that entire passage reminds me a lot of guys like BT who write insane overwrought essays about what turns out to be pretty fucking normal dance music
still, I did like Wildflower a lot so I'll grab this
― frogbs, Friday, 30 October 2020 18:50 (three years ago) link
They've been fairly busy (wildly, by their standards) this year apart from working on the new album, too. Back in May, they did an hour-long mix with or for Jamie XX on his NTS radio show:https://www.mixcloud.com/NTSRadio/jamie-xx-the-avalanches-15th-may-2020/
In mid-August, Sydney Oasis tribute act rock band DMA's digitally released a remix of Criminal, from their album of the previous month.
https://i.imgur.com/vRSswnk.jpg
Here's video of the band performing it, and here's audio of the Avalanches version.
For Record Store Day, the Chemical Brothers released a 12-inch megamix of their Surrender album by the Avs.
https://i.imgur.com/zLDTi3B.jpg
A youtube rip can be heard here.
In September, six months into Melbourne's get-arrested-if-you-leave-your-house lockdown, they streamed a live mix on youtube from their respective living rooms.
https://i.imgur.com/wss24B1.png
The audio was posted afterward on their soundcloud, and you can also get a 2.7gb video rip from here.
and ex-lanche James De La Cruz appeared on an Adelaide radio show to play some of his favourite Australian songs. The "listen again" link wouldn't work for me, but there's a mostly-legible list of the songs picked.
― edited for dog profanity (sic), Friday, 30 October 2020 19:23 (three years ago) link
i really have no idea what i'm going to think of this record, out of the released tracks so far "take care of your dreaming" was really nice but a lot of it has also been completely nothing-y or actively awful "running red lights"
the track times at least seems to indicate they might be going for a more of a continuous mix than wildflower since it's full of interludes
― ufo, Friday, 30 October 2020 22:41 (three years ago) link
six months into Melbourne's get-arrested-if-you-leave-your-house lockdown
Haha. You always seemed like such a stickler for accuracy, sic...
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Saturday, 31 October 2020 01:42 (three years ago) link
:)
― edited for dog profanity (sic), Saturday, 31 October 2020 03:55 (three years ago) link
As it happens, I'm not the only person who noticed that it's the 20th anniversary.
Robbie, on Facebook a couple of weeks ago, recalled his musical inspiration for the song, and putting it together with Dexter. There's a very cool 1-minute video of the original video and vinyl samples, which can be viewed without an account, plus this text:
Frontier Psychiatrist was released 20 years ago this month. So funny to reflect that such a strange song became a top 20 single.I had the opening Enoch Light sample hanging around for years, was always trying to turn it into a banging hip hop tune. Of course, it never went anywhere. I wasn't being myself.Finding the dumb ass Wayne and Shuster comedy album changed everything. I heard the skit about a cowboy who hated his horse and a lightbulb went off in my head.Ahh! I’ll combine it with the dramatic Enoch Light record, and make a surreal scratch / comedy song.This is the essence of creativity to me. Joining the dots between unrelated elements & showing people the hidden connections.Prince Paul was a hero of mine, he taught me humor is just as valuable as heartache or joy in music. Those weird 70's Beach Boys records about vegetables and sleep also encouraged me to make something lysergic & fun.I had this huge collection of spoken word & comedy albums, golf instruction albums, bizarre Christian records. I was obsessed with the Christian label WORD out of Waco, Texas. The guys were always giving me a hard time like, why are you collecting all that junk! Once the music was complete and the hook in place, Dexter came over and we spent a couple a days goofing around and going through the dialogue albums, hanging in my bedroom studio. I remember the records spread out all across my bed and floor and us climbing out the window so we wouldn’t disturb the process.I loved adding the horse squeal sample to complete the song, hiring old western movies on VHS, getting stoned and sampling away. The horse was a nod to DJ Muggs & Cypress Hill ; I read they had done a similar thing. It became a trademark sound on the album and I used it again on ‘Stay Another Season’ & ‘Radio’ too.Looking back I am reminded of how simple things can be when making your art. All you really need is a bunch of junkstore records and your imagination.20 years later, we are still broke ass musicians, we don’t own homes, (or even cars!) ..but we are happy, and fulfilled, and I wouldn't trade this life for anything - robbie
I had the opening Enoch Light sample hanging around for years, was always trying to turn it into a banging hip hop tune. Of course, it never went anywhere. I wasn't being myself.
