This week’s new releases include ‘5 Albums’ box sets from The Fall, The Icicle Works and Buffalo Tom, plus a 95-track digital ‘box set’ from The Replacements, the second album from Peter Buck’s Tired Pony, a new EP from John Foxx and Jori Hukkonen, and a vinyl reissue of Elvis Costello’s Brutal Youth.

Each year from 1988 to 2011, R.E.M. mailed a special holiday single to every dues-paying member of its fan club, a total of 24 singles that featured Christmas songs, covers, live tracks and originals, spread across 7-inch vinyl for the first 10 years, then alternating between CDs, DVDs, vinyl and VHS.

This week’s new releases include the Pet Shop Boys’ second new album in a year (‘Electric’), plus an expanded reissue of The Cult’s ‘Electric,’ a repress of Peter Buck’s 2012 vinyl-only solo debut and a new monkey-themed 7-inch, a collection of Style Council albums and a reissue of Frank Black’s ‘Oddballs.’

As we noted over the weekend, the former members of R.E.M. seemed to go out of their way to avoid staging a full reunion Saturday night at Peter Buck’s wedding in Portland, Ore., as all four ex-bandmates took the stage to perform at the Wonder Ballroom at one point or another — just never all at once.

There very well could have been a full-fledged R.E.M. reunion in Portland, Ore., on Saturday night as all four members of the defunct college-rock superstars performed after Peter Buck’s wedding. But, by all appearances, they managed to avoid such headlines, just barely, by not actually sharing the stage together.

Peter Buck plans to release something he’s calling a new “monkey concept single” in the coming weeks on vinyl label Mississippi Records as well as re-press his 2012 solo debut — but without the song “LVMF,” because he only cleared its profane Sonny Boy Williamson sample for the album’s first 2,000 copies.

It’s a nearly unparalleled landmark in the history of ’80s college rock: R.E.M.’s peerless debut album, Murmur, was released on April 12, 1983 — exactly 30 years ago today. Today we celebrate this milestone by looking back at the building blocks of the album we know and love.