The Avalanches are a 6 piece dance outfit that hails from the last place you would expect for dance music - Australia. Their original sound is...well...really not too original at all. Meaning the vast majority of the music they create is by splicing and filtering over nearly a thousand different samples, with the original instrumentation taking a backseat.
The origin of two of the bandmates, oddly enough, is in punk music (Robbie Chater and Darrin Seltmann were members of the punk band Swinging Monkey Cocks), but these roots were abandoned to an extent to focus more on abstract hip hop and dance.
The bands first material was produced in 1997, and Australian label Modular immediately took notice and signed them to a long term deal. The Avalanches spent the next three years perfecting Since I Left You, and the extensive amount of time paid to the creation of this album certainly paid off as this is an amazing 60-minute experience. That's right, I said it, an experience.
During the time working on Since I Left You, the Avalanches put on an outlandish live show, and played with the Beastie Boys and Public Enemy. But while those groups rely heavily on lyrical content, the Avalanches rely heavily on samples repeated over and over in various catchy, infectious ways.
Like many dance records, Since I Left You thrives on feel good tunes that bring you back to your youth. This is one of the freshest things I have ever listened to, and when I am in the mood, I can make a day of listening to this album. This isn't so much an album that is divided into "songs" as listening to pieces of the album could prove to be a considerable hit to it's appeal. This needs to be experienced as a whole.
Credits:
Bobby C. - Producer, Mixing
Robbie Chater - Producer, Mixing
Darren - Comedy, Brass Band
Bobby Dazzler - Guitar, Choir, Chorus, Design, Mixing
James De La Cruz - Turntables
Tony Espie - Mixing
Antoinette Halloran - Vocals
Gordon McQuilton - Percussion, Piano
Richie Robinson - Mixing, Live Production
Sally Russell - Vocals
Saian Supa Crew - Vocals
Darren Seltmann - Vocals, Production, Mixing
I won't do a track by track review for an album like this because I don't think of it in terms of tracks, but mearly high points and low points of a single entity.
The album begins with the infectious "Since I Left You", one of the most amazing songs ever, and continues to build with "Radio". The climax of the first half of the album is right around "Two Hearts in 3/4 Time", one of the strongest cuts on the album.
It maintains this high level through "Flight Tonight", and hits a small lull right before "Frontier Psychiatrist", which is the most insane track on the album by far, splicing together words to form crazy comments like "He's a nut. He's crazy in the coconut", "He was white as a sheet, and he also made false teeth", and the amazingly constructed chorus of "that boy needs therapy". Oh man, this is another climax of the album, but it isn't over yet.
The experience continues through "Summer Crane", and another just amazing song in "Live at Dominoes". The album ender "Extra Kings" is perfect, and brings back the classic "since I left you I found the world so new" line from the opening song. Yes, the album has come full circle, and it is perfect for putting on repeat.
Notable tracks:
Since I Left You
Radio
Two Hearts in 3/4 Time
Flight Tonight
Electricity
Tonight May Have To Last Me All My Life
Frontier Psychiatrist
Live At Dominoes
Extra Kings
Positives:
amazing sampling
catchy
great dance music
no skipable tracks
a great pick me up album
Negatives:
NOT A DAMN THING
Recommended for fans of:
Daft Punk
Basement Jaxx
Jason Forrest
You guys probably think that from the review I am going to give this album a perfect score. Well...you are correct. PERFECT ALBUM, PERFECT SCORE.
