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