Surroundablog

Sony DADC Certified As First Global DualDisc Manufacturer

Terre Haute, IN (August 10, 2005)--Sony DADC has announced its official certification as DualDisc manufacturer by the Recoding Industry Association of America (RIAA). The official certification is obligatory for all DualDisc manufacturers and stands for high-quality replication standards.

According to a company statement, Sony DADC is the first RIAA-certified replicator for a global DualDisc replication solution. This includes the facilities in Salzburg, Austria and Terre Haute, IN. The facility in Austria is the only location certified in Europe.

Sony DADC started its DualDisc mass production in the fourth quarter of 2004. In April, Sony DADC Americas announced that it had ramped up its DualDisc production to 100,000 discs per day. Today, the current global capacity is at 5.25 million discs per month, making Sony DADC the world's largest provider for the format.

RIAA operates the DualDisc program to ensure product consistency and compatibility between manufactured discs and consumer playback equipment. An important part of RIAA's certification and licensing program is that the two-sided discs bearing the DualDisc logo are manufactured by replicators that have demonstrated that their discs comply with the DualDisc physical specification.

Sony DADC engineers have been actively involved in the challenging development of this complicated product. "DualDisc is a format that upholds to consistent and high standards in quality so that consumers can enjoy this new value-adding and innovative product," said Johannes Stegfellner, sales director at Sony DADC, Salzburg. "Music labels can be sure that this entertainment-packed format meets today's consumer expectations and therefore is essential in driving music sales."

Sony DADC
www.sonydadc.com

Slowhand DualDisc

Back Home, Eric Clapton's first album of original material in several years, follows this summer's historic and heralded Cream reunion and 2004's gold, Top 10 Me and Mr. Johnson covers disc (and it's audio/video companion, Sessions for Robert J). With Back Home, three-time Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and 16-time Grammy winner Clapton finds his way home with another modern classic.

Special guests appearing on "Back Home" are Steve Winwood (synthesizer), John Mayer (guitar), Robert Randolph (dobro), Chris Stainton (Fender Rhodes), Stephen Marley (percussion), Abraham Laboriel, Jr. (drums), Pino Paladino (bass) and Toby Baker (keyboards). Also highlighted are string arrangements by Nick Ingman and performances by the Kick Horns.

Features:
• Dual Disc with CD side & DVD side (some searches have indicated a 5.1 mix)

Selections:
1. So Tired
2. Say What You Will
3. I'm Going Left
4. Love Don't Love Nobody
5. Revolution
6. Love Comes To Everyone
7. Lost and Found
8. Piece of My Heart
9. One Day
10. One Track Mind
11. Run Home To Me
12. Back Home

Rolling Stones DualDisc

Editor's Note: The Rolling Stones new album "A Bigger Bang" is due on September the 6th. A special edition DualDisc version of the album is expected in time for Christmas...

Stones Strip Down, Have A Laugh On New Album


By Melinda Newman, L.A.

When Mick Jagger had qualms about recording a new Rolling Stones album at his house in France, Keith Richards had a simple retort. "I said to Mick, 'Listen, once upon a time, we cut a record in the South of France in my house, and it's called "Exile on Main Street," and now it's your turn'," he tells Billboard in his first interview about the project.

The interview appears in the Aug. 6, 2005, issue of the magazine, on newsstands tomorrow (July 30).

No one would dare try to hold up the Stones' forthcoming album, "A Bigger Bang", to what is considered one of the greatest rock'n'roll records of all time. Still, executives at Virgin and parent company EMI, which will release the album on Sept. 6, believe the group has created its strongest album in years.

"It feels so real and so authentic," Virgin Records U.S. chairman/CEO Matt Serletic tells Billboard. "With this one, they've really revitalized themselves."

Calling Billboard from tour rehearsals in Toronto, Jagger says the spirited play between he and Richards and switching up instruments helped bring a renewed energy to the album's creation.

