The Avalanches - Since I Left You

cascarrabias · Post by **cascarrabias** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 4:30 pm

"That boy needs therapy."

Fucking awesome CD. Can't wait to hear their next one.

SYM · Post by **SYM** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 4:33 pm

oh man i dunno if it will be able to touch this.

when dj shadow released private press i embraced it with an open mind and to this day i still love it. but even then it was obviously nothing short of being second to endtroducing, how could it not?

that's how i feel about this album. it was arguably the best album released in 2001, it continues to be one of the simply best musical albums to start off this new century. such lasting power, such diversity, how could they trump what they already accomplished?

RacquetballGangsta · Post by **RacquetballGangsta** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 4:35 pm

yeah..where the hell have they been?
this guy wrote a crazy review on that album..explaining the narrative it tells.
they do need to come out with some new shit tho.

Icesickle · Post by **Icesickle** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 4:39 pm

Really dope album. They need to do a soundtrack for a Charlie Kaufman movie or something.

The Iron Sheik · Post by **The Iron Sheik** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 4:46 pm

This might be my favorite album of the decade so far. Here's a new Avalanches song, called "Rap Fever":

http://s24.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=21WC ... Y0Q7EOXSX6

SYM · Post by **SYM** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 4:54 pm

when i first heard frontier psychiatrist, i liked it, but i think the song became even more money when i heard the album in full for the first time. i'm hoping i like that "rap fever" song more when its actually apart of the mix.

slimebucato · Post by **slimebucato** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 7:14 pm

Can someone up that Avalanches album?

cascarrabias · Post by **cascarrabias** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 10:26 pm

ChristPuncher wrote:Can someone up that Avalanches album?

:vinylthief:

Gregg Popabitch1 · Post by **Gregg Popabitch1** » Fri Jun 10, 2005 10:34 pm

who hte hell are these cracka ass crackas?

slimebucato · Post by **slimebucato** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 1:04 am

cascarrabias wrote:
ChristPuncher wrote:Can someone up that Avalanches album?
:vinylthief:

yeah, I didn't want to be a dick and mention MP3X.....guess you don't have a problem with it though........

The Red Scare · Post by **The Red Scare** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 2:32 am

ChristPuncher wrote:
cascarrabias wrote:
ChristPuncher wrote:Can someone up that Avalanches album?
:vinylthief:
yeah, I didn't want to be a dick and mention MP3X.....guess you don't have a problem with it though........

does Russian still run MP3x? 'Cause he said he would let me back in when I got back from my semester abroad, and he hasn't responded to my PM.

Rachel Hobozal · Post by **Rachel Hobozal** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 2:34 am

The Red Scare wrote:
ChristPuncher wrote:
cascarrabias wrote:
ChristPuncher wrote:Can someone up that Avalanches album?
:vinylthief:
yeah, I didn't want to be a dick and mention MP3X.....guess you don't have a problem with it though........
does Russian still run MP3x? 'Cause he said he would let me back in when I got back from my semester abroad, and he hasn't responded to my PM.

Russian's a fuckin' snake ass bitch. He doesn't run shit except his man's dick into his brown eye on the daily.

Icesickle · Post by **Icesickle** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 3:46 am

Cleanhobo wrote:
The Red Scare wrote:
ChristPuncher wrote:
cascarrabias wrote:
ChristPuncher wrote:Can someone up that Avalanches album?
:vinylthief:
yeah, I didn't want to be a dick and mention MP3X.....guess you don't have a problem with it though........
does Russian still run MP3x? 'Cause he said he would let me back in when I got back from my semester abroad, and he hasn't responded to my PM.
Russian's a fuckin' snake ass bitch. He doesn't run shit except his man's dick into his brown eye on the daily.

/

FoJaR · Post by **FoJaR** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 4:04 am

Cleanhobo wrote:
The Red Scare wrote:
ChristPuncher wrote:
cascarrabias wrote:
ChristPuncher wrote:Can someone up that Avalanches album?
:vinylthief:
yeah, I didn't want to be a dick and mention MP3X.....guess you don't have a problem with it though........
does Russian still run MP3x? 'Cause he said he would let me back in when I got back from my semester abroad, and he hasn't responded to my PM.
Russian's a fuckin' snake ass bitch. He doesn't run shit except his man's dick into his brown eye on the daily.

2root2 · Post by **2root2** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 7:04 am

damn, i hate that lp. sounds like jive bunny to me.

Gregg Popabitch1 · Post by **Gregg Popabitch1** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 9:32 am

wow i have no idea who these faggots are and you guys are mp3xing me.

FUCK ALL OF YOU TO HELL

Hasenfefer · Post by **Hasenfefer** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 12:07 pm

rele, rele dope album. i was actually listening to the CD a week ago on my way down to miami.

for greg...heres their pitchfork review.

