This week’s new releases include the second solo album from R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, as well as a new studio record from Suzanne Vega, a reissue of the debut album from New Zealand’s Verlaines and a reissue of a Shane MacGowan & The Popes live CD/DVD set.

Peter Buck is back with his second solo album, another vinyl-only release — ambitiously titled I Am Back To Blow Your Mind Once Again — that he’ll support with a short round of dates later this month in the Midwest and South opening for and then backing roots-rocker Alejandro Escovedo

Peter Buck this month hosted his third-annual Todos Santos Music Festival in the southern Baja region of Mexico, a week-long event that featured performances by The Minus 5, Live’s Ed Kowalczyk, Drivin’ N Cryin’, The Dream Syndicate and, of course, Buck himself.

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.’