El Producto - the Avalanches

The Avalanches are a band from Melbourne, Australia. You know, the guys with that crazy Frontier Psychiatrist Music Video. I was introduced to them by a friend of a friend I was trying to start a band with at the time. The band didn't work out but he helped push me to the new and exciting world of sample based music. I won't talk too much about that here, but the Avalanches are definitely a big part of that. Their only LP, "Since I Left You" was made with over 3500 samples and I would have to say that album is proof that new and exciting music can be made from samples. I said I wasn't going to go into copyright, but this proves to me that copyright law can stifle creativity, because I doubt that album could be release in the United States in 2011 because all those samples would need to be cleared, even if they are just a few seconds each.

Anyways, before they put together "Since I Left You" and before they were the Avalanches, they were a punk band. Then they recorded "El Producto" which is a mix between their earlier punk days and their now electronic days. Well I don't know what the hell it is. I could never really figure out how they made the album. I always believed it was completely sample based, but the Wikipedia page (yeah, what) says that it was more "band" like, where each member had an instrument. Not sure how much I believe that, but mystery and intrigue are a good thing right?

This is an EP, only 7 songs and is short clocking at about 20 minutes, but it is amazing. The sound is something you may never hear anywhere else. An amazing eclectic mix of sounds to form hypnotic beats sung over with a grabbing voice. Their full LP, "Since I Left You" is much softer in sound, clean, and more electronic while this one is harder, gritty and has a very garage feel to it. Texture and personality are oozing out of this one. Sadly the Avalanches moved on from this sound with their later releases, but that is a good thing. Too many bands stick with a sound and stop their creativity, stop their musical curiosity. Not the Avalanches, they started off as a rock band, cut samples to make demo tapes. They found those demo tapes interesting and decided to make music like that, overlaying their instruments and eventually they got rid of instruments all together and started building music by recycling and overlaying older, forgotten tracks. It's exciting to think what they may be up to next.

This link isn't mine, found it on the internet, it should be fine. If there are any problems let me know, but this one isn't too hard to find if you're looking for it.

El Producto - the Avalanches

Benjamen Walker

What can I say about Benjamen Walker. I feel like I've known him since childhood. Not sure how I came across him, but I'm glad I did. He is a great writer and amazing producer. He produces layered stories that I always come back to. He also shares my passion for a Philip K Dick, which causes immediate respect for him.

Benjamen Walker is the creator the radio shows "Your Radio Nightlight" and "Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything" and now hosts "Too Much Information". When I first heard him, I lived in an area which didn't broadcast his then current show, "the Theory of Everything." I kept up-to-date via podcast and slowly started collecting everything I could by him. One thing you may come to learn about me is I am a pack rat. Not in the sense that I can't let go of things, but in the sense that I love archiving. I love finding everything someone did, organizing it, and documenting everything I can about it. Knowledge is power they say. I agree, visualization and access to that knowledge is power, and I am power hungry.

"Theory of Everything" is a subject based show. Benjamen picks a topic and either creates a story or finds a friend who has one (but the awesomeness and absurdity of some stories make you question if they they really happened) and develops a gripping, insightful and enjoyable show. Always humorous, always questioning what you hold to believe as true, and constantly exposing you to new and interesting ideas you may have never thought could be conceived.

One thing I love about his shows is how he tricks the listener. You may not like the issue of religion or you already have a preconceived notion about it in your head. I am like this too. There are issues which I have strong stances on, and I can get very stubborn. The story starts, you listen. You agree with what he says or you even think of something interesting related to the events and people in the story. Then you realize what he is really talking about. There is a deeper meaning to the once random story. The best moments is when you realize what you were just agreeing with or thinking about is contrary to your previous stance, thus opening your mind a little. Its easier to see the other side of an issue if your the one convincing. Of course you can always just skim the surface and enjoy the funny, bizarre and interesting stories and still come out quite satisfied.

One of my favorites is "Adventures is Surveillance (3): the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle." In this show, Benjamen talks about a waitress he met at a restaurant and how his interaction with her changed her life completely. An amazing episode, humorous and though provoking at the same time. Other notable episodes are "American Exceptionalism," "May Day," "the CIA & Art" and the Fall Conspiracies collection.