Contrary to the beliefs of many middle-American supermarket-goers, not all samples are free. Just ask Vanilla Ice. When he "sampled" the bassline from Queen and David Bowie's "Under Pressure," he was faced with a multi-million dollar lawsuit, rather than a complementary napkin and toothpick. Sure, nobody bats an eye when copyright law takes some money out of the shiny, rhinestone-encrusted pockets of Rob Van Winkle or Puff Daddy, but as soon as lawsuits trip up avant-hoodlums like John Oswald of Plunderphonics fame, the concept of thievery-as-art becomes a hot topic, and the line between sampling and stealing becomes fiercely contended.

Given the fact that Since I Left You, the debut album from Aussie party animals the Avalanches, contains over 900 individual samples, it's pretty incredible that this thing got released in the first place. The fact that they sample everything from long-forgotten R&B records to golf instructionals to Madonna's "Holiday" makes it even more impressive. But what really makes this album brilliant is not as much the volume or quality of the samples used as the way that they're employed. The Avalanches have managed to build a totally unique context for all these sounds, while still allowing each to retain its own distinct flavor. As a result, Since I Left You sounds like nothing else.

Much of the beauty of the opening title song and its accompanying track, "Stay Another Season," lies in the way that the Avalanches turn obvious sonic mismatches into something all their own. It's not too common that you'll hear a sample of a horse, a rastafarian singer, and an invitation to a Club Med disco all in the same song, but somehow it makes perfect sense under the masterful direction of the Avalanches.

Indeed, many of the most interesting moments on Since I Left You come with these mismatches. "A Different Feeling" sets horn blasts from 1974 against video game sounds from 1988-- the kind of bizarre pairing of classic soul with futuristic sounds that constitutes a substantial part of Avalanches magic. "Radio," which is slated for release as the band's next Australian single, centers around a mantra-like vocal sample, a thick disco bassline, and bits and pieces of filtered guitars and synthesizers.

Throughout Since I Left You, sampled vocals are used almost like percussion. But rather than utilizing the frenetic, intricate rhythms seen in most contemporary rap, the Avalanches repeat small vocal samples over and over again, melding them into their rump-rocking grooves. And while many of these songs rely heavily on the repetition of beats and samples, no single part of the record is allowed to stagnate. Something is always being mixed up-- a sample transposed up or down a few steps, a beat chopped up into little pieces and seamlessly restructured, an unexpected vocal sample popping up out of nowhere before being swallowed up by the massive sound the Avalanches have concocted.

Another key element of Since I Left You is the keen sense of humor the Avalanches display throughout. And "Frontier Psychiatrist," one of two singles already released from the album, is simply one of the funniest songs I've heard in ages. Relying on a heavy, Ninja Tune-style beat for backing, "Frontier Psychiatrist" busts out samples from 37 spoken word recordings, resulting in an oddball, hilarious pastiche of phrases like, "You're a nut! You're crazy in the coconut!" And some brilliant scratching on a sample of a parrot.

Though it contains many distinct songs and moods, Since I Left You is a remarkably coherent record on all fronts. Aside from the fact that the Avalanches achieve a certain uniform "sound" on this album, subtler elements come into play as well. Songs blend seamlessly into one another. Samples reappear from song to song. And the album's final cut, "Extra Kings," with its breezy flute and psychedelic swells of sound, puts a brilliant twist on the album's title track, fading out with that same chipmunky voice lamenting, "I've tried but I just can't get you/ Ever since the day I left you."

In releasing Since I Left You, the Avalanches have essentially brought hundreds of slabs of inanimate vinyl to life. Though it was no doubt meticulously constructed, this is an album brimming with spontaneity, joy, sadness, humor, reflection, and general human-ness. With its high fun factor and subtle traces of deeper emotion, Since I Left You is the perfect record for the party, and for the period of regret and recovery after the party.

-Matt LeMay

Y@k Bollocks · Post by **Y@k Bollocks** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 12:36 pm

2root2 wrote:damn, i hate that lp. sounds like jive bunny to me.

Hahaha.

I bought it on the strength of that one track with the Raekwon break 'Avalanche Rock'. Think i listened to it about 5 times - rele boring.

Hasenfefer · Post by **Hasenfefer** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 2:12 pm

Y@k Bollocks wrote:
2root2 wrote:damn, i hate that lp. sounds like jive bunny to me.
Hahaha.

I bought it on the strength of that one track with the Raekwon break 'Avalanche Rock'. Think i listened to it about 5 times - rele boring.

YOU CRAZY EUROPEANS!

2root2 · Post by **2root2** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 2:14 pm

Hasenfefer wrote:
Y@k Bollocks wrote:
2root2 wrote:damn, i hate that lp. sounds like jive bunny to me.
Hahaha.

I bought it on the strength of that one track with the Raekwon break 'Avalanche Rock'. Think i listened to it about 5 times - rele boring.
YOU CRAZY EUROPEANS!

higher standards

Jizzy · Post by **Jizzy** » Sat Jun 11, 2005 6:14 pm

Y@k Bollocks wrote: rele boring.