Since I Left You [Import]

since i left you [import]

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Amazing full length debut for Aussie indie/dance act who'vemixed Badly Drawn Boy and are the first act to get permission from Madonna to sample from her oeuvre (regardless what you feel about her you have to admit she has taste). These guys are sample mad

Since I Left You,Avalanches,Rock/Pop

Since I Left You [Import]

Average customer rating:

You'll really enjoy it, as long as you're not an elitist lame-o
Best usage of old clips to make melodies
This was interesting in the '90s when it was called Shibuya-kei
Heard by accident
Best Party Album Ever

Since I Left You
The Avalanches
Manufacturer: Modular Interscope
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Alternative Dance | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Electronica | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Turntablists | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Big Beat | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Dance Pop | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Australia & New Zealand | International | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

At Last Alone
Music Has The Right To Children
Sound of Silver
The Good, the Bad & the Queen
Frontier Psychiatrist

ASIN: B0002C4ILS
Release Date: 2004-07-13

Tracks:

Since I Left You
Stay Another Season
Radio
Two Hearts In 3/4 Time
. Avalanche Rock
Flight Tonight
Close To You
Diners Only
Different Feeling, A
Electricity
Tonight May Have To Last Me All My Life
Pablo's Cruise
Frontier Psychiatrist - (video)
Etoh
Summer Crane
Little Journey
Live At Dominoes
Extra Kings

Album Description

This re-release was praised by the likes of Rolling Stone, Spin, URB, Blender, and more as "...utterly beyond anything heard to date." Playful, twisted, psychedelic, sampledelic, delirious, and infectious, it's the sound of six men who spent most of adolescence rummaging through bargain bins in Melbourne's record shops, constructing their own post-modern disco-pop amalgam from rubbish 50's rejects and saccharine 60's pap. Also available domestically for the first time on 180 gram double vinyl.

Customer Reviews:

You'll really enjoy it, as long as you're not an elitist lame-o.......2007-02-21

It's a remarkably well balanced album. I think what the other guy(the one who couldn't recommend the album) inaccurately describes as filler is simply variations in depth. There are some deeper r&b moments, then shades of deep house, disco, and shades, and shades, and it just kind of goes on like that for the duration of the album.....And this group weaves genres together like kaleidescope making it all seem so workable. Great effort. Simply seamless. It takes some real talent to take great musical moments in history and them put them together in a way that does all justice.

Pop this on at a house party with a bunch of people. Those that want to dance can, those that want to chill will, and everyone will be comfortable and happy.

Best usage of old clips to make melodies.......2006-10-28

This is the best example of music and sound mixing that I have ever heard. Period. It is smooth and melodic and makes you feel like you are outside at the beach on a breezy summer's day. I love every song on this album.

This was interesting in the '90s when it was called Shibuya-kei.......2006-05-16

It was interesting to see how Japanese kids interpreted years of American pop culture, made it their own, and then spit it back at us. That was really charming, good music. This record is an over produced, uninteresting sampling wankfest which can only be described as annoying. If you like this, you're not a bad person, you're just not looking hard enough for real music.

Heard by accident.......2006-05-15

I heard "Avalanche Rock" by accident, loved it, and had to listen to the whole album. It's funky, groovy and flows together beautifully. Deff recommended.

Best Party Album Ever.......2006-02-22

I don't understand how someone could say that some of the songs are just filler with only half the songs being good. Every single minute of the song there is something fascinating/interesting/beautiful/funky/meaningful/whimsical/subtle going on, although not all at the same time. This is in my top 5 favorite albums ever, (along with miles davis, faust, etc.), and I listened to it all the time for like 2 years. I never got sick of it, but gave it a rest just in case I were to ruin the freshness. There are new sounds and loops that I notice in the cd 3-4 years down the road, which is simply amazing considering how many times I've listened to it. Listen to it loud at a party, but also listen to it with headphones sometime to check out the dozens of layers of sound.

