Fans in the Los Angeles area will get yet another chance to see Peter Murphy in concert this year as the singer caps off 2012 with a pair of special, just-announced concerts at The Observatory in Santa Ana at which he will perform his 1989 album ‘Deep’ one night and a full set of Bauhaus material the next night.

The Psychedelic Furs this evening announced the cancellation of the band’s short run of New Year’s dates in Las Vegas and California as frontman Richard Butler recovers from spinal surgery, but added, in a note posted on the band’s official Facebook page, that the group hopes to reschedule the five concerts in the future.

As promised on last night’s Slicing Up Eyeballs Music Hour on Strangeways Radio, here’s an extended version of this year’s Christmas mix — a nearly 100-minute set featuring seasonal songs from the likes of The Fall, Al Jourgensen, Cocteau Twins, The Smithereens and more — for your streaming and/or downloading pleasure.

Robyn Hitchcock will release a brand-new studio album titled ‘Love From London’ on Yep Roc Records on March 5, a 10-song collection that the singer-songwriter says “celebrates life in a culture imperiled by economic and environmental collapse,” according to the label’s announcement of the new record.

This week’s Slicing Up Eyeballs Music Hour featured Christmas-themed music from the likes of The Smithereens, Ramones, The Primitives, Al Jourgensen, The Pretenders, R.E.M., Throwing Muses, Kate Bush, Pet Shop Boys, The Pogues, They Might Be Giants, The Fall and more.

Brooklyn’s They Might Be Giants will release their 16th studio album, ‘Nanobots,’ on March 5, and will follow its upcoming three-night hometown New Year’s stand with a 31-date U.S. tour in the spring. The two Johns recently premiered the first track off the album at Rolling Stone, and you can now download the MP3 right here.

Wayne Hussey of The Mission today delivered an early holiday gift to fans in the form of a free download of his new recording of the classic “White Christmas,” writing, “I do hope you receive it in the spirit in which it is given and I hope it may raise a smile to your lips along with a glass of red.”

The Godfathers announced this weekend that they will release the long-in-the-works ‘Jukebox Fury’ — the reunited rockers’ first new album in 18 years — in late February or early March to coincide with the band’s upcoming support slot on a month-long, 22-date U.K. tour with The Stranglers.

Since we last checked in with former Orange Juice frontman Edwyn Collins, his follow-up to 2010′s acclaimed Losing Sleep has been bumped from January to late March, but that’s OK, since we can at least get a taste of the upcoming ‘Understated’ LP via the track “Too Bad (That’s Sad),” which debuted at The Quietus.

Not a lot of action on the new-release front as we approach the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, but this week does see the release of a new Paul Weller vinyl EP collecting some of the ‘Sonik Kicks’ B-sides, plus a 2CD U.S. release of the recent ‘The Pogues in Paris’ live album

Welcome to the Week in Rock, where we round up all of the headlines posted on this site over the past week. This edition includes items on XTC, The House of Love, Peter Murphy, The B-52’s, Thurston Moore, Killing Joke, The Feelies, Depeche Mode, OMD, Michael Stipe, Robert Smith, The Primitives and more.

For this week’s “120 Minutes” Rewind, we present what appears to be a standalone special of some sort looking back on the career of Peter Murphy — or “Pete” Murphy, as he’s repeatedly ID’d on screen —following the release of ‘Deep.’ Uploader Darkresource lists this as a “120 Minutes” special that aired on May 18, 1990,

Saying “my barnstorming days have come to an end,” Keith Strickland — a founding member of The B-52’s who switched from drums to guitar following the 1985 death of Ricky Wilson — today announced that he’ll no longer tour with the 35-year-old Athens, Ga., party band, although he’ll remain a member.