Oil that was released Down Under last fall will receive a belated American release April 30 via Columbia/Legacy, the label announced today. Essential Oils offers a career-spanning overview of the band’s catalog.

It’s been nearly a week since the Coachella lineup was unveiled, and there’s little elaboration on one of this year’s surprises: the unlikely reunion of the Violent Femmes for the two-weekend California festival this April, something once thought impossible because of the bad blood engendered over a Wendy’s TV commercial.

Earlier this month, Australia’s MAX TV network aired an hour-long documentary on Midnight Oil as part of its “The Artist’s Story” series, and now, thanks to the folks at the Midnight Oil Fan Page on Facebook, those of us who aren’t Down Under can watch this excellent career overview.

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.’

Midnight Oil will be the subject of an all-new Australian TV documentary that promises “the first ever inside story” of the band, thanks to its use of “a wealth of rare archival footage as well as the only interviews with each of the five band members granted in recent years.”

On the heels of last week’s announcement of a new 2CD best-of, Aussie rockers Midnight Oil today began offering a free download of “Read About It” recorded live in 2009 at one of two warm-up shows the band played in Canberra prior to taking part in the Sound Relief benefit concert.