Since I Left You

As a part of an educational collaboration between RMIT and the Australian Music Vault, this article was written and researched by students of the Bachelor of Arts (Music Industry) degree under the guidance of Dr Shelley Brunt. The authors are Stephanie Broadbent-Smith, Alex Adorno and Lauren Eddy.

The Sonic Nostalgia of The Avalanches

The prolific career of The Avalanches has cemented them as a sampling success, weaving whimsical tales of sound through their emotive musical process. In a digital age saturated with electronic artists, releases and technologies, The Avalanches continue to produce music bathed in their signature nostalgic warmth. Upon the 20th anniversary of their debut album Since I Left You (2000), we are reminded of the genuine quality of the tracks that stirred many a heart not just in their hometown of Melbourne, but globally.

In a music industry where songs are pushed out of recording studios with such velocity it is hard to keep up. The Avalanches leave musty song formulas at the door and breathe kaleidoscopic colour and movement into their craft. As founding members of the band Robbie Chater and Tony Di Blasi have proved with each album that their music is steeped in a sacred nostalgia, using samples from varied media to build a song structure so unique the entire album flows into one seamless wave of sound.

Their 2021 east coast tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of Since I Left You featured the sample ‘Pure Imagination’ from the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The whimsical, familiar melody that reverberated from the speakers sent an electrical current through the crowd – it is a melody so powerful in its nostalgia that it leaves nowhere for one's inner child to hide. It dances in the air, preserved and reworked with intention by the duo.

The emotive atmospheres created by Chater and Di Blasi are ones recalled by Mike Callander, DJ and owner of record label Haul Music, and a personal friend of The Avalanches. Callander worked on the production team for the duo in 2016 as they embarked on a musical reawakening in the form of their album Wildflower and its supporting tour.

“When we were building the band shows, they got a drummer called Paris who would need a click track, for example, to play along with certain [songs] that are kind of based on samples. The way that [The Avalanches] arrange stuff was ‘wrong’ in terms of music theory, but it was right because it’s a masterpiece. It's based on feeling.”

Hit track ‘Frontier Psychiatrist’ has been omitted from the 2021 live show, proving just how seriously the duo take aesthetics in their live show. “No, it doesn't feel like it fits. This is the aesthetic. And it doesn't belong there,” Callander reflects. The Avalanches are no stranger to bold moves in their musical legacy, even 21 years after their controversial debut album Since I Left You was released. The Avalanches push the boundaries of musical ideals in each and every way, creating a whirlwind of new but nostalgic music for the listener.

The way that [The Avalanches] arrange stuff was ‘wrong’ in terms of music theory, but it was right because it’s a masterpiece. It's based on feeling.

Callander plays with the idea that nostalgia in The Avalanches’ music is not just created by the artists themselves, but by the listener as well. “They actively take an interest in where [the sample] comes from, and then go digging into the history of it... that's maybe where the nostalgia lies.” This unspoken relationship between The Avalanches and their listeners is one that is rewarded greatly in the digital age.

A simple online search of a fleeting lyrical sample in one of their tracks results in an avalanche of information in its origin. Hit single ‘Frontier Psychiatrist’ from Since I Left You features a sample from ‘El Negro Zumbon’, a piece featured in the 1971 film Anna. “There were those people going, what is this tune? Or that reminds me of something? I've heard this before. And finding it you know, whether they're old or young,” Callander reflects.

The process of sampling is complex yet dynamic. It involves finding a song, cracking it open and splicing it to find the perfect sound. Collecting and giving new form to a song or piece of media is paramount to The Avalanches sampling technique. When making the album Since I Left You, Chater and Di Blasi created samples from over 3,500 mixed media forms, using simplified Akai samplers. The trailblazing Since I Left You has become one of the most recognised albums of the sub-genre ‘plunderphonics’, a phrase described as music constructed of both familiar and niche audio samples. The practice of sampling is labour intensive and requires the creator to adopt a new approach to listening; to think of each layer as a musical opportunity.

Callander commented on The Avalanches being historians and collectors, explaining that the pair go on musical scavenger hunts to find the perfect sample, creating 'museums of sound' in the process. This has given their work a sense of timelessness through the usage of clips from earlier songs and time periods.

“When Robbie's hunting for [samples], it is a kind of nostalgic thing. But I think it's also like he's a bit of an historian.” The Avalanches give new life to dated pieces through their music, introducing the sounds both to a new generation and reigniting the memory of listeners who once were familiar with them.

It’s a familiar story told of the burgeoning electronic scene in 1990s Australia. This era birthed artists such as DJ SOUP and the striking plunderphonics-soaked album Souperloops, while two-piece B(if)tek sent their moody, industrial electronic tracks through the airwaves. Since I Left You was The Avalanches’ response to the call of the rapidly growing Australian electronic scene.

The album is layered with unearthed samples constructed in the signature style of NYC hip-hop pioneers DJ Kool Herc and Afrika Bambataa. The Avalanches transported this sound and technique to the streets of Melbourne on the cusp of summer, introducing a fresh sound that pulled together electronica and rap, tinged with deliberate nostalgia. Callander touches on The Avalanches signature sound, “[they captured] something that's kind of Aussie even though so much of what they're sampling isn't. It's representative.”

The Avalanches give new life to dated pieces through their music, introducing the sounds both to a new generation and reigniting the memory of listeners who once were familiar with them.

The Avalanches create and curate with masterful intention; each sample a sonic nod to the original creator before it embarks on its new musical journey. It is a testament to their creativity that an album bursting with such colour and movement was born from the rudimentary origins of sample technology in Melbourne. The electronic innovation of Di Blasi and Chater means no album sleeve is left cloaked in dust, instead reimagined into its future form.