Finding the dumb ass Wayne and Shuster comedy album changed everything. I heard the skit about a cowboy who hated his horse and a lightbulb went off in my head.
Ahh! I’ll combine it with the dramatic Enoch Light record, and make a surreal scratch / comedy song.
This is the essence of creativity to me. Joining the dots between unrelated elements & showing people the hidden connections.
Prince Paul was a hero of mine, he taught me humor is just as valuable as heartache or joy in music. Those weird 70's Beach Boys records about vegetables and sleep also encouraged me to make something lysergic & fun.
I had this huge collection of spoken word & comedy albums, golf instruction albums, bizarre Christian records. I was obsessed with the Christian label WORD out of Waco, Texas. The guys were always giving me a hard time like, why are you collecting all that junk! Once the music was complete and the hook in place, Dexter came over and we spent a couple a days goofing around and going through the dialogue albums, hanging in my bedroom studio. I remember the records spread out all across my bed and floor and us climbing out the window so we wouldn’t disturb the process.
I loved adding the horse squeal sample to complete the song, hiring old western movies on VHS, getting stoned and sampling away. The horse was a nod to DJ Muggs & Cypress Hill ; I read they had done a similar thing. It became a trademark sound on the album and I used it again on ‘Stay Another Season’ & ‘Radio’ too.
Looking back I am reminded of how simple things can be when making your art. All you really need is a bunch of junkstore records and your imagination.
20 years later, we are still broke ass musicians, we don’t own homes, (or even cars!) ..but we are happy, and fulfilled, and I wouldn't trade this life for anything - robbie
The month before that, it topped a radio station poll of The Best Australian Debut Albums, and Robbie was interviewed about it: https://www.abc.net.au/doublej/music-reads/features/the-avalanches-since-i-left-you-robbie-chater/12673428
Snippets:
Since I Left You was a moment where we realised 'Let's just take out all of that vocal stuff and the live instrumentation and try make something that feels like it's beamed in from another time, or another universe or something. We'll express ourselves just with what we find on the records'." ..."From beginning to end, [it took] maybe just 18 months," Chater says."I remember, it was summer in Melbourne, and we were all living in share houses. Everybody was popping around to each other's houses and there was just music going all the time. It was very happy and carefree."Chater's bedroom was ground zero for the album, and it's the place his mind returns to when he hears it."It was the front room of a terrace share house in Melbourne," he recalls. "I remember looking out, there were a couple of big gum trees on the nature strip."I was 22/23, so I would be up all night working on it, and I can still picture the view of the sun coming up over the buildings across the road, not knowing we've been up all night working on it."
"From beginning to end, [it took] maybe just 18 months," Chater says.
"I remember, it was summer in Melbourne, and we were all living in share houses. Everybody was popping around to each other's houses and there was just music going all the time. It was very happy and carefree."
Chater's bedroom was ground zero for the album, and it's the place his mind returns to when he hears it.
"It was the front room of a terrace share house in Melbourne," he recalls. "I remember looking out, there were a couple of big gum trees on the nature strip.
"I was 22/23, so I would be up all night working on it, and I can still picture the view of the sun coming up over the buildings across the road, not knowing we've been up all night working on it."
"It would take forever on the clunky old computer we made the record on, but I would get a certain amount of way through the record, burn songs onto a CD Walkman, and go for a walk around Melbourne in the summer and listen to it."I'd take mental notes about what could be better and that kind of thing."It's such a funny time reflecting now. There wasn't YouTube – now we sample a lot from YouTube – I don't think I even had email or anything like that."
"I'd take mental notes about what could be better and that kind of thing.
"It's such a funny time reflecting now. There wasn't YouTube – now we sample a lot from YouTube – I don't think I even had email or anything like that."