All the samples sound warm, organic, live, natural, and beautiful. They are put together in a mindblowingly complex/subtle/unique way, and they have an EXPERT way of continuing things for the perfect amount of time. The whole cd is like one beautiful, ever changing song. This is the only cd I know of that is like this. I can't compare it to anything, seriously. If someone finds another cd like this, please let us know. This is the kind of cd that I could burn for just about anybody and expect them to enjoy it. It's funky/danceable as hell, it's got alot of depth to it, it's psychedelic in the way all the songs connect and the strange samples, it has MANY MANY layers to it that all sync up perfectly, it's extremely unique, very creative, and just plain wonderful. It's everything I would want in a dj/samples/collage/dance/electronic cd and more. Sort of the way Bitches Brew by Miles Davis was for jazz/rock/improvised music/funk, this album is for dance/electronic/sampled music. Uncategorizable, timeless, a mix of many different styles combined perfectly, and subtle. I can't say enough about this cd. I've gotten more enjoyment out of Since I Left You than I've gotten out of 20 cd's combined. You should get it, and if you're at all open or sensitive to what the hell is going on, you'll dig it immensely.

Average customer rating:

The definitive album of the 00s
Amazing
Absolute joy
Already one of my all-time favorites...
A Modern Classic

Since I Left You
The Avalanches
Manufacturer: Elektra / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Alternative Dance | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Turntablists | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Big Beat | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Dance Pop | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Australia & New Zealand | International | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Fragments of Freedom
LCD Soundsystem
Moon Safari
The Audience's Listening
Dummy

ASIN: B00005QC5J
Release Date: 2001-11-06

Tracks:

Since I Left You
Stay Another Season
Radio
Two Hearts In 3/4 Time
Avalanche Rock
Flight Tonight
Close To You
Diners Only
A Different Feeling
Electricity
Tonight
Pablo's Cruise
Frontier Psychiatrist
Etoh
Summer Crane
Little Journey
Live At Dominoes
Extra Kings

Amazon.com

The Avalanches are a much-feted six-man crew of sample addicts from Australia whose debut album, Since I Left You, is a bargain-bin vinyl throwback to the Daisy Age. This album is constructed like a mix tape and calculated to tweak the dance floor. Snatches of familiar rhythms bubble up throughout, giving the record a comfortable lived-in feel but also betraying the fact that the group hasn't dug very far through the crates to source their raw material. There's little doubt that this kind of sample reconstruction has become standard fare for retrogressive adolescents with precious little musical flair and a mania for collecting records. The Avalanches get full marks for their seamless mixing skills, but otherwise it all feels way too tidy, bristling with its own inventiveness when it should be striving for something that transcends its influences. --Chris Campion

Customer Reviews:

The definitive album of the 00s.......2007-05-26

I will always contend that this album is the definitive one of the 00s. While sampling is nothing new in popular music, the extent of its role within this work is unprecedented, and has yet to be matched in nearly 7 years. Ever the post-modern work, "Since I Left You" offers the sample as the basic unit of sound, where previously existing music becomes the atom from which new sounds are formed. Unlike other uses of sampling, where the intent is to strike a chord of nostalgia within the listener that helps make explicit the connection between the old and the new, the Avalanches provide such dense layering that the original context of the sample is scarcely recognizable.

Amazing.......2006-03-30

This album is refreshing, creative and moving, attributes that are rare in music these days. Everyone loves a catchy tune, and the Avalanches find a new way to entice you and move you in a new way. When I first heard this album I knew I wanted to hear it again. It is something you can listen to anywhere with anyone for any type of mood. This album definately has sentimental value to me because it brings back memories of a good period in my life, but that's not the only reason why it holds so much value. The music itself has the ability to create a mystical and mysterious vibe.
Frontier Pyschiatrist and Since I Left You are my favorites. Bound to make you move or chill you out, whatever you're feeling.

