Since I Left You

Avalanches | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 13, 2004)
• Original Release Date: 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Modular Interscope
• ASIN: B0002C4ILS
• In-Print Editions: Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,402 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #7 in Music > Dance & DJ > Turntablists
  • #16 in Music > Dance & DJ > Big Beat
  • #56 in Music > World Music > Australia & New Zealand

Track Listings

1. Since I Left You

2. Stay Another Season

3. Radio

4. Two Hearts In 3/4 Time

5. . Avalanche Rock

6. Flight Tonight

7. Close To You

8. Diners Only

9. Different Feeling, A

10. Electricity

11. Tonight May Have To Last Me All My Life

12. Pablo's Cruise

13. Frontier Psychiatrist - (video)

14. Etoh

15. Summer Crane

16. Little Journey

17. Live At Dominoes

18. Extra Kings

Editorial Reviews

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

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Avalanche rock, August 30, 2004

By 

E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Since I Left You (Audio CD)

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.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best Party Album Ever, February 21, 2006

By 

E-CLoud "E-Cloud" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Since I Left You (Audio CD)

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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A real trip, February 4, 2005

By 

Anthony Riddette "Eclectic" (Sydney Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Since I Left You (Audio CD)

I stumbled onto this ablum by just taking a punt while I was in a record shop, by asking the guy behind the counter to suggest an amazing CD to me.

I didn't give the CD a good listen at the shop and when I got it home I was a bit disappointed (it sounded all scrathcy like an old vinyl and that irritated me) and didn't play the album again for about 6 months.

Then one day I took out the album and played again and was stuned at how brilliant it is.

This ablum is a trip in the true sense of the word. You will be taken on a journey of musical genius (yes the word does get used over much but these guys really are musical geniuses) that not only enertains but it also transports.

This album fuctions a bit like a bunch of fragmented memories, jumping from place to place within a loose framework.

Dazzling and amazing stuff.