A group of Israeli human rights activists have asked the Pixies to cancel their June 9 concert in Tel Aviv to protest ‘the military occupation the Palestinian people have been living under,’ urging the reunited band to ‘refuse to perform in Israel until there is freedom here.’

While Matt Johnson continues to preview new The The music on his monthly “Radio Cineola” podcasts, the March edition has a real surprise: the debut of ‘No Hiding Place,’ a previously unheard track from his unreleased 1979 album ‘Spirits.’

Originally due out Feb. 16, the much-anticipated deluxe 3CD edition of The Cure’s 1989 masterpiece, ‘Disintegration,’ has been delayed again — this time until May.

Norwegian pop outfit a-ha today doubled the number of North American cities it’ll hit on its “Ending on a High Note” farewell tour, announcing concerts in Toronto on May 10 and Chicago on May 13.

Bassist Eric Avery made it official this morning, announcing via Twitter that he has quit Jane’s Addiction for a second time as the rockers have now wrapped up their rescheduled tour of Australia — the final dates of a reunion that started with last year’s joint trek with Nine Inch Nails.

This week’s new releases include ‘Almost Alice,’ the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ soundtrack with a rare solo track from The Cure’s Robert Smith, plus a new Bomb the Bass album and a new 2CD best-of from The Stranglers.

This week’s installment of ‘Dark Wave’ on Sirius XM’s 1st Wave featured the usual staples (The Cure, The Sisters of Mercy, Siouxise and the Banshees), plus a few nice surprises, such as Peter Murphy’s ‘Marlene Dietrich’s Favourite Poem’ and Tubeway Army’s ‘Are Friends Electric?’

The next two titles in Duran Duran’s series of expanded reissues — 1986’s ‘Notorious’ and 1988’s ‘Big Thing’ — are due out June 7 internationally, according to a release schedule from the Dutch arm of EMI Music.

Larry Cassidy, co-founder and frontman of Factory Records postpunk outfit Section 25, has died, British music journalist John Robb reports today on his blog. The circumstances surrounding Cassidy’s death are not yet known.

U2 today informed fans that it has begun shipping copies of ‘Artificial Horizon,’ the free remix album being sent to paying members of the band’s website.

Lloyd Cole this week released a new ‘souvenir’ CD recorded last month with his twangy Small Ensemble that features stripped-down, acoustic takes on Commotions favorites and solo tunes — plus two new songs likely earmarked for the next album, which he’s set to begin recording Monday.

The Sundance Channel next week will re-air the R.E.M. concert documentary ‘This Is Not a Show: Live at the Olympia in Dublin,’ which is included in the 2CD/1DVD editions of the band’s new live album, ‘Live at the Olympia,’ and premiered on the cable network in December.

Ex-Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett’s political career hasn’t been going so great lately, and things went from bad to worse today when Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd demoted the former rocker over a “bungled home-insulation scheme,” according to Reuters.