The Avalanches are clearly a bunch of erratic music lovers. The Australian band's debut album, Since I Left You, takes samples from almost every possible genre of music, even pulling lines from a few films. The final product is surprising and incredibly infectious.
Rather than simply confusing its audience with attempts at classification by sloppily borrowing sounds (i.e. crappy rap rock), the Avalanches just come right out and steal samples, for a natural progression with a bit of a twist. The title (and first) track starts out with the lone strumming of a guitar to build into a full, surround-sound experience with string and wind sections and a catchy beat while sampling the Osmonds and De La Soul, just to name two. Where other bands use samples simply to augment their own melodies, the Avalanches appear to create melodies for the sole purpose of supporting the chosen samples, creating a mixed-up and crazy album that defies any kind of clear definition. In the song "Frontier Psychiatrist," the sampling ranges from a young boy getting expelled from school for being criminally insane, to the refrain "Tighten your buttocks and pour juice on your chin," to the neighing of a horse.
The Avalanches show innovation and creativity, as each song is carefully constructed and layered. Not to be dramatic, but this really is like nothing else you've ever heard.
