R.E.M. employed a decidedly old-school medium to announce the full tracklist of its new album ‘Collapse Into Now’: The band revealed the titles of the record’s 12 songs via its snail-mail fanclub newsletter.

Mike Mills revealed the first details of R.E.M.’s 15th studio album, ‘Collapse Into Now,’ on Wednesday, telling Spin.com that the record features a ‘more expansive’ sound than 2008’s hard-rocking ‘Accelerate,’ thanks, in part, to guest appearances by the likes of Eddie Vedder, Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye and Peaches.

Reunited college-rock favorites The Feelies ‘have completed recording basic tracks for a new album’
— the New Jersey combo’s first new record since 1991’s ‘Time for a Witness’ — that is slated to be released next spring on Bar/None Records.

This week’s releases include a new studio albums from Bryan Ferry (‘Olympia’) and Elvis Costello (‘National Ransom’), a live DVD from R.E.M. (‘Live From Austin, TX’), a 4CD ‘omnibus edition’ from The Fall (‘The Wonderful and Frightening World of the Fall’) and the belated U.S. release of Prefab Sprout’s new album (‘Let’s Change the World With Music’).

The latest side project from R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck — the country-tinged Tired Pony, fronted by Snow Patrol singer Gary Lightbody — stopped by the ‘Late Show with David Letterman’ last night to perform ‘Dead American Writers,’ off the band’s just-released debut ‘The Place We Ran From.’

The full 17-song concert R.E.M. recorded for the ‘Austin City Limits’ TV show in 2008 — including three songs that never have been broadcast — will be released on DVD late next month, the band announced today.