Surroundablog

Porcupine Tree-er new remix

Editor's note: These side projects of Porcupine Tree are hit and miss. Let's hope this release is more interesting than the Bass Communion project; a lacklustre souless effort of nothing in particular....and with no place to go....but up?

No-Man's fifth album 'Together We're Stranger' undoubtedly comprises the band's most ambitious and personal project in its history.

Originally released in 2003, 'Together We're Stranger' saw No-Man (the duo of Tim Bowness and Porcupine Tree's Steven Wilson) further extending the reach of its panoramic soundscapes and cracked, mournful, ballads.

Boasting impressive performances from Ben Castle (clarinets), Roger Eno (harmonium) and Gramophone's David Picking (percussion, trumpet), amongst others, the album is a powerful and emotionally direct statement that has deservedly garnered cult acclaim and led to a growing fanbase and internet presence for the band.

This new 2 disc Snapper edition of the album comes with the original stereo mix on CD, a new booklet featuring sleeve notes from Mojo's Johnny Black, improved packaging and an audiophile 5.1 DVD-A surround sound disc, also including high resolution 24 bit stereo.

Additionally, the DVD-A disc includes the Break Up For Real (drum mix), (bluecoda), the video for Things I Want To Tell You and a photo gallery.

Officially released on 20/4/2007 in Europe and 5/17/07 in the US, the album is available to pre-order now for £10.00 GBP and will be dispatched as soon as copies become available.

This edition comes with a postcard exclusive to Burning Shed.

'Britain's most underrated sorrowful sonic architects. - Chris Roberts (Uncut)

'A beautiful, heartfelt album.' - Nick Shilton (Classic Rock)

'Some of the most spine-chillingly gorgeous music imaginable.' - Johnny Black (Mojo/Back On The Tracks)

THE DOORS ALTER PERCEPTION

All six of The Doors' studio masterpieces will be released on March 27th for the first time as single disc releases, but you can pre-order your copies NOW through The Doors Official Store. The brand new 40th Anniversary mixes have been remastered and expanded to include outtakes and other bonus material. 40th anniversary mixes include The Doors (1967), Strange Days (1968), Waiting For the Sun (1968), Soft Parade (1969), Morrison Hotel (1970), and LA Woman (1971). These new mixes, completed in 2006, are being made available on CD for the first time. Pre-Order your copies of the 40th anniversary mixes today!

All six studio albums are newly mixed as supervised by The Doors and Bruce Botnick, their original engineer/ co-producer. "We want our fans, both new and old, to hear what we discovered on listening to the actual multi-track recordings," says keyboard player Ray Manzarek. "There are background vocals by Jim Morrison, piano parts of mine that weren't used, and guitar stingers and solos by Robby Krieger that never made the original recordings that can now be heard for the first time. We used state-of-the-art techniques to bring these discs to the same sound quality we experienced in the studio when we initially recorded our songs. We invite all our fans to join us in this recreation of the legendary recording sessions of The Doors. And to be a part of our original conceptions."

In addition to the individual albums, there are also special packages available including one featuring all six of the studio albums, and another featuring the studio albums and The Doors By The Doors Book, featuring many rare photos, and the inside story of the band as told by the band members themselves.Ron Wheeler

Editor....a few notes...I wonder if they fixed "Waiting for the Sun"....also; I can now replace my defective self-titled disc that was somewhat diminished by its lack of vocals...these "40th anniversary" mixes are actually the 1999 remixes...most of the videos are mono...no word on a surround treatment of the live album yet...BAD NEWS FOR COLLECTORS WHO SPLURGED ON BUYING-UP UNITS ON EBAY: the first edition of "Perception" sold-out its paltry 20,000 units immediately and was not supposed to be reissued again....ever...let alone as 2 more distinct (destinked?) units...it appears that these "new" reissues are cd only and do not include the DVDs...this time....maybe Genesis (the first set of multi-fun SACDs are scheduled for March 23rd) will get it right..er...

Neil Young Live at the Fillmore East

Editor's note: Its a little early to determine whether or not this release will be in surround or not...."Harvest" and "Greendale" were...."Stars and Bars" and others weren't...

The first release from Neil Young's long awaited Archive Performance series is here with Live at the Fillmore East.

