There’s less than a week left before that holiest of holy days for vinyl junkies: Record Store Day 2011, which, this year, will see special releases in the U.S. and the U.K. by R.E.M., The Smiths, New Order and Joy Division, Kate Bush, Sonic Youth and many more.

To help celebrate the release of R.E.M.’s latest album ‘Collapse Into Now,’ the folks at EMI Music — who now control the band’s classic college-rock output on I.R.S. Records — have provided us with a 5CD/2LP prize pack to award to a lucky Slicing Up Eyeballs reader.

Monday night in New York City, Patti Smith sang and read poetry at Milk Studios for the opening of ‘Illumination: Who Are Poets,’ an exhibit by rock ‘n’ roll photographer Steven Sebring — and was joined onstage by Michael Stipe for an impromptu performance of R.E.M. smash ‘Everybody Hurts.’

New York City’s Baruch College played host Saturday night to a star-studded tribute to Big Star’s beloved ‘Third/Sister Lovers’ album, performed by R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe and Mike Mills, plus Matthew Sweet, members of Teenage Fanclub and Yo La Tengo, and surviving Big Star member Jody Stephens.

Slicing Up Eyeballs caught up with the Dream Syndicate’s Steve Wynn last week as he was rehearsing with The Baseball Project for a tour that hits both South By Southwest — for a marathon 14 gigs — and a series of spring training ballgames.

In honor of today’s release of ‘Collapse Into Now,” tonight’s Slicing Up Eyeballs show on Strangeways Radio took a look back at the career of R.E.M. Watch for a replay at 2 p.m. EST Friday.