"I was playing drums and all that sort of stuff I usually never do and that was fun," he says. "Happily for the fans, my drums never made it on the record apart from one or two little hits that were saved. Keith and I were just having a laugh with a lot of it."

Sonopress Increases DualDisc Production Capacity to 175,000 Discs per Day

Wednesday July 6, 9:00 am ET

Twelve DualDisc production lines at work in Weaverville, NC facility

ASHEVILLE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 6, 2005--Sonopress LLC, a world leader in media services and turnkey production operations, today announced that it has increased DualDisc production lines in its Weaverville, NC facility in response to the popularity of the new DualDisc product. Sonopress now has 12 operating lines, which increases its DualDisc capacity to 175,000 discs per day.

"We believe DualDisc has made its mark in the audio market," said Per Save, senior vice president sales and marketing, Sonopress. "Record labels have acknowledged our efficiency in bringing their content to market and, as a result, we've increased our DualDisc capacity. Sonopress remains committed to manufacturing the most popular disc media products available, in rapid fashion, to ensure our customers' titles are on shelves at all times."

The increased DualDisc capacity places Sonopress at the forefront of DualDisc replication and enables the company to enhance its time-to-market capabilities around this increasingly popular product. Sonopress continue to provide its customers with the highest levels of production quality, security and service necessary to efficiently and effectively reach consumers.

Switchfoot: Nothing Is (Surround)Sound in 5.1

NEW YORK, June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Columbia Records is set to release Nothing Is Sound, the fifth studio album from the multi-platinum San Diego- based rock band Switchfoot, on September 13.

"Stars," the first single from Nothing Is Sound, is this week's #1 Most Added record at Modern Rock radio.

Nothing Is Sound will be available as both a traditional CD and as a DualDisc featuring the entire album in 5.1 Surround Sound plus exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the band on-the road and in the studio.

The new Switchfoot album arrives two years after the release of the group's major label debut, the RIAA double-platinum The Beautiful Letdown, which yielded two Top 5 hit singles: "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move."

OLP DD

Canadian rockers Our Lady Peace, who'll be appearing at the as yet unannounced Live 8 show in Barrie, Ontario, will release Healthy in Paranoid Times on August 30. The album is the group's first new studio release since 2002's Gravity. In additional to the conventional CD release, a DualDisc edition will also hit stores, featuring an in-depth look at the making of the LP. Don't know yet whether it'll be stereo or multi-fun...imagine Raine whining at you from all recesses of yer home... 

Foo Fighters mix it up on double set

Editor's note: The Fighters of Foo are releasiong their latest album in a week and a half as a limited edition DualDisc mixed in 5.1. Their last album, "One By One", was also available as a multi-fun DVD-A disc...

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Try as he might, Foo Fighters leader Dave Grohl just can't write a song without a strong melody.

"That's the bain of my existence," he says with a laugh. "I'd love to write Motorhead and Slayer songs all day long. I love writing riffs and coming up with heavy patterns, but at the end of the day, I'm a sucker for a sweet melody, whether it's the Beach Boys or ABBA. It's like picking a lock -- when you hear it click, you know you've stumbled onto the right melody."

Melodies abound on "In Your Honor," a two-disc set coming from the Foos June 14 on RCA in the United States and one day earlier in the rest of the world.

The first disc is a straight-ahead rock album, while the second features 10 acoustic songs.

"I look at this record as kind of the end of one chapter and the beginning of something new," Grohl says. "The last 10 years have all been about working up to this point. With the rock record, we finally got the aggressive, anthemic thing down. With the acoustic album, it offers some kind of look into the future of things we're capable of doing and the direction we could move if we wanted to."

Doors 5 point 1 baby....1 point 5...no one here gets "Absolutely Live"..

Editor's notes in italics...All quotes from Jeff Jampol of The Doors Managment....Surroundablog recently dialled up the Doors official website to dig up any and all nuggets regarding the reissue of the Doors library in 5.1. First off, it would appear that the mixes are completed and will enter the next phase soon..

