Trevor Horn: Echoes: Ancient & Modern (2023) Atmos / 5.1 / 2.0 SDE Blu-ray Audio

[McCrutchy]

Trevor Horn / Echoes: Ancient & Modern
Trevor Horn produces various artists • #14 in the SDE Surround Series

BY PAUL SINCLAIR

80s super producer • Classic songs • Various artists • SDE-exclusive blu-ray with Atmos Mix

“The man who invented the 80s”, legendary producer Trevor Horn, presents Echoes: Ancient & Modern, a new album which sees him collaborate with some of his favourite singers to create newly-minted versions of songs he loves.

The album features 11 tracks, performed by Tori Amos, Seal, Iggy Pop, Marc Almond, Rick Astley, Andrea Corr, Steve Hogarth (from Marillion), Lady Blackbird, Jack Lukeman, Toyah Wilcox & Robert Fripp and Trevor himself.

The songs are iconic hits from the likes of Depeche Mode (‘Personal Jesus’), Pat Benatar (‘Love Is A Battlefield’), The Cars (‘Drive’), Billy Idol (‘White Wedding’) including a few signature tracks that Trevor was involved in the first time around such as Frankie Goes To Hollywood’s ‘Relax’, Grace Jones’ ‘Slave to the Rhythm’ and Yes’ ‘Owner of a Lonely Heart’.

This is very much a Trevor Horn album with guest vocalists, since as well as producing, Horn sings backing vocals, plays keyboards, bass and/or guitar. Fellow instrumentalists include his old friend, Lol Creme.

Building a feeling into a song is a tricky, intangible thing to do. There are lots of technical and psychological short cuts to recording a song, but none to actually make it feel real. That remains a studio secret.

One of the highlights of Echoes: Ancient & Modern is the opening number which sees Tori Amos singing rap star Kendrick Lamar’s much admired ‘Swimming Pool (Drank)’ (from 2012) which on paper sounds like it shouldn’t work at all but really does thanks to the introduction of a few simple chords and Amos’ stunning vocals. It’s a cinematic rendition which, as the producer notes, “sets everything up like it’s the beginning of a song cycle”.

I’m delighted to announce that Echoes: Ancient & Modern has been mixed in Dolby Atmos and that this spatial audio version will be released physically as an SDE-exclusive blu-ray audio, #14 in the ongoing SDE Surround Series. The Atmos Mix will be accompanied by a 5.1 mix, a hi-res stereo version and more. The contents are as follows:

• Dolby Atmos MIx
• 5.1 Surround Mix
• Hi-Res Stereo Mix
• Trevor Horn ‘track-by-track’ exploration on video (22 mins)

SDE makes no apologies for repeating why these limited edition blu-ray products are highly recommended

• It’s the only way to enjoy the Dolby Atmos mix of the album as a PHYSICAL PRODUCT
• You don’t need to sign-up to a streaming service such as Tidal or Apple Music to hear the spatial audio mix
• The Atmos Mix on the Blu-ray is NOT COMPRESSED due to streaming bandwidth restrictions
• YOU OWN THE MUSIC, you are not renting it from a digital service provider
• The Blu-ray audio is an excellent format for music and you don’t want to see it die off
• SUPPORTING SDE with these initiatives is leading to similar collaborations with labels/artists and we are keen to bring your more in the near future!

The SDE-exclusive blu-ray audio version of Echoes: Ancient & Modern will also be available on CD and vinyl and all formats will be released via Deutsche Grammophon on 1 December 2023.

https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/...ncient-modern/

https://www.thesdeshop.com/products/...-blu-ray-audio

[McCrutchy]

Note: This had a seven-day pre-order period from 25 September 2023, so it will probably only be available through Monday, 2 October 2023.

If you are looking to bundle with another title to save on shipping costs, SDE also just announced an exclusive Blu-ray Audio of PWL: Extended Big Hits and Surprises Vols. 1 & 2, which is out on 17 November 2023, although I imagine you will have to wait for the Trevor Horn to ship in December and receive both at once. The PWL disc is stereo only and not part of the SDE Surround series, so it comes in a cardboard digisleeve. It does have two additional bonus tracks and while there is no stated run time, the CD version runs to 3xCD, so it should be well over two hours:

https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/...and-surprises/

https://www.thesdeshop.com/collectio...-blu-ray-audio