- Daft Punk, Boards Of Canada, Aphex Twin—the last few years have seen the comebacks from more than a few much-loved electronic acts. But none excited me personally as much as the news that The Avalanches were returning. Their only album to date, 2000's Since I Left You, was one of the first major LPs to be made entirely out of samples. It was a love-letter to music lovers, packing emotional sincerity into radio-friendly dance jams.
With the anticipation and pure fanboyism around a group like The Avalanches, their show at Oval Space was never going to please everyone. Our expectations were probably unrealistic. Still, there were some genuine problems with the night. Though not expressly billed as a live performance, few expected them to just show up and play records. But that's what they did.
The group, diminished to three members now (only two of whom were at the show), spent just under an hour spinning a mixed bag of party records. There was a fair amount of clumsiness on the decks, and some questionable showboating from frontman Di Blasi, who danced on a back table and at one point attempted to throw his jacket out into the crowd. It hit a speaker and fell limply behind the decks.
That's not to say the selections were bad. There were a few lovely Nina Simone cuts, Joe Cocker's "Woman To Woman" and Liquid Liquid's classic sample-mine "Optimo." There were also a few top covers, like The Slits' "Heard It Through The Grapevine" and Betty Everett's "God Only Knows." But it all felt a bit obvious. Most of these songs could be played on Friday night at your local pub. They might even be mixed more smoothly there.
Still, the crowd were game, and there was some great moments. The abrupt drop from the intro of Nina Simone's "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" into The Avalanche's big single, "Frontier Psychiatrist," was an electric moment. "Since I Left You" proved a perfect closer, as uplifting and touching as it was 16 years ago. But it's telling that the best moments came when the group played their classics. Their new track, "Frankie Sinatra," failed to make an impression, with its crude electro-swing arrangement and dislocated rap verses.
Much of the pleasure from The Avalanches' music comes from how hellbent they are on having fun, regardless of what's trendy at the time. This, coupled with their sampling virtuosity, was the bottled-lightning brilliance of Since I Left You. Listening to The Avalanches, you hear a group of people loving music. This was still there at Oval Space. But—and perhaps this is a curious paradox for sample-based artists—I got tired of hearing their favourite jams. I wanted to hear The Avalanches.