― edited for dog profanity (sic), Saturday, 31 October 2020 10:39 (three years ago) link
The first album is also now available on Tidal, which includes detailed credits for each track. Darren and Robbie are credited for writing on every track*, sometimes with the other members and various sampled folks, but despite the BobbyDazzler and "Darren Seltmann And The Viking Bobby C" credits on the CD, Tidal's data has Robbie producing half the album solo, Darren doing one track solo, and the rest being Robbie + various members of the band
Since I Left You: Robbie Stay Another Season: Robbie Radio: Robbie Two Hearts In 3/4 Time: all four Avalanche Rock: Robbie Flight Tonight: Robbie & Darren Close To You: Robbie & Gordon Diners Only: Robbie A Different Feeling Robbie & Darren Electricity: all fourTonight: Robbie Pablo's Cruise: Darren Frontier Psychiatrist: Dexter & Robbie Etoh: Robbie Summer Crane: Robbie Little Journey: Robbie Live At Dominoes: Robbie & Tony (the Wildflower lineup - but Tony's contribution here may have just been singing, as an IRL sample source)Extra Kings: Robbie & Darren
*except A Different Feeling, where one sample gets the entire publishing.
― edited for dog profanity (sic), Saturday, 31 October 2020 20:32 (three years ago) link
So I must prefer all of them together since my two favorite songs are those were the four of them are credited.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Saturday, 31 October 2020 20:50 (three years ago) link
what an amazing amazing album <3
― brimstead, Saturday, 31 October 2020 21:42 (three years ago) link
Going back further: eight years ago someone in the Sydney band Smudge had a dig around in their '90s boxes and found three Mountain Goats cassettes on Shrimper, Archers Of Loaf live at famed indie rock venue now shitty gastropub owned by a bank The Annandale Hotel, and the Avalanches first demo, just before they changed their name.
And some fans on twitter earlier this year dug up faded print photos they took at some of the early touring gigs - link one, link two, link two.2 - and these ones really give a Proustian twinge of how magnificent those shows were:
https://i.imgur.com/b1eE28D.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/ol4e7zq.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/izax72m.jpg
― edited for dog profanity (sic), Sunday, 1 November 2020 20:28 (three years ago) link
As of today we're exactly four weeks from the 20th anniversary of Since I Left You, and they still haven't finalised the release date for the 10th anniversary deluxe reissue, or announced details of the super-deluxe package versions.― edited for dog profanity (sic), Friday, October 30, 2020 6:40 PM (one week ago)
― edited for dog profanity (sic), Friday, October 30, 2020 6:40 PM (one week ago)
WAIT HOLD UP
The original sleeve notes for the 2011 re-release, by Jockey Slut's John Burgess, were posted from his files. there are enough errors that this might not have made it into the final release, at least in this form, but! BUT!!!
Somehow this 2011-planned tenth-anniversary reissue of a 2000-released album actually got pressed in 2017 - not just promoed, with a cover and shrinkwrap and everything - now with sleeve notes by Simon Reynolds - and still never came out. Someone sold a copy on eBay in March, for just $250 - presumably since nobody previously knew it existed, no fans had searches saved for it...
Not all the initially-announced remixes ended up on it, but here's the rundown for the bonus discs, with new/unreleased tracks in bold.
LP 3:
1. Since I Left You (Cornelius Remix) 2. Tonight May Have To Last Me All My Life (Edan Remix) 3. Frontier Psychiatrist (Mario Caldato Jr.'s 85% Remix 4. Close To You (Sun Araw Remix) 5. Since I Left You (Stereolab Remix) 6. Flight Tonight (Canyons Travel Agent Dub) 7. Radio (Sinkane Remix)
LP 4:
1. Since I Left You (Prince Paul Remix) 2. Electricity (Harvey's Nightclub Re-edit) 3. Summer Crane (Black Dice Remix) 4. Extra Kings (Deakin Remix) 5. Tonight May Have To Last Me All My Life (MF DOOM Remix) 6. Tonight May Have To Last Me All My Life (Dragged by Leon Vynehall) 7. A Different Feeling (Carl Craig's Paperclip People Remix) 8. Thank You Caroline (Original Avalanches Demo Tape)
― @oneposter (👍) (sic), Wednesday, 11 November 2020 00:24 (three years ago) link
what the actual fuck
― brimstead, Wednesday, 11 November 2020 00:47 (three years ago) link
never knew about the Harvey electricity edit
similarly, I thought the Prince Paul one was new until I checked Discogs. the Stereolab one was done for the reissue, but sort-of released online in 2011 (linked upthread by me back then!) so not new any longer, even though it still hasn't actually come out.
