I’m about eight years late to this party apparently, but I still think this video of ‘Since I Left You’ by Melbourne’s The Avalanches is worth a look. I caught it on Rage this morning and was quite charmed! Make sure you stick with it til the end, won’t you? It’s really quite gorgeous.

Since I Left You – The Avalanches

Another video I came across was ‘A Community Service Announcement’ by Sydney’s Jonathan Boulet. The video itself didn’t stick in the memory, but I have been enjoying the song this past week – it’s damn catchy, make no mistake. Jonathan has a few December dates booked, including Homebake, and you can find more info at myspace.

A Community Service Announcement – Jonathan Boulet

Let’s round it off with a repost of an old favourite shall we?

The Special Two – Missy Higgins

The NME got in on the act early. This Sunday the Observer Music Monthly publishes its top 50. So I thought I might as well have a go. I wanted to get mine done first and see how much common ground I’ve got with the OMM seeing as its my favourite music mag. It’s harder than you’d think to select just 50 albums that span 2000-2009. I’ve had to leave out some records I really like. But here we go… Please comment as you feel necessary!

50 – Daft Punk: Discovery.

49 – Bob Dylan: Modern Times.

48 – Camille: Le Fil.

47 – Arctic Monkeys: Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not.

46 – The Blue Nile: High.

45 – New Order: Get Ready.

44 – Mercury Rev: All Is Dream.

43 – R.E.M.: Accelerate.

42 – Fionn Regan: The End Of History.

41 – The Beatles: Love.

40 – The Avalanches: Since I Met You.

39 – Badly Drawn Boy: The Hour Of Bewilderbeast.

38 – Roots Manuva: Awfully Deep.

37 – Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever ago.

36 – Mark B & Blade: The Unknown.

35 – Coldplay: Parachutes.

34 – Malcolm Middleton: Into The Woods.

33 – Seafood: When Do We Start Fighting…

32 – Doves: The Last Broadcast.

31 – Duke Special: Songs From The Deep Forest.

30 – Morrissey: You Are The Quarry.

29 – Guillemots: Through The Windowpane.

28 – Bruce Springsteen: The Rising.

27 – The Gaslight Anthem: The ‘59 Sound.

26 – Billy Bragg & Wilco: Mermaid Avenue Vol. II

25 – Richard Hawley: Coles Corner.

24 – Fleet Foxes:  Fleet Foxes.

23 – Athlete: Vehicles & Animals.

22 – Spin Doctors: Nice Talking To Me.

21 – Sigur Ros: Takk…

20 – Goldfrapp: Felt Mountain.

19 – Maxïmo Park: A Certain Trigger.

18 – Delirious?: Glo.

17 – The Shins: Wincing The night Away.

16 – Ben Folds: Rockin’ The Suburbs.

15 – Green Day: American Idiot.

14 – Neil Young: Living With War.

13 – Ray Lamontagne: Til The Sun Turns Black.

12 – Death Cab For Cutie: Narrow Stairs.

11 – Idlewild: The Remote Part.

10 – Johnny Cash: American IV: The Man Comes Around

An extraordinary achievement for a man in his final year. Johnny Cash’s last ‘proper’ album has the power to bring me to the edge of tears. I bought it the week he died in 2003 and played it a lot. A mixture of originals and covers, Rick Rubin’s brilliant production means there’s pathos dripping from every track. ‘Hurt’ is one of the songs of the decade which couldn’t even be ruined by that dire Nike advert. When I first heard ‘I Hung My Head’ it stopped me dead in my tracks. Just like most of the rest of this awesome album.

9 - Interpol: Turn On The Bright Lights.

I think there’s a good case to be made for Interpol as the band of the decade. To my shame I’m yet to see them live but their three dark, brooding and melodic albums demand that I get round to it soon. I think their debut is the pick of the bunch. Starting with ‘Untitled’ which takes its cues from the shoegazing bands of the early 90’s, the album goes onto channel the best of My Bloody Valentine, Joy Division and classic Krautrock. I suppose it can be said about all the records in the list but I can’t listen to this album too many times. It sends me to sleep, it wakes me up and generally soundtracks my life.

8 – Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend.

The drums alone deserve some kind of award. Chris Tomson is, for my money, the best drummer in a rock band at the moment. But this isn’t Keith Moon fury, or John Bonham theatrics. He sees the drum kit as a melodic and harmonic instrument. The kit is a lead instrument here and when allied to fantastic songwriting, it’s a winning combination. The African influence if overstated (this isn’t even the noughties’ Graceland, let alone Fela Kuti or Ali Farka Touré). However, the hints of afrobeat are enough to make this stand out from the crowd. Walcott is a great track – but there aren’t any duds here.

7 – Grandaddy: The Sophtware Slump.

