Between Puff Daddy, Will Smith and Jive Bunny, anyone would think there was some sort of conspiracy going on to destroy the use of the sampler. After all, there was a time when it was supposed to be the answer to where music went next, opening up doors to all sorts of brave new sounds. Good job it's not just us that remember that. The Avalanches obviously do too.
You'll be familiar with the name already, as this year's fashionable crowd have decided it's the one to drop for that cutting-edge kudos, but don't let that put you off, since 'Since I Left You' is quite possibly one of the most original, disorienting, and thoroughly enjoyable records you can expect to hear all year. Apparently composed entirely of 900 samples, it darts defiantly between an array of sources too vast for most of the pick'n'mix brigade to get even half their heads round, from the famously cleared Madonna sample (now that's clout!) to the Monty Python opening of the title track, with Kid Creole's 'Stool Pigeon' guesting on 'Close To You' and Boney M's gloriously camp 'Ma Baker' forming the initial basis for the super-springy-bass-driven 'Live At Dominoes'.
And before you start thinking "but hang on! Isn't that just the same creative bankruptcy you've objected to in everyone else?", let's make it clear that there's not a single track here that gets propped up by the familiarity of old, and no sample that even begins to outstay its welcome. Moreover, it's a riotous journey taking in many stops that look set to become justifiably played to death and beyond in their own right, with the spacey whoosh of 'Flight Tonight' and the sweetly inappropriately light-hearted wombling of 'Frontier Psychiatrist' just nudging the pack.
Saying it's the greatest dance album to ever come out of Australia probably isn't saying all that much. Calling it the 'Endtroducing' you can throw a fantastic party to is. Essential, if you hadn't already gathered...
Dan Perry