In 1970, Young toured with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and released his platinum album Everybody Knows This is Nowhere, after which he performed a series of shows at New York City's then-new Fillmore East with his band Crazy Horse. That concert finally makes its official debut in the annals of rock history with Live at the Fillmore East, and the circle is unbroken for one of rock's greatest singer-songwriters.

This collection includes an extended Down by the River and a 16-minute Cowgirl in the Sand (which has previously appeared only on a '90s import). Country barnburner "Come on Baby Let's Go Downtown would later be heard on 1975's Tonight's the Night live album. 1977's Decade collection contained a studio take of the countrified folk-rocker "Winterlong". The DVD features all six songs in High-resolution audio with photo montages (no video).

Features:
• CD & DVD set
• High-resolution audio of entire album
• Photo montage
• Includes extended "Down by the River" & a 16 minute "Cowgirl in the Sand"

Musicians:
Neil Young, guitar, vocals
Danny Whitten, guitar, vocal
Jack Nitzsche, electric piano
Billy Talbot, bass
Ralph Molina, Drums, vocals

Selections:
CD:
1. Everybody Knows This is Nowhere
2. Winterlong
3. Down by the River
4. Wonderin'
5. Come On Baby Let's Go Downtown
6. Cowgirl in the Sand
DVD:
1-6. High Resolution audio of entire album
7. Photo montage

The Beatles' Love To Be Released in Stereo and 5.1 DVD-Audio

London, UK (October 23, 2006)--Apple Corps Ltd/EMI Music are to release the Beatles Love album in stereo and 5.1 on November 20. This will be the first Beatles album available in 5.1.

The stereo CD will contain 78 minutes of music. The DVD surround sound version on DVD disc album will be a slightly extended version with 81 minutes of music.

After being asked by the remaining Beatles, Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney, along with Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison, to make experimental mixes from their master tapes for a collaboration with Cirque du Soleil, Sir George Martin, The Beatles' legendary producer, and his son Giles Martin, have been working with the entire archive of Beatles recordings to create Love. The result is an unprecedented approach to the music. Using the master tapes at Abbey Road Studios, Sir George and Giles have created a unique soundscape. The release of this album, which is also featured in the Cirque du Soleil/Beatles collaborative production of the same name at The Mirage in Las Vegas, has been much anticipated.

Tony Wadsworth, chairman and CEO of EMI Music UK and Ireland said, "George and Giles' highly original work in creating the Love album gives us a genuinely new Beatles album. It makes us respect even more, if that were possible, the creativity and brilliance of the band behind the greatest catalogue in the history of recorded music."

The 5.1 disc is a DVD-Audio/DVD-Video hybrid. The audio is presented in high-resolution 96/24 5.1 surround on the DVD-Audio part of the disc. The DVD-Video part carries 5.1 surround in DTS and Dolby Digital as well as a PCM stereo mix. This DVD album is designed to be played on DVD video equipment but will carry no video component.

Apple Corps Ltd.
www.beatles.com

 

Rhino Announces The Doors’ Perception DVD-Audio Box Set

Editor's note: Pre-orders will be acceted at thedoors.com beginning in the next 30-60 days. Check often...I know I'll be all over this set; truly one of the biggest releases to come our way since the "Dark Side of the Moon" sacd and catalogues from Dylan, Talking Heads, Elton John and the Rolling Stones....

Rhino and Elektra Records have officially announced The Doors Perception box set, released to salute the 40th anniversary of one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Available on November 21st, the 6-CD/6-DVD boxed set presents all of The Doors’ classic studio albums with legendary vocalist Jim Morrison, each supplemented with rare and unreleased audio and video tracks.

Perception was produced in cooperation with surviving band members John Densmore (drums), Robby Krieger (guitar), and Ray Manzarek (keyboards), with The Doors’ longtime engineer Bruce Botnick back behind the boards. Each of the six albums is presented with bonus audio – much of it previously unreleased – on a remastered CD with an additional DVD-Audio/Video disc including a 5.1 surround sound mix of the album and additional tracks as well as a photo gallery, lyrics and discography, and two videos of songs from that album.

