Sound Check — Geoff Carter: ‘Disneyland Forever’ discs: It’s a CD world after all

Friday, July 9, 1999 | 9:24 a.m.

Geoff Carter's music column appears Fridays. Reach him at carter@ vegas.com.

I hate the Walt Disney Co. They're toying with me. Every time they do something dirt stupid -- selling off Kevin Smith's "Dogma," buying ABC -- they do something just cool enough to keep my interest in them piqued. I find myself still attuned to their fortunes because I vividly remember a time when they weren't the biggest, baddest mama-jammas in the world of entertainment; in fact, they were almost ready to croak. I admired Walt Disney -- the man, the myth, the obsessed control freak -- too much not to care.

At any rate, Disney doesn't need my hopes and fears to keep their fortunes aloft. They have "Tarzan," they have ESPN and they still own a substantial chunk of Roger Ebert. And as a sop to this Disney sap, they have taken strides in a marketing field that I can't help but admire -- that of compact discs pressed on demand.

Sold only through Disneyland in conjunction with San Francisco firm Digital On-Demand, the "Disneyland Forever" discs are candy to aficionados. Drawing from a massive server fatty-packed with the sound effects, incidental music, songs and narration tracks of almost every Disneyland attraction in the theme park's storied 44-year history, consumers can build a CD of 10 tracks, come back in an hour and claim a custom-made souvenir. For audiophiles, the opportunity to own Paul Frees' "Pirates of the Caribbean" voices and the "Lanai Music" from the "Enchanted Tiki Room" is too strong a temptation to resist, and they (well, I) buy one after another at $20 a pop.

The latest Digital On-Demand/Disney collaboration is its best. "The Haunted Mansion -- 30th Anniversary Limited Edition" (released on Digital-on-Demand's Red Dot Net imprint) celebrates the second-best attraction in Disneyland with a complete ride soundtrack, outtakes from the music and narration recording sessions, highlights from the "Mansions" in other Disney parks, even period radio commercials. And best of all, the whole thing is served over a network and burned to disc while you wait. Waste not, want not.

While this is no big deal to those of you who have discovered how to burn MPG files to a disc, this simple process may well revolutionize music retail. On June 9 Sony Music Entertainment announced a partnership with Digital On-Demand, and its intention to place a make-your-own-disc kiosk in your local chain store. The Sony stations will offer out-of-print albums, ready to be downloaded through a secure network in a format of your choosing -- CD, DVD, SDMI-compatible memory card, you name it. And the machine will even print the packaging.

There are drawbacks, of course. I am reminded of the failed Personics system of the early '90s, a system that delivered cheap, overpriced mix tapes to Sam Goody shoppers. Unless Sony/Red Dot can guarantee a standard price point -- far, far below Disney's $20 gouge -- and a system that crashes marginally less than the Windows NT machines in my office, this innovative media delivery box may well go the way of Personics.

It's still too soon to tell -- although if Disney's success is any sign, things will change fast. The first 999 discs of the "Haunted Mansion" run featured a special bonus track. Even at $20 apiece, they sold out within a matter of hours. My personal copy is sitting on my desk, and while I refuse to cut them any slack over "Dogma," it's kind of cool that Disney can pull off a real innovation now and again. They'll never top "Pirates of the Caribbean," though. Never.

Stereo Dynamics

* Orbital, "The Middle of Nowhere," FFRR: Orbital's "Way Out" begins the way many songs end: with a resolute chord. Everything beyond that chord is a gift -- like finding a hidden door in your home, and a room that stretches beyond the limits of your vision. It's an exercise in purest grandeur: The chimes, synthesized strings, muted trumpet and siren vocals elevate the techno track -- and the listener -- to a matchless euphoria. "Way Out" is a charmed moment, like the English duo's masterwork "Halcyon." And for the most part, "The Middle of Nowhere" holds onto the light "Way Out" generates, refracting it through a varied series of boogie-downs and space-outs.

Orbital -- brothers Paul and Phil Hartnoll -- have made a career of spinning the collective propeller of rave kids on both sides of the Atlantic, sometimes parlaying the buzz into something bigger (Lollapalooza 1997) and better (music for the films "The Saint" and "Event Horizon"). With this trip to "Nowhere," Orbital deserves to be recognized for what it's been since inception: one of the most talented instrumental bands of all time. Certainly, it's borrowed from Brian Eno and Kraftwerk here, Tangerine Dream and Jean Michel Jarre there, but the duo creates in harmony with their influences, not at odds with them. "Know Where To Run" and "I Don't Know You People" should be used to teach the unenlightened the basics of electro-funk, having absorbed the guts of the medium without parroting any one artist's sound.

Whether "The Middle of Nowhere" will stand the test of time -- like the works of the aforementioned Kraftwerk and Jarre -- is difficult to foresee; every month, seemingly, the bar is raised, with genre-busting releases from Moby, Boom Boom Satellites and Underworld this year alone. One thing is certain, however: In 20 years "Way Out" will still be a giddy celebration of the moment -- whatever moment the listener happens to be moving through.

Get Out, Act Up

* Local thrash-meisters A Pig Named Jodi, Face Down and Blind Submission play the Boston Rock and Roll Cafe tonight. Cover is just $5, amigo. Call 368-0750 for more information.

* Los Angeles group Gwen Mars plays Fat Daddy's Saturday night with our own Control Freak and Expert on October. The latter is getting more than its share of positive buzz -- don't miss this one; $5 cover. Call 464-3118.

* They're creepy and they're kooky -- The Watson Family! The Las Vegas funk outfit shares the stage with Deep Banana Blackout, Saturday night at Legends Lounge. Yet another $5 cover! Call 437-9674.

* So I still find Go-Go's drummer Gina Schock irresistible, so what? The Go-Go's (see story on page 8E) and Berlin will lean heavily on past glories Saturday night at House of Blues. This one will set you back $47-$62, which seems kinda steep to me, but what the hell? Anything for Gina. Call 632-7600.

* Self-made folk rock icon Ani DiFranco plays the Hard Rock Joint Sunday night, with funk god Maceo Parker opening. Tickets: $27.50. Call 226-4650.