Absolute joy.......2006-02-04

Many people have speculated and argued about what kind of music is played on Hell's loudspeakers. I don't know the answer to that question, but I guarantee you Since I Left You is on a 24-hour loop in Heaven. This album is amazingly, unbelievably, mind-blowingly great. It is total and utter joy and freedom from beginning to end. Some people will tell you that this and that song are good, and this and that song aren't as good, and blah blah blah. They are wrong. Some parts of it may take a while to grow on you, but if you have any kind of soul it will happen. Besides, at its core it's not a bunch of different songs released on one CD, the way most albums are. It's one work and deserves, more than any other album I've ever heard, to be treated and listened to as such. It's well worth it.

This is undoubtedly the greatest album ever created.

Already one of my all-time favorites..........2005-07-02

This music is so refreshing. I agree with some of the other entries, you definately need to listen to it a few times before you make any decisions about it. Pay close attention to tracks 1, 2, 9, 10, and 14. In fact, my advice would be to play these first until you fall in love with them, then move on to the other tracks. They are definately funky. I'm always grooving my head or tapping my foot to this music, which is uncommon for me.
Anyway, highly recomended. If you have eclectic taste in music this is one you have to have.

A Modern Classic.......2005-06-10

A few months ago, my roommate let me borrow this CD, which I automatically ripped and gave back to him. I didn't really listen to it until he had urged me enough times that it got on my nerves...after listening to the first song, I was unimpressed. I had already heard the Go! Team and figured that they did what the Avalanches do, only more to my liking. Every time he asked me what I thought of it, I would get extremely annoyed and would feel less like listening to it. Then one day we got into an arguement about the album where I explained my reasons for not thinking it was anything special. It got heated and I eventually kicked him out of my room. I started to feel quite stupid about this. So I decided to listen to the whole album again. That was about two months ago. I have listened to this CD several times a day ever since. It is one of my favorite albums ever! Absolutely brilliantly constructed. I even began searching out all the samples that they used...I haven't found many, mostly just the ones that are listed in the album cover. A few weeks ago I went out and bought it, because it seriously is one of the best albums I have ever heard. I talk to pretty much every one I meet about how great this record is. Not everyone agrees with me...perhaps they too will come around like I did. Viva Los Avalanches! Actually, I'm a little nervous about their first album. They perfected what they do on this album (their debut) as far as I can tell, but perhaps they have more that they haven't shown us yet. BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT!

Bruce Ford Sings Viennese Operetta (In English)

Average customer rating:

Kudos for Bruce Ford

Bruce Ford Sings Viennese Operetta (In English)
Bruce Ford
Manufacturer: Chandos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Soundtracks | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Customer Reviews:

Kudos for Bruce Ford.......2007-01-19

Bruce Ford is one of the premier tenors in the world and this album shows why. Mr Ford's beautiful and expressive singing is a delight. It is quite enjoyable to hear these lovely melodys sung with such expression and style. Don't miss this one!

Average customer rating:

Looks like a stuff up
True Genius at Work!
Very diverse and well crafted work.
Don't wait 'til it's too late...
The Avalanches Rock it!

Since I Left You
The Avalanches
Manufacturer: XL
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Blues | Styles | Music

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Turntablists | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Big Beat | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Australia & New Zealand | International | Styles | Music

Alternative Dance | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Dance & DJ | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00004WEUQ
Release Date: 2001-04-16

Tracks:

Since I Left You
Frontier Psychiatrist
Radio
Two Hearts in 3/4 Time
Avalanche Rock
Flight Tonight
Close to You
Diners Only
Different Feeling
Electricity
Tonight May Have to Last Me All My Life
Pablo's Cruise
Frontier Psychiatrist
Etoh
Summer Crane
Little Journey
Live at Dominoes
Extra Kings

Album Description

Remastered reissue in a digipak. Originally released in 1958. Features the song's 'I Want To know' & 'Yes Indeed'. Warner. 2005.

Album Details

This Band is Huge in Australia and is Now Getting Rave Reviews in the UK. The Face Magazine Says 'imagine a World with Only One Record - it Just Might Be this One.' 'since' is a Tasty Mix of Soul, Funk, Hip-hop and Break Beat. Includes the Aussie Hit Single 'frontier Psychiatrist'.

