Our hearty congratulations to Jon Carin, who today celebrates his 47th birthday (Friday, October 21st).

The talented multi-instrumentalist has been a key part of the Pink Floyd operation since 1985, and more recently toured with David Gilmour (on his On An Island tour), and Roger Waters (on his Dark Side Of The Moon tour). He is currently a key member of Roger's band for the mammoth Wall tour, which has completed 120 shows in front of thrilled audiences in North America and Europe, playing keyboards and more during the show. The tour resumes in January 2012, with dates in Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Argentina and Brazil announced so far, with more to come (including a return to North America).

For those who might have missed it, or want another chance to read it, check out our extensive and exclusive interview with Jon from August 2007. It's full of fascinating insights into his life and work with various top musicians, including (of course) David, Roger, and Pink Floyd!

Have a great day, Jon - and many happy returns!

From the striking cover, to the range of fascinating articles about the band within its pages, the November 2011 issue of US publication Sound + Vision should be an essential purchase for the Pink Floyd fan.

Due to hit US stores and newsstands on October 18th, and available in selected countries worldwide as an import, the magazine takes a thorough look at the Dark Side Of The Moon Immersion boxset, under the banner of "The Audio Event of the Year". To help deliver the "definitive story of rock's most important recording", they probe the technical side of the band in the studio and on the road. Kicking this off is an interview with Nick Mason, who talks about the early days of live quad sound with the Azimuth Co-ordinator, expanding the conversation to quad elsewhere, and his thoughts on other possible Immersion sets. In a previously unpublished interview from 2006, David Gilmour talks about the 5.1 mix of On An Island.

Also included is an interview with Andy Jackson about mixing the 1974 Wembley Empire Pool show, found on the Experience and Immersion editions of DSOTM, and a range of musicians round things off with their thoughts on Pink Floyd.

For those who have been, for a few years now, eagerly awaiting the SACD of Wish You Were Here, you'll be counting the days until the release arrives. The latest update is that the label releasing it have revealed the packaging, and a fine job looks to have been done by StormStudios, with the disc contained in a book-style package, with a number of images - click the thumbnail to the left.

The 5.1 SACD will be released by Acoustic Sounds, on the Analogue Productions label. Initial reports are that it sounds wonderful, and our review will be here as soon as possible. 

Due to arrive on November 7th 2011, the same date as the Experience and Immersion editions of WYWH, the SACD can now be ordered direct from Acoustic Sounds. However, due to their shipping policy, international orders are better placed with MUSIC DIRECT or ELUSIVE DISC, both of which have cheaper shipping internationally.

For those in Europe, the best option is JPC.de, a German based retailer, which will mean you'll not face things like import taxes and will have cheaper shipping.

For those interested, here's the confirmed detail on personnel:

5.1 Surround Mix by James Guthrie
Assistant Engineer Joel Plante
5.1 and Stereo Mastering by James Guthrie and Joel Plante
Mixed and Mastered at das boot recording
DSD Authoring for SACD by Gus Skinas.

The records keep on tumbling - Roger Waters has now added an astonishing NINTH show, being held on March 20th 2012, at the River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina as part of The Wall Live tour. Will his run there at the venue go into double figures? Only time will tell! The RogerWaters.com presale has just begun for those who have registered there with the city amongst their favourites, and the general sale of tickets will go on sale very shortly, through livepass.com.ar.