In February 1981, R.E.M. played three known concerts, including a pair in Atlanta opening for Joe “King” Carrasco at the 688 Club. Little of this period has been seen on video, but Slicing Up Eyeballs is thrilled to be able to premiere — courtesy of Wuxtry Records in Athens, Ga. — this 40-minute set filmed at one of those Atlanta dates.

Drew Crumbaugh — aka The Analog Loyalist, whose attempt to restore R.E.M.’s I.R.S. Records catalog was thwarted by Universal Music earlier this year — has taken a second crack at cleaning up the 1980 concert included on the reissue of Joy Division’s ‘Closer,’ and is offering the new version as a free download.

R.E.M. famously didn’t tour behind its two best-selling albums — 1991’s ‘Out of Time’ and 1992’s ‘Automatic For the People’ — but the band did play a single concert in support of the latter record, a Greenpeace benefit at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, Ga., exactly 20 years ago tonight.

Seemingly out of the, uh, blue, R.E.M. this week debuted a music video for the song “Blue” off swan song ‘Collapse into Now.’ The clip, posted here, is directed by actor James Franco and features a hodge-podge of visual imagery, including shots of Lindsay Lohan.

For this week’s “120 Minutes” Rewind,we present a great 20-year time capsule: It’s the full, hour-long “120 Minutes Presents: The Alternative Year in Rock” special that aired on on Nov. 24, 1992 — the Tuesday before Thanksgiving — and features host Dave Kendall in what likely was one of his final “120” appearances.

For a generation raised by MTV — particularly in the late ’80s and early ’90s — they were ubiquitous: those 30-second “Rock the Vote” promos featuring stars ranging from R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe to Anthony Keidis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Madonna imploring viewers to register to vote and cast their ballots.

Our latest link round-up includes stories about following Morrissey around on tour, plus items on Dinosaur Jr frontman J Mascis’ stolen guitar, the Happy Mondays’ reunion album and a new solo record from Cocteau Twins’ Robin Guthrie, plus an interview with former R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck.

This week’s new release include the CD debut of “Athens, GA – Inside/Out,” paired with a DVD, plus Clan of Xymox’s cover album “Kindred Spirits,” featuring their take on The Cure, Depeche Mode and more, as well as three Kirsty MacColl reissues and an audiophile vinyl pressing of R.E.M.’s ‘Document.’

Peter Buck finally announced his debut solo album today, posting a note on R.E.M.’s website that reveals the album — we’re still not sure what it’s called; he doesn’t mention its title — will be released this Friday in a super-limited, 2,000-copy vinyl-only run by Portland, Ore.-based Mississippi Records.

In honor of this week’s release of the expanded 25th anniversary reissue of ‘Document,’ R.E.M. has posted the album’s original electronic press kit, a 6-minute, black-and-white video dubbed “A Conversation with Michael Stipe” that would have been sent to music journalists in 1987 to promote the then-forthcoming record.

This week’s new releases include expanded reissues of albums from R.E.M. (‘Document’), Sex Pistols (‘Never Mind the Bollocks’), INXS (‘Kick’) and Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros, plus new music from Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, with Yoko Ono, and Mark Eitzel, John Foxx and The Cure’s Robert Smith.

Last night in Seattle, former R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck played his first-ever solo show — after conducting, as he noted from the stage, his first-ever solo soundcheck — he debuted his new backing band Richard M. Nixon as the opening act for the first of two Young Fresh Fellows album-release shows at The Sunset.

For months, former R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck has been silent about his upcoming solo debut, but he’s finally opening up about the project, confirming it’s planned as a vinyl-only release and that he’ll sing eight of the album’s 12 tracks, with longtime sideman Scott McCaughey and Corin Tucker picking up the rest.