Although there still hasn't been any official announcement, it looks like the blu-ray version of Rush's Time Machine 2011: Live in Cleveland concert video will be getting an exclusive November 8th release at Best Buy in the US, with it not becoming available at other US retailers until 6 weeks later on December 20th. It's still not completely clear whether the exclusive offer applies to the Rush Backstage Club, but as of right now they are still claiming that they will release the Blu-ray on November 8th. The Best Buy offer will also include an XL RASH t-shirt with any purchase of the blu-ray. The DVD version along with the CD companion and the Moving Pictures: Live 2011 vinyl release will still be available at multiple retailers on November 8th. The Time Machine concert video (the entire concert, not the edited, 2-hour version) will also be getting a theatrical release starting next week on October 26th in the US and November 1st in the UK. For a list of theaters and showtimes in the US go to www.rushtimemachinepremiere.com, and in the UK go here. The edited, 2-hour VH1 Classic TV version of the film will be shown on Palladia starting on Saturday, November 5th (thanks Mark S). You can watch the film's official trailer at this link.

Rush sound engineer Rich Chycki posted to his blog earlier this week updating us on the various projects he has in the works including some news regarding the recording of Rush's upcoming Clockwork Angels album:

... Currently, Rush, producer Nick Raskulinecz and myself are reconvening to complete the recording of Rush's next studio album Clockwork Angels. Sorry, no timeline for completion yet ...

It's great to get confirmation that the recording is finally underway. The band plans to release the album on their new label Roadrunner Records sometime in the first of half of 2012 with a supporting tour to follow.

In the same blog post, Chycki also remarked on the upcoming Sector box sets:

... Based on the strong feedback from the Moving Pictures 5.1 remix, Universal Records had asked me to remix Fly By Night, A Farewell To Kings and Signals in surround to be included in their 'Sector' series of box set releases currently underway. Like Moving Pictures, all the multitrack masters I worked with were transferred from the original analog tapes at 96 kHz/24 bit resolution and this quality was maintained right down to the finished master. Listeners are in for a revelation of new detail for these releases. ...

The 3 6-disc Sector box sets will release on November 21st and span Rush's entire 15-album Mercury Records recording career. Each set contains five of their 15 Mercury albums in chronological order, all transferred to high resolution 96kHz/24-bit along with one album from each set in 5.1; Sector 1 contains Fly By Night in 5.1, Sector 2 has A Farewell to Kings in 5.1, and Sector 3 includes Signals in 5.1. Each album is packaged in a replica vinyl mini-jacket of the original album release. Each set also includes an exclusive booklet packed with unpublished photos, original album lyrics and credits with all three box sets forming a Rush CD road case. The official press release for the Sector box sets came out on Wednesday and MusicTAP's post on the subject included this comment from Bill Hunt of The Digital Bits website, which will be of particular interest to all of the audiophiles out there:

Just a heads-up: Universal Music just confirmed to me that these box sets will be CD sets (music in 44.1/16) with only one album upgraded to DVD lossless per set. (They were apparently remastered in 96/24 then downconverted for CD. However, all 15 albums are going to be available as full 96/24 downloads at HDTracks.com for about $18 each. I'm trying to talk them into discounts for ordering multiple albums at once.

Neil Peart's Taking Center Stage instructional DVD released over the last couple of weeks and is now available at most retailers. Guitar Center is running a contest where they are giving away 20 copies of the DVD along with one Ultimate Neil Peart Prize Package. Hudson Music is also running a contest through Facebook where they are giving away a couple of signed Neil Peart posters. John at Cygnus-X1.net has scanned all the images from the DVD and also transcribed the liner notes. There are also several preview videos and other content available at TakingCenterStage.net. Neil Peart will be the feature of a cover story in the December issue of Modern Drummer magazine. The issue will hit newsstands on November 1st and contain an interview with Neil focusing on the Taking Center Stage DVD. You can read the Modern Drummer review of Taking Center Stage at this link.

Speaking of Neil, last month he, Terry Bozzio, Mike Portnoy and several other well-known drummers gathered in Los Angeles to shoot some video for a new Sabian cymbals promotion. From MusicRadar.com:

Sabian is introducing four new cymbals at next year's NAMM show - and they want you to choose which metals they unveil.

