I’m going to cover a few things in this post, so strap yourself in. You might call this an extended version of “Quick Hits” that might be called “Not So Quick Hits.”

Anyway,

So check this out – right after I blogged about the Yes Talk album popping up on my Ipod, I find news that Yes is planning a fall tour WITHOUT Jon Anderson.

Anderson’s alleged replacement – a relative unknown from a Canadian Yes tribute band.

Lots of dirt and speculation can be found here.

I was initially aghast when I read this, and extremely disappointed. I read a comment on Yesfans.com that basically said that without Anderson or Trevor Rabin behind the mic, he (the fan) wouldn’t be supporting this version of Yes.

I definitely felt the same way until I saw the video below of Benoit David, the proposed replacement singer, singing with Close To The Edge. At the very least, those who attend these Yes shows if they happen, will see a good show – he’s got the pipes. I hadn’t thought of Rabin, but certainly if Anderson isn’t available, I would support and prefer a Rabin version of Yes.

The closest thing to official word from the Yes camp so far, is this message posted at Yesfans.com five days ago by Yes bass player Chris Squire:

We’ve just returned to the States after an extended stay in the UK where I’ve been working on various projects, one of them being a collaboration with Steve Hackett, who some of you will remember was the original Genesis guitar player.

In the near future, I look forward to everyone knowing Yes’ upcoming plans.

Watch this space!

All the best to everyone.

Love,

Chris

Squire and his wife Scotty wrote previously about Close To The Edge in a Myspace posting in May:

We are completely impressed by this great Canadian Yes tribute band called “Close to the Edge.” What amazing musicians.

Chris was watching and saying, “Wow, the bass player (Richard) is even doing my moves.”

I think it’s ridiculous to think about seeing Yes without Jon Anderson. Yes, I know that it’s been done before with Drama-era Yes.

Chris Akin asks me how this is different from Journey or any other band touring with a replacement singer?

I’m not sure, but this one hits me the wrong way, for some reason.

9/11/08 UPDATE – added Rolling Stone and Pollstar links:

Here are new stories with confirmation and quotes from Yes member Chris Squire: Rolling Stone, and Pollstar.

Speaking of Yes

You’ll recall that I love a good segue, and especially one that is unexpected. About two weeks ago, I was listening to my Ipod on shuffle, and the 90125 track “Hearts” by Yes was on while I was doing some work at the office. Time passed, and I realized that “Hearts” had shifted seamlessly into “Hide and Seek” by Howard Jones, which I realized as Jones’ vocals began.

Brilliant!

I backed it up, and I had to hear it again. And then, I had to share it with you guys here. Check it out – it is especially cool if you love both tracks like I do.

Yes – Hearts / Howard Jones – Hide and Seek

About that Ipod

Today was obviously announcement time for Steve Jobs, who unveiled the latest round of new releases and upgrades from Apple. Among the announcements – Things have been patched up with NBC, which means that the network’s television programs will once again be available on Itunes. Various changes for the entire line of Ipods including a new 120 GB Ipod which will be priced the same as the 80 GB Ipod, both priced at $249, while the 160 GB Ipod has been discontinued. The newly available Itunes 8 includes a feature called Genius which sounds pretty cool – in a Pandora-like twist, it recommends stuff that you might like based on the artist/album currently being played. Genius also lets you know songs that you are missing from a particular artist.

Check out the complete rundown from Engadget here.

I’m interested to hear TDavid’s opinion on this, and I’m sure that he’ll share it soon via his website.

Here’s my rant:

What’s up with discontinuing the 160 GB Ipod? Cool move pricing both the 80 GB and 120 GB at the same price, but what about those of us that have comfortably packed the 80 GB, and can easily (and legally) fill the 160 GB with our music collection?

It took me a year of ripping the occasional CD from my collection, plus the ongoing addition of newly purchased music, to reach the point of filling my 80 GB Ipod. I haven’t been able to budget the 160 GB Ipod yet, but it is a planned upgrade. 120 GB feels like I’m going only halfway up the staircase, knowing that there is a larger model out there.

Also, I was very stoked by Genius, so I upgraded to Itunes 8 immediately.

Here’s my issue: I don’t keep my Itunes library on my computer – once I transfer it to my Ipod, I delete it. I have a backup of my library on an external hard drive. Why is it that the really cool features like Genius and CoverFlow, don’t work with the music that is on your Ipod? As someone that loves discovering new music, I would be all about Genius, but since I don’t have my music in my Itunes library, I can’t use it.

Liz Phair

I love Liz Phair. Live performance isn’t one of her strong points, and while I’ve found plenty of soundboard Liz Phair stuff, I haven’t come across any that were good, performance-wise. Gregor @ captains dead shares a boot of one of her recent performances of Exile in Guyville.

Attached to that post is a great pic of Liz, and also the following video from Idolator which I found very humorous. Phair fans, watch this now if you haven’t seen it.

I’m still on board with Liz at a point when many others have gotten off the bus. I dig Somebody’s Miracle and the self-titled album, and I dream that someday, I might hear the entire recorded sessions of the material that Michael Penn was producing, part of which wound up on Liz Phair. The stuff that Penn produced on that album was SO good in my opinion. Of course, as a Penn diehard, I could be biased.

I love the Somebody’s Miracle Itunes bonus track “Can’t Get Out Of What I’m In To,” and looking at the description on Itunes, I now see that it dates back to her “earliest demo days,” which makes a lot of sense – it’s one of the best tracks Phair has recorded in years…so much better than a “bonus track.”

Michael Penn, Counting Crows, etc.

Speaking of Penn, I can’t believe I haven’t posted this here, but apparently I haven’t. I’ve been enjoying the Lullabyes blog recently, which appears to be a Texas-based music fan with good recording access. He records some pretty choice acts directly from the soundboard, and has posted quite a few cool live recordings for download. His most recent post, is a sampling of several Counting Crows live tracks from the band’s performance this past weekend in Dallas.

Counting Crows fans will also dig his posting of the 2003 Shim-Sham performance – if you aren’t familiar with Shim-Sham, go here to read up, and download.

Some of the other cool things at Lullabyes are a brief in-store set from Sara Bareilles, Phantom Planet, and my main man Michael Penn.

Like me, you’ll spend hours listening to all of the cool stuff at Lullabyes, so check, check it out!

That’s all for now. Read, listen, dig, and let me know what you’re thinking about this stuff!