This outstanding record is often compared favourably with ‘OK Computer’. Well, I’ll put my cards on the table. There’s only one winner; and it isn’t Radiohead. Grandaddy are impossible to categorise, but this record combines the best bits of alt-country, electronica and post-rock. The audacity of a 9 minute opening track has been matched by many bands. The difference is they’ve not made a song as arresting as ‘He’s Simple, He’s Dumb, He’s The Pilot’. ‘The Crystal Lake’ is among the best songs of the decade while ‘Undreneath The Weeping Willow’ showcases a brilliant knack for melancholy. Released at the start of the decade, very few records have got anywhere near matching Grandaddy’s Magnum Opus.

6 – The Hold Steady: Boys And Girls in America.

‘Best bar band in the world blah… blah… blah’ said the music press. Talk about damning with faint praise. The Hold Steady are one of the greatest bands of the 21st Century, full stop. And though their earlier albums are packed with gems, this breakthrough album sees their manifesto fulfilled. How many bands could start a record quoting Jack Kerouac but never fail to be fun? The sound was compared to classic E Street Band and that’s probably as close as you can get to describing this joyous racket. Craig Finn’s lyrics are always interesting and frequently brilliant. So looking at our checklist we’ve got superb music, superb lyrics and some guys that seem delighted just to be playing rock and roll. It’ll do for me.

5 – Elbow: The Seldom Seen Kid.

I suppose too much has already been written about this album. It’d be easy to include ‘Asleep In The Back’ to prove I’ve liked Elbow since I used to play them on student radio in 2000. But that would miss the point: for once, the awards committees, journalists and hype-merchants got it right. This is an amazing album. There’s not an average track in sight in an hour’s running time. Picking highlights almost seems crazy, but ‘Grounds For Divorce’ and ‘On A Day Like This’ have deservedly grabbed the headlines and soundtracked a million daytime DIY programmes. But some of the less well know tracks contain stunning music and lyrics. When Guy Garvey croons ”We kiss like we invented it” on ‘Mirrorball’ it’s enough to melt your heart.  We await their next move with eager anticipation.

4 - Midlake: The Trials of Van Occupanther.

Take a moderately successful Texan indie band and give them a copy of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Rumours’. Stand well back and light the blue touch-paper. Doesn’t sound promising does it? How wrong could we be??? This was THE album of 2006. Inventive harmonies, layered synths and lyrics pining for the antebellum South came together to produce a stunning record. The guitar solo that comes halfway through ‘Head Home’ is one of my favourite musical moments of the decade, but this album contains several contenders for that title. The real genius of ‘…Van Occupanther’ is its ability to keep you on your toes. Just when you think it may slip into mid 70’s FM rock pastiche, the band pulls out a track like ‘Young Bride’ which forces you to admit this is a record which is far more than the sum of its considerable parts.

3 – Damien Rice: O.

David Gray is a perfectly decent singer songwriter. The same can’t be said for the likes of James Morrison and James Blunt. But how any of them came to be spoken of in the same breath as Damien Rice is beyond me. The irishman deserves to be in far better company (Jeff Buckley for example). This debut album was a slow-burning word-of-mouth behemoth that managed to retain artistic dignity while being offered on 2-for-1 deals in Tesco. Its strengths have been repeated endlessly, but any blogger who can’t find room for Lisa Hannigan’s beautiful vocals, the stunning string arrangements or the strange re-working of Silent Night is a fool. If this album has a flaw, I’m yet to find it. I can’t pick one track as a highlight because the others simply look at me reproachfully and say ‘actually we’re all rather lovely’. And they truly are.

2 – My Morning Jacket: It Still Moves.

This album sounds like the best party you’ve ever been to. If you want to label it I suppose it’s alt-country. But what on earth does that matter when the music is as much fun as this? Don’t get the idea this is some kind of comedy record though. Howling vocals, squealing guitars and pounding drums fuse together to create a brilliant racket. ‘One Big Holiday’ has a guitar hook to die for, but this isn’t an album of simple pleasures. The genius of the songs reveals itself slowly. The first time you hear it, it sounds like these are well crafted and edited jams. But like Led Zep at their peak, the tracks are more cunningly moulded than that. Crazy Horse are another reference point and when talking about a rock and roll band there are fewer bigger compliments than that. It’s a long record (71 minutes) but unusually for an album of that length, it doesn’t outstay its welcome. Superb.

1 – Stephen Fretwell: Magpie.

