The lastest in French music site La Blogotheque’s impromptu “A Take Away Show” series — in which bands or artists throw together spontaneous performances, wherever they may be — features Echo & The Bunnymen frontman Ian McCulloch offering up a stark, solo-acoustic take on the band’s classic “The Killing Moon.”

The previously announced reissue of The Dream Syndicate’s long-out-of-print second album, ‘Medicine Show,’ will be released June 15 — and will be fleshed out with the full ‘This Is Not the New Dream Syndicate Album… Live!’ EP.

Former Talking Heads leader David Byrne turns 58 today, and we mark his birthday with one of his quirkier solo projects: ‘Music for the Knee Plays,’ a 1985 brass-band-and-vocals album Byrne composed for Robert Wilson’s opera ‘the CIVIL warS.’

In what should come as no surprise by this point, the next two titles in Duran Duran’s series of expanded reissues — 1986’s ‘Notorious’ and 1988’s ‘Big Thing’ — apparently have been delayed a second time and are now due out Sept. 7.

The Cure today launched a special standalone website dedicated to the upcoming ‘Disintegration: Deluxe Edition’ that features videos, liner notes and photos — plus streaming audio of 20 additional demos and live tracks that won’t be on the 3CD set when it arrives June 8.

With that joint Peter Murphy tour now off the table, Dead Can Dance’s Brendan Perry yesterday announced the second leg of his 2010 tour: 17 dates in the U.K. and Europe spread across May, June, July, August and into September — with ‘more concerts to follow.’

Last Friday, drummer Anton Fier reactivated the Golden Palominos for the experimental folk-rock collective’s first concert in more than 20 years, playing a headlining set at Le Poisson Rouge in New York City with the band’s Syd Straw-fronted 1985-’87 lineup.

Next month’s deluxe 3CD reissue of The Cure’s 1989 classic ‘Disintegration’ is now available for pre-order from Rhino.com — and the first 500 people to order will receive a free nine-track promo sampler that’ll be mailed out before the reissue’s June 8 release date.

Synthpop act Heaven 17 will celebrate the 30th anniversary of its debut album ‘Penthouse and Pavement’ by performing the record in its entirety during an eight-date U.K. tour this fall that’s being billed as ‘part art installation and part concert.’

Today we commemorate Bono’s 50th birthday, knowing full well the frontman, and U2 itself, are somewhat divisive forces in the annals of ’80s college rock. Check out the band’s epic performance of ‘Sunday Bloody Sunday’ from ‘Rattle and Hum.’

This week’s new releases include ‘Callin’ All,’ a four-disc, 91-track box set from Liverpool indie-pop act The La’s, plus an audiophile reissue of Lou Reed’s noise classic ‘Metal Machine Music.’

The highlights of tonight’s ‘Dark Wave’ on Sirius XM’s 1st Wave include a couple album cuts off The Cure’s ‘Disintegration,’ a Tones on Tail song that’s not ‘Go!,’ Shriekback’s excellent ‘My Spine Is the Bassline’ and Wax Trax! industrial act Braindead Soundmachine’s cover of Patsy Cline’s ‘Walkin’ After Midnight.’

In honor of Dave Gahan’s birthday today — he’s 48 — we present this clip: Depeche Mode performing its combo of ‘Behind the Wheel’ and B-side ‘Route 66’ during a World Violation Tour stop in Frankfurt, Germany, in October 1990.