Since I Left You [CD]

it seems that some listeners can't quite comprehend the concept behind the avalanches' thrilling debut album, since i left you.

upon hearing a sample that (shock! horror!) they might have heard before, they immediately label the band lazy, for 'not digging deep enough' into the crates, or even more laughably, unoriginal, simply because sampling is used at all.

i dare them to listen to the 'gimix' bootleg tape that was circulating long before the album was ever released: not only does it contain the 'obvious' samples used in the album itself, but bob dylan, cyndi lauper, jimi hendrix, de la soul, the beatles, the smiths, deee-lite and a whole host of unbelievably big names make appearances... huge chunks of their biggest hit singles are audaciously and very deliberately included.

the point is, these songs, and the samples in 'since i left you' are not chosen in order to steal the original artists' thunder. on the contrary, the avalanches are paying homage to music that they love and revere. of course, in the end, it's not what they use, it's how they use it. be prepared to be blown away as jimi hendrix's 'crosstown traffic' is mixed with cyndi lauper's 'girls just wanna have fun' as though it were the most natural thing in the world. stand, mouth agape, as sgt. peppers, sped up, is played hand in hand with 'groove is in the heart', and jurassic 5's 'jayou'.

similarly, the well known (and some might say, tired old) tunes sampled on the album itself are treated in a fresh, refreshing, magical and totally inspired way. many are unrecognisable. for every well known pop tune sampled, ten equally obscure ones also appear - the instant-recognition tunes don't take precedence over the unknowns - all are included with the same reverence, and all flow beautifully together to create a unified, deeply soulful, infinitely detailed and textured whole. the avalanches aren't trying to trick us into thinking they played all the instruments on the album and wrote it from scratch. that's not what 'since i left you' is about at all. they are not divorcing the sampled sounds from their original context. using snippets from well known songs is not lazy - it's very brave, in this climate of zero-tolerance litigation.

why would madonna let her music be sampled for the very first time if the avalanches were simply going to use it in a derivative, vacuous, 'p-diddy' style? in fact, the 'holiday' sample serves almost as an atmospheric backdrop, just like the sampled seabird calls and cheers - it's as though there's a party happening somewhere on the 'since i left you' cruise liner, and you're invited.

accusations of 'bad mixing' and 'sounds terrible' are equally hollow. this album is mixed beautifully - not saccharinely and blandly, but piquantly, with just the right dissonant kick. it sounds terrific. if you haven't already, buy it.

The Avalanches are a DJ's dream come true -- six Aussies who took hundreds of sound snatches, and wove together a wildly playful kind of electronica. Their first (and so far, only) album, "Since I Left You," is a tangle of the delicate, the weird, and the incredibly danceable.

It kicks off with the sparkling "Since I Left You," but the best is yet to come. The Avalanches manage to attain both a typical "sound" and plenty of originality in their songs, such as the bleeps-and-horns "Different Feeling," the knob-twiddling basslines of "Radio," the sputtery dance number "Live At Dominoes," and the interference-laden Rastafarian rock "Flight Tonight."

But with all the dance tracks, the Avalanches have their softer side: the delicately upbeat "Two Hearts in 3/4 Time," the swaying "Electricity," the brief and staticky "Pablo's Cruise," and the gauzy, multilayered "Etoh." It rounds off with the majestically languid "Extra Kings," which has a long sweep of distortion and chaos in the middle.

It's almost too easy to dance to the Avalanches. They take almost a thousand mismatched sounds and manage to cobble them into some really brilliant music. What's especially brilliant is the way these patchwork dance tracks manage to find solid, simple grooves, and stick to them right to the end.

"Since I Left You" isn't perfect -- at times the fragments don't quite mesh together. Some parts are pure chaos, but oddly they don't mar the overall sound; instead, they enhance it. Scattered in amongst the melody is the sound of video games, horses, discos, golf instructions, flutes, pianos, and seagulls -- it adds a strangely whimsical sound to the dance music.

The vocals tend to be samples repeated over and over, just under the surface of the music. Among the vocal snatches are the ethereal "Since I left you/I found the world so new!" or determined "Book of flight tonight." So the lyrics are often quite simple, except for the hysterically funny "Frontier Psychiatrist" ("Lie down on the couch, what does that mean?/You're a nut! You're crazy in the coconut!").

"Since I Left You" takes hundreds of random sound fragments, and turns them into a mosaic. Fun, playful, fast and hypnotically bizarre, this is a must have for fans of quirky music.

I think this album is just amazing, very cleverly done, and I truely hope there is definately more to come from these clever little Aussies!
I love the way the tracks are all kind of mixed in together, so all you have to do if hit PLAY and hit the dancefloor - or lay back and chill - either will do nicely.
You can definately tell that the album was made by a bunch of aussies as you immediately imagine sitting around a BBQ or hitting the beach to the laid back summery feel of some of the tracks.
Your'll soon recognise a few samples too along the way. Especially the "Holiday" sample from madonnas hit single, which just makes you want to pick up and drink and wiggle your way to the dancefloor! And then the following day, hum the tunes all day, much the annoyance of all your collegues.