Customer Reviews:

Looks like a stuff up.......2005-06-27

The CD displayed is not Yes Indeed by Ray Charles, which I would dearly love to have.

True Genius at Work!.......2001-09-23

This CD is absolutely amazing if you like dance/hip hop/breakbeat or just have decent taste in general. The Avalanches are fairly close with the some of the big UK artists and share the same creative genius as their associates.

Apparently the CD took over a year and a half to compile the rights for all the samples used across the songs. This is sampling at it's best.

Don't miss this record. You will regret it. Oh and if you happen to find the original Australian release, you are in for a treat too...

Very diverse and well crafted work........2001-09-21

I first heard this album in a car, and so I didn't know who it was for a long time. But after I found out, I got this album because it had been very memorable. "Frontier Psychiatrist" and "Avalanche Rock" stick in my head the most, but I give just as much approval and recommmendation to all the other tracks on this album. It is a very well synthesized album and is definitely on the lines of original....

Don't wait 'til it's too late..........2001-09-21

Much is being made of the extensive sample clearence details which take up an entire page of the digipack sleeve, and indeed the Avalanches have managed to cram more musical references into 60 minutes than many producers could hope to acrue in a lifetime. But "Since I Left You" is far from a rough-hewn cut n'paste job; it is a tightly woven symphony where samples add texture and emotion, from subtle shading to dazzling illumination. This disc is no novelty; it's a fully fledged long-player, a complete unit from one end to the other. Wait, there're more superlatives!...It's a sumptuously gift-wrapped pressie from our friends down under - tear through the wrapping and ribbons, and you'll find the playful Frontier Psychiatrist, currently doing the business as a single in Europe and Oz (God forbid anything quite so original or interesting be unleashed upon the American public); shimmering, dusky interludes like Pablo's Cruise and Little Journey; and my personal faves, the emotive and brilliantly constructed album opener, Since I Left You and its "Holiday" sampling, horse-whipping coda, Stay Another Season. Don't bother waiting for the domestic release...you need this recording right now.

The Avalanches Rock it!.......2001-09-08

This is definetly the album of the year for mine!

I have listened to this album over and over, and with each listening i continue to be astounded with the diversity of imagination of these guys.

Rumour has it that this album is based on a mix tape called "gimix", which the avalanches mixed containing samples such as diverse as Cyndi Lauper and the Beatles (Have a listen to it if you get a chance). But due to copy right restrictions had to remix the songs with samples not copyrighted. The result is "Since I left You". Apparently they systematically scoured the record shops for months in melbourne looking samples to put in the album .... thats commitment!

Definetly listen to this album .... although it will take you quite a few listens to appreciate the brilliance of these guys.

My favoutite track on the album is "Live at domino's" (Track 17). This is probably the best disco song every recorded.

For fans of this band .... there is a remix of a Badly Drawn Boy single (The Shining) done by the Avalanches .... which can be downloaded from the Net as an MP3. It's a great sample of how good these guys are. I read a interiew with "Badly Drawn Boy" and he was absolutely blown away by the remix. This is a great rap, considering Badly Drawn Boys album is my vote for the 2nd best album of the year.

Tracks:

To Arms! - Eric Shilling
Does He Know He's Splitting Down The Back? - June Bronhill
It Is Her That Has Sent This Sweet Love Dream - Kevin Miller
My Dear Marquis (Laughing Song) - Sadler's Wells Opera Chorus
Since I Was Left An Orphan Lad - Nigel Douglas
There Once Lived A Vilia (Vilia Song) - June Bronhill
Love, Let Me Dream Again - Charles Craig
Polka - Sadler's Wells Opera Chorus
A Wand'ring Minstrel, I - John Wakefield
If You Go In, You're Sure To Win - Eric Shilling
When At Night I Go To Sleep - Patricia Kern
Close By The Ramparts Of Seville - Patricia Johnson
The Glass Let Us Fill - John Wakefield
Why Need You Be So Coy?...I'm Your Slave, Sweet Girl - Elizabeth Harwood
Yes, Let Me Sleep...Home To Our Mountains - Patricia Johnson
One Fine Day - Marie Collier
And Now You Will Hear The Messanger... - Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
Divum Jocastae Caput Mortuum! - Sir Ralph Richardson

