State River Widening are a

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

based musical trio, formed in May 1998, comprising multi-instrumentalists David Sheppard and Keiron Phelan, along with drummer/percussionist Jon Steele. They are named after the title of a Chinese propaganda photo. Friends from school (in south London) Sheppard and Phelan began experimental recordings in 1996, soon hooking up with percussionist Steele to leaven their intertwining,

Nick Drake Nicholas Rodney Drake (19 June 1948 – 25 November 1974) was an English singer-songwriter known for his acoustic guitar-based songs. He did not find a wide audience during his lifetime, but his work gradually achieved wider notice and recognit ...

-like acoustic guitars with vigorous yet dexterous drumming. The band's debut single, "Unsung Couples", was released on the Gold Hole label in November 1998. SRW’s hypnotic cycles of avant-rock melody connected with an audience then thrilling to similarly inclined practitioners such as

Godspeed You! Black Emperor Godspeed You! Black Emperor (sometimes abbreviated to GY!BE or Godspeed) is a Canadian post-rock band which originated in Montreal, Quebec in 1994. The group releases recordings through Constellation, an independent record label also located i ...

and

Tortoise Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a turtle shell, shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, ...

. Further singles and compilation tracks appeared before the November 1999 release of SRW’s eponymous debut (on rising independent imprint Rocket Girl), drawing plaudits from Delusions of Adequacy, who observed that the band's "intoxicating back-to-nature acoustic explorations supplied the Anglo-agrarian answer to Chicago's urbanite post-rock crowd". A clutch of rare live dates followed, the band performing with, amongst others,

Low Low or LOW or lows, may refer to: People * Low (surname), listing people surnamed Low Places * Low, Quebec, Canada * Low, Utah, United States * Lo Wu station (MTR code LOW), Hong Kong; a rail station * Salzburg Airport (ICAO airport code: LO ...

and

Piano Magic Piano Magic was a musical collective formed in the summer of 1996 by Glen Johnson, Dominic Chennell, and Dick Rance in London, England. Their sound has been described as ambient pop, post-rock, indietronica, dark wave, "arty baroque pop" and "En ...

. Summer 2000 saw the release of the single "Desertesque (For Hessen)" / "Radio Valkyrie", on the German label Beau Rivage. Eighteen months of work then followed on the second album, ''Early Music'', which expanded SRW’s palette using a vivid miscellany of instruments. Released in spring 2003, the album proved another critical success, with several ''Early Music'' tracks finding their way onto TV documentary and advertising soundtracks. Recorded between late 2003 and spring 2004, the album ''Cottonhead'' was released at the end of October 2004 on a new label, Vertical Form. With strings, additional percussion and, on one track, the voice of reclusive 1960s folk singer Anne Briggs, ''Cottonhead'' was SRW’s most artistically ambitious and sophisticated record to date. In 2005, Phelan and Sheppard signed (under their own names) to

The Leaf Label The Leaf Label is a British independent record label based in Yorkshire, England. Initially an electronic music label, releasing mainly instrumental music, the company's approach now features artists spanning jazz and post-punk. History The Le ...

and at the end of the year began work on a new album, with ex-Laika mainstay Guy Fixsen assisting. That album, ''Harps Old Master'', was released in September 2006.

References

{{Authority control English post-rock groups Musical groups from London English musical trios Rocket Girl artists