Tuesday, May 06, 2008

Neil Young Unveils Archives on Blu-ray at JavaOne

According to the SF Chronicle a few minutes ago:

Singer Neil Young, in dark sunglasses and a baseball cap, appeared on stage at the Java One conference to unveil his archive of music and photos on Blu-ray.

Young, whose music dates back to 1963, said he's wanted to offer a complete retrospective since the 1980s but was held back by technology. Now with Blu-ray, the next-generation, high-definition DVD, he can offer an extensive library of music and photos on a disc. Fans can listen to high-quality tracks while browsing photos at the same time, as well as access an Internet archive with more information.

"This is all ancient history up close," he joked.

Neil was quoted in this press release:

"Previously, there was no way to browse archival material on a Disc and listen to a song in high resolution at the same time. The technology had not yet evolved to that capability," said Young. "It is important for me that the user experience the high resolution music along with the archival visual material. Previous technology required unacceptable quality compromises. I am glad we waited and got it right. And here is something really new, we will be able to add content to already released Blu-ray Disc archive volumes by downloading it, whether it is music, film or vintage recording sessions, recently found photographs, or other archival materials that were located after the release of that volume. Users will be able to download any of these archival materials and they will automatically be assigned to their place in the Chronology timeline."

Sounds pretty cool. Reminds me of when Peter Gabriel put out one of the first multimedia releases on CD-ROM in the 90s and everyone said, "what is a CD-ROM?"

Of course, it gives Ol' Neil the power to noodle with the releases years after they are 'done,' which I guarantee he will do until the day he dies.

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