Average customer rating:

Since I Left You
The Avalanches
Manufacturer: Xl Recordings
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Alternative Dance | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Turntablists | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Big Beat | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Australia & New Zealand | International | Styles | Music

Dance & DJ | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00005A0WZ
Release Date: 2001-04-09

Tracks:

Since I Left You
Everyday
Thank You Caroline (Andy Votel Remix)

Average customer rating:

Lute Unleashed

Manufacturer: Albany Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000049MQ
Release Date: 1994-06-16

Tracks:

Steal Away
Look over Yonder/Another Man Done Gone
Deep River
Go Down Moses
Palms of Victory
Irish Suite
Night and Day
Begin the Beguine
My Baby Left Me
Here's That Rainy Day
Baby Let's Play House
Hard Times Come Again No More
Susanna's Fancy
Virignia Belle
Since You Went Away
Southern Suite

Average customer rating:

Incredible

Since I Left You
The Avalanches
Manufacturer: Toy's Factory Japan
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Turntablists | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Big Beat | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

General | Dance Pop | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Australia & New Zealand | International | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Alternative Dance | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Dance & DJ | Imports | Stores | Music

Rock | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00005LCRN
Release Date: 2001-07-25

Tracks:

Since I Left You
Stay Another Season
Radio
Two Hearts in 3/4 Time
Avalanche Rock
Flight Tonight
Close to You
Diners Only
Different Feeling
Electricity
Tonight
Pablo's Cruise
Frontier Psychiatrist
Etoh
Summer Crane
Little Journey
Live at Dominoes
Extra Kings
Everyday [*]

Album Description

Japanese edition of the Aussie indie pop/dance act's 2000 debut album includes one exclusive bonus track, 'Everyday' which has not appeared as a b-side! 19 tracks in all including the singles, 'Since I Left You', 'Frontier Psychiatrist' & 'Radio'. Packaged in a gatefold mini replica vinyl sleeve. Also included for the initial pressing is a bonus Japanese/Avalanches sticker. Toy's Factory/Japan 2001 release.

Album Details

Japanese version featuring a bonus track.

Customer Reviews:

Incredible.......2004-02-10

This album is truly fantastic. It's a mix of soft background and harder, more abrasive techno tracks, all with one thing in common: sampling. The Avalanches take samples from movies, songs, even Madonna's Holiday (the first time she allowed a group to sample her song was for the Avalanches, because she was so impressed), and combine the small clips to make a beautiful, nonstop, truly insightful mix of music that I guarentee you have never heard before. Try it out, at first it sounds odd to the ear, but in the end, I am sure you will love it and get into it as much as I have.

Average customer rating:

Shadows in the Sea

Manufacturer: Tzadik
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Avant Garde & Free Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000003YT1
Release Date: 1996-08-20

Tracks:

Low-End
Since You Have Left
The Woman Is Perfected
Sharks
Night
And Wind
Saturnspacemonsters Walking On A Sandy Surface
Old Moon
Im Winter
Never Saw The Stars So Bright
Habe Die Liebe Verschlafen
W.A.L.S.C.H.

Average customer rating:

When Different Stops Being Good
Avalanches rock
A journey in nostalgic trip-hop music
little-known, underrated...did I mention FABULOUS?
Aussie Collective Concoct Kooky Masterpiece

Since I Left You
The Avalanches
Manufacturer: Modular
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Turntablists | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Big Beat | Dance & DJ | Styles | Music

Australia & New Zealand | International | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

Alternative Dance | Alternative Styles | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Dance & DJ | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00005QXBD
Release Date: 2002-07-15

Tracks:

Since I Left You
Stay Another Season
Radio
Two Hearts In 3/4 Time
Avalanche Rock
Flight Tonight
Close To You
Diners Only
A Different Feeling
Electricity
Tonight
Pablo's Cruise
Frontier Psychiatrist
Etoh
Summer Crane
Little Journey
Live At Dominoes
Extra Kings

Album Description

2001 debut album from the Aussie cut & paste act. Digipak. Modular.

