Earlier this year, prog-rock progenitors Yes were forced to cancel their 40th anniversary tour when lead singer John Anderson fell ill with acute respiratory failure and was ordered by doctors to rest for six months. In an effort to avoid disappointing their fans, the rest of the band have decided to relaunch the tour sans Anderson by taking a play out of the ever popular “Classic Rock Band Without A Lead Singer” play book by going to the internet to find one.

The band announced that they had recruited Benoit David, who sings in a Canadian Yes tribute band Close To The Edge, as well as a prog-rock band of his own: Mystery. After being forwarded some YouTube clips of the singer in action the group realized they had found their man. Yes will kick off their tour on November 4th in Ontario.

• List Time: Most Essential Alternative Songs Ever
• The first installment of Unsung Heroes features Centro-Matic
• Saturday Soundtrack takes a look at the music of cult classic Real Genius
• Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn chatted it up on ESPN.com
• Get some insight into Bowery Presents latest venture in Montclair
• Sonic Youth heads back to their indie roots by signing with Matador

Finally, Oklahoma natives The Flaming Lips are currently in the running to have Do You Realize?? be named their state’s official song. The Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots track is up against nine other cuts from the likes of JJ Cale, Elvis Presley and Three Dog Night. Voting is now open to the general public through November 15, with the winner being announced by the Oklahoma Senate in 2009.

Checking on last week’s edition, we had two popular choices for covers of Bell Bottom Blues. Once the votes were counted, Trey Anastasio had a slight edge over Umphrey’s McGee - so Trey takes home his first Cover Wars trophy sans Phish.

This week we’re taking on one of the most ambitious Cover Wars to date. We’ve compiled the most entries we’ve ever had as we take a look at covers of Radiohead’s catalog. Musicians in the 21st century seem to be more reluctant to cover other modern artists than bands were say 30-50 years ago. However, a few artists can be influential enough that bands just can’t help themselves. We saw a little bit of this in the Nirvana Cover Wars as jambands, jazz acts and pop artists paid tribute to the grunge era. We have a similar cross-section of artists this week as well, the contemporary jazz guys love Radiohead.

As always, be sure to register/login to IMEEM so the playlist below loads full-length tracks.

Be sure to READ ON after the jump as some of the best covers this week are embedded via video clips and are not included in the playlist above.

It’s been a bit of a hectic week for me as the real job has been getting in the way. I’ve been so out of touch that Google Reader is telling me I have over a 1,000 stories that I still need to get to. Luckily, I’ve got a few choice links to share with you this beautiful afternoon. Let’s take a look at what’s goin’ on…

• After his debacle at Bonnaroo, Kanye West is now Lollapalooza’s problem
• Pete Doherty played a five hour solo acoustic set in London
• Cover Lay Down gives us - Covered In Folk: Bob Marley
  
• People Playing Songs I Love features The Flaming Lips’ Do You Realize?
• MGMT blames Phish imitators for ruining jambands
• List Time: 11 Best My Morning Jacket songs
• The Village Voice visited the new Woodstock museum

Finally, is everyone in the country about to get a free can of Dr. Pepper? Yesterday, news surfaced about a newly leaked version of the perpetually delayed GnR album Chinese Democracy. Rolling Stone-who heard all nine tracks, including three new ones-was quite impressed with they heard. Bring it on!

Like most of you on the Thursday before a long weekend I’ve already turned my brain off, but luckily there are some more dedicated bloggers out there who haven’t - so let’s check in and see what they’ve got for us….

• Cover Lay Down steps into the ring with songs about boxing
• Brooklyn Vegan shares an interview with Tom Waits by Tom Waits
• Speaking of Mr. Waits, ScarJo might be appearing at a festival near you
• Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters and the Flaming Lips will pay tribute to The Who at this year’s VH1 Rock Honors in July at UCLA’s Pauley Pavillion
  
• The Moldy Peaches want you to stay at the Atlantis Hotel in the Bahamas
• List Time: Top Ten X-Rated Album Covers (our list was better)
  
• Pink Floyd won the Polar Music Prize - yeah I’ve never heard of it either

Finally, this one is for those of you out there who are fans of Moons Over My Hammy, Heartland Scramble and of course the classic Grand Slam, but wished they had cooler names. Those crusty graveyard shift waitresses at Denny’s will now have to take your order from their new Rock Star Menus. The restaurant chain has asked Taking Back Sunday, The All-American Rejects, Eagles of Death Metal and Plain White T’s to contribute to the menu.