From 17 October you can head over to www.CymbalVOTE.com and take your pick from the 12 new cymbal models Sabian has created as part of the Players' Choice scheme. At the site you'll be able to see Sabian artists such as Mike Portnoy, Dave Weckl, Neil Peart, Terry Bozzio, Dave Elitch and Stefanie Eulinberg playing the cymbals.

One cymbal will be eliminated each week until only four remain and these four will be unveiled at NAMM.

For more information, please visit www.CymbalVOTE.com.

The www.cymbalvote.com website went live earlier this week and features a couple of videos of Neil Peart testing out a few of Sabian's cymbals.

The The Kidney Foundation of Canada's A Brush of Hope charity auction kicked off yesterday and will run through October 30th. Alex Lifeson is once again one of the many Canadian celebrities donating paintings to the auction this year and you can check out and/or bid on Alex's painting at this link. The painting is 8" X 16", acrylic on stretched canvas and named Sun Dance. Paul at The Canadian Music Scene posted a touching letter from Alex earlier this month explaining why this charity is so important to him:

... A little over 8 years ago, my father passed away after 2 very difficult years of failing health. Both his kidneys ceased to operate and he was on dialysis for over 2 years. Many times, he was nearly lost during his dialysis and it was heartbreaking to watch his demise, and that's why this is especially important to me. ...

If you are in the Prince Edward Island or New Brunswick area you can view all of the art pieces at various local exhibitions as listed in this press release over the next couple of weeks. To view all the paintings up for auction just go to eBay.ca.

Neil Peart along with his riding partner and good friend Brutus have put together some of their favorite images and excerpts from Neil's latest book - Far and Away: A Prize Every Time - for a 2012 wall calendar. The calendar released earlier this week and can now be purchased at Bubbawares.com. Here's the description posted at the website:

Bubba's Bar 'n' Grill Presents the FAR AND AWAY Calendar for 2012

Bubba and his sidekick Brutus have put together some of their favorite images and excerpts from the book FAR AND AWAY: A Prize Every Time, by their friend and best customer, Neil Peart. (Among regulars, that book is affectionately known as "F 'n' A.")

From Yellowstone National Park to the winter woods of Quebec to the highways of North America, South America, and Europe, each month offers a scenic escape and some words to ponder.

Order now, in time for the Pagan Midwinter Festival!

Reader Kelly M let me know about a Neil Peart mention in game 6 of Major League Baseball's NLCS game 6 last week. In the top of the 3rd inning the announcers begin talking about the show and the studio booth and one of them says ... it looks like a drum kit- like a Neil Peart drum kit up there. Like at a rock concert....

Voting opened earlier this week for MusicRadar.com's poll to determine the greatest bassline of all time. Geddy Lee's bassline from Rush's YYZ is one of the 25 in the running so go vote for Rush! Vote early and vote often. As of this post Geddy in a close second to Muse's Chris Wolstenholme.

Speaking of Geddy, earlier this week I posted a story about how The Geddy at Caplansky's Deli in Toronto was the subject of a Unigirl Canada Campus Cuisine feature. Caplansky's is one of Geddy Lee's favorite spots to eat in Toronto and Geddy is such a favored customer that they named a dish after him. The Geddy is described on the menu as follows:

Lox, salami and eggs all scrambled together with onions and served with rye toast, latkes & apple sauce just the way he likes it. Closer to the heart? You betcha

Unigirl Canada's Caitlin Alexander received a personal lesson on how to make The Geddy from owner Zane Caplansky. You can check out the video below or at this link.

I've made a few updates to the site recently. I've added a home page news rotator to call out all of the most important Rush news items of the day, I improved the integration of the Google search engine into the site, and also shifted some items around. I plan on making more updates over the coming months. I'd like to thank everyone who has graciously donated to the site in recent weeks. If you'd like to make a donation yourself, you'll get a free RUSH IS A BAND bumper sticker as a thank you gift. That's all for this week. Have a great weekend!

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