― @oneposter (⛰️) (sic), Wednesday, 11 November 2020 00:53 (three years ago) link
huh I thought the stereolab remix came out back in 01 or 02?
― brimstead, Wednesday, 11 November 2020 01:06 (three years ago) link
I want to hear all these remixes about 1000x more than I want to hear the new album lol
― it bangs for thee (Simon H.), Wednesday, 11 November 2020 01:10 (three years ago) link
oh yeah oops, it was that they'd supposedly lost the master by 2011, so posted a vinyl rip on soundcloud as a teaser for the deluxe
― @oneposter (⛰️) (sic), Wednesday, 11 November 2020 01:12 (three years ago) link
I'll take the Black Dice remix if no one else wants it
― lukas, Wednesday, 11 November 2020 02:45 (three years ago) link
I’m 50/50 on the Stereolab remix. The sort of interlude feels out of place and is not that good to begin with, and ideally I would have added Sadier singing either the original vocal sample or completely new lyrics.
The remix sounds like it’s got a really good thing going on but it needed further work, imho. Can’t blame the deadline on this one.
Haven’t heard any other remixes, are they all available somewhere?
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 11 November 2020 06:11 (three years ago) link
Tonight May Have To Last Me All My Life (Dragged by Leon Vynehall)
oh shiiii
― nashwan, Wednesday, 11 November 2020 10:29 (three years ago) link
I mean, you can see how well the attempt to collect half of them is going so far...
(there were also remixes of Electricity by DJ Sneak and by Herbert as Dr Rockit, of A Different Feeling by Ernest St Laurent, of Thank You Caroline by Andy Votel, and the Avalanches did their own re-edit of the Paperclip People remix that's half as long & at the original tempo.)
― @oneposter (⛰️) (sic), Wednesday, 11 November 2020 11:48 (three years ago) link
more non-album new music: a The Avalanches feat. Perry Farrell track from an upcoming Perry Farrell box set (youtube audio-only link)
― @oneposter (⛰️) (sic), Wednesday, 11 November 2020 13:15 (three years ago) link
Not sold on most songs released so far but “take care in your dreaming” really works for me.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Friday, 20 November 2020 02:14 (three years ago) link
the perry farrell track is on the album actually
― ufo, Friday, 20 November 2020 02:51 (three years ago) link
Looks like either half of it is (I'm assuming the Avs album is a continuous segued mix), or a different version?
Anyway now that Melbourne's allowed to go outside, here's Robbie and Tony live at the planetarium:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Evju5Sa-NPk
(with Leon Bridges live in a studio in Texas)
― @oneposter (💹) (sic), Friday, 20 November 2020 03:14 (three years ago) link
ah, i hadn't seen the track times for the album yet
― ufo, Friday, 20 November 2020 03:19 (three years ago) link
(I had to check a bunch of sites to get details, but Apple Music has it at 2:18 vs 3:44 for the Farrell-uploaded version)
― @oneposter (💹) (sic), Friday, 20 November 2020 04:00 (three years ago) link
Looks like this is out in Australia? Getting good reviews
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/the-avalanches-review-we-will-always-love-you-b1768055.html
https://www.thelineofbestfit.com/reviews/albums/the-avalanches-we-will-always-love-you-album-review
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/avalanches-we-will-always-love-you-1099906/
― Indexed, Thursday, 10 December 2020 22:00 (three years ago) link
halfway through my first listen and i'm really pleasantly surprised how good it is. much better than wildflower
― ufo, Thursday, 10 December 2020 22:53 (three years ago) link
i was not expecting kurt vile kinda rapping?
― ufo, Thursday, 10 December 2020 23:30 (three years ago) link
Less interesting than Wildflower, IMHO. Hard to compare really, as it's so much more floaty and smooooth, pretty much exactly as preview tracks have hinted.
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Thursday, 10 December 2020 23:50 (three years ago) link
Has anyone grumbled about their guest appearance being so fleeting? lol. eg. Karen O's 30-second recitation of the same David Berman verse as Pink Siifu's.