Digging Deep is one of our favorite B List features. We initiated it almost by accident last March with two separate columns, and in each of those editions we scoured YouTube to bring you some interesting and unique cover versions of cool songs. This week we continue this tradition, as we present Digging Deep: Part V.

1. We just can’t get enough of the Felice Brothers, who make their first headlining appearance in NYC at a sold out Mercury Lounge on February 1. The Felice Brothers recently toured with Bright Eyes, leading to a number of incredible collaborations including stellar covers of Neil Young’s Walk On and Tom Petty’s Walls. Have you ever seen Conor Oberst so animated and genuinely excited? Read on for the Walls video and nine other incredible clips from the likes of Arcade Fire, the Flaming Lips, Widespread Panic, Beck and many more…

The Flaming Lips, the most obvious beneficiary of the cash-heavy festival circuit, will make their first appearance at the Summer Camp Festival on Memorial Day weekend in Chillicothe, IL. Other performers named in the first round of artist announcements include moe., Umphrey’s McGee, The Avett Brothers and Cornmeal. This year’s installment marks the first time Summer Camp will feature two main stages, and early bird tickets are now on sale for $95.

Let’s celebrate the end of the shortened week with some links:

• Another Led Zeppelin at Bonnaroo rumor fromt he UK leads to another denial from Superfly and AC Entertainment
• NY Magazine takes us inside the music industry’s war on leaks
• Like a new-age Mermaid Avenue: Bob Dylan and Jack White are collaborating on a bunch of unfinished Hank Williams songs
• Watch out for Guitar Wizard, a Guitar Hero copycat for actual musicians
• You hear the one about Jay-Z starting a record company with Apple?
• NARCs! Neighbors Against Rock Concert Site will take on Vineland
• Dave Davies shoots down a potential Kinks reunion
• Eddie Vedder’s first-ever solo music video debuts this Monday on VH-1

Did anyone catch the hilarious war of words between David Cross and Patton Oswalt this week? First, Oswalt took a shot at Cross’ role in Alvin and the Chipmunks. David took offense and fired back at Patton on his website. Within a few hours Oswalt responded with some heavy passive aggressiveness over at A.V. Club. The whole thing kinda reminded us of an episode of The Hills, except with a bald dude and a fat dude instead of two hot chicks.

At some point mid-afternoon on Friday, I received an instant message saying simply: “Power out at Echo.” I checked the webcast on iClips; it was down as well. So much for eco-friendly festivals — it appeared at that moment as if the inaugural Echo Project would be a total goatfuck of a disaster.

Then something strange happened. Intrepid reports from the festival grounds started rolling in to our headquarters, and the paying customers could not have been more ebullient, a cult-like enthusiasm emanating from Fairburn, Georgia.

The noise beaming from the Echo Project may have angered local residents, but the attendees have returned to their homes and showers with nothing but positive reviews. The clever lineup blending jambands, indie rock, electronica, reggae and hip hop, the grounds, the lacked of a packed-in crowd, the open-air narcotics trafficking…you name it, someone’s gushing about it. The music, well, apparently some melted faces remain in Georgia.

Our man on the scene is back as well, and we’re proud to host Dave Vann’s incredible photo gallery from the festival. Dave not only photographed the live action on stage, but he set up a portrait booth backstage to capture the artists in various states of coolness. Photos from Saturday and Sunday will follow over the next day or two, but read on after the jump for a gallery of Friday’s events, complete with shots of The Duo, the Flaming Lips, the Disco Biscuits’ late-night set, The Polyphonic Spree, Stephen Marley, GZA and Slick Rick and many more…

When I first started collecting bootlegs, the quality on most of the cassettes and LPs I purchased was downright awful. Many were sourced from audience recordings that sounded like they were taped under Rerun’s trench coat. In the early ’90s a few bootleggers from Italy began focusing on releasing high-quality recordings that came from the soundboard. Now that the Interweb has made sharing shows so easily, you can find the crispiest of recordings everywhere. This week’s GTA presents four A+ quality soundboard-sourced boots for your pleasure.

