Twenty-two years ago, Robert Smith sat for a half-hour BBC2 documentary about The Cure that aired Aug. 8, 1988, as one of 10 installments of the series ‘That Was Then… This Is Now.’

Synthpop duo Pet Shop Boys this weekend announced they’ve teamed up with choreographer Javier de Frutos to develop a full-length ballet based on the Hans Christian Andersen story ‘The Most Incredible Thing’ that’s set to premiere at London’s Sadler’s Wells dance house next March.

New Jersey-based radio station WFMU is once again streaming full sets from the Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, Spain, today and Saturday, with performance on tap from Wire, Gary Numan, Soft Cell’s Marc Almond and Roddy Frame of Aztec Camera, among others.

The Pet Shop Boys will issue two previously unreleased tracks recorded in the early 2000s on a limited-edition 7-inch single as part of the U.K. installment of Record Store Day next Saturday.

The Pet Shop Boys not only released their new Pandemonium live CD/DVD package in the UK this week — just two months after it was filmed in London — but the duo also announced the concert film’s namesake tour will play a five-date encore in England this summer.

The Pet Shop Boys today released ‘Pandemonium’ — a live CD/DVD concert film recorded Dec. 21 at London’s O2 Arena at the final show of the duo’s 2009 world tour — in the UK, with a U.S. release to follow on March 23. To promote the new set, PSB this morning posted this HD trailer for the concert film.

This week’s new releases include Peter Gabriel’s new orchestral covers album, a live Pet Shop Boys CD/DVD, Niter Ebb’s first new record in 15 years and new reissues from Pixies, Bomb the Bass and 808 State.

While U.S. fans await word of Bad Lieutenant’s stateside debut — following last fall’s aborted showcase concerts in New York and Chicago — Bernard Sumner’s New Order spinoff on Wednesday announced five new live dates in the U.K. next month.

Rough night for the handful of ’80s college-rock vets nominated for Grammy Awards this year: Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, U2, Elvis Costello, David Byrne and Brian Eno, and Ministry all were shut out tonight for trophies in their respective categories, losing, in most cases, to more current acts.

[tweetmeme]The Pet Shop Boys next month will commemorate their Pandemonium world tour with the release of a live CD/DVD package that captures the trek’s final, hits-laden concert late last month at London’s O2 Arena.
The duo hasn’t yet released a tracklist for the package, or indicated whether it will include the complete 25-song set from the [...]

[tweetmeme]Record Rack: A round-up of the week’s new albums, reissues and/or box sets.
ARTIST: Public Image Ltd.
RELEASES: Metal Box, Plastic Box
BACKSTORY: Virgin Records this week marks the reunion of John Lydon’s epic post-punk act be reissuing the band’s seminal second album in a CD edition split across three discs to mimic the original vinyl. The label [...]

[tweetmeme]The nominations for the 52nd annual Grammy Awards were announced last night, and this year’s list features a slew of ’80s college-rock vets, including Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, U2, Elvis Costello, David Byrne and Brian Eno, and Ministry.
Perennial nominee — and frequent winner — U2 racked up a trio of nods, including Best Rock [...]