Three weeks ago, we launched the inaugural Slicing Up Eyeballs Readers Poll in an effort to gauge what this site’s frequenters think are the year’s best new albums and reissues. Now, with hundreds of ballots cast, the results are in.

Fans of The Smiths are reveling in an unexpected Christmas gift this week with the appearance of a bootleg LP featuring 16 unreleased studio outtakes, including the scrapped original recording of ‘Sheila Take a Bow,’ a reggae-like take on ‘Girlfriend in a Coma’ and two previously unheard instrumentals.

Tonight’s ‘Dark Wave’ on Sirius XM’s 1st Wave featured a number of nice surprises, including a rare airing of a Morrissey album cut (‘Late Night, Maudlin Street’) and some lesser-played Peter Murphy (‘Marlene Dietrich’s Favorite Poem,’ ‘You’re So Close’).

The ongoing brouhaha over British Prime Minister David Cameron’s liking of The Smiths — something both Morrissey and Johnny Marr, in a rare show of public unity, have forbidden — spilled over onto the floor of Parliament yesterday during the always-entertaining Prime Minister’s Questions.

In a rare show of public unity, Morrissey today threw his support behind Johnny Marr after the guitarist ‘forbid’ conservative U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron from liking The Smiths — although in typical fashion, Moz used the occasion to pen a 1,200-word screed against animal cruelty that also takes shots at Prince William and ‘his fiasco (fiancée) Kate Middleton,’ Bryan Ferry and David Beckham.

High points of tonight’s ‘Dark Wave’ on Sirius XM’s 1st Wave include Depeche Mode’s greatest B-side (‘Dangerous’), a rare album cut off Morrissey’s solo debut ‘Viva Hate’ (‘Dial-A-Cliché’) and the opening cut from The Jesus and Mary Chain’s third album, ‘Automatic’ (‘Here Comes Alice’).

Let’s be honest: Can there be too many photos of Morrissey with a cat sitting on top of his head? Here’s another one.

On May 26, 1984 — just three months after the release of ‘The Smiths’ — a young and occasionally smiling Morrissey appeared on the BBC TV game show ‘Pop Quiz,’ which pitted two teams of musicians against each other in a battle of musical knowledge hosted by a ridiculously attired DJ named Mike Read.

This week’s new CDs include reissues from Morrissey (‘Bona Drag’), Midge Ure (‘The Gift,’ ‘Answers to Nothing’) and Madness (‘Mad Not Mad’), plus a live disc from Blondie (‘Blondie at the BBC’), a new compilation of hits and covers from Ministry (‘Every Day is Halloween’) and collections from a-ha (’25: The Very Best Of’), The Undertones (‘Teenage Kicks: The Very Best Of’) and Stiff Records (‘Born Stiff’).

Tonight’s episode of ‘Dark Wave’ — the weekly Sunday night show on Sirius XM’s classic-alternative station 1st Wave — managed a nice selection of lesser-played album cuts from a host of big-name players, including Depeche Mode (‘Sacred’), Siouxsie and the Banshees (‘Night Shift’), Morrissey (‘Disappointed’), The Jesus and Mary Chain (‘Teenage Lust’) and The Cure (‘Disintegration’).

It’s a huge new release week, with new albums from Killing Joke and Bad Religion; live albums from Yazoo and Tom Tom Club; reissues from Duran Duran, David Bowie, The Fall and Morrissey; and new compilations from Soundgarden, KMFDM and David Sylvian.

No stranger to oddball photo shoots, Brit-rock iconoclast Morrissey appears on the cover of tomorrow’s Guardian Weekend magazine with a cat perched atop his unsmiling head for a feature headlined ‘Bigmouth strikes again: Morrissey lets rip.’

In keeping with Morrissey tradition, the forthcoming 20th anniversary edition of ‘Bona Drag’ will feature new — or at least slightly altered — artwork.