One of the most impressive debuts in rock history, The Doors (1967) was as commercially successful as it was musically daring, with the signature single “Light My Fire” reaching #1 on the singles chart (the LP spent more than two years on the album chart, eventually going double platinum). Bonus material includes two takes of “Moonlight Drive,” a previously unreleased version of “Indian Summer,” the promotional video of “Break On Through (To The Other Side),” and a Canadian television broadcast of “The End” from Toronto in 1967.

Listening nirvana

Taken from the New Zealand Herald online addition..

12.06.05

by Richard Thorne

Having previously sought to explain why there are so many different types of blank DVD discs, variously appended +R/-R/RW/RAM etc, to choose from, it's time to consider yet another significant DVD variable - the DVD-A. DVD-Audio is a separate entity from the DVD-video format we commonly think of and refer to simply as DVD. Like SACD (Super Audio CD, which came under this column's spotlight a fortnight ago), DVD-A is a high-definition music format, delivering better stereo sound than standard CDs and, more to the point, much better multi-channel sound than ordinary DVDs. At the risk of repetition, from an audiophile viewpoint CDs have two main problems. One is that they have a dynamic range restricted to only 96dB and the second is that high-frequency response is limited to 22kHz. Sure, there is no scientific proof we can hear above that level, anyway, but the argument is that the absence of higher frequencies negatively affects the listening experience. Music enthusiasts wanted a better audio format and it seems very much in the major record companies' interests to encourage as many alternative format purchases as possible. Would you like your Springsteen served on vinyl, cassette, CD, MD, DVD, SACD, DVD-A, Dual Disc or etc, sir? The first DVD-A players weren't seen until 2000 and, with the added confusion brought by its competitor SACD, the format remains little understood. Some key points, then. All DVD-A players can play normal DVD and CD discs. DVD-A discs can also play on any DVD player showing the appropriate logo, but probably not on your machine if you were keen enough to buy before 2000. They most likely won't, however, play on a CD player - surely the greatest handicap to the format's growth. Most DVD-A discs contain both stereo and surround-sound versions of the music. They do not contain video, though they can include a little bit. They can and do contain still images linked to tracks, as well as lyrics, liner notes and other information including navigation instructions requiring, obviously enough, connection to a TV screen. They do sound convincingly better than either CD or DVD-Video in stereo or surround sound. There are only a few thousand titles available on DVD-A, like SACD mostly orchestral or re-releases, and they cost $5 to $10 more than CDs. Stereo recorded onto a CD is standardised at 16-bit chunks of information sampled at a frequency of 44,100 times a second. This is typically written as 16-bit/44.1kHz. DVD-A discs, in comparison, have the ability to hold stereo info recorded at up to 24-bit/192 kHz. You can see that there is significantly more musical information being captured. To fit on ordinary DVD discs, all multi-channel audio has to be compressed, and that compression noticeably affects the audio quality. For high-definition DVD-A, the multi-channel audio still requires compression, but the algorithm used is MLP, standing for Meridian Lossless Packing - emphasis on loss-less. With a multi-channel (surround sound) recording, DVD-A discs can (disconcertingly) have you feeling you are in the middle of the orchestra or studio, which can be magnificent. Remember that you will need to have quality multi-channel cabling from your DVD-A player to the receiver and some decent speakers to achieve such listening nirvana.

Hitchhiker's guide to DVD-Audio?

Editor's note: A unique find on bbcshop.

A first in audio publishing, this DVD-Audio disc presents six episodes of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in 5.1 Dolby surround sound.

The Tertiary Phase is the long-awaited, brand new third series of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, with 25 minutes of action not included in the BBC Radio 4 broadcast. Many of the cast of the original BBC Radio 4 series have been reunited for this new six-part dramatisation of Douglas Adams's book 'Life, the Universe and Everything'.

Amongst the returning cast are Simon Jones as Arthur Dent, Geoffrey McGivern as Ford Prefect, Susan Sheridan as Trillian, Mark Wing-Davey as Zaphod Beeblebrox and Stephen Moore as Marvin the Paranoid Android. Other famous names in these new productions include Richard Griffiths, Chris Langham, Joanna Lumley and cricket commentators Fred Trueman and Henry Blofeld.

