At last: King Crimson in surround

The U.S. release dates are finally official for the first batch of KC on DVD-A (yes, DVD-Audio): Sept. 22 for Red, Oct. 13 for In the Court of the Crimson King, and Oct. 27 for Lizard. And as we reported some time ago, the surround mixes are indeed by Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson, with Crimson king Robert Fripp serving as executive producer.

The announcement came on KC's Web site, dgmlive.com, and it was just updated yesterday.

I'll let the DGM post speak for itself. Here's the direct link. (The dates there are for the U.K.)

Stay tuned to the print edition of Sound & Vision for special expanded coverage of these releases, as well as other surround titles coming soon — including Porcupine Tree's new studio album, The Incident, due Sept. 22.

— Ken Richardson

Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson: Superstar!

. . . or so you might surmise from the high-profile placements he's been getting in the press lately. As you know, we here at Sound & Vision have been longtime supporters of Steven Wilson and his modern progressive-rock band Porcupine Tree, especially owing to their interest in high-resolution reproduction and surround sound. (For a list of interviews, articles, and reviews, simply enter Porcupine Tree in our search window.) So it's especially gratifying to see Wilson popping up prominently in other magazines these days.

First, he's on the cover of the current issue (March 2009) of EM: Electronic Musician. Inside is a substantial interview focusing on Wilson's new solo album, Insurgentes. You can read the interview here. And after you finish the final screen, be sure to click on the "Extended Interview" link.

What's more, the current issue (April 4, 2009) of Billboard has Wilson's byline on an "Opinion" article called "The Album Is Alive." Subtitle: "Technology Doesn't Mean the End for Extended Work — or Artistic Packaging." You can read the editorial here.

Meanwhile, this year — like every year  — will continue to be a busy one for Wilson. First up: the initial pair of King Crimson reissues, Lizard and Red, which he has remixed in surround (more details to come). Next up: a new Porcupine Tree studio album, expected this fall, supported by a tour.

— Ken Richardson

Boxed Set of the Month: Pearl Jam's "Ten"

Let's see now . . . two CDs, one DVD, four LPs, a buncha other stuff, and a cassette! What, no 8-track? Despite that, the Collector's Edition of Pearl Jam's 1991 debut, Ten (Epic/Legacy), truly goes to Eleven — and as such, it's without question our Boxed Set of the Month for March.

In an increasingly non-physical-product Entertainment Age, this box, subtitled Pearl Jam 1990-1992, is the epitome of how record companies — when they do get physical — are pulling out all the stops for certain projects. I mean, just look at that thing above.

List price for the Collector's Edition: $199.98. Amazon.com is selling it here at $134.99.

Another thing that the box doesn't have, however, is — hello? HELLO?! — a surround mix of the album itself. Sigh.

Some details:

NBC To Broadcast 5.1 Channels of Sweat

NBC seems to be making all the necessary investments so that come August's opening ceremonies in Beijing, it can provide a high-definition coverage bonanza on audio and video. The broadcaster has already divulged its intentions to fan out around the sporting venues with 1,000 HD cameras and 60 HD mobile units — this should make for a record breaking 756 hours of Olympic high-def footage.

Now, NBC is announcing its plans to upgrade audio as well. The network said Friday it will buy five Calrec Omega Bluefin consoles for mixing high-def, 5.1 surround sound audio for broadcast. Each console has the capacity for 160-channel processing paths packaged as 48 stereo and 64 mono channels, which means NBC can record up to 24 5.1 surround channels.

PTree in action, Crimson in surround!

I just got word from Porcupine Tree's manager, Andy Leff, that the band has the following release dates scheduled for 2008:

March: acoustic album
May: Lightbulb Sun (shown above left) in surround
September: live album
November: Steven Wilson's "sprawling" first solo album

Busy, busy, busy! The customary proviso: Whereas those dates are pretty solid, they're not locked-in 100%.

Meanwhile, as if that weren't news enough, Leff also tells me that he's now handling King Crimson and "working on getting the entire catalog reissued in 5.1," hopefully with mixes done by . . . Steven Wilson! Currently, Leff and Wilson are "waiting on Robert Fripp [who guested on PT's Fear of a Blank Planet and Nil Recurring] to hear Steven's work on some of the older KC stuff before he gives us the green light to proceed."

Just imagine the likes of Larks' Tongues in Aspic (above right), Red, and Discipline in surround. Oh, baby. —Ken Richardson

Weekend Update: Fagen, Gilmour, Zep, Radiohead

Can't find some prominent music releases on MVI, Blu-ray, HD DVD, and CD that we previewed recently? The dates, they keep a-changin':

Floyd, U2, Radiohead in surround. NOT!

It's getting tougher and tougher these days to cheerlead the cause of music in surround sound. No, we at S&V aren't giving up. But, coming so soon after hearing that we're getting the best of Led Zeppelin on stereo CD (again) as opposed to any of the studio albums in 5.1, we can only give a huge sigh at some recent announcements from titans of three different music generations.