- A lavish reissue packed with new remixes, but the original masterpiece remains the big draw.
- 20 years is an eternity in pop culture, and perhaps even more so in electronic music. Just think of how far we've come in terms of production technology, how many sub-genres and trends have come and gone. Yet The Avalanches' 2000 album,Since I Left You, is still considered a supernatural feat of sampling. The title track alone uses records from at least three continents spread across three different decades. Armed with a Yamaha ProMix 01, an Akai S2000 and crates of records, four Australian schoolmates attempted one of the most laborious feats in recent music history, chopping up the most samples ever used on a record (around 3000). They forged a blend of hip-hop, dance, pop, psychedelia and soul, reaping the fruits of their labor with a masterwork that now finds itself near the top of many "best albums of all time" lists.
Since I Left You was originally intended as a concept album about a man chasing his love interest around the world, constantly finding himself one step behind. The idea was scrapped for something less complicated, but a restless, nomadic energy still shines through. Just as it's hard to discern where one sample ends and the next begins, the songs also dart between heartbreak and joy, tension and bliss within mere seconds. It's like being transported through someone else's memories at warp speed, feeling a nostalgia that you can't quite place. Even the group's name was taken from a relatively unknown American surf rock band from the '60s.
Breathing new life into the obscure and forgotten is The Avalanches' modus operandi. But the story behind the album is also one of rebirth: two years before Since I Left You came out, founder Robbie Chater was admitted to the ICU for alcohol withdrawal. He told The Guardian that his inspiration for the album came about "when I was sober and just glad to be alive. That's a lot of the feeling and the joyousness behind that album—me at 23, making music and just [being] happy to be alive." A vocal sample at the start of the opener "Since I Left You" says, Welcome to paradise," before ushering us into one of the most jubilant parties ever put on record.
Since I Left You's defining characteristic is an insouciant giddiness. The LP is never afraid to make light of itself and everything else around it, scattered with zany vocal chops that lend it cartoonish energy. Take the now-iconic "That boy needs therapy" line from "Frontier Psychiatrist"—it might hold serious weight in the context of Chater's ordeal, but the tongue-in-cheek delivery provides levity amidst the operatic tension of the instrumental. (Chater has cited Prince Paul as a key influence on this integral push-and-pull between humour and emotion.)
For this 20th anniversary edition, The Avalanches have invited contemporaries and younger producers—like Sinkane, the late MF DOOM, Leon Vynehall and the aforementioned Prince Paul—to remix the LP. The original album is so perfect to me that I was struggling to imagine these remixes as anything other than blasphemy. But most of the reworks, from the likes of Leon Vynehall and Carl Craig, feel like love letters to the original material. Stereolab's version "Since I Left You" is a prime example, adding a dreamy gloss that combines the two acts' best qualities.
There are almost as many remixes as there are tracks on the original, making for a long and (mostly) rewarding listen. "Radio"—with its warbling keys and driving groove—already felt like a Sinkane song, and his funky interpretation takes it to new heights. Prince Paul's soulful take on "Since I Left You" packs more of a percussive punch and adds layers of suspense. Along with Edan's version of "Tonight May Have To Last Me All My Life," these versions indicate The Avalanches could have been legendary even if they just focused on making hip-hop beats. MF Doom's "Tonight May Have to Last Me All My Life" remix probably shouldn't have been on here, though. It's lethargic and sounds unfinished.
The legend around Since I Left You has only grown since its release. The group reportedly had even grander ideas that never materialized. There's said to be a "stronger" unreleased version of "Live At Dominoes" with even more samples that weren't able to be cleared—which is unsettling considering the original's near-perfect arrangement.
From the hushed sensuality of "Tonight May Have to Last Me All My Life" to the sun-soaked "Extra Kings," Since I Left You feels like a broken radio with a mind of its own. The remixers were brave enough to step into the record's large shadow and illuminate it with some inspired reinterpretations. Still, the original's charm comes from its almost divine randomness, a spontaneity that can't be repeated or remade. 20 years later, this immortal record still shines brightly enough to remain the jewel in the crown of the plunderphonics era. This perfect storm of borderless sampling bottles the spontaneity and vim of youth and captures timeless feelings, making the record unbeholden to eras or trends.
TracklistPart 1
01. Since I Left You
02. Stay Another Season
03. Radio
04. Two Hearts In 3/4 Time
05. Avalanche Rock
06. Flight Tonight
07. Close To You
08. Diners Only
09. A Different Feeling
10. Electricity
11. Tonight May Have To Last Me All My Life
12. Pablo's Cruise
13. Frontier Psychiatrist
14. Etoh
15. Summer Crane
16. Little Journey
17. Live At Dominoes
18. Extra Kings
Part 2
01. Since I Left You (Cornelius Remix)
02. Tonight May Have To Last Me All My Life (Edan Remix)
03. Frontier Psychiatrist (Mario Caldato Jr's 85% Remix)
04. Close To You (Sun Araw Remix)
05. Since I Left You (Stereolab Remix)
06. Flight Tonight (Canyons Travel Agent Dub)
07. Radio (Sinkane Remix)
08. Since I Left You (Prince Paul Remix)
09. Electricity (Harvey's Nightclub Re-Edit)
10. Summer Crane (Black Dice Remix)
11. Extra Kings (Deakin Remix)
12. Tonight May Have To Last Me All My Life (MF DOOM Remix)
13. Tonight May Have To Last Me All My Life (Dragged By Leon Vynehall)
14. A Different Feeling (Carl Craig's Paperclip People Remix)
15. Thank You Caroline (Original Avalanches Demo Tape)