ALBUMS OF THE DECADE: SINCE I LEFT YOU (2001)

2001 saw the release of the Stokes’ Is This It, the eponymous Gorillaz début and PJ Harvey’s Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea. Even better, it saw the release of both White Blood Cells (still the best White Stripes album) and the Avalanches’ Since I Left You, two amazing albums which could not be more different.

The latter was painstakingly constructed from around 3,500 vinyl samples and was years in the making, while the former’s guitar-drums-vocals simplicity was recorded in a matter of days. It was a close call, but after much deliberation AGCS can declare that Since I Left You was the best album of 2001.

Perhaps best known for their single Frontier Psychiatrist and subsequently dismissed as a novelty act, the first (and so far only) album by the Avalanches is a real labour of love. The Madonna-sampling Stay Another Season manages to take the Holiday bass-line and make it it’s own, while Close To You makes ingenious use of Kid Creole & The Coconuts’ Stool Pigeon. Other highlights include the strangely affecting piano ballad Tonight and the aforementioned Frontier Psychiatrist, which is devilishly catchy. It’s an hour long but doesn’t drag or feel bloated, with each track segueing into the next to create a constantly changing whole.

Simply put, Since I Left You is a fun album, but by the same token the Avalanches’ sampling is no gimmick - this is a record which has been put together with real care, each sample carefully selected and just a small part of a greater masterpiece. Because this album is a masterpiece, make no mistake. It’s completely fucking brilliant.

Listen to the album on Spotify by clicking below

Jed. x