Here’s something to make your day: The Neil Young Archives site is up and running. The Canadian singer-songwriter has realized a project that has been years in the making: a vast online library of his work.
There is a dizzying amount of material available here. You can work your way through Young’s catalog, streaming everything he has released as a solo artist, his work with Buffalo Springfield, recordings with Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, and more.
The music is available in “master quality, ranging from 44.1kHz/16-bit to 192kHz/24-bit” courtesy of Young’s Xstream streaming plugin. The quality of the audio you will receive is dependent upon the speed of your internet connection. But, not to worry, you can toggle down to 320kbps, if the higher bit rates are too much for your system.
It all starts with Neil’s very first recordings from July 23, 1963, with a group known as The Squires — this includes the groovy surf rock tune titled The Sultan. The most recent entry is Young’s newest album, “The Visitor,” released Dec. 1, 2017.
In addition to official releases, there is a treasure trove of unreleased material here, “about 10 albums” worth, and a few unreleased films. You will also find lyrics, credits, artwork, videos, etc. You might never leave your house again.
The Neil Young Archives site is free until June 30, after which, Young promises, it will be available for “a very modest cost.”
You may find the archive a bit confusing to navigate at first. The “filing cabinet” interface with Young’s works arranged chronologically is a lot of fun, though, and if that doesn’t work for you, there is a timeline showing the dates of all of Young’s releases.
There’s really no need for us to say much more about it. Check it out for yourself, hear the familiar and unfamiliar, the old and the new. And as Young says, “Don’t forget to have a good time and try not to get lost.”