DTS Entertainment Debuts Second Surround Mix from Porcupine Tree

New Surround Music Release, `Deadwing,' Includes Unique Bonus Features

AGOURA HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 7, 2005--DTS (Digital Theater Systems, Inc.) (Nasdaq:DTSI - News) entertainment label, DTS Entertainment (DTSE), announces a May 10th street date for surround music version of notable British rock band Porcupine Tree's new album "Deadwing." DTS Entertainment previously released the 5.1-channel surround version of the Porcupine Tree's critically acclaimed "In Absentia" in March 2004, which received the 2004 Surround Music Award for Best Mix: Non-Orchestral.

Known for their unique blend of rock, atmospherics, songwriting and dark intellectual cool, Porcupine Tree is a band whose goal is to dissolve boundaries between different music genres. The stereo version of "Deadwing" is scheduled for release by Lava Records on CD on April 26th, and the track "Shallow" is currently breaking into the Active Rock chart according to Radio & Records.

The DTSE 5.1-channel surround version DVD-A of "Deadwing" offers a wealth of bonus features, including:

• Exclusive surround re-mixes of all nine original songs
• Three new bonus tracks: "Mother And Child Divided," "Revenant," and "Half-Light"
• Film short on the making of "Deadwing"
• Album Trailer
• Gallery of more than 100 photos

Deadwing DVD-Audio delayed...a little bit

Editor's note: special thanks to Marty Saletta for the heads up on PT..

The DVDA version of the new Porcupine Tree album will be issued by DTS on 10th May 2005. The album has once again been mixed into DTS 5.1 Surround in collaboration with Grammy award winning producer Elliot Scheiner. As well as bonus video material and photo galleries, the DVDA includes three exclusive surround sound bonus tracks: Mother And Child Divided, Revenant (the music from the deadwing.com website), and Half Light.

Otherwise, the regular release...Atlantic says, "Due to an unprecedented surge in demand for Deadwing at UK retail, and the disruption to manufacturing and distribution services over Easter, Atlantic Records are in the unfortunate position of being unable to supply all the orders for the album to make a March 28th release.

However, in order to give fans the chance to buy and listen to the album before the UK tour starts, we have been able to provide Amazon with enough stock so that they can still hold the March 28th release. Other retailers (HMV, Virgin, MVC, independent stores etc) will have the album instores from April 4th. Thus, fans keen to buy the album before the shows can go to www.amazon.co.uk and pre-order there. Pre-ordering in good time should enable the album to be despatched to arrive on the 28th March."

Please note that this does not affect the full retail release date of 28th March in other European countries.

Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory Soundtrack on DVD-Audio In March

Editor's note: This soundtrack will be the first DVD-Audio set encoded in AAC which will allow the user to easily download the tunes to their puter-ipod-cell phone etc...

MONTREAL & LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 7, 2005-- Coding Technologies, the leader in audio compression for Internet, Mobile, and Broadcast, announced today that the upcoming Splinter Cell 3 soundtrack DVD-Audio release will be the first to include 5.1 multichannel and stereo tracks in the aacPlus format. Provided according to the DVD-Audio Compressed Audio zone specification, listeners can copy these songs directly to their computers, digital media adapters, and mobile phones without the need of ripping. The first track, 'Lighthouse,' is available immediately for on-demand 5.1 multichannel and stereo streaming from Tuner2 (http://www.tuner2.com/).

"I'm doing my part to satisfy all Splinter Cell fans' inherent desire to be spies, and as such, want to make sure my music is available for as many small & stealth-like portable formats as possible," said Amon Tobin. "The addition of aacPlus tracks to my DVD-Audio release frees the music to move beyond the home sound system onto the PC and the mobile phone, so that they can be enjoyed while engaging in international espionage, riding the subway, or various other daily pursuits of global or not so global significance."

"DVD-Audio and Dual-Disc open up new possibilities for labels to distribute compressed audio with their releases," said David Frerichs, Vice President and US General Manager for Coding Technologies. "With the 'Chaos Theory' DVD-Audio release, Ninja Tune is opening a future of digital content distribution full of consumer choice and free of label fear."

The Splinter Cell 3 soundtrack DVD-Audio will be available in store at the end of March 2005.

About aacPlus

Already standardized by MPEG, DVD, and 3GPP, aacPlus delivers streaming and downloadable 5.1 multichannel audio at 128 Kbps, and near CD-quality stereo at 48 Kbps. This level of efficiency fundamentally enables new applications in the markets of consumer electronics, mobile and digital broadcast 

Reported by: Mike Sklens