I thought that the boys released this stuff on download only basically because they wouldn't be able to release it any other way. There are a lot of restrictions, qualatative and quantatative, when releasing something traditionally, and quite frankly I don't think that these releases would sell all that well on CD or vinyl (and I'm sure that there's be loads of complaints up on the boards: not long enough, too self indulgent etc etc). The Riverrun project is an experiment, not a normal release. Rick and Karl have always created masses and masses of music between albums and releases, far more than any of us have heard, and the Riverrun project is a chance for us to see some of this, a chance we have basically never been given before.
In other words, I don't think that there was ever an option between CD or MP3 release, the option was between MP3 or no release at all. Personally, I am more than happy to pay money for this extra insight, money that goes directly to my favourite artist rather than their record company, and I think that it's fairly unnapreciative to complain when you don't like the format.
Seriously, Underworld do more than their fans than any other band I've ever heard of: CDs, vinyl, books, remixes, DVDs, downlaods, concerts, concert recordings and broadcasts, web-broadcasts, radio DJing, tolleration of online trading of live bootlegs, web-books, shoes, posters, dog-tags, iron on T-shirts, a website that is updated daily, the list really does go on and on. Riverrun is yet another example of their diversity, a magical insight into the everyday jamming of Rick and Karl that we simply would not have if it weren't for MP3 release. Can we really complain?
And incase you're still wondering, Karl and Rick pretty much say the same thing in their press release to lovely broken thing:
Quote:
the idea is to give us the chance to stretch out into areas we have only been able to touch on with traditional album releases......
another aim of changing things is to give us the chance to respond to what's happening musically out there in the world and put an underworld spin on things more than once every three years - like the way things happened in the days of white-labels, selling records from vans and junior boys own....we hope you'll be able to hear this in the music. it will also help us refresh the live set with more new songs in a way we haven't been able to in the past, something we've wanted to do for a long time now.
none of this spells the end of traditional albums, remixes, tours, gigs it's just a way of getting music to you without the help of a multinational every time we feel inspired. expect too see underworld in the charts, on the radio, in the press and in your town again but in the meantime fill you're boots at underworldlive.com.
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