{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2019}} {{Use British English|date=May 2019}} {{Infobox album | name = Riverrun | type = other | artist = [[Underworld (band)|Underworld]] | cover = Underworld_-_Lovely_Broken_Thing_cover.jpg | border = | alt = | caption = Cover of ''Lovely Broken Thing'', the first digital EP of the ''Riverrun'' series | released = {{start date|df=yes|2005|11|9}} through to {{End date|df=yes|2006|6|5}} | recorded = 2004–2006 | venue = | studio = | genre = [[Electronic music|Electronic]], [[Experimental music|Experimental]] | length = "Riverrun 03": {{Duration|m=28|s=36}}<br />"Riverrun 04": {{Duration|m=25|s=07}}<br />"Riverrun 05": {{Duration|m=30|s=34}} | label = Smith Hyde Productions | producer = Rick Smith | prev_title = [[Underworld 1992–2002|1992–2002]] | prev_year = 2003 | year = 2005–2006 | next_title = [[Live in Tokyo 25th November 2005]] | next_year = 2005 }} '''''Riverrun''''' is the musical project by the British electronic music group [[Underworld (band)|Underworld]], released between {{start date|df=yes|2005|11|9}} and {{End date|df=yes|2006|6|5}}, exclusively on the band's official website, as a series of three [[Digital distribution|internet-only]] EPs, and as limited 12" vinyl releases.
== Background == While touring the album ''[[A Hundred Days Off]]'' in 2003 through Australia and the Middle East, and nearing the end of their record contract, [[Karl Hyde|Hyde]] and [[Rick Smith (musician)|Smith]] desired to take a new approach to recording and releasing music. Excited by the idea of the [[Long tail|long tail effect]] described in a ''[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]]'' article and the writings of [[Robert Fripp]], the band elected to go fully independent and release music entirely through online distribution, free downloads, and live broadcasts, an idea the band had talked about doing for over 20 years.<ref name="drownedinsound" /> The band had started a habit of publishing content online in 2000 - including archive music, photos, and diary entries - as an online extension to the ''Everything Everything'' DVD. The band received responses to their first post "within hours" which Hyde later described as "an incredibly empowering moment, when we realized that there [are] more than the traditional ways of communicating."<ref name="chaoscontrol">{{cite web |last1=Gourley |first1=Bob |title=Underworld |url=https://chaoscontrol.com/underworld/ |website=Chaos Control Digizine|date=7 November 2007 }}</ref>
The band described the project as "an occasional series 'straight from the mixing desk' and [the three releases] are comprised from the 'work-in-progress' at that moment in time." "The riverrun is our name not only for the flow of the jam but also for that part of the process where 'one thing flows into another.'" Each digital EP was a download-only package in a [[Zip (file format)|.zip]] file containing a single 192 [[kbit/s]] encoded [[MP3|.mp3]] file with all tracks mixed together, as well as a [[QuickTime]] slide-show of black-and-white photographs set to [[Ambient music|ambient]] sounds, and a [[Portable Document Format|PDF]] file of the [[Compact Disc|CD]] insert.<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|date=December 2007|title=Shop -- Riverrun|url=https://www.underworldlive.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/underworld-book-of-jam-01.pdf|journal=The Book of Jam|volume=1|issue=1}}</ref>
More than 200 tracks of newly recorded material proved hard to curate, so Hyde and Smith asked for the opinions of DJ and production friends including [[Pete Heller]], [[James Holden (producer)|James Holden]], Darren Price, the [[Junior Boy's Own]] head Steven Hall, and [[Sven Väth]] before assembling each release. Some of the tracks were recorded and adapted for soundtracks, 2006's ''[[Breaking and Entering: Music from the Film|Breaking and Entering]]'' and 2008's ''[[Sunshine: Music from the Motion Picture|Sunshine]]'', as well as the band's next full-length 2007 album ''[[Oblivion with Bells]]''; each of these records were treated as extensions of the ''Riverrun'' project itself.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1571402/underworld-release-new-physical-album-along-with-internet-offerings/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412163350/http://www.mtv.com/news/1571402/underworld-release-new-physical-album-along-with-internet-offerings/|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 April 2016|title=Underworld Release New 'Physical' Album Along With Internet Offerings|last=Manning|first=Kara|website=MTV News|language=en|access-date=2019-05-26}}</ref> John Warwicker (a former member of Underworld's precursor band [[Freur]]) and the band's own graphic-arts company [[Tomato (design collective)|Tomato]] helped manage the series.<ref name="drownedinsound">{{Cite web|url=https://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/966708-shake-it-up-and-start-again--underworlds-karl-hyde-gets-all-excited-about-the-riverrun-downloads|title=Shake it up and start again: Underworld's Karl Hyde gets all excited about the Riverrun downloads|last=Oriel|first=Jane|website=DrownedInSound|language=en|access-date=2019-05-26|archive-date=26 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220926200149/https://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/966708-shake-it-up-and-start-again--underworlds-karl-hyde-gets-all-excited-about-the-riverrun-downloads|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Concurrent with the downloads, the band began a series of web radio shows broadcast through Apple Quicktime between 2004 and 2008, which they also described as "part of the 'Riverrun' series". During these webcasts, Underworld answered questions from a live chat, and broadcast live performances and unreleased music alongside other selections from their favorite artists.<ref name="chaoscontrol"/>
