Since I Left You

This is a wonderfully chilled album that conjures up images of a sun slowly setting over a beach. ‘Since I Left You’ is an earworm of a track that has such a sunny hook to it I cannot understand hiw anyone cannot like it. The sheer amount of samples used to create this album is ridiculous and i’d totally forgotten that this included things as random as Madonna’s ‘Holiday’ which is so ubiquitous it grabs your attention, possibly a little too much. Frontier psychiatrist is just infectious, i cannot imagine ever not wanting to listen to it. The same could be said for much of this album as i love the layer after layer of samples

I assumed I didn’t know who this was. I was wrong. This is such an interesting concept, and it is so well executed. I didn’t recognise most samples, but I enjoyed how their production, seamlessly, fused them together. The samples I did recognise were a fascinating mix: musical theatre, hip-hop, soul, disco, pop, - as well as whatever genre you’d attach to Kid Creole and the Coconuts. I loved “Frontier Psychiatrist” when I was 10yrs old and doubt I’ve heard it much (if at all) since then, so it was a lot of fun to listen to it again. I remember “Since I Left You” being released as well, but not the other two singles off this one. It didn’t need to be anywhere near as long as it was, and some samples are put to much better use than others - particularly the first half, as it seemed the quality dipped a little in the second half. It’s really a 3.5* album from me, but it’s just too infectious to get a 3. A very surprising high score from me.

Yay! I have been waiting for this to show up. I love this album and listen to it fairly regularly. I love how it sounds, the backstory to how it exists, the backstory to the wonderful lady who meticulously cleared all the samples so it could get released on a label without them being sued by 1000s of different artists. All of it. And it's weird, because I wouldn't say it's typical of the type of album I really latch on to. I do like sampling, and this project has shown me that I like a lot of 80s hiphop because of the sampling and often despite the rapping. But I do adore this. It changes so often, it's pretty hard to get bored, as a new sound will come along all the time. And you'll get little reprises of samples throughout which makes it feel like a cohesive whole without being repetitive. An album I love. 5/5 Also if you like Frontier Psychiatrist, Nicksterbruh on YouTube made a version with updated samples (from 1983-2025 rather than the original's 1953-1995) and it's well worth a listen if only for it's use of Insane In The Brain.

Been a long time since I put this on

First song was great and I was very hopeful, but this ended up being a mess of samples without much originality of its own.

aussie pride / nostalgia aside, this album appeals to literally everything i love about music. the level of creativity you hear through abundant and intricate sampling in tracks that all seamlessly flow into one another puts you on an indescribable journey that you find something new in on every listen. at the very least technically and creatively impressive, to me a masterpiece.

Sample looping can go wrong quickly, it this one works. I got J Dilla vibes at times, which is a positive. Maybe it’s my ADHD brain that enjoyed this, but it’s an absolute gem.

Daft Punk meets chill alternative on this very unexpectedly enjoyable album. Going in blind, I was immediately struck by the funkiness and groove of this. It isn’t just electronic mess for the sake of a “beats CD”. This stands on its own.

If the Wikipedia starts out "_______ is the studio album by electronic music group..." that almost always means a 1 or 2 star for me. Thankfully, this record wasn't just 80 minutes of boots-and-pants-and-boots-and-pants, but it was still very long and same-y. 3 stars is definitely too generous; ima give it 2 stars but it's a high 2. Like a 2.85.

Gorgeous, well-made considering its only made from samples and it flows incredibly. That said, i don’t love every track, but its not enough to bring it down from a 5. Standouts are Since I Left You, Radio, Close To You, A Different Feeling, Tonight May Have To Last Me All My Life, Frontier Psychiatrist, ETOH and Live At Dominoes.

This is truly sampling maximalism. It’s very sonically dense, every song has so much going on- and that comes from the apparently 900 to 3500 samples the duo used to create this album. Some are tunes you can pick out, much of it is obscured in a continuous, crossfaded wall of sound, like a party that just keeps going. It has this undercurrent of like schizophrenic whispering throughout that gives it a sense of urgency, and the repeated motifs between neighboring songs gives it a cool callback feeling. Smooth is the word I would use to describe the transitions. The entire album could be one song as far as playback Is concerned, which makes for a great listening experience. I really enjoyed this and I think you will too. This is what the 1001 albums is about. Discovery. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Too much noise to be really enjoyable

