Since I Left You…

Jesus, I can’t spin The Avalanches debut without hearing something new almost every time. With over 900 samples used to create something original, dreamy, and damn catchy, it’s no wonder each listen yields a new discovery. It’s been two decades since its release. To commemorate, they excavated their archives to provide us with a Deluxe Reissue of what might be the most creatively engineered album ever. Seriously, name another.

These audio archeologists plucked out sound after sound from dusty, unheard records. This duo masterly assembled these samples into an intricate jigsaw puzzle that became one hell of a brilliant aural tapestry. The minds of this duo are otherworldly, not many can hear a snippet of a song or spoken word track and envision blending it with other sounds to create something unique. Let alone a song worth playing over and over again that seamlessly blends into other works of art that thematically fit into Since I Left You.

The mash-up world that came at us full force owes so much to these sample-happy masterminds. Where some records from that era sound dated, or at least their novelty has worn off, there is a timeless element to this album.

“I remember very clearly a few things – “we decided to not have any of our voices on it, which made it last because it’s a kind of transmission; nothing date-stamps it to that time. “Music lovers get it, and that’s what we ultimately are. It’s almost like an exploration of our relationship with the world and with music. “Looking back, I’m proud of this record as a pure expression of joy and love, heart on its sleeve and is free from irony.”

To whet our appetite for which is inevitably the reissue of 2021, The Avalanches share the title track “Since I Left You” re-worked by none other than Prince Paul, an uncredited 4th member of De La Soul. Who was a true pioneer in his ability to push the production boundaries of what a backing track could sound like. Prince Paul helped to lay the groundwork for The Avalanches to concoct such a genre bending mindfuck that is Since I Left You.

Prince Paul’s remix sees him injecting a whole new surging pulse into the title track. Where the original eases us into this genre hopping journey, this version scratches, incorporates additional female vocals telling their ex how it is, and adds an extra punch care of Paul’s rhyming. An excellent glimpse into what this Deluxe reissue has in store for us.

Avalanches’ Music Makes Me High

Releasing a single or two in advance of a record is the equivalent of a movie trailer. It’s whetting our appetite for what’s to come; it lets us begin to see what the potential theme or sound of an album might be. A strategic release makes us excited for the release of the record.

Melbourne’s The Avalanches are serious crate diggers. Excavating archaeologists of the finest degree. Their ability to find the obscure is uncanny, their ability to miraculously piece sounds together to form new songs is unworldly. The sample-heavy masterpiece Since I Left You from 2000 is living proof of their abilities. A record rumored to have up to 3,500 song fragments and sounds pulled from a dizzying array of genre resources to form a seamless body moving mix from front to back.

The production duo-extraordinaires are releasing We Will Always Love You on 12/11, the follow-up to 2016’s Wildflower. Their previous output leaned heavily on guest collaborators and original production. We Will Always Love You is founded on cosmic love and inspired by Carl Sagan’s Voyager Golden Record Project. On “Music Makes Me High”, the disco- house dial has been cranked, the fragments of others’s art are pieced together to make you bounce, perhaps grace a floor and become funkdafied.

NME’s wide-ranging interview with Robbie and Tony of The Avalanches where they speak of their found inspiration. It only takes one sample to spark new art:

Robbie: “It was almost like a throwback to the music we grew up and were listening to before we made ‘Since I Left You’ – that classic house feel of the Crydamoure label and the first Basement Jaxx album [‘Remedy’, 1999]. When we found the Salty Miller sample, ‘Music Makes Me High’, it reminded me of ‘Red Alert’ by Basement Jaxx and ‘The music keeps on playing on and on’. We thought, ‘Can we turn into that kind of thing?’ It took a while actually, but then we found the Devoted Soul sample and it just started to click. We’ve got better at making sample-based music. We would have tried to make this song way back when and it probably wouldn’t have banged as hard.

Tony: “We don’t want to be too retro. It’s a nice little throwback to that era.”

Three records from The Avalanches in 20 years is respectable given the time frame between their debut and Wildflower. Thanks to high art, 2020 won’t go down in vain.