I’m annoyed I couldn’t find a decent picture of this album without the parental advisory sticker on it. Ok, maybe it doesn’t make an ideal present for a toddler, but any parent who’s doing their job properly should be investing in this if their child shows any kind of serious interest in music. It’s as close to a perfect record as its possible to get. At the start of the decade, Scunthorpe’s Stephen Fretwell found himself in Manchester as a promising singer-songwriter. A little while later, he was in a recording studio creating some of the most beautiful music that great city has ever produced. By 2004 it was ready for release. In reality, the Manchester thing is a bit of a red herring. Fretwell owes little to the genius of the Smiths and Joy Division or the more prosaic talents of Oasis. He’s just a good old-fashioned acoustic troubadour. So who are the key influences here? I’d guess Neil Young, Bob Dylan et al. But that doesn’t tell you much about this record’s greatest strength. Fretwell’s gift for melody is astounding. Songs like ‘Emily’, ‘New York’ and ‘Rose’ are beautifully crafted and sung. But there isn’t a track here which leaves you cold. You may know ’Run’ as the Theme of ‘Gavin and Stacey’ but don’t stop there. Investigate it immediately. Buy it and love it. There’s only one album of the decade after all; whatever the Observer says!

So last week, my Editor sorta told me that GlamTings are doing an erm… ‘25 fav things’ type special editorial… I dunno… 2 commiserate us being 25? I dunno lol! Anyway so she asks me to do a top-25 songs list or something like that & in my head, I go ‘Pardon Me’, the exact same way Rob Gordon replied when the reporter asked him what his all-time top 5 records were, in the movie ‘High Fidelity’… & so in this movie High Fidelity, the reporter asks again ‘Your desert-island top 5?’, to which Rob replies ‘Oh Boy… in the club OR at home?’ and the reporter ignorantly asks if there’s a difference… Ofcourse there’s a difference & you guys can back me up on this BUT ‘Top 25 Songs?’… What? Love Songs? Gospel songs? Songs to make love to (as Distinctly different from love songs! Understand!), Easy Breazy Sunday Morning Songs? Angry Songs? Songs for the car? Songs for the bus? LIKE what are you tryna do to me out here???

Anyway so Rob eventually mentions 5 of his all-time desert-island favorite records & the reporter ventures to continue interviewing him BUT she CANNOT & you wanna know why? Because he keeps interrupting her to chop & change his all-time top 5 records… It’s near enough an impossible task for the likes of Rob & I… He ends up offering to make the reporter a tape… And… And… He calls the reporter the next week to change, yet again, his all-time top 5 records list!!! ‘WHERE AM I GOING WITH THIS?’ do I hear you ask? Oh figure it OUT, will ya? And oh top 5? top 25? Equally as impossible ok!

BUT this is what I say to my Editor… ‘Ok Cool x’! OK COOL? Somebody shoot me now! Please!

Alright so expect this to be a long & painful process, it might actually take US a long while to arrive at any comprehensive top 25 list on any level so you have duly been warned lol! & that’s why we’ll be dividing this mammoth exercise into PARTS… Jheez!

PART ONE… Because this is my favorite genre of Music at the moment… Top 25 Hip-Hop Records!?!?????? Ah ahn.. Ah Ahn! Nah I can’t! Let’s start off with something easier, we’ll ease in to the tougher lists (in a couple months maybe lol).

OK let’s do that again…

PART ONE… Top 25 Albums of the 21st Century!!! **I Keep digging a GRAVE for myself, don’t I?**

One thing I will say about this list is… The first draft had 70 records on it & I was thinking of changing this ‘top 25′ list to a ‘top 50′ list because it’d be so much easier & OMG I have had to cut out some of my all time favorite albums from the final list BUT alas, the show must GO ON… SO Without further adieu!!!

Slightly MISSING OUT however ARE…

Georgia Anne Muldrow – Olesi: Fragments of an Earth (2006)

Now most of you will probably NOT have heard this album… It’s your LOSS to be honest BUT what I will say though is, THIS is one of the very few R&B albums this decade that made this list because let’s be honest R&B in the 2000s lost its way… Fragments of an Earth is progressive music 4 your soul and I like it so there!

&

Blur – Think Tank (2003)

F**K what you heard alright, Damon Albarn is a MUSICAL GENIUS & this album proves it… This was Blur’s forray away from BritPop into more experimental sounds such as Dub, Jazz, Hip-Hop & World Music BUT still laced with gorgeous melodic sounds of their epic ‘ParkLife’ album… I find it interesting how most of the musical backdrop of this album is led by the BASS sounds as against the strings of a lead-guitar (YES Coxon the lead guitarist left the band around the time of recording BUT I think it’s more than that)… On a different week, this would be in my top 25 easily… That’s how much I love this album & how fickle this top 25 list can be!!!

Other Notable mentions from my original top 70 list include BUT are not exhausted to Ledisi’s ‘Lost & Found’, Little Brother’s ‘The Listening’, Common’s ‘Like Water for Chocolate’, The Clipse’s ‘Hell Hath No Fury’, Amel Larriex’s ‘Brave Bird’, Scarface’s ‘The Fix’, El-P’s ‘Fantastic Damage’, Blu & Exile’s ‘Below the Heavens’, Outkast’s ‘Stankonia’, Queens of the Stone Age’s ‘Songs for the Deaf’, Ryan Adam’s ‘Heartbreaker’, Johnny Cash’s ‘American IV: The Man Comes Around’, Portishead’s ‘Third’… OK! I should stop! We will have another conversation about these albums on a later date!!!

