In the 80s, Neil Young recorded 'This Notes For You', a defiant statement that he would never get involved with sponsorship for corporations. Well Neil's next note will be for multinational corporation Sun Microsystems.
Young and Sun Microsystems announced today at Sun's 'Java + You' conference in San Francisco that his forthcoming archive collection will be released as a Blu-ray box set. Sun Microsystems owns the java platform that Blu-Ray is based on.Young has long criticised CD technology because of its cold sound and used DVD as an alternative technology for most of his recent releases. "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 in a statement. "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."
The first release will be a 10 blu-ray disc collection. The audio quality will be 194/24, the video will be high-definition.
In the Sun Microsystems's statement, it says, "for the first time viewers will be able to navigate through Young's music, movies, videos, personal archives, memorabilia, photographs, letters, handwritten manuscripts and more while the high resolution 192/24 audio is playing, giving a chronological insight into the creative process and an opportunity to bear witness to the evolution of Neil Young's musical soul over the course of his life and work".
Young will utilize the partnership to generate funds for the Bridge School, the non-profit organization that helps children with severe speech and physical impairments.
The first disc covering his career from 1963-1972 will be released in July.
