Event #11: "Found Sounds" 25 May 2017 • Host: Rob Lindsay

The Avalanches – Since I Left You (2000)

In May we were hosted by Rob Lindsay, a Social Media-er and adopted Brummie, who is easily distracted by musical rabbit holes. Rob chose this album because “sampling allows a producer to draw upon any and every sound they hear from anywhere in the world. Yet albums like this one, which throw their arms wide to a range of moods and surprises, and yet manage to retain a consistent aesthetic, remain frustratingly few and far between.”

This event saw Off The Record upgraded to the largest room at our beloved venue, Cherry Reds. This reflects the increased attendance of the event and we had a good 20 or so attendees tonight to listen to the Avalanches’ 2000 debut “Since I Left You”.

Rob, a passionate fan of the duo, gave us an interesting introduction with notes on the samples, origins and influences behind this genre-mixing record. An hour in length, it’s one of the longest albums we’ve played at the event, and Rob revealed that the original record was intended to be even longer (but the Sample Police limited the range of sounds that could be legally used).

We settled down to listen in our newly-upgraded space (the large room has a full PA system!), and the album kicked off with one of the two songs everyone was likely to have heard – the title track “Since I Left You”. Rob had generously created a trailer video for the event which demonstrated the samples that make up the bulk of this song, and it really helped everyone reflect on the artistry of sampling and mixing.

Over the next hour we listened as the album shifted from French hip-hop to movie samples to Air-esque beauty and funk/disco tributes. The Avalanches cover a lot of ground which was reflected in the group’s response.

Almost everyone had positive words to say (particularly about the standout singles) and Rob’s point that the album probably could have ended several tracks early was generally agreed with. The average rating from the group was a 6.5 / 10 with a few folks commenting on the duration, but we had a few firm fans (and perhaps converts) in the room too.

As befits a band with such diverse samples and origins, the songs our attendees nominated for our “Found Sounds” theme proved quite tricky to locate on Spotify. The playlist below has some of them, but the more obscure ones here and linked to YouTube where possible. Thanks as ever to our brilliant attendees for nominating these songs:

A large new room, another big turnout, the usual regulars and some new people – OTR is going from strength to strength! Thanks to Rob.

Spotify playlist of songs

See above to see who nominated each song which matched our theme, "Found Sounds".