"I also want to hear Bruce's (Botnick...original Engineer) remixing/remastering of the proposed BMA (Bright Midnight Archives) stuff at the same time as I hear the last two 5.1 remixes, so we will probably get together as soon as that's done, which will be as soon as Bruce has a block of time cleared - I'd say 4-8 weeks' time."

And

"We are done with the 5.1 remixing, and I will listen to the last two albums, just completed by Bruce, in two weeks' time. After that, authoring, and we are done;"

It sounds like they are keeping to the "less is more" approach similar to the DVD-Audio version of "LA Woman"..

Zombie-fied DualDisc....scary

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 24, 2005--The soundtrack album to The Devil's Rejects, the follow up to Rob Zombie's gritty, violent smash horror hit, HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES. Written and directed by Zombie, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS reunites the homicidal members of the Firefly family, tracing their bloody flight from an outlaw sheriff hell-bent on revenge...

Deftly blending classic western violence with macabre humor and terrifying suspense, THE DEVIL'S REJECTS is a shocking portrait of outlaw justice and the soundtrack album is as twisted and fascinating as the film itself -- bringing together '70s rock classics, tracks from long-forgotten rocker Terry Reid, country and blues gems, and a rarity from Banjo & Sullivan, the country duo who disappeared following a grisly murder committed by killers depicted in the film. Lions Gate Films will release the film on July 22, 2005 nationwide.

Presented as a dualdisc (one side CD, other side DVD), a first ever for soundtracks, The Devil's Rejects (Hip-O/UMG Soundtracks/UMe), released June 28, 2005, is available in explicit and edited versions. The DVD side includes a 20-minute "Making Of The Devil's Rejects" feature, trailers, a photo gallery and the album in High Resolution Stereo (DVD-Audio players) and Dolby Digital Stereo (standard DVD players). Dialogue snippets and two vintage Banjo & Sullivan radio ads are interspersed on the CD album side.

The rock classics are 1970's "Midnight Rider" from The Allman Brothers Band; "Shambala," the gold Top 5 pop smash from Three Dog Night; "Fooled Around And Fell In Love," Elvin Bishop's gold Top 5 from 1976; "Funk #49," The James Gang's 1970 fave; the Top 40 "Rocky Mountain Way" from Joe Walsh's 1973 post-James Gang solo debut; "Rock On," the 1973 Top 5 from cult pop star David Essex, and "Free Bird," Lynyrd Skynyrd's 1973 cut that is one of the most requested in album rock radio history.

DualDisc sweeps series with 4 straight #1s

Editor's Note: This could be the first time in history that Bruce Sprindgsteen, Nine Inch Nails, Dave Matthews Band and Rob Thomas have all been named in one sentence..

  NEW YORK, May 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumer enthusiasm for DualDisc, the new double-sided music product that combines audio and video content on a single disc, has helped propel recent releases from Rob Thomas, Bruce Springsteen, Nine Inch Nails and Dave Matthews to the top of the Billboard charts. For four consecutive weeks, the Number One album in the country on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart has been available on DualDisc.

Rob Thomas' " ... Something to Be" (Atlantic Records/Warner Music Group), Bruce Springsteen's "Devils & Dust" (Columbia Records/SONY BMG), Nine Inch Nails' "With Teeth" (Interscope Records/ Universal Music Group) and Dave Matthews Band's "Stand Up" (RCA Records/SONY BMG) are among the first major artists to release new material on DualDisc. Other highly anticipated DualDiscs hitting the market include Lauren Ellis' "Feels Like Family" (Silverline Records/5.1 Entertainment Group), Ben Folds' "Songs for Silverman" (Epic Records/SONY BMG), and Beck's "Guero" (Interscope Records/Universal Music Group).

The new products, which can be played in both CD and DVD players, have gained support from consumers who recognize the value of combining a music product with a DVD. DualDiscs began appearing in stores late last year and more than 2 million discs have been sold to date. The music industry expects to have more than 200 individual DualDisc titles on the market by the fourth quarter of 2005.