OK NOW to the Nitty Gritty…

25. Femi Kuti – Fight to Win (2001)

It took me a long minute to decide which Femi Kuti LP to include in this list… ‘Shoki Shoki’ or Fight to Win because let’s face it, the man made two CLASSIC albums this century (He seats comfortably in the same box as Radiohead? Jay-Z? M.I.A? Kanye West? in that respect)… Some will argue that without a ‘Shoki Shoki’, there would never have been a ‘Fight to Win’ so ‘Shoki Shoki’ should make the list BUT ‘Fight to Win’ is a near-perfect record! John Armstrong (BBC) calls it an excellent showcase of 21st Century Afrobeat & we cannot argue with that.

24. The White Stripes – White Blood Cells (2001)

I will come out and say it NOW! I’ve cheated by putting this album so far down this list… It’s Rock & Roll music at its very purest form & at its best! Even if you’re NOT into that kinda garage rock music, this album gets you. its 40 odd minutes and I dare you to want to skip any of the 16 songs on this… I just DARE you!

23. Jamie Lidell – Multiply (2005)

And now for some controversy…

Otis Redding? Stevie Wonder? Sam Cooke? Al Green? Willie Mitchell? Prince? You hear them ALL on this album & you have to ask, how does an Electronica producer all of a sudden turn into this rarity of a Soul Singer creating these amazing soul records. Never mind that he’s White, that just makes it more unreal… This album is Amazing & that is putting it very lightly.

22. Dizzee Rascal – Boy in Da Corner (2003)

GRIME never & possibly will never sound this GOOD & you can quote me on that one! Dizzee’s 2003 debut is still the only grime LP that I can play from start to finish without wanting to skip a track… Say what you will about the Londoner BUT at 18, he made one of the best records to come out of the UK period! It Certainly isn’t NO ‘Sgt. Pepper’ but it is Iconic in its own right! & for the last time, it’s NOT hip-hop, its GRIME & its GRIME at its very BEST, heights of which the genre will not reach again.

21. Flying Lotus – Los Angeles (2008)

Experimental Hip-Hop? Electronica? Indie Hip-Hop? Psychedelic? Whatever you wanna call it, FlyLo has got it mastered to a tee on ‘Los Angeles’! Now many people will question this inclusion to the list BUT if you’ve heard this LP, if you’ve actually listened to it, you’d understand that the (somewhat premature) comparisons to such greats as Cannibal Ox & El-P stem from this one album & you’d understand why… Just listen to ‘Golden Diva’ & come back to talk to me!!!

20. Erykah Badu – Mama’s Gun (2000)

On this one, I really couldn’t decide between this album & last year’s ‘New Amerykah Part One: 4th World War’, I’m sorry! I’m more leaning towards Mama’s Gun to be honest, it’s been with me for longer & it hasn’t LOST it’s GOODNESS… Who know what ‘New Amerykah’ will sound like in 2017 so based off of that longevity and impact continuously over 9 years, ‘Mama’s Gun’ takes the cake. Its beautiful music that’s effortless & what else would you expect from Ms. Badu working with such minds as Questlove, D’Angelo, Jay Dilla & Common… certainly nothing less!

19. Eminem – The Marshall Mathers LP (2000)

One of the all-time BEST Emcees at his all-time BEST is what ‘The Marshall Mathers LP’ is. It’s nothing short of an epic work of art. Mr. Mather’s lyrical genuis & explicit narratives on this album match up with the best that Hip-Hop has ever had to offer & Dr. Dre is on hand to offer the musical back-drop for the lyrical onslaught… It’s a match made in heaven and the ‘Marshall Mathers LP’ is the miracle baby! SNM!!!

18. The Avalanches – Since I left You (2000)

I kinda have a feeling… let’s call it a theory… that any conversation about the best albums of this decade will be grossly incomplete without mentioning this Album & please quote me on that! It is what DJ Shadow’s ‘Endtroducing’ was to the 90’s and a STRAIGHT MASTERCLASS in the art of sampling. If you’re a producer & you sample (which is everybody lol) & you don’t own this record (actually if you don’t own this record & DJ Shadow’s ‘ENDtroducing’)… & you haven’t studied this record THEN you’re for all intents & purposes, well & truly LOST! It’s a travesty in itself that I’ve placed it so low as Number 18!!!

