Pitchfork

Onward flows the Riverrun Project, Underworld's series of innovative mp3 packages containing original half-hour-ish compositions and extensive art, each appearing in download-only format on the band's website. Underworld's Karl Hyde and Rick Smith unveiled the project last November, when they released the first bundle "Lovely Broken Thing", followed by "Pizza for Eggs" in December. Now, on Monday, June 5, the pioneering techno duo will release the third and final aural/visual package, titled "I'm a Big Sister, and I'm a Girl, I'm a Princess, and This is My Horse", available for £5 from underworldlive.com.

The project emerged from a desire to take music from the studio and make it readily available for the masses. Said Hyde of the process, "Creatively we get to write and publish new work in ways that suit us, offering a much needed alternative to our traditional album scheduling."

Before the band gets all 'traditional' again (like that'll happen), on June 10 Underworld will issue a Riverrun retrospective called "The Misterons Mix", containing music from the sonically varied first three releases, along with tons of photographs and album art. But you can only secure this special release if you've purchased the rest of the mp3 bundles. Alas, dry your eyes, you penny-pinching techno lovers in this post-Napster world: you can still hear new Underworld material on their live web broadcasts. They've posted a recent virtual concert, courtesy of Dutch radio station VPRO, on underworldlive.com.

And it doesn't end there. Underworld will continue to spoil fans with various 12" releases throughout the summer, with remixes by Paul Woolford, Pete Heller, Pig and Dan, and Robag Wruhme scheduled. In October, V2 will release the soundtrack to Anthony Minghella's new film Breaking & Entering, on which Hyde and Smith collaborated with composer Gabriel Yared. They're also working on new material, as well as music for the forthcoming Danny Boyle film Sunshine.