Speaking in 2007, Hyde described their "multi-stranded" method of releasing music online as "more natural than always having to work the traditional way, which can be very cumbersome, and very constraining when you always have to put music out as a physical and scheduled product," and compared it to selling [[White label record|newly pressed 12" singles]] out of the trunk of their car, which the band did in the early 90s.<ref name="chaoscontrol"/><ref name="drownedinsound"/> However, in 2019, Hyde admitted that "most of it felt unfinished. It came out before it’d reached a place that certainly [Rick Smith] was happy with. [The songs on ''Riverrun''] were rough sketches of ideas that were assembled in a way that was attractive, but they were still rough. They still had a journey to go on."<ref name="mixmag">{{Cite web|url=https://mixmag.net/feature/underworld-interview-drift-series-1|title=Underworld, the rave pioneers relentlessly pushing creative limits|last=Baesemann|first=Ryan|date=2019-11-01|website=Mixmag|access-date=2019-11-05}}</ref>
== The digital EPs == The first in the series is ''Lovely Broken Thing'', codenamed "Riverrun 03," released online on {{start date|df=yes|2005|11|9}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://underworldlive.com/music/lovely-broken-thing/|title=Riverrun - Lovely Broken Thing - Music|website=Underworld|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-05-03|archive-date=26 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220926200143/https://underworldlive.com/music/lovely-broken-thing/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The download-only package was "made up of seven new tracks that fuse into a single, undulating work." It also included a gallery of selected 177 black-and-white photographs by Karl Hyde, and a PDF file with a front cover artwork for a CD insert.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.residentadvisor.net/news/7309|title=Underworld's Lovely Riverrun Project out TODAY|website=Resident Advisor|access-date=2019-05-26}}</ref>
The second EP, ''Pizza for Eggs'', codenamed "Riverrun 04," was released online on {{start date|df=yes|2005|12|7}},<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://underworldlive.com/music/pizza-for-eggs/|title=Riverrun - Pizza For Eggs - Music|website=Underworld|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-05-03|archive-date=26 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220926200142/https://underworldlive.com/music/pizza-for-eggs/|url-status=dead}}</ref> with six new tracks as a single 25-minute 8-second piece. The package includes a gallery of selected 444 photographs by Karl Hyde.<ref name=":1" />
The third EP entitled ''I'm a Big Sister, and I'm a Girl, and I'm a Princess, and This Is My Horse'', codenamed "Riverrun 05," was released on {{start date|df=yes|2006|6|5}}.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://underworldlive.com/music/riverrun-im-a-big-sister-and-im-a-girl-and-im-a-princess-and-this-is-my-horse/|title=Riverrun – I'm a Big Sister, and I'm a Girl, and I'm a Princess, and This Is My Horse - Music|website=Underworld|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-05-03|archive-date=26 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220926200150/https://underworldlive.com/music/riverrun-im-a-big-sister-and-im-a-girl-and-im-a-princess-and-this-is-my-horse/|url-status=dead}}</ref> It "explores a darker, moodier side to Underworld", with the audio section being made from 5 new tracks jammed together to form a single work. The 53-images gallery is a slide show with audio with images gathered by Karl in Tokyo in November 2005, and curated by John."<ref name=":1" />
For those who bought all three ''Riverrun'' EPs, an additional free EP, ''The Misterons Mix'' was released online on {{start date|df=yes|2006|7|10}}, which includes tracks from all three releases.<ref name=":1" />
== Singles ==
A series of four limited edition 12-inch records, which included remixes of "JAL to Tokyo", "Play Pig", "Peggy Sussed", and "Vanilla Monkey" by [[Pete Heller]], [[Buick Project]], [[Pig & Dan]], [[Wighnomy Brothers|Wighnomy]], [[Paul Woolford (DJ)|Paul Woolford]], and Martinez were released in 2006 at the end of the project.<ref>{{cite web |title=Back from Oblivion: Underworld |url=https://www.gigwise.com/features/37788/ |website=Gigwise}}</ref> Digital singles were also released through iTunes and underworldlive.com.
