Superstar DJ Paul Van Dyk has remixed some of music's biggest stars, many of which are included on his new greatest hits retrospective, 'Volume,' including Depeche Mode, U2, Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears.

But Van Dyk tells Spinner there is one band that's off limits. "When I was a kid, I was a big fan of the Smiths," he says. "I would never ever touch any of their stuff. It's not that I would refrain from actually doing a remix for someone I'm a fan of. I love a challenge."

So, what makes the Smiths different? "That music meant so much to me," he says. "When I was in East Germany, that was my only sort of free mind I could have, listening to that music. The Smiths are the holy grail."

We know that all good things must come to an end. But, like Morrissey, we'll declare the former Smiths frontman's retirement our own 'Years of Refusal.' (That's the title of his new album, out today. Eh, here's to attempts at clever.)

Morrissey, who turns 50 in May, told XM that the likelihood of him continuing to perform after his 55th birthday is "incredibly slim." "It's very hard to think of anybody who ages and still manages to mean anything," he said. "I assume most people lose it because they become satisfied and they achieve everything they ever set out to achieve. More to the point, they become personally satisfied ... they're quite happy and it doesn't matter anymore."

R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck is the latest rocker victimized by instrument theft as his signature black Rickenbacker 360 was lifted after the band's performance at the Finnair Stadium in Helsinki on Tuesday night. Following a disturbing trend, artists like Iggy Pop and Anthrax have also been victimized in recent weeks.

"This instrument means a great deal to Peter and to R.E.M.," a band spokesperson says. "It is our sincere hope that whoever is responsible for the loss, or whoever has information which can help recover the guitar, will come forward to receive a generous reward, no questions asked."

"This is Peter's infamous signature Rick, which has been a staple of Peter's arsenal both live and in the studio since the band released ' Chronic Town ' in 1982," a post explains on REMHQ.com. Fans are urged to email fanclub@remtour.com or call (001) 707 3536689 with any information on the whereabouts of the instrument.

Pete Doherty and Johnny Marr teamed for a rendition of the 1983 Smiths tune 'Jeane.' The Babyshambles frontman posted a video of the collaboration online.

Elbow won the 2008 Mercury Prize for their latest release, 'The Seldom Seen Kid.'

The Roots, Ladytron, Mates of State, and the Ting Tings are among the artists slated to appear as musical guests on the new season of 'Yo Gabba Gabba!,' the Nick Jr. childrens television show.

Thurston Moore and Ian MacKaye are scheduled to host a conversation about the parallel worlds of independent music and book publishing at the Brooklyn Book Festival on September 14.

Locksley -- supported by Hymns -- will be headlining MTV's Choose or Lose tour this year, kicking things off in Boston on October 5.

Northern English indie rockers the Cribs, have always been a family band.

The group, fronted by twins Gary and Ryan Jarman, and backed up by their younger brother Ross on drums, once toyed with the idea of calling themselves after their family surname -- the Jarmans -- seeing as they've been kin from birth. But it was probably a good thing they didn't as this past weekend the group revealed they've officially added a non-family member to their ranks: legendary Smiths guitarist-turned-Modest Mouse member, Johnny Marr.

"He's in the band," Gary confirmed to Spinner backstage at the Leeds festival, where Marr joined the former trio on stage. "The fourth record will be with Johnny."

R.E.M. was joined onstage Tuesday night in North Carolina by Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, the locally-based co-producers of the band's influential 1983 debut album 'Murmur' and its 1984 follow-up, 'Reckoning.' The gig -- part of their ongoing world tour in support of 'Accelerate' -- took place at the Raleigh Walnut Creek Pavilion, and also found former Smiths-turned-Modest Mouse guitarist Johnny Marr join the band onstage.

The band's surprise introduction of Easter and Dixon for a version of the memorable 'Murmur' track 'Sitting Still' during the encore was an instant highlight of the tour for R.E.M. and fans alike. "We figured out before the show that the last time those two guys attended an R.E.M. show together was 1984 at the Park Center in Charlotte," manager Bertis Downs posted yesterday. "They sat in on a song that helped put the band on the proverbial map, and the extra guitars in the hands of those dear friends, was a very special moment and sound and memory indeed."

Meanwhile Marr -- who has been supporting R.E.M. with Modest Mouse -- also joined the group as he has for the past week or so, during its encore of the 1986 single 'Fall On Me.'

During its current run, the Athens, Georgia-bred group has been playing songs from every one of its fourteen studio albums. '1,000,000', for instance, from their 1982 EP 'Chronic Town' -- produced by Easter at his now-defunct Drive-In Studios -- was one also part of the set at the Walnut Creek gig.

• Interpol will launch a summer tour consisting of European and North American festival appearances, beginning at Norway's Quart Festival on July 3.

• Stone Temple Pilots will launch a full-on reunion tour this summer. The 65-date jaunt will kick off on May 17 in Columbus, Ohio, and wrap on August 31 in Seattle.
  

• The Smiths' classic album 'The Queen Is Dead' will undergo a "visual review" on the DVD titled 'The Queen Is Dead: A Classic Under Review,' due June 10.

• R&B singer Toni Braxton was hospitalized in Las Vegas Monday night for an undisclosed, non-life threatening ailment.