The Wedding Present this morning announced the release of its eighth studio album, the 10-track Valentina, which was recorded in France, California and England throughout 2011 and will be released worldwide in March in conjunction with the band’s previously announced South By Southwest appearance and North American tour.

This week’s new releases include new 2CD best-of sets from synthpop masters Heaven 17 and The Specials’ Terry Hall, plus The Wedding Present’s archival 2CD release ‘Live 1990’ and a new 2LP, heavyweight 180-gram audiophile vinyl reissue of the Red Hot Chili Peppers breakthrough smash ‘Blood Sugar Sex Magik.’

Welcome to another installment of the Week in Rock, where we round up all of the headlines posted on this site over the past week. This edition includes headlines about Simple Minds, R.E.M, The Wedding Present, Adam Ant, The Mission, Deep Wound and New Order — plus our latest Auto Reverse mixtape.

The Wedding Present this month will release ‘Live 1990,’ the fourth in its series of archival live albums, collecting remastered versions of the seventh and eighth of the band’s live cassettes that were only sold at shows and through the group’s fanzine. The set includes the band’s first North American concert.

This week’s round-up of Slicing Up Eyeballs headlines includes posts about Midnight Oil, The Cure, Wire, Gary Numan, The Church and New Order, plus our December mixtape and the second installment of our Rhino ‘Just Can’t Get Enough — The ’80s’ Spotify playlist.

The Wedding Present plans to release its eighth studio album in March, frontman David Gedge announced Tuesday, then embark on a 14-date North American tour that will see the band performing those new songs in addition to playing 1991’s ‘Seamonsters’ in its entirety as part of that record’s 21st anniversary.

This week’s headlines on Slicing Up Eyeballs included posts about the reunited New Order, David J, X, The Dead Milkmen, Skinny Puppy and R.E.M., plus our interview with the Pixies’ Joey Santiago, and quite possibly the biggest news of the year: the long-awaited reunion of The Stone Roses.

American Laundromat Records has enlisted The Wedding Present, Built to Spill’s Doug Martsch, Throwing Muses co-founder Tanya Donelly, Telekinesis and Stars to contribute covers of more than 20 classic songs by The Smiths for a new tribute album to be released this December.

This week’s new releases include a brand-new album from BoDeans (‘Indigo Dreams’), plus a live DVD from The Wedding Present (‘Drive’), a new Housemartins best-of (‘Happy Hour: The Collection’) and reissues of Dead Can Dance’s ‘Aion’ and Christian Death’s ‘Only Theatre of Pain.’

The Wedding Present’s 2005 tour of North America in support of that year’s ‘Take Fountain’ album is the subject of a new 139-minute concert film called ‘Drive’ that will be released on DVD in the U.S. next week and in the U.K. later this year.

Indie imprint American Laundromat Recordings this fall will issue a brand-new tribute album to The Smiths featuring newly recorded covers by the likes of Built to Spill’s Doug Martsch, The Wedding Present and its spin-off Cinerama, and former Throwing Muses member Tanya Donelly.

The week’s new releases include a host of reissues from the likes of The Church (‘Of Skins and Heart,’ ‘The Blurred Crusade’), The Soft Boys (‘A Can of Bees,’ ‘Underwater Moonlight’), Dexys Midnight Runners (‘Searching for the Young Soul Rebels’), Gary Numan (‘Automatic’), The Wedding Present (‘Live 1989’) and Nick Heyward (‘North of a Miracle’).

Fans of The Wedding Present have two new live collections to look forward to this fall: ‘Bizarro: Live in Tokyo 2010,’ a download-only full-album performance of the band’s 1989 album; and ‘Live 1989,’ a 2CD reissue of two of the cassettes the band sold at concerts and through its fanzine in the late ’80s.