A "JAL to Tokyo" single was also released exclusively to iTunes Store Japan, with an extended version of "Ancient Phat Farm Coat" and an unmixed version of "Food a Ready" as b-sides.<ref>{{cite web |title=Underworld - JAL to Tokyo |url=https://www.discogs.com/Underworld-JAL-To-Tokyo/release/2779662 |website=Discogs}}</ref>
==Later works== Two singles, "020202" and "Phonestrap", were released exclusively on Underworldlive in 2008. Each presented work-in-progress songs in a similar vein as the series.<ref>{{cite web |title=UnderworldLive - digital audio |url=http://www.underworldlive.com/shop/digital-audio |website=Underworldlive |access-date=18 December 2008 |archive-date=18 December 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081218061524/http://www.underworldlive.com/shop/digital-audio |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>
Underworld would return to the idea of internet-only releases in 2018, with the experimental year-long music-and-video project ''[[Drift (Underworld project)|Drift]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://underworldlive.com/news/2018/11/01/drift-series-launched/|title=DRIFT series launched|date=2018-11-01|website=underworldlive.com|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-05-26|archive-date=27 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190227085125/https://underworldlive.com/news/2018/11/01/drift-series-launched/|url-status=dead}}</ref> After the completion of ''Drift Series 1'', Karl explained "The ''Drift'' series has taken inspiration from [''Riverrun''] in that [the songs] been carried to a much higher level of completion."<ref name="mixmag"/> The song "S T A R" from ''Drift'' re-uses [[Loop_(music)|loops]] from "Lenne Penne".
== Track listing == Originally delivered as single audio files titled "Audio.mp3." The track times listed are estimated.
=== ''Lovely Broken Thing'' === {{Track listing | title1 = JAL to Tokyo | length1 = | title2 = Billy Goat | length2 = | title3 = Peggy Sussed | length3 = | title4 = Dub Shepherd | length4 = | title5 = Lenny Penne | length5 = | title6 = Monkey Wink | length6 = | total_length = 28:36 | all_writing = | title7 = Witness | length7 = }}
=== ''Pizza for Eggs'' === {{Track listing | title1 = Food a Ready | length1 = | title2 = Back in the Fears | length2 = | title3 = Vanilla Monkey | length3 = | title4 = Flatz | length4 = | title5 = Ancient Phat Farm Coat | length5 = | title6 = Play Pig | length6 = | total_length = 25:07 | all_writing = }}
=== ''I'm a Big Sister, and I'm a Girl, and I'm a Princess, and This Is My Horse'' === {{Track listing | all_writing = | title1 = Peach Tree | length1 = | title2 = Mowed Path | length2 = | title3 = Showlder | length3 = | title4 = Wedge | length4 = | title5 = 11 Hundred Hz | length5 = | total_length = 30:34 }}
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Underworld}} {{Authority control}}
[[Category:Underworld (band) albums]]