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| Special Features: |
Includes free American Gramaphone DVD sampler while supplies last
Double-hub super jewelcase includes:
Double-sided DVD with DVD-Video and DVD-Audio
Fresh Aire 8 audio CD
DVD-Video features include:
Fresh Aire 8 by Chip Davis, exploring the 8 topics of infinity
DTS 5.1, Dolby Digital 5.1, and Dolby Digital 2.0 audio tracks
Professors' video notes on ancient Greece, the Big Bang, fractals, waterfall, and the Heart and the Feather
Chip's Creative: Chip Davis's video discussion of his approach to creating the art of Fresh Aire 8
Behind-the-scenes footage
Interactive content: discover the hidden 9th topic of Fresh Aire 8 and enter to win valuable prizes |
| Video Format: |
Full Frame (1.33:1)
[DS-DL]
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| Languages: |
English (DTS)
English (Dolby Digital 5.1)
English (Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo)
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| Subtitles: |
none.
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| Captions: |
No
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| Casing: |
Double-hub super jewelcase
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Mannheim Steamroller’s illustrious 28-year-old (and aging) “Fresh Aire” series needed a facelift for its final opus, “Fresh Aire 8.” Creator Chip Davis spared no expense with his valiant effort, an ambitious program of electronic soundscapes and visuals. Fusing the modern sounds of the London Symphony with occasionally stunning visual effects (the “Fractals” sequence is particularly noteworthy), the sounds come bursting to life.
Where Davis misses the boat is with his re-creation ancient Greek symposiums (of the great Greek philosophers). It’s a horribly cheesy accompaniment to the music, with buffed up Abercrombie models and busty broads roaming around in Toga’s, pretending to philosophize and frolic as the ancient Greeks once did – or so Davis clumsily suggests. Still, his efforts of bringing in an “educational” angle to his synthesis of art and music will not go unappreciated by fans of the series.
“Fresh Aire 8” is a very unique double-sided disc--one side is DVD Video with 5.1 surround sound audio in both Dolby Digital and DTS, and the other side of the disc features the new high-resolution 24 bit/96 kilohertz DVD-Audio format. All music was created and composed in 5.1 surround sound by the prolific Chip Davis. Included in the "double hub" package is a free audio CD of “Fresh Aire 8,” for those of you wanting to tote it around in that portable cd player. In all, the encompassing DVD contains over 4 hours of content.
Here is the chapter list broken down:
Infinity in Philosophy (Greek Thinkers suite)
Infinity in Cosmology (The Big Bang)
The Infinite Thinker (Leonardo da Vinci)
Infinity in Mathematics (Fractals)
Infinity in Art (Waterfall, based on Escher's painting)
Infinity in the Wedding Band (The Circle of Love)
Infinity in Music (The Steamroller)
Infinity in Egyptian Afterlife (The Heart & the Feather)
Picture Quality: 9/10
An excellent full-frame transfer. The "Infinity in Mathematics (Fractals)" chapter is particularly noteworthy, featuring some of the most impressive fractal visual worked I've ever seen. The picture is crisp, and the colors remain exquisitely bright.
Sound Quality: 10/10
All the music was composed and created by Chip Davis in 5.1 surround sound, making this DVD's audio (both the video side and high-resolution 24 bit/96 kilohertz DVD-Audio format side) a perfect harmony of tones for a properly tuned 5-channel home theater system.
Included in the "double hub" package is a free audio CD of Fresh Aire 8 for the car or home.
Menu: 7/10
Nothing special here. A nice, clean menu system.
Extra Features: 8/10
There are five equally weighted features on this disc:
1. Art: On the DVD video side, this layer presents the 8 topics of infinity on Fresh Aire 8, with extraordinary graphic images.
2. Behind the scenes: Many of the music movies in Fresh Aire 8 are live-action scenes, and this layer provides a glimpse of the action behind the cameras.
3. Professor's notes: While researching the topics for Fresh Aire 8, composer and creator Chip Davis consulted with many leading experts on the pure disciplines of each topic of infinity, and this layer provides unique insight into these disciplines.
4. Chip's Creative: Chip Davis discusses on camera his approach to creating the art of Fresh Aire 8.
5. Interactive: With a Web-enabled computer, this layer allows the consumer to play a game to discover the 9th "hidden" topic of Fresh Aire 8 and win some fabulous prizes, including trips to NASA, Kennedy Space Center, and the Jet Propulsion Lab.
The Final Word:
Chip Davis's ambitious eighth and final edition to Mannheim Steamroller's "Fresh Aire" series, "Fresh Aire 8," is at the very least an interesting collage of sights and sounds. His efforts of bringing in an “educational” angle to his synthesis of art and music will not go unappreciated by fans of the series.
Stephen Wong
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