17. The Streets – A Grand Don’t Come for Free (2004)

Would it be so BOLD for me to say that this album is the best urban UK album… YES it’s NOT technically Hip-Hop or Grime & it’s NOT Garage-infused like Mike Skinner’s debut LP ‘Original Pirate Material’, it’s JUST an amazingly put-together body of work… Where ‘O.P.M’ was daring & groundbreaking & revolutionary (dare I say), ‘A Grand Don’t Come for Free’ is just simply better… It was a concept album before concept albums became ‘cool’ again in Hip-Hop & it’s 11 tracks of pure genius, witty vivid lyrics, near perfect narratives & an amazing musical backdrop that takes you right into the scene of this ‘movie’… #NuffSaid

16. The Roots – Game Theory (2006)

We always knew that The Roots were somewhat of a phenomena (well to the back-packers they are near enough gods!)… I mean, what else would you get by mixing Questlove, who in my opinion, is one of the greatest musical minds there are & Black Thought, the most slept-on & underrated emcee in the game & arguably one of the greatest all-time emcees… But The Roots had never quite delivered on any of their previous LPs (except for ‘Illadelph Halflife’ & marginally on 1999’s ‘Things Fall Apart’) in my humble opinion… ‘Game Theory’ was the album for me when The Roots became all they could be… It was dark, it was gritty, but it oozed life… it swayed from angry to depressing quite effortlessly & it was The Roots at their most cohesive. Simply put… Amazing music.

**AND BREATHE**

Alright Ladies & Gentlemen, that’s all you get from me for this week… Join me next week and we’ll go through the top 15 albums of this decade!!! OH P.S LET the RIOTING begin…

Until the Next Time

Triple A

When you discover a new song through a friend or acquaintance, you usually go home, do a little research and download it almost immediately. You might spend about an hour or so typing the lyrics in Google, but for the most part, there’s instant gratification. Some of us are not so fortunate…

During my freshman year of high school, I carpooled with my cool, indie-music-savvy friend who would always play the best music on our dreary, early-morning rides to school. One day, she put on quite possibly the weirdest song I had ever heard. It sounded like a bunch of lines from movies were meshed with music and random sound effects. Little did I know, the song was “Frontier Psychiatrist” by well-known Australian act The Avalanches.

Unfortunately,  being the meek little freshman that I was, I never asked the name of the song. No matter how hard I searched, for some odd reason, I could never find the song for at least 4 years. This past Thursday, I walked into my friend’s room to find something incredible playing on his laptop. It was the video for “Frontier Psychiatrist”. I screamed out of pure joy and disbelief. I couldn’t believe after almost 5 years of searching I had finally found this song!

All anecdotes aside, “Frontier Psychiatrist” is agreeably one of the most brilliant and unique songs to ever be created this decade. Released as a single from The Avalanches‘ Since I Left You, the eclectic track samples various lines and scores from movies such as “Polyester” and “Lawrence of Arabia“. The video is just as trippy, but strangely, you can’t help but watch it at least twice. Needless to say, whatever The Avalanches decide to put out next will surely be “crazy to coconut”.

– Elizabeth Vogt, Assistant Front of Book Editor

Either you haven’t heard that in a while, or you missed the boat the first time around, E-Reserves is here to bring you some gems from the E-Reserve. Our first feature are the Avalanches, who you might remember were included in one of our playlists from over the summer. They’re a group from down under that compiled vinyl samples into a clever electronic album back in 2000 titled Since I Left You.  A lot of the sounds used have a warm nostalgia that infuse The Avalanches’ perfectly crafted, danceable beats. Yeah Develop baby.

since i left you – the avalanches

a different feeling – the avalanches

two hearts in 3/4 time – the avalanches

tonight may have to last me all my life – the avalanches

Some Aussie electronica video oddness this week, courtesy of The Avalanches.

It’s Frontier Psychiatrist, from their 2000/2001 (and so far only) album Since I Left You, created, I believe, using some 3500 samples from old vinyl recordings.

This is, I believe, the original video for the song, presumably created for it’s release in their native Australia, some months before it went on sale in the UK/US, but I can’t be sure. Quality is a bit ropey, unfortunately:

The Avalanches é um coletivo australiano de músicos e produtores capitaneado por Darren Seltmann e Robbie Chater. Lançaram diversos EPs entre 1997 e 2002 e o álbum Since I Left You em 2000. Consta que a primeira aparição do coletivo ocorreu sob a forma de um grupo punk chamado Alarm 115 formado por Darren Seltmann, Robbie Chater, Tony Diblasi and Manabu Etoh. Seus instrumentos foram comprados em brechós, local onde também encontraram boa parte dos 3.500 discos que forneceram a matéria-prima deste que é até então o único álbum do grupo. Desde então o grupo lança basicamente mixtapes com seleções musicais de outros artistas, a última sendo After the Goldrush. (BO/RG)

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E lá se vão quase dez anos do lançamento de Since I Left You. À época de seu aparecimento, o disco foi justamente saudado como um disco singular, diferente de tudo que havia em circulação. Hoje, reouvindo já a partir de uma perspectiva histórica (no mundo do pop dez anos são quase como dois séculos), surpreende a afinidade e a adesão dos Avalanches a alguns gêneros muito em voga à época, como o hip-hop de colagem (digamos, Coldcut) e o hoje já terrivelmente datado subgênero da eletrônica conhecido como big beat (Fatboy Slim, Chemical Brothers, o terceiro do Prodigy…), além dos claros flertes com a disco e a música negra americana dos 70/80. Eles soam, de fato, um pouco como uma mistura de tudo isso. Mas, a despeito das semelhanças, o que sai de Since I Left You, a partir sobretudo dos métodos de composição – baseadas em samples e loops de pequenos trechos – e da notável fluência com que as faixas seguem uma à outra mantendo o espírito mas mudando o clima, é pura obra de originalidade e sensibilidade, realizadas com um prodigioso descompromisso quanto à proveniência das fontes sonoras (se são conhecidas ou não, se há problemas de direitos ou não) e com a ambição de entalhadores que decidem passar a escultores fazendo de seu primeiro trabalho já uma obra-prima. De 2000 para cá, o mistério só cresceu: remix (ótimo) para Belle & Sebastian, Wolfmother, algumas mixtapes baixáveis direto do site do grupo, apresentações ao vivo… e nenhum sucessor de Since I Left You, nem mesmo um epzinho ou música nova para saciar a fome dos fãs. Causou sofrimento, mas em compensação serviu para aumentar a já grande mística em torno desse álbum precioso, perfeito, certamente um dos pontos mais altos dessa década que se encerra.

Since I Left You tem canções que sozinhas já fariam de si um grande álbum: “Since I Left You”, “Frontier Psychiatrist”, “A Different Feeling”, “Electricity”, “Tonight”… Mas o grande trunfo do disco é a forma extremamente coesa com que as faixas se seguem, como se fosse uma única grande faixa, ou, segundo a metáfora do próprio Robbie Chater, um tour ao redor do mundo em que tudo é fluido, passageiro, e as músicas constituiriam somente paragens de uma viagem maior. À ideia do músico como bricoleur de samples já desenvolvida anteriormente por gente como Coldcut ou DJ Shadow, os Avalanches introduzem uma dimensão de suíte, operando com enorme senso de variação seu coquetel de loops melódicos, chiados de discos velhos, falas retiradas de contexto e demais sons encontrados. O que mais espanta em Since I Left You é que, apesar do disco funcionar como um todo, todas as 18 faixas têm estratégias de composição distintas, e nenhuma é redudante ou tributária de outra no fim das contas (ao passo que com um Fatboy Slim, por exemplo, se você já ouviu uma, já ouviu todas). Todas têm seu charme particular, suscitando evocações e atmosferas diferentes. Poderíamos analisar minuciosamente cada faixa, destacando o uso do pianinho desafinado de “Tonight”, a pletora de samples inusitados em “Frontier Psychiatrist” (Polyester de John Waters, cavalo relinchando, violinos etc.), os jogos de repetição efetuados pelos loops e suas diferentes camadas, mas fica para outra ocasião. Não se pode explicar a vida num texto curto.

Ah! Since I Left You também é o grande álbum de festa da década. Pode-se colocar pra tocar de cabo a rabo que ninguém vai ficar enchendo o saco pedindo pra mudar. E se acontecer, é o caso de se perguntar se realmente o conviva é benvindo na casa. Impossível não amar The Avalanches. (Ruy Gardnier)

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Tomemos a capa de Since I Left You: variadas são as possibilidade de interpretação. Primeiro, as intensas camadas de tinta azul intrigam graças ao extremo descompasso que mantém com a sonoridade pop-festeira do grupo. Podemos também aventar a hipótese juvenil de que eles desejam expressar a solidariedade entre seus integrantes – que “estão no mesmo barco”. Ou que representam o momento em que deixam algo para trás, fazendo alusão direta ao título. Uma outra hipótese, me perdoem o delírio, é a idéia de que ao representarem uma cena turbulenta de navegação envolvendo dois barcos estejam se referindo às trocas culturais entre povos de variadas orientações e estilos, que bem viria a calhar para uma obra tão imbricada na dinâmica plurirefrencial que dá sentido à produção cultural contemporânea.

Hipóteses que surgem diante da capa, mas em franca conexão com o conteúdo da obra. Since I Left You é um álbum conceitual que tem por premissa uma adesão radical a cultura do copy and paste e que, por isso mesmo, opera sobre milhares de trechos colhidos de milhares de álbuns. Geralmente o grupo é reconhecido por esta façanha, como se a mera alusão ao procedimento esgotasse imediatamente as possibilidades de se pensar outra coisa para além da façanha. Ciente do conteúdo do álbum e do contexto em que nasceu, evito me referir aos procedimentos e privilegio os resultados: Since I Left You encerra, sobretudo, uma sonoridade vibrante, efusiva e extremamente bem-humorada. Talvez o melhor e mais convincente álbum de festa desta década. Resta saber como eles atingem esse grau de relevância num contexto em que a evanescência é não só comum como também vital.

É que a quantidade de recortes e sobreposições contidas no álbum, além de circunscrever uma gama de interesses musicais específicos (o hip hop, o funk, o soul), compreende ao mesmo tempo uma série de manifestações incompreensíveis, mas sem dúvida presentes. Seja uma voz, um instrumento, um acorde, não importa: a todo momento ouvimos alguma referência extra-black music que nos retira do ciclo comum ao segmento e nos conduz para algo além, seja o estranho piano de “Tonight”, seja as camadas de instrumentos de cordas, percussões sinfônicas e toda sorte de sonoridades condensadas para desconcertar o ouvinte. Aliás, é exatamente esta a característica central de Since I Left You: sua genialidade não reside no procedimento (um disco como Fear of a Black Planet não possui 3500 samplers, mas dá ao ouvinte esta sensação); pelo contrário, o que o caracateriza é a originalidade desconcertante com que os Avalanches combinam esse samplers, procurando sempre desenraizar o ouvinte de sua condição passiva e procurando estabelecer com ele uma conexão de ordem arqueológica.

Cabe ressaltar que, como nos mash ups, o que conta é a síntese, o terceiro elemento que surge da combinação, mas nesse caso há também o elemento que desloca a percepção do ouvinte, que o retira do jogo bem-humorado da surpresa e o conduz para o lado inseguro do desconhecido. E aí que o disco se torna realmente genial: Since I Left You é  simultaneamente música de festa, música para arrebatar e também música para pensar. Qual o grande álbum dos anos 2000 que possui essas três características? Eu não me lembro… (Bernardo Oliveira)

Playlist:
1. The Avalanches “Frontier Psychiatrist” (Since I Left You, Modular, 2000, Austrália)
2. Jonny Trunk “Wife Swapper” (Jonny Trunk’s Scrapbook, Trunk, 2009, Reino Unido)
3. RADIQ “1968 I” (People, Cirque, 2009, Japão)
4. Shackleton “Asha in the Tabernacle” (Three EPs, Perlon, 2009, Alemanha [Reino Unido])
5. Tantinho “Se Manda Mané” (Tantinho Canta Padeirinho da Mangueira, s/g, 2009, Brasil)
6. Roberto Silva “Você Está Sumindo” (Descendo o Morro nº2, Copacabana, 1959, Brasil)
7. Jorge Veiga “Café Soçaite” (“Café Soçaite/Eu Fiz uma Prece”, 78rpm, Copacabana, 1955, Brasil)
8. Greg Malcolm “Chairman Mao” (Some Other Time, Kning, 2009, Suécia [Nova Zelândia])
9. Sebastian Lexer “Tone” (Dazwischen, Matchless, 2009, Reino Unido)
10. Ben Frost “Killshot” (By the Throat, Bedroom Community, 2009, Islândia)
11. Fuck Buttons “The Lisbon Maru” (Tarot Sport, ATP, 2009, Reino Unido)

the avalanches-since i left you-2001

soma-the strokes-is this it-2001

saint simon-the shins-chutes too narrow-2003

the sporting life-the decemberists-piqaresque-2005

the statue-the go betweens-oceans apart-2005

shut up i am dreaming of places where lovers have wings-sunset rubdown-shut up i am dreaming-2006

the sound of failure-the flaming lips-at war with the mystics-2006

smother + evil = hurt – the kissaway trail-2007

sailing to byzantium-liars-2007

suffer for fashion-of montreal-hissing fauna,are you the destroyer?-2007

sleep-the notwist-the devil,you+me-2008

I’m a nut, I’m as crazy as a cocunut!!  I’m headed to the Caymans for a few days where I plan on a) getting crazy b) dranking dranks out of cocunuts. So imma leave you with this old Avalanches video to trip you out and make you question what you’re hearing. Then DL the track on its own, close your eyes, and dissect the sounds one by one to hear an entirely different story.  I love the whole song, but my fave is the bird/parrot speakeasy around the 3:30 mark. Catch ya on the sunny side friends!

The Avalanches- Frontier Psychiatrist

David (it's a New Zealand accent, by the way)

Listen: As we’ve seen throughout the Make A Difference campaign, people come to volunteering for a variety of personal reasons — family, free time, a personal cause. But how about a fund raising favor for a friend?

David Henderson came to Milwaukee SCORES to help out a friend, Associate Director of SCORES John Eggebrecht, securing some financial backing for a benefit soccer tournament from his employer Stark Investments. However, as he got a feel for what SCORES does, he couldn’t help but get more involved in more SCORES programming. He doesn’t play soccer, and he’s not much of a writer, but the kids drew him in. In this piece you can hear a healthy dose of the SCORES kids, including a breathtaking poem by Andres Garcia at the beginning (it actually won him a trip to the New York, where he read that poem for the New York Stock Exchange):

Something to notice in this piece — Andres’ entire soccer team has heard him read his poem multiple times and still hold him to the nickname “Nacho.” I really like that. The relationships they develop as SCORES team mates/writers are so unique.

And did you notice where the kids are playing soccer? It wasn’t a traditional soccer field — they were actually playing in a parking lot at Windlake Elementary School in Lincoln Village (our old friend). It was drizzling and the blacktop was a little slippery, but the kids were so happy just to be playing soccer. In fact, I’m not sure if you can tell the difference, but they were actually excited to talk on mic, which is very rare for middle school kids.

For more information on Milwaukee SCORES, visit their website. Also, if you’re interested in getting involved with Milwaukee SCORES, contact them for more information on volunteering.

Produced by: Adam Carr

Lough Allen

Some kTunes for the hell of it. Music for music’s sake.

This is my contribution towards getting us all through these miserable times. Also since my laptop’s keyboard is still only semi-responsive, thus making any significant amount of typing thoroughly painful. Here’s a batch of unrelated songs that have been inserting smiley emoticons into my life in the recent past. I feel like we’ve suddenly been plunged into the winter after that one week of good weather after the Picnic and I feel entirely unprepared for the seasonal change so hopefully these songs will help.

MP3: The Avalanches – Radio – [Buy] An oldie but a goodie, The Avalanches at their sample-tastic best.

MP3: YACHT – Psychic City – [Buy] The whole album is an absolute joy, but this song is too much fun to possibly avoid.

MP3: Dat Politics – Wish Ya – [Buy] The French group’s album Mad Kit is equal parts annoying/confusingly infectious.

MP3: Beth Jeans Houghton – Golden – [Buy] I’ve been liking the early signs from this adventurous young folky singer.

MP3: Fanfarlo – Luna – [Buy] Another album where any track could be called a standout, this is one of my favourites.

MP3: Lisa O’Neill – Anonlikely Scale – [Buy] Got re-acquainted with Lisa and her tunes when we played with her in April. “Has An Album” is out now!

MP3: Matt & Kim – Daylight – [Buy] I just keep coming back to this song. It’s brilliant. Just now discovered it’s on a Bacardi ad.

MP3: The Hood Internet – If I Could Rock (It Would Feel Like This) The mash-up experts blend more ludicrous R Kelly nonsense with some classic Jens Lekman to wondrous effect.

About two weeks ago a few of my friends and I got into a discussion over what we would list as our top ten albums of the decade.  It was noted that it would be awesome if something comes out in the last remaining months of this year to shatter our lists.  We’ll see…  Of course none of us were able to limit ourselves to a list of just ten albums.  The lists sprawled into a top ten, another ten, and then a handful of honorable mentions.  Looking back upon my list (which I am sure I will share on here eventually) I realized that my number ten spot could easily have been swapped for several albums from the next ten on my list.  One album that was vying for that spot was an hour long, true album:  The Avalanches – Since I Left You.

What prompted its exhibition here was a conversation I had with my neighbor.  She was talking about albums she likes to work out to.  She favored albums that have a continuity and steady upbeat tempo.  I then recommended to her The Avalanches, hoping it would fit the bill.  I haven’t heard back yet whether it has been successful for her.  I know that if I was one for going to the gym and working out on a regular basis then Since I Left You would be an easy playlist choice for me.  Clocking in at almost exactly an hour seems like just the perfect workout length.

If I was was to sum up the album in one word that word would be lush.  The melding of live instruments, electronics, and turntables creates a huge sonic landscape.  The other main attraction of the album is that it plays start to finish with no gaps:  a true album.  What is impressive is how seamlessly The Avalanches build and bridge the tracks.  A listen on headphones helps further recognize the lushness, especially on the back half of the album.

The album feels like a quintessential summer album with it’s fun, light veneer, from the opening track where it feels like you are having the curtain drawn on a beach party that you wander into.  There is the travel and escape motif throughout, another hallmark of summer, with references to catching flights, samples of the giant horns on old cruise ships and galloping horses.  But the album seems tinged with a melancholy only hinted at, the obvious title Since I Left You, the album art of life boats that makes me think of the ill fated Titanic, and the wistfulness of the final track.  Since I Left You embodies all the summer qualities I listed above, even the desire for it not to leave.  So, here at the end of a season you can keep a little reminder with you all the time.

~J

Buen tema un poco viejo pero me encanta, de una banda Australiana The Avalanches, que recordé gracias a un amigo, muy a propósito de este retorno a la normalidad post-estival, entonces pienso Since I left you blog mío, historias que contar se han acumulado… pongámonos al día…