Some folks would be happy just to have one dream come true...

For Father's day I got an "iTunes Music Card" as a gift, and this is the music I've gotten for myself so far:

The Official Anthony Phillips Website is here, and well worth a look. He has a new album out that I might want.

For Gandalf Murphy, go here!

Yes, Songs from Tsongas (DVD)

This is a recording of Yes (the Anderson, Howe, Squire, Wakeman and White lineup) during their most recent (2004) tour. The video and audio quality are superb, and the band is in fine form.

There are a number of gems here. I found the acoustic version of "Wonderous stories" much more enjoyable than the studio version, and the performance of "South side of the sky" is powerful enough to give me the shivers. Howe does a great guitar job in a song that predates his tenure with the band, and which I did not know before--"Sweet Dreams", from the Time and a Word album (which I probably should get one of these days). And it is nice to verify that relatively recent songs, like "Time is time" and the "Mind drive" suite, can hold their own next to their classic material. There are a few misses--the heavily reworked "Roundabout" is a pale shadow of its true self, and there was really no need to acknowledge that "Owner of a lonely heart" and "Rhythm of love" even existed--but overall this is an excellent, at times awe-inspiring set. Very highly recommended. (Now, if only they could be persuaded to write some more good music together...)

Picture borrowed from Amazon.

Yes, Yessongs

This is the classic "Yes in concert" album (a 3-record set when it first came out on vinyl, with all those great Roger Dean illustrations, oh so many years ago). Amazingly, perhaps, I didn't get it until my birthday this year. The performance is a little ragged, and the sound a little (in places, very much) muddy, but it's sort of growing on me. And, I'm sorry, I like "Perpetual change", and even though the band is all over the place in this extended, live performance, some of the places they go to are actually pretty neat.

Heard (and enjoyed) on the radio

Porcupine Tree, Arriving somewere but not here; Al Stewart, The road to Moscow; Phish, The Divided Sky; Lisa Loeb, Everyday.