Top Albums of The Decade #9
The Avalanches – Since I Left You (2000)
In my opinion the culture of sampling in modern music can be divided into three significant milestones. The Beastie Boys paved the way for endless multi-layered possibilities with Paul’s Boutique in 1989. Then DJ Shadow turned it into an introspective art form in 1996 with Endtroducing. Finally The Avalanches took it out of the domain of dusty basements and cluttered studios previously occupied almost exclusively by hip-hop and brought it to pop-level mass consumption. You could say Since I Left You is the precursor to all things mashup, making it cool for everyone else to mix hardcore rap with cheesy pop and glittery disco. The CD is sequenced into 18 tracks but there’s really no point in listening to this album if you can’t sit down and finish it in one go.
‘Two Hearts In 3/4 Time’