Back in 1999, an album came out that i'll admit now...I didn't quite get at all. An album since that time that I grew to love and, without sounding too corny, become completely entranced by. 'Since I Left You' by Aussie sonic collage artists, The Avalanches, is one of those records where upon first listen you can tell is something really unique and cool, but end up scratching your head over. Then, eventually, after tucking it away, you bust out later to give it another spin...and then another...and another, until...PING! It all comes together.
Not quite a hip hop or a dance or an electronica album, but equal measures of all of them combined. Really, it's the closest successor to the Beastie Boys sample-laden masterpiece 'Paul's Boutique' which is amazing for one glaring reason. After said B-Boys release and De La's '3 Feet High & Rising' dropped in the late 80's, the business of sample clearance hit artists hard and, in my opinion, almost neutered the genre of hip-hop/rap completely. Where albums like those cut apart and wove different pieces of music and sound into amazing tapestry, legal issues basically reduced the art (yeah, ART) of sampling to the wack practice of Diddy looping the hook from a Bowie or Zeppelin tune and rhyming over the top of it.
'Since I Left You' was a feel-good bouillabaisse of disco/flamenco grooves, hip-hop beats, movie dialogue and other 'everything but the kitchen sink' sound effects blended seamlessly together to create something special. Much like 'Paul's Boutique' and '3 Feet High' before it, billions of snippets were painstakingly assembled into one unified body of work w/ the sole purpose of making your head bob and your toe tap. Outside of the whacked-out tune to the insanely good video above, the rest of the songs are like musical Calgon and take you away to place where you can't help but feel good. For those that don't have it, I highly recommend adding it to your collection.
So, now you're probably saying: 'just awesome my man, but why review an album that came out over 6 years ago?' Well, after dropping this gem on the unsuspecting world and laying down a series of insane live shows w/ dozens of folks on stage to recreate what was on wax, they pretty much disappeared outside of a mix album and random side projects/DJ sets...most fans assuming they'd never hear from the band again...until last Monday. The following post showed up from the band on their website forum just a scant few days ago:
Posted: Mon Jan 29, 2007
4:49 pmPost subject: a chinese new year message from the avalanches-----------------------abracadabra!happy new year yall. we've
made a heap of mixes and stuff available while we finish the record. they wont
give you a hint of the new albums magical sound unfortunately, but they will
keep you pilgrims well nourished until the next harvest.its a really thrilling time
for us right now as this record comes together, its so fuckin party you will
die, much more hip hop than you might expect, and while there is still no
accurate estimated time of arrival, were sure you're gonna love it when it
arrives.much of last year was spent
cutting up the spoken word/instructional records we need to tell the albums
musical story, and we have some 40 odd songs we're narrowing down and finishing.
so its real, it exists, and you know we wouldn't be serving anything up unless
it was gonna give you that same special feeling that since has. funnily enough
its ended up sounding like the next logical step to since, we just had to go
around in a big circle to get back to where we belong.and one day when you least
expect it you'll wake up and the sample fairy will have left it under your
pillow. so big up to clint for all his work in making the downloads available
for everyone to enjoy, and have a great oh seven.
The post came w/ a mix you can DL HERE and, like they said, not completely indicative of their sound, but a great sample of how fun this band and their music can be if you let it. Enjoy and PEACE!
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