The Avalanches
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The Avalanches are an electronic music collective from Melbourne, Australia.
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History
The group started out as punk band featuring Robbie Chater, Darren Seltmann, Gordon McQuilten and Toni Diblasi. Eventually the music transformed from punk to 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.
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 an eclectic pastiche of samples. This change of direction was further reinforced with the release of the single, "Frontier Psychiatrist", which debuted and peaked at #48 in the Australian ARIAnet Singles Chart, and at #18 on the UK Singles Chart. 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 #18 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.
The band's most recent release, When I Met You, is a compilation of tracks by artists (of varying vintage and genre) that influenced the band, as well as some of the tracks from Since I Left You. The tracks are mixed together in a mash-up style, comparable to releases by 2 Many DJs. This mix was debuted on the Radio 1 show The Breezeblock on 12th September 2000.
Discography
Albums
- Since I Left You (2000)
Compilations
- When I Met You (2004)
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)
External links
- The Avalanches official site (http://www.theavalanches.com/)
- VH1.com : The Avalanches : Biography (http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/avalanches/bio.jhtml)
- AllMusic Guide entry for The Avalanches (http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&token=ADFEAEE4791CD24CAC7F20C9803056CBBD67F71B8B63FB81126E495AD1A93E409A056FFD05BADBC8AEF875B47DE3FD24A05805D0C3FE3681&uid=CADMR0409251442&sql=11:v7rvadski8w5~T0&btnI)