Re: my thoughts on the releases
 

In a way i agree with you.
In all honesty i have downloaded a fair bit of music in my time (mixes and radio and live shows rather than albums though) and there is something lacking - many a time i would rather have gone out and gladly paid for 'the finished product'.
I think UW have tried to answer and justify that in the sense that they've provided different things with the releases i.e. covers, listings, credits (and bonus piccies too).

As beautiful burnout has already said - i think it may be partially a case of getting old though, or having to change some of the more fundamental concepts you grew up with.
At the end of the day though - Things always change.
examples (albeit not as drastic as this) being
VHS to DVD
records to tapes (in terms of mainstream usage)
Tapes to CD
Hey, we've all bought the DVD's - now we're gonna have to change them all for HD-DVDs

I think its been a bold move which will undoubtedly lead to many debates similar to this, and it will be interesting how it turns out.

Whether its the right move or not, only time will tell

last thought: when you've got used to downloading, something else is likely to come along :D

Re: my thoughts on the releases
 

i'm sure they don't need the cash from the downloads to keep them afloat,i was told that rick lives in oliver cromwells old house !

Re: my thoughts on the releases
 

I'm sorry for insinuating your complaint. My main point is that I don't think there was ever an option between online and normal release, the option is between online release and no release. R & K may not be strapped for cash but this does not mean that they can plonk anything they like on a CD. They can, however, put anything they like on their website. I for one am very grateful for them having done this.

Re: my thoughts on the releases
 

... which has summed it up perfectly for me. :)

Re: my thoughts on the releases
 

I haven't really bought the riverrun eps for some of these same reasons. However, recently getting a new computer with a massive hard drive, removed one big limitation for me, and kind of on a whim I bought 'Pizza for Eggs'.

Listening to the songs while browsing the photo gallery really made this feel personal for me, something that I wasn't expecting. I'm the one that's always saying 'cds aren't the same as mp3s, I like the physical product and the artwork, the case', but with the little extras that came with the release I don't really have that concern. I mean, sometimes you get a CD and the artwork is a single-page liner-notes sheet and simple tracklisting on the back - Nothing special. And becuase I bought the release, and I know the money went to the artist, I feel like it has more worth then some random mp3 I ripped or found online.

So yeah, mabye it sounds cheesy to you, but it kind of changed my perspective of online distribution. Now I'm really looking towards bleep.com and considering buying some stuff off there. I really respect underworldlive and bleep for not applying any sort of DRM to the music.

It also hit me the other day that it's really quite amazing what it allows bands to do - with uwlive there is no pressure for Underworld to be Underworld. If they're kicking some ideas around in the studio, they can jus t release them and avoid the traditional markets all together.

Finally, I have to say I'm really liking them both (I got Lovely Broken Thing soon after), and it's pretty exciting for something so fresh to be coming out of a band who's been around awhile, relatively.

Re: my thoughts on the releases
 

I don't mind the way of distribution...starting to get used to it and liking the advantages. You can get a track or an album in a heartbeat, no waiting or dealing with uneducated Music Store dealers or other bullshit and it's a great way of releasing something and making a few bucks with it you would never release on CD or Vinyl just because it's too "special" (reads: not mass mainstream or mass underground compatible enough).

But I agree to some of the previous postings as well. MP3 makes buying music less "precious" and unique. I don't mind for the albums/tracks I bought online in various shops but I would NEVER be satisfied with having an mp3 and some .gif files for an artist album or mix compilation I am really looking forward to only. Besides the fact that a mastered CD just sounds better (MP3 Junkies who listen to their music on cheap 50 bucks PC speakers don't count here lol) on a good system, I love the aspects of a CD/DVD...like to smell the fresh printed covers and to open the sleeve and play with the inlays. I agree, I am oldschool here and that´s just me beeing 37 years old and maybe it´s completely different for an 18 year old music fan who didn't buy CD's since decades but buys his dope online or downloads it for free.

I enjoyed both releases though I had to get used to them and I also had to throw away some of the expectations I had to do this lol but I downloaded some excerpts of live sets/unreleased track versions from this site for free so I don't really mind to pay for some more experimental stuff. Still it was a different experience for me...I am a die hard Underworld fan and have every album and most bootlegs/sets, basically whatever was officially/inofficially released. Normally, especially when it´s something that´s officially released, I know about it in advance and wait for the day when it´s out eagerly. Buying the online releases, I read about them on another Forum and had the mp3 15 minutes after that. It´s cool on the one side but makes it less precious on the other side like I said in the beginning. It´s just an emotional link that´s missing here I guess. But I am sure, there will be another Underworld album where I can sniff the fresh ink again lol so I don't really mind as well. Long story, short end: bring them on and don't stop!

Re: my thoughts on the releases
 

"MP3 makes buying music less precious and special"

i'd like to quickly address this statement. i know what you mean when you say that but I disagree with the sentiment. i now only buy releases that are special to me for one reason or another (favorite artist/special packaging/limited editions etc). MP3's have, in a sense, made buying music more special. I used to buy tons of stuff on CD and vinyl then only listen to a fraction of what i bought. There's nothing special about paying 10-15 USD on a 12" with no picture sleeve and only 1 song you can use or enjoy listening to. There's nothing special about buying a new cd you heard was good from a friend or website, only to find out a few songs are good but the rest is shit.

what was special was registering at UWLive, getting access to the members area and getting new music from UW in a way that has allowed them to be more creative and experimental. i'm completely satisfied that the 5 pounds i spent on each release was money well spent and am looking forward to giving UW more of my money for the RiverRun Project. I appreciate the way Underworld are evolving much more than their contemporaries who have all faded into irrelevence.

Bring on 2006, it's shaping up to be the best year for Underworld fans ever.

Re: my thoughts on the releases
 

TomTom: nice nick. like Tom only twice as good :p (and good first post, welcome!)

BLD: i see your sentiment and I can relate to that. I've got loads of CDs i bought that I wish I hadnt. what a waste of CD/paper/plastic.

Not everyone needs the physical stuff and not everyone needs the highest quality. But if we can't get the physical stuff from the shop then we should be able to get as close as possible ourselves with better quality downloads and print-perfect covers. I hope that will come eventually and satisfy more people. You can't please all of the people all of the time but maybe Underworld can try.

Re: my thoughts on the releases
 

I think it won't be too long before hard drives are big enough and broadband is cheap enough that you could download wav files - That's what I'd really want. 192 MP3 is the smallest bitrate I like to go. iTunes has thier music at too low of a bit rate imo.

Re: my thoughts on the releases
 

Bitrate is irrelevant --> Its Quality that matters.
Because of that i am curious why they didn't encode their music with some decent MP3 encoder (like LAME) that supports VBR.
And WAV is completely unnecessary as lossless codecs (such as FLAC or APE) are available.