I always say (to myself) that "Theory of Everything" is the documentary show while "Your Radio Nightlight" is the fictional show. Both have their share of truths but the primary method of presentation varies. "Theory of Everything" is a shorter format usually coming in at 30 minutes while "Your Radio Nightlight" is around an hour (though many times he has multiple parts, causing them to clock much longer). "Your Radio Nightlight" has spawned some of my favorite shows, like "The Greater Depression" which is about a young hopeful's experience at clown college and an accordion, oh how I love that accordion. I think it was one of the first ones I listened to. Benjman's voice over the accordion always brings a smile to my face, causing the events of the episode instantly be recollected. Specially the whole Jerry Lewis stuff. But hey, thats what happens at clown college. Other notables are "Escape," "the Night," "Man without a Country." Saidly I didn't capture the "Your Radio Nightlight" logo when it was still on the internet, so I just have the NPR alternative podcast cover.

I have collected 37 "Theory of Everything" mp3s. I don't say shows because some of them are segments and other are rebroadcasted "Your Radio Nightlight" episodes. The tracklisting is in airing order, so they are sequential though the listening order does not matter. I also have 13 "Your Radio Nightlight" episodes I grabbed from the "Theory of Everything" archive before it went down. I don't know much about this one because the site was long gone by the time I discovered the show.

Benjamen Walker's show has pushed me into making this blog. I have wanted to do something similar to this for the longest time. I had a Zune but it broke when I sat on it (i have this habit of using my back pockets for things), horribly disfiguring the screen and eventually leading to its demise. After that I was without any kind of portable music (my laptop has a small drive, so I only had a few gbs of stuff at a time on it, the rest on an external) for about a year. Recently I decided to get another Zune (hey, I really like the interface, ok) and loaded my music on it. I was then driving home one day with it on random and one of his shows came up. I couldn't believe I had lost this and forgot about it for so long. The last time I had listened to any of the shows must have been at least 4 years before. I wanted to find more, find ones that I haven't listened to before. After some internet searches I found that many other people had been looking for this, and both the "Theory of Everything" and "Your Radio Nightlight" archives were down. There is nothing left on the internet about this show except for some sparse reviews and a show here or there. So here is what I have ...

Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything
Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything: Fall Conspiracies
Your Radio Nightlight

Hopefully I can keep these up here for people to download and enjoy. And I hope others will contribute ones that they have saved so that we can build up a definitive collection, archiving this for everyone.

BTW, a list of what I have is below so you can know what you're getting into.

Also, I found the error in TOE with 23 and the 2x 30. Not sure if I had a 23 at some point or I just mis-numbered some of them. Mediafire doesn't let me rename them so until I want to reupload them I'll leave them for you to do what you want with them.

the Theory of Everything	TOE: Fall Conspiracies	Your Radio Nightlight
01 Saint Phil	01 Fall Conspiracies	01 Escape
02 the CIA & Art	02 Fall Conspiracies, Part Deux	02 Underworld
03 Cell Phones	03 Fall Conspiracies, le Finale	03 the Night
04 Pre Election Show		04 Holy War
05 Post Election Show		05 What a Wonderful World
06 Celebritism		06 the Greater Depression
07 Torture		07 the Greatest Depression
08 Connections		08 Noa Noa (1)
09 Kenmore Square		09 Noa Noa (2)
10 Evil		10 Noa Noa (3)
11 Harold and the Hark		11 Man without a Country
12 Through a Window, Death		12 Resurrection Rashomon
13 Failure		13 a Sacrifice
14 Books
15 Cost of Living
16 Head Full of Ideas
17 Grant Application
18 Freedom on the March
19 Think Global
20 May Day
21 the Island
22 Taking Sides
23
24 Dissent, the America Way
25 Living in the Moment
26 American Exceptionalism
27 Katrina's Wake
28 Prey for the Divine
29 Anatomy of a Love Story
30 Adventures in Surveillance (1)
30 Adventures in Surveillance (2)
31 Adventures in Surveillance (3)
32 Bugs, Bugs
33 Darth Vader
34 Work (1)