Sara Romweber, the powerhouse drummer who held the beat in the first lineup of jangle-pop heroes Let’s Active and who went on to play in Snatches of Pink and, later, with her brother Dexter Romweber, has died of cancer, according to music journalist David Menconi. She was 55.

R.E.M. famously didn’t tour behind 1991’s breakthrough Out of Time, but the band did play a handful of largely professional shows that year, among the best-known of them being a pair of concerts in London under the nom-de-rock of Bingo Hand Job. See the full details and tracklist right here.

R.E.M. will continue its album-by-album reissue series with a 25th anniversary re-release of its ninth studio album Monster next October, the band’s manager, Bertis Downs, revealed today in a post on the group’s website reminiscing about the genesis of that record. And, he notes, 2020 will be the band’s 40th anniversary.

R.E.M. continues to dole out samples of the material that will be found on its upcoming 9-disc R.E.M. at the BBC box set, most recently in the form of a 2003 on-air performance of Green-era single “Orange Crush” on the BBC’s “Mark and Lard” program — which you can stream in full right here.

For longtime fans, one of the key lures of the upcoming 9-disc R.E.M. at the BBC box set is the inclusion of a 16-song live set recorded at Rock City in Nottingham, England, in 1984 during the Reckoning tour. The band is now previewing that disc with the high-octane live version of “Radio Free Europe” that you can stream here.

Last month we brought you early word of a giant 9-disc R.E.M. boxed set filled with BBC recordings, and while it’s still not officially announced — though it seems we’re close to that happening — we can now offer full details and a complete tracklist for the package. Full details right here.