I’ve been grooving to “U Want Me 2,” one of two new tracks on Closer: The Best of Sarah McLachlan (pre-order regular or deluxe edition,) McLachlan’s first greatest hits collection, set for release on October 7th.

It’s been a long time since McLachlan’s last proper studio album Afterglow in 2003, and long enough that hearing “U Want Me 2” was an instant reminder on why I was first smitten with McLachlan’s music when I heard the Solace album in 1992.

McLachlan revealed this week that both of the new tracks on Closer, deal with the breakup of her 11 year marriage to her husband and drummer Ashwin Sood.

What a bummer – They were one of the last couples that I would expect to call it quits.

New drummer for Sarah’s band? Could be Matt Chamberlain (Pearl Jam, Edie Brickell, Tori Amos,) who plays on the two new tracks.

I’m hoping to catch Sarah live promoting the hits collection – I haven’t seen her since the Surfacing tour in the late 90s at Music Hall – it’s been awhile!

Broken Headphones? Hand me those pliers….

I’d like to introduce you to a new member of the Addicted to Vinyl rock and roll blog alliance – Broken Headphones.

Site description sez that Broken Headphones is:

A blogging website dedicated to music, entertainment, personal experiences, and anything else I stumble upon during my crazy life.

Broken Headphones is the new blog from my buddy Brian. Ya’ll will know Brian as the pilot of the vehicle that delivered me safely to and from Virgin Mobile Festival for the past two years. Let’s go a bit further back to where it started: In 2006, I was planning a move to the east side, and also had a desire to revisit my old days of record store employment by working at a record store one day a week on the weekend. My comrade Chris told me about this guy that was managing a record store on the east side, who was a big fan of our radio show.

Enter Brian.

My record store flashback lasted approximately four months before ownership fired the entire store on the day after Christmas (Merry Christmas!,) but it was long enough for me to realize that Brian was a cool dude that shared my belief that Ben Folds, The Ramones, and Social Distortion (among other things) were an essential part of living.

That Christmas, he also gave me a bitchin’ piece of Iron Maiden wall art. Who knew that you could buy Iron Maiden wall art at Bed, Bath, and Beyond? I’m totally serious here.

Shortly after I started this Addicted to Vinyl thang in February, I started telling Brian during our regular rock and roll phone conversations that he needed to transition from blogging for others, to having his own blog like mine. And now, here we are looking at Broken Headphones.

Check it out, add it to your RSS Reader, harass him with comments. You know what to do!

Experience Hendrix

I’ve been meaning to blog about this for a while now – Experience Hendrix is the all-star tribute to Jimi Hendrix (duh!) that has been touring the wrong side of the United States for the past few years featuring a wide variety of all-star musicians playing Hendrix classics and celebrating Jimi’s legacy. A DVD was released earlier this year, and a new set of tour dates have been rolled out for this fall.

My roadtripometer says that Detroit looks likely as a destination for me to catch the show, since *ahem* there is no Cleveland show.

So who’s on stage for the 2008 run? Check this out:

Featured artists who will be performing music written by and associated with Jimi Hendrix include blues giant Buddy Guy, contemporary guitar greats Jonny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Eric Johnson, Cesar Rojas and David Hidalgo of Los Lobos as well as Aerosmith’s Brad Whitford.

Hubert Sumlin, the Mississippi-born guitarist who worked with both Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters as well as the Memphis-based Eric Gales, Mato Nanji of Native American roots band Indigenous are also part of the tour as is Chris Layton, the legendary Double Trouble drummer who rose to fame backing Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Most remarkably, Mitch Mitchell (drums) and Billy Cox (bass), the same Jimi Hendrix Experience rhythm section that played behind Hendrix at such landmark rock festivals as Woodstock and the Isle of Wight will return again to celebrate the guitarist’s enduring legacy.

complete press release

The participation of Eric Gales, who rose to prominence with Eric Gales Band in the early 90s, is what got my attention initially when they put the original Experience Hendrix tour together. It’s been 15 years since I saw Gales as a teenager at The Draft House (later, The Odeon) supporting the second Eric Gales Band album Picture of a Thousand Faces.

I’m definitely looking forward to seeing Eric Gales, but that’s not even the best part: The lineup card for Experience Hendrix 2008 reads like a who’s who of my personal favorites…Eric Johnson, Kenny Wayne Shepherd…Brad frikkin Whitford from Aerosmith?

Sign me up.

More Yes.

Interesting, so here is the official press release on the Yes tour. But are they going to bill this as a Yes tour, or as Howe/Squire/White?

STEVE HOWE, CHRIS SQUIRE AND ALAN WHITE OF GROUNDBREAKING ROCK GROUP YES UNITE FOR “IN THE PRESENT” U.S. TOUR

Members will be joined by Oliver Wakeman on keyboards and vocalist Benoit David to perform the group’s classic repertoire in live spectacular

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 11, 2008—Albums like Fragile, Close to the Edge Tales from Topographic Oceans and 90125 and singles such as “Roundabout,” “Owner of a Lonely Heart” and “I’ve Seen All Good People” are just some of the enduring classics that have made YES one of the most influential and groundbreaking groups in rock & roll. Now, the classic YES line-up of guitarist Steve Howe, bassist Chris Squire and drummer Alan White will launch the “In The Present” tour starting November 4th in Hamilton, Ontario, marking yet another chapter in the art-rockers’ amazing, 40-year career of legendary live performances. The three will be joined by keyboardist Oliver Wakeman, the son of YES’ Rick Wakeman, and vocalist Benoit David, a Montreal, Quebec, native and vocalist in several YES tribute groups, who was discovered by the band on the Internet.

With a remarkable 40-year career that has time and again redefined the boundaries of rock, YES was formed in 1968 by Chris Squire and Jon Anderson, who shared a mutual interest in vocal harmonies and classical music. With drummer Bill Bruford, guitarist Peter Banks and keyboardist Tony Kaye, they became YES, earning a residency at the famed London venue The Marquee Club, where they played with the likes of Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd, releasing their self-titled debut album in July 1969.

Guitarist Steve Howe, who went on to play in the popular prog-rock groups Asia and GTR and continues releasing acclaimed solo albums and touring, brought an experimental cutting edge to YES for their 1970’s The Yes Album, their first number one album in the UK. Drummer Alan White, who had been hand-picked to play on John Lennon’s Imagine and George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass, came aboard in 1972. YES then went on to conquer America and played at some of the largest paid attendance concerts of all time including JFK Stadium in Philadelphia in 1976 to a crowd of over 130,000 people.

YES postponed plans for a 40th anniversary Close to the Edge and Back tour in June, when vocalist Jon Anderson suffered a severe asthma attack and was diagnosed with acute respiratory failure. Commented Squire: “This isn’t an attempt to replace Jon Anderson, because as we all know, that would be impossible. With Benoit, we are bringing in a talented singer so that we can go out and honor the music of YES for the fans who have waited for the past four years to see us perform.”

A dominant force in rock music for more than four decades, YES has created some of rock’s most enduring and compelling hits, selling more than 30 million albums worldwide. The group has defined music history with their dynamic instrumental contrasts and abstract lyrics. Their symphonic use of sound and innovative musical styles continues to make them the most successful progressive rock band in history and their amazing career continues to defy many of their rock counterparts.

Visit YesWorld

That’s what I’ve got for now, kids.

Thanks for reading!

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