Lilith Fair cancels dates; Christgau shuts down record blog; Beck, Tortoise, Sonic Youth cover Yanni

No strangers to smooth music, Chicago-based post-rock band Tortoise joined Beck to record a cover of Yanni's "Live at the Acropolis" (Courtesy of Thrill Jockey)

By Aaron Leitko

-Tough times are just getting tougher on the summer concert circuit. Bono threw his back out, John Mayer has taken ill, and now the Sarah McLachlan-helmed music festival Lilith Fair has scrapped 10 dates due to soft ticket sales. Newly minted hip-hop star Drake has also postponed the European leg of his summer tour in order to tend to his ailing mother.

-After 41 years, Robert Christgau--the "Dean of Rock Critics"--has called it quits on "Consumer Guide," his short-form record review column.

-Beck, Tortoise, and Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore--alongside a gang of session musicians--have recorded a cover of Yanni's easy-listening blockbuster "Live at the Acropolis" in its entirety. Real life Yanni fans be warned, it's not really a note-for-note situation.