Album Details

Customer Reviews:

When Different Stops Being Good.......2005-09-05

I don't understand the huge praises of this album I have heard. It starts as though someone is entering a huge gathering of people where everyone seems to be least bothered about each other.These people are completely lost and have given themselves away to the moment. The only thing quite good about Avalanches is their ability in choosing a name for their band and an even better title for their album . The music lacks shape,direction and sounds nothing but monotonous. I have known a lot of music to grow on me but Avalanches refuses to budge from it's chaotic boredom. There is way too much good music in life than to sacrifice my time on Avalanches. I wish they tried not to make the album sound like a 50 min breather of coming back to life significance (much forced)

Try some real music, get these albums -
The Cure - Seventeen Seconds/Disintegration
Cocteau Twins - Blue Bell Knoll/Heaven Or Las Vegas

Avalanches rock.......2004-09-15

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.

A journey in nostalgic trip-hop music.......2004-08-20

This is probably the best album I purchased in 2001. This CD is the ultimate chillin out mood music. The six members from Australia play off of each other so well, combining club/dance, turntablism, trip-hop and a whole lot of funky breakbeats. They also use an insane number of samples; mostly stuff you've never heard before. Make no mistake about it; this music is more mind-bending and unique compared to most electronic music. The album only gets better as you listen to it. It's a consistent piece of musical genius ready to excite your ears. This is essential listening for anyone with an open mind to interesting music.

little-known, underrated...did I mention FABULOUS?.......2004-06-26

This intriguing electronic album from the Avalanches remains one of my all-time favorites more than two years after I purchased it. When I first listened to it, I didn't realize exactly how much of their music was made up of samples. I'm not overly musical myself and was even more impressed with the album when I found out that the songs are 100% sampled; no one in the band plays any instruments in the traditional sense.

Now, on to what you're really wondering about: the content of the songs. The musical style is a little hard to pin down, but it is obviously influenced by the sample-heavy methods of most urban music styles. But this is definitely not a hip-hop record, or even one with a hip-hop influence. Instead the Avalanches have mixed a cut-and-paste aesthetic with a carefree, fun-loving attitude expressed by bands like Lemon Jelly. The result is music that is consistently fun and occasionally laugh-out-loud funny (such as many moments in "Frontier Psychiatrist"). The album opens with "Since I Left You", which samples what seems to be a pop singer from the forties or fifties. That introductory track is a bit misleading, as the rest of the album is much more frenzied and upbeat rather than sounding like a remix you might find on a "Verve Remixed" compilation. That's not a bad thing, though; after repeated listenings I usually find myself skipping the first track to get to the sunnier, more unpredictable rest of the album. The songs swoop and skip, with samples from the second track turning up again in the last few songs of the album. The sound quality of some of the samples is less than perfect, so the album is overlaid with a vintage-sounding record crackle in the bacground most of the time. It's terrific driving music and also makes a nice accompaniment to anything you're doing on a sunny day. One warning: I have found that the album works best as a whole, since the tracks bleed into one another and, with a couple of exceptions, seem to have been separated for the CD along completely arbitrary lines.

Aussie Collective Concoct Kooky Masterpiece.......2004-06-07

Take a few Aussie DJ's, a mountain of vinyl and samples and a dash of creativity and you have the Avanlanches. One of the surprise imports from the land of Air Supply, The Avalanches Since I Left You is a master stroke of carefree summer fun. The title track could easily have been played in a long forgotten disco 25 years ago, but it is "Frontier Psychiatrist" that steals the show with its wild scratches, bizzare samples and killer bassline midway through the track. What makes this album so unique is that the Avalanches never take themselves seriously which is a trait seriously lacking in the music industry these days.

Music:

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