Author: Slicing Up Eyeballs

Playlist: Slicing Up Eyeballs on Strangeways Radio; Episode 68, first aired 4/17/12

This week’s Slicing Up Eyeballs show on Strangeways Radio featured brand-new music from Billy Bragg, Devo, Translator and the late Joey Ramone, plus favorites new and old from David Byrne, The Beautiful South, Easterhouse, Heaven 17, Pulp, Buzzcoks, James, Echo & The Bunnymen and more.

The English Beat to release new best-of, box set in U.S., expanded reissues in Europe

The English Beat to release new best-of, box set in U.S., expanded reissues in Europe

There’s a flurry of activity coming from The English Beat — or as they’re more properly known, The Beat — as Shout! Factory this week announced plans to release both a new single-disc best-of and a 5CD box set featuring the band’s three albums and two discs of bonus material.

Stream: Billy Bragg, ‘Song of the Iceberg’ — new track about iceberg that sank Titanic

Stream: Billy Bragg, ‘Song of the Iceberg’ — new track about iceberg that sank Titanic

Over this past weekend, BBC’s Radio 2 marked the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic with ‘Minute By Minute,’ which recounted the disaster in real time — complete with a contribution from Billy Bragg, who wrote and performed a song from the oft-misunderstood iceberg’s point of view.

The Jesus and Mary Chain to play China Music Valley festival in Beijing next month

The Jesus and Mary Chain to play China Music Valley festival in Beijing next month

The Jesus and Mary Chain will follow up last month’s short run of Texas concerts with the group’s first-ever trip to China next month to perform at the China Music Valley International Music Festival in Beijing, where the noise-pop legends will share the bill with White Lies, Joss Stone, Xu Wei and Wang Feng.

Stream: Ultravox, ‘Brilliant’ — first new track from reunited ’80s-era lineup in 28 years

Stream: Ultravox, ‘Brilliant’ — first new track from reunited ’80s-era lineup in 28 years

The ’80s-era lineup of Ultravox — Midge Ure, Billy Currie, Chris Cross and Warren Cann — last month announced plans to release ‘Brilliant,’ their first new studio album together in 28 years, and today debuted the first music from that project, lead single and title track ‘Brilliant,’ on British radio.

Video: The Primitives, ‘Turn Off the Moon’ — first single off ‘Echoes and Rhymes’ LP

Video: The Primitives, ‘Turn Off the Moon’ — first single off ‘Echoes and Rhymes’ LP

With their new ‘concept covers album’ Echoes and Rhymes out in two weeks, The Primitives today released a video for the record’s first single: ‘Turn Off the Moon,’ a song that originally appeared as the B-side to the single ‘Lolita Ya Ya’ from the soundtrack to Stanley Kubrick’s ‘Lolita.’

Tears For Fears to warm up for Asian tour with California, Las Vegas concerts

Tears For Fears to warm up for Asian tour with California, Las Vegas concerts

Tears For Fears will embark on a late-summer tour of the Far East — hitting Japan, the Philippines and South Korea — but not before playing a small string of warm-up shows in Las Vegas, the San Francisco Bay Area, Costa Mesa, Calif., and possibly San Diego, the band’s Curt Smith reveals on a recent music-industry podcast.

Translator releasing ‘Big Green Lawn,’ first new album in 26 years — stream 1st track

Translator releasing ‘Big Green Lawn,’ first new album in 26 years — stream 1st track

The original lineup of San Francisco’s Translator — the psychedelic-tinged New Wave rock act best remembered for its 1982 single ‘Everywhere That I’m Not’ — this week will release ‘Big Green Lawn,’ its fifth album and first in 26 years. The seven-track album’s out Tuesday, and you the song ‘Soul on Fire’ here.

Video: Buzzcocks’ Coachella highlights (4/14/12)

Video: Buzzcocks’ Coachella highlights (4/14/12)

Only the tail end of the Buzzcocks’ first set at the newly expanded two-weekend Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival was featured on the event’s webcast, so the video offerings aren’t as great for the legendary punk act, but we have been able to round up four songs from the band’s 15-song set on Saturday.

New releases: Billy Bragg and Wilco, Talk Talk, Spandau Ballet, Grinderman

New releases: Billy Bragg and Wilco, Talk Talk, Spandau Ballet, Grinderman

This week’s new releases include a new collection of Billy Bragg and Wilco’s ‘Mermaid Avenue’ recordings, plus two vinyl-and-DVD reissues from Talk Talk, a box set featuring the first four albums by Spandau Ballet and the U.S. release of remix album from Nick Cave’s Grinderman.

Playlist: Sirius XM’s ‘Dark Wave,’ 4/15/12

The playlist from tonight’s edition of ‘Dark Wave’ — the weekly ‘darker side of alternative’ show on Sirius XM’s 1st Wave — featured Cocteau Twins, Soft Cell, Cetu Javu, Jy Division, The Teardrop Explodes, Clan of Xymox, The Chameleons, Gene Loves Jezebel and much more.

Video: James’ Coachella highlights (4/13/12)

Video: James’ Coachella highlights (4/13/12)

James drew one of the daytime slots on Friday’s opening day of the newly expanded, two-weekend Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival and made the best of the daytime performance, even bringing a crowd of fans onstage for a joyous take on penultimate song ‘Laid.’

The Week in Rock: April 8-14, 2012

The Week in Rock: April 8-14, 2012

This week’s round-up of Slicing Up Eyeballs headlines includes news about Talking Heads, Public Image Ltd., Pulp, Squeeze, Joey Ramone, Dalis Car, Heaven 17, Husker DU’s Grant Hart, Morrissey and Howard Jones — plus a new The Smiths box set giveaway.