Marvin Gaye ??-??-1983 SBD [FLAC, MP3 ] (date unknown, from Atlanta)

It’s just not right that Marvin Gaye was stolen from us in 1984. Just check out this bootleg from 1983 for an example of how The King of R&B was just hitting his stride. Gaye shows throughout the evening that it just doesn’t get better than his mix of well-written songs performed with the passion that was a trademark of his sound. Check out the moans from the ladies in the audience when Marvin starts Distant Lover. Even though this recording is a soundboard, you can hear the mostly female crowd voice their approval throughout.

Gaye’s voice sounds great from the opening notes of Let’s Get It On through the scintillating Sexual Healing closer. The backing band performs its job admirably, especially during a wild romp through Rockin’ After Midnight. Marvin Gaye is well-regarded as an artist, but he’s underrated as a live performer. Hopefully terrific sounding bootlegs like this one will help show that you Gotta Give It Up to him live. Read on after the jump for three more GTA SBDs from the Flaming Lips, Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, and The Band…

Jennifer Hartswick will be releasing her second album, True, on October 2nd. Hartswick and her new band will celebrate the release of True with two special shows: September 30th at the Higher Ground in Vermont and October 20th at the legendary Blue Note in New York City. Look for our interview with Jennifer about the making of True on Hidden Track some time next week.

• Who’s nuttier? Prince celebrated the conclusion of his 21 night residency in London by singing a duet with Amy Winehouse
• Gene Stout of the Seattle Post Intelligencer spoke with Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry about the Neon Bible video
• The Flaming Lips demonstrated how extreme their stage show has become in Seattle on Thursday night
• The Sex Pistols have added to its supposedly one-off comeback after the initial show sold out in 10 minutes
• Both Modest Mouse and The Lemonheads announced fall tour dates
• The biggest names in rock have come together to support Fats Domino
• Everyone’s growing marijuana these days…even Prince Charles
• Stylus examines the history of band logos
• Metallica’s two acoustic performances at the Bridge School Benefit will be released on livemetallica.com to raise additional money for the school
• The Last Waltz is number one on Rolling Stone’s list of The Top 25 Music DVD’s of All Time — as if anything could beat it
• Our main man Neddy shares some images and words from the ACL Festival, in addition to providing a list of shows of the week
• Highlights from Queen’s 1981 run at the Montreal Forum will be released on DVD on October 30th
• Hilly Kristal of CBGB’s fame was a closet millionaire

And as always on Mondays, read on after the jump for a full slate of weekend setlists including Arcade Fire, Bob Dylan, Genesis and Phil & Friends’ tour opener…

It’s time to fire up the Random Jamband Festival Lineup Generator once again: Umphrey’s McGee, Little Feat, Perpetual Groove and Rose Hill Drive have been tabbed to headline the Bear Creek Music Festival in Quincy, Florida on the weekend of November 16th - 18th. Tickets are on sale now for $70, but will increase to $85 this Sunday. This is great news, because I just saying to Ace, “You know what we need many more of? Festivals!” At this rate, within two years every weekend on the calendar will have a giant throwdown somewhere.

• Wayne Coyne of the Flaming Lips would rather work with big corporations instead of against them [ed. note: don't most of 'em?]
• Cracked lists the 12 Most Ridiculous Similes in Music History
• The Police add more US dates, including their fourth gig at MSG
• Drug Rug gets the Band of the Day treatment [via Largehearted Boy]
• The Fab Faux are prepared to drop their version of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band at the Beacon on Saturday night
• Neddy lists the shows of the next two weeks
• The Beasties rocked the Isle of Wight at the Bestival
• Coldplay is betting on quality over quantity with the release of their new Latin-sounding album
• Stylus reviews four decades of Neil Young covers
• The Dap-Kings are featured as the backing band in the video for Mark Ronson’s remix of Most Likely You’ll Go Your Way (And I’ll Go Mine)

If we missed anything you deem oh-so-newsworthy, fee free to give us a shout by leaving a comment below…it’s considered cool to leave comments.