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Friday, 11 December 2020 02:30 (three years ago) link
it's a much more cohesive whole than wildflower was and i definitely prefer the spacey soul/disco sound pallet of this one to wildflower's psych-pop/hip hop.
― ufo, Friday, 11 December 2020 02:59 (three years ago) link
It's growing on me!
Also totally approve of their use of the Arecibo message. Even raised it with some fellow [though oblivious-to-the-Avalanches] nerds this morning. :)
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Friday, 11 December 2020 03:05 (three years ago) link
the real highlight here is "the divine chord"
― ufo, Friday, 11 December 2020 04:20 (three years ago) link
I feel like ...did they really need Johnny Marr for "The Divine Chord? There's almost no guitar on it and it's super basic.
― daavid, Friday, 11 December 2020 17:20 (three years ago) link
Listened to this once through. Got bored halfway. There's some parts I like, some parts I don't (choir, possibly of the child variety; Kurt Bile; Rivers Cuomo). I'd read ufo's post beforehand, was liking a track and was hoping it wasn't "Divine Chord" because if that was the highlight I figured I'd be in for an underwhelming listen. Turned out to be the case. I can't see wanting to listen to it much again. Don't think there's any other conclusion for me personally other than SILY was lightning in a bottle and I'm glad it exists and if I ever want to listen to The Avalanches, that'll be the one. Maybe a stray track from the other albums too.
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Friday, 11 December 2020 18:55 (three years ago) link
Lol auto correct to Kurt Bile
― A True White Kid that can Jump (Granny Dainger), Friday, 11 December 2020 18:56 (three years ago) link
I've had "Reflecting Light" echoing around head overnight. Which I'm taking as a positive.
One thing I wish they'd worked on is the segues from track to track. I suspect I'd be digging it more with the relatively seamless transitions of a SILY. Some of the more inconsequential-on-their-own interludes risk interrupting the flow rather than building cohesion when they fade to (near-) silence each time. (Admittedly I say this about a LOT of LPs. LOL. And some of this might even be an artifact of Spotify listening, but certainly not all of it.)
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Friday, 11 December 2020 22:53 (three years ago) link
this is a wonderful background record for playing cards
― nxd, Monday, 14 December 2020 01:43 (three years ago) link
the segues are a lot better than on wildflower. it's not entirely a seamless sily-style mix but it doesn't seem like they're ever going to do something like that again
― ufo, Monday, 14 December 2020 01:53 (three years ago) link
I'm not ready to say I hate this record, but there are too many generic electronica moments. I like Wildflower much more, for sure.
― Mr. Cacciatore (Moodles), Monday, 14 December 2020 02:55 (three years ago) link
Title track just seems like an awkward childish pastiche of sounds. Distasteful
― calstars, Monday, 14 December 2020 03:21 (three years ago) link
It makes me just want to listen to The Roches.
― Mr. Cacciatore (Moodles), Monday, 14 December 2020 03:32 (three years ago) link
I was watching a fantano video a few weeks ago in which his followers sent him their favorite albums of all time and found it surprising that Wildflower was in several lists. I knew it was well regarded, but saying it’s a “best of all time” album seems excessive. It’s not even the best album of 2016.
To each their own.
I still agree that Dj Koze’s Amygdala and Knock Knock are comparable and possibly better albums.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 14 December 2020 04:32 (three years ago) link
Most of it is ok for background music, and has a dreamlike flow which I like, but I agree that it has many distasteful decisions thrown in there.
― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 14 December 2020 04:37 (three years ago) link
listening now, finally. this is basically a gorillaz album.
― la table sur la table (voodoo chili), Thursday, 17 December 2020 19:22 (three years ago) link
a tasteful one, though, with a more interesting array of collaborators.
― la table sur la table (voodoo chili), Thursday, 17 December 2020 19:26 (three years ago) link
I'm not feeling it... yet.
― Pre-Raphaelite Brah (King Boy Pato), Friday, 18 December 2020 11:59 (three years ago) link
makes me wish they did a proper disco album and an ambient album
― scanner darkly, Saturday, 19 December 2020 07:27 (three years ago) link