The Avalanches - tba

its complete shit imo. sampled music doesn't become good through the fact that it was "painstakingly constructed" from "ultra-rare records" by "fervent cratediggers"

I was kinda late getting into The Avalanches, so I can't explain why it was such a big deal at the time, but I think SILY is a brilliantly crafted piece of work. Maybe it is overhyped in some circles, but at the end of the day, the music itself is lush, regardless of whether it was "painstakingly constructed" or not.

  On 7/19/2016 at 10:59 PM, keanu reeves said:

i am still not understanding how since i left you was "important" to anyone but the music press hyping it. can someone explain what "influence" this "landmark" album had?

  On 7/19/2016 at 11:52 PM, dr lopez said:

its complete shit imo. sampled music doesn't become good through the fact that it was "painstakingly constructed" from "ultra-rare records" by "fervent cratediggers"

^ These are legitimate gripes. Pitchfork was probably the one to blame for this, giving it a 9.5 in 1999 then placing it very high on their much touted "best of the 00s" lists including one of the best music videos for the title track, which was a pretty mediocre video to be honest. Every list making, lazy critical acclaim re-hashing music blog has followed suit, so much so that they've published every inkling of Avalanches related news since the mid-00s. Chris Ott who was at Pitchfork at the time fucking hate it and has derided it ever since. (He's also the one who dismissed the 10.0 score for the Disintegration Loops) and he'll gladly point to overlooked plunderphonics and ambient releases as alternatives.

I have no idea how influential it's actually been but I do think it's a pluderphonic masterpiece, one that isn't as avant garde or subversive as Negativeland or Oswald, one that's not quite the mash-up brilliant of 2 Many DJs nor Double Dee and Steinski, and it's a lot more informed by upbeat and kitsch old 50s/60s era music than say the turnablism of Ninja Tune or Mo' Wax artists at the time, who were the torch bearers of that music in 1999. They paved the way for chillwave artists like Washed Out and slew of other beat scene artists now but I would hesitate to say many directly reference it. Hell more seem to point to Panda Bear Person Pitch (2007) over SILY.

Now I've always been enamored with Since I Left You personally but that said the recent hype is baffling, especially all the seemingly younger or less knowledgable crowd who thought "Frankie Sinatra" was great and some kind of song of the summer when it sounded like a Gorillaz B-side or a early 00s era electronica album filler track.

I've had a chance to listen to Wildflower a dozen times now and I love it more with every listen. When I first heard it, I thought it was merely okay, somehow foreign and strange. But after repeated listens the songs have started to unfold for me. I hated Frankie Sinatra at first, but now I get it within the context of the album.

This album is a joyful celebration of life and music and I really think it's the best album they could have put out in response to the untoppable Since I Left You. Everything about Wildflower seems like a triumph to me. I couldn't love it more than I do.

Yes also to the folks who've said they've heard a few samples from the first album. The one that I can remember for sure is the high pitched bell sound from Frontier Psychiatrist. It's in one of the Wildflower tracks but can't remember which at the moment.

  On 8/20/2016 at 2:54 AM, LOL Alzado said:

I've had a chance to listen to Wildflower a dozen times now and I love it more with every listen. When I first heard it, I thought it was merely okay, somehow foreign and strange. But after repeated listens the songs have started to unfold for me. I hated Frankie Sinatra at first, but now I get it within the context of the album.

 

This album is a joyful celebration of life and music and I really think it's the best album they could have put out in response to the untoppable Since I Left You. Everything about Wildflower seems like a triumph to me. I couldn't love it more than I do.

Right awn. I've spent a lot of time with this album over the past month or so, and I can safely say that it's my favourite release of 2016 (so far). I'd even go as far as saying that it already deserves to be put on the same pedestal as other modern classics such as Endtroducing, Donuts, etc. It's super coherent and flows really well like SILY, but whereas SILY seemed like a massive megamix, Wildflower actually has individual tracks, if that makes sense. It tells more of a story, and I like that.

Of course, it has it's flaws. I don't think Frankie Sinatra is a great track. It's certainly grown on me, but still hasn't got the point where I can say "damn this is good". I think the refrain on Sunshine is unnecessarily long, to the point where it gets a little obnoxious. Finally, while Saturday Night Inside Out is a really good track, I don't think it works well as a closer, and it doesn't really fit in with the overall sound/theme of the album. Maybe something like Light Up should have been plonked on the end instead.

But yeah, other than a few minor gripes, this thing is a masterpiece. 9/10 yo.

Right on man. I think you could argue that it could be a little shorter.

But whatever it's just a positive record in the best way.

Also Colours has that bell sound from Frontier Psychiatrist. Right?

  On 8/20/2016 at 2:54 AM, LOL Alzado said:

I've had a chance to listen to Wildflower a dozen times now and I love it more with every listen. When I first heard it, I thought it was merely okay, somehow foreign and strange. But after repeated listens the songs have started to unfold for me. I hated Frankie Sinatra at first, but now I get it within the context of the album.

 

This album is a joyful celebration of life and music and I really think it's the best album they could have put out in response to the untoppable Since I Left You. Everything about Wildflower seems like a triumph to me. I couldn't love it more than I do.

I was just coming here to post this same thing.  While I got into SILY immediately, this one has really taken it's time to unfold, which I love in an album.

Stepkids has gone from one of my least to maybe my most favorite tracks on the album.

Stepkids is great. Harmony is the best song ever.

flol

  On 8/20/2016 at 5:20 PM, LOL Alzado said:

Also Colours has that bell sound from Frontier Psychiatrist. Right?

iirc, Colours is the only track on the album that is 100% original/sample-free, so maybe it's just something that sounds similar. What part of each track are you referring to? I wanna compare for myself

  On 8/20/2016 at 6:42 PM, Charles Nelson Reilly said:

Stepkids has gone from one of my least to maybe my most favorite tracks on the album.

Stepkids is definitely one of the best. Got some Ween vibes hearing that for the first time; no doubt due to the pitched-up/wacky vocals.

This one has a very 70s vibe to it. 

I can't outright jam it though. Has a few good tracks, but I'm finding it hard to enjoy much as a whole.

  On 8/30/2016 at 3:42 AM, Anthro said:

This one has a very 70s vibe to it. 

 

I can't outright jam it though. Has a few good tracks, but I'm finding it hard to enjoy much as a whole.

IMO it's very sub-par compared to Since I Left You, I think the features kinda weaken it, and I even like Danny Brown.

  On 8/20/2016 at 6:42 PM, Charles Nelson Reilly said:

 

  On 8/20/2016 at 2:54 AM, LOL Alzado said:

I've had a chance to listen to Wildflower a dozen times now and I love it more with every listen. When I first heard it, I thought it was merely okay, somehow foreign and strange. But after repeated listens the songs have started to unfold for me. I hated Frankie Sinatra at first, but now I get it within the context of the album.

 

This album is a joyful celebration of life and music and I really think it's the best album they could have put out in response to the untoppable Since I Left You. Everything about Wildflower seems like a triumph to me. I couldn't love it more than I do.

I was just coming here to post this same thing.  While I got into SILY immediately, this one has really taken it's time to unfold, which I love in an album.

Same here. It's a lot more cohesive and subtle that SILY. I even warmed up to Frankie Sinatra a little. Just a little.

Also my 14 month old kid loves "Noisy Eater." He started dancing the first time he heard it.

Reminds me of Radio or A Different Feeling, in fact I think it samples Rose Royce at 2:00 https://soundcloud.com/newzealandeditors/someone-who-does-it-better

Anyone check out the essential mix these guys recently did for BBC Radio 1? Real good shit.

  On 9/15/2016 at 8:37 PM, valleyinaire said:

Anyone check out the essential mix these guys recently did for BBC Radio 1? Real good shit.

Yes. lots of gems.