Neil Young Votes for . . . Blu-ray!

Seven years ago, when we launched our coverage of DVD-Audio in the February/March 2001 double issue, we ran an exclusive interview with Neil Young, where the "legendary rocker and CD-hater" sang the praises of the new format.

"There's absolutely no comparison with CD," he said. "DVD-Audio is the best way you can listen to music that you can buy en masse. The mid-level quality of a DVD-Audio disc is where the CD should have been when we went digital. For the last 20 years, I've been forced to put my whole art form through something that's inferior to what I listen to in the studio. DVD-Audio is simply the best format that exists today."

Well, today, Neil has moved further forward. According to Billboard.com, he said the following at the recent Sundance Film Festival, explaining the latest delay in launching his Archives series: "I know it's in technical production now, but it's only coming out on Blu-ray and DVD. There won't be CDs. Technology has caught up to what the concept was in the first place [and] how we're able to present it."

Neil actually gave up on DVD-Audio some time ago, after using it to release Road Rock Vol. 1 and reissue Harvest in surround and a few other titles in stereo. But thankfully, he remains dedicated to the concept of music in high resolution. After all, as he told me in 2001: "Napster sounds bad. MP3 sounds bad. All of that stuff sounds bad. It's a joke that they're worrying about charging for it; no one should ever sell it, it's so bad." —Ken Richardson

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

Merry Krimble!

What? You think it's too late for my guide to the season's holiday CDs? HUMBUG! That's why they made Twelve Days of Christmas, Rudolph!

After all, just ask the artist who has the biggest-selling CD of 2007. Springsteen? Kanye? Eagles? Those High School Musical kids? No, it's Josh Groban! His holiday CD, Noël (143/Reprise), has just become the first Christmas album ever to top the charts for 4 weeks in a row. Total sales so far: 2.77 million. It's a collection of the usual faves, from "Silent Night" to "O Come All Ye Faithful."

But if you're looking to get something different from what all the massive faithful are buying, you've come to the right place. Have I listened to all of the discs below? Of course not! Just check out the names/titles (in alphabetical order), scan the blurbs, and dive in!
—Ken Richardson

More Gabriel, more surround

For those of you who enjoyed my piece on Peter Gabriel (and other folks at the AES Convention) in the January 2008 issue (Random Play, page 16), the quotes had to be severely trimmed for the print edition. (What else is new?)

Want more? Here ya go!

First up: Gabriel.

On surround in general: "I like 5.1. From back in the old quad era to today, the idea of being able to immerse people in sound is still an attractive thing for me. In stereo, it really does feel that, sometimes, you haven't quite got the space in which to place everything — especially if you're working on a texture-rich piece. Suddenly, in 5.1, you've got this much wider, bigger space."

Beck's "Odelay" in surround. NOT!

Yes, my friends, the Surround-Sound NOTwatch continues!

Next up: Beck's 1996 album, Odelay. Seems that Geffen is releasing a Deluxe Edition on January 29. CD+DVD-A? No. CD+DVD-V? Sorry. SACD? Nope. DualDisc? Ha! MVI? That's only from Warner, brother.

The answer is: 2 regular ol' CDs. To be sure, there will be 3 bonus tracks on the first disc and a whopping 16 extras on the second disc — with more than a dozen of these recordings making their U.S. debut. But nothing in surround. This despite the fact that Beck has been a genuine fan of multichannel mixes in the past, releasing Sea Change on both DVD-A and SACD and Guero in a Deluxe Edition that did include surround, on DVD-A. Yet another missed opportunity . . .

The Surround-Sound NOTwatch so far:

Beck: Odelay
Michael Jackson: Thriller (see my post below)
Pink Floyd: Oh by the Way (complete boxed set)
U2: The Joshua Tree
Radiohead: Radiohead (boxed set of Capitol albums)
     (for info on those three, see my post below)

Keep the Faith, Multichannel-Music Mavens! —Ken Richardson

"Thriller" in surround. NOT!

Here we don't go again: According to a report on Billboard.com, Epic/Legacy will release a 25th-anniversary edition of Michael Jackson's Thriller on February 12. (Actually, last year was the 25th birthday of this 1982 album, although it did make its mark in 1983. But I digress . . .)

It will include a remix of "Billie Jean" by Kanye West, remixes of "The Girl Is Mine" and "P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)" by will.i.am, and a remix of "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' " by will.i.am and Akon.

It will not include a surround-sound remix of the entire album by anyone! I've said it once (see my post below on Pink Floyd, U2, and Radiohead), and I'll say it again: missed opportunity!

Not only that — this is actually the second missed opportunity for Thriller. The album appeared on SACD way back in 1999, but that was a stereo-only, non-hybrid disc.

Other goodies on the 25th edition: the "Billie Jean" demo, the rare tracks "Carousel" and "Someone in the Dark," the unreleased track "For All Time," and a bonus DVD with the "Billie Jean," "Beat It," and "Thriller" videos plus the Motown 25 TV performance of "Billie Jean." But no multichannel goodie? That's just bad.

And the surround-sound NOTwatch continues . . . —Ken Richardson

Back to . . . Open-Reel?!

You say you've (re)discovered vinyl? Fuhgeddaboudit! The LP simply isn't old-fangled enough. To really go reelin' in the years, it seems, you must go all the way back to open-reel tape!

The Tape Project, a label for reissuing recordings on reel-to-reel, has apparently been around for much of 2007, but I only just discovered it now — via, ironically enough, surroundablog.com.

The label's "two requirements: (1) that the master exist on analog, and (2) that the music be great."

All I can think of saying right now is to paraphrase Monty Python for what must be the Tape Project motto: We are the geeks who say, "Niche!"

But I realize that there are many geeks — er, dedicated sound enthusiasts — out there in S&V Land (hey, Stereo Review used to review open-reel tapes!), so by all means, check out the fascinating site at tapeproject.com. —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.

West Side Story: 1 Hand 1 Heart 50 Years

Yes, a belated "Happy Birthday!" to the landmark musical by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim. At this very moment, I happen to be sitting directly across the street from the Winter Garden Theatre, where West Side Story opened on September 26, 1957. (Another famous Winter Garden tenant: Cats. Current tenant: Mamma Mia!) Matter of fact, whereas the S&V offices are at 1633 Broadway, the theater is at 1634.

Despite that, I haven't gotten around to recognizing this Golden Anniversary until now. But gee, Officer Krupke: Better late than never! And to help celebrate, I offer this roundup, including a new recording, fresh reissues, and other currently available titles.