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The Avalanches Information
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'The Avalanches' are an electronic music collective from Melbourne, Australia. They are well known for their use of eclectic sampling, creating their debut album Since I Left You entirely out of over 10,000 samples of obscure records. This is famously demonstrated on their hit single "Frontier Psychiatrist".
History
The group started out as a punk outfit, featuring Robbie Chater, Darren Seltmann, Gordon McQuilten and Toni Diblasi. This eventually evolved into hip hop, and by the time the group hit the Melbourne scene in 1997, there was a huge degree of hype surrounding them - with the band supporting Jon Spencer Blues Explosion after less than a half a dozen shows. They also supported the Beastie Boys on the Australian leg of the Hello Nasty tour in 1998.
Admist a bidding war that year, the band managed to put out its debut release in September, a limited edition 7" single on Trifekta featuring the tracks "Rock City" and "Thank You Caroline". This was followed by the release of the extended player, El Producto, in December on Steve Pavlovic's Wondergram Records. Around this time DJ Dexter became a member of the group, joining the band on turntables.
In September 1999 came the first taste of the band's forthcoming debut album, with the release of the 12" vinyl EP, Electricity. This marked a shift in the band's sound away from live hip hop - which had earned the band the title of the Australian Beastie Boys show by one Melbourne music journalist - towards their now-trademark eclectic pastiche of samples. This change of direction was further reinforced with their well-known single "Frontier Psychiatrist", which debuted and peaked at #48 in Australia and #18 in the UK. Nick Hornby mentions the single in his book, Songbook (also known as 31 Songs), a discussion of the 31 songs that have provided a soundtrack to his life.
The group's debut album, Since I Left You, was released in Australia on Modular Recordings in November 2000 - and was released in the United Kingdom in 2001 through XL Records, and the US through Sire Records. The album is composed almost entirely out of samples, including the bass line for Madonna's Holiday, which she surprisingly gave them clearance to use - the first time she has ever done so. The album was praised by the critics and public alike, and peaked at #8 in the UK Albums Chart.
Since the release of the album, the group has undergone several line-up changes with the departure of Gordon and DJ Dexter, and the addition of James De La Cruz. They continue to work on the long-awaited second album. The Avalanches also conducted an Australian tour of capital city nightclubs in 2005, and opened for Jamiroquai on the Sydney leg of the Dynamite tour in December. During this gig, the crowd got restless, at one point cheering a picture of Jay Kay from the tour program held up by an audience member rather than the band, and throwing Mentos at the group, causing them to walk off stage 70 minutes into an allocated 2 hour set.
Discography
Albums
* Since I Left You (2000)
Singles and EPs
* "Rock City" (1997)
* "El Producto" (1997)
* "Undersea Community" (1999)
* "Electricity" (1999)
* "Frontier Psychiatrist" (2000)
* "A Different Feeling" (2000)
* "Since I Left You" (2001)
* "Radio" (2001)
* "At Last Alone" (2001)
Remixes
* Gerling - "Enter The Spaceship (The Avalanches Remix)" (1999)
* Rex Records - "Avalanches vs Andy Votel - Thank You Caroline" (2000)
* Badly Drawn Boy - "The Shining (Avalanches Good Word For The Weekend Mix)" (2000)
* Manic Street Preachers - "So Why So Sad (Sean Penn Mix - Avalanches)" (2001)
* Belle & Sebastian - "I'm A Cuckoo (Avalanches Mix)" (2004)
* The Concretes - "Chico: Avalanches' Wernham Hogg Remix" (2004)
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