May 24–31, 2001

cd reviews|dance/electronic

The Avalanches

Since I Left You

(XL/Modular)

Can samplers throw parties? Can a record collection — no, several record collections spun at once — make you swoon? Not since the Beastie/Dust Bros. teaming for Paul’s Boutique has layer upon layer of rare sampled song sounded so overwhelmingly organic. Intertwined in a Möbius strip of decades — beach-breezy pop, decrepit doo-wop bop, brass cribbed from Cliff Noble records, Herbie Mann-like flutes, the freaky flight of Meco’s Star Wars— the Avalanches’ sonic pillow is a zealous, gospelly trip. Like Eno/Byrne’s Bush Of Ghosts or the holiest moments of Moby’s Play, they find secular spiritual grace in found voices. Rather than crib from Southern spirituals or Afghan priests, the Avalanches find vocal cues in the shaman of disco and battered jazz records, weird pop and Hollywood. While grand pianos and shimmering circling synths glide along, an insistent "ha ha" spins across the Avalanches’ dark starry backdrop as if rolling into night. I know how that laughter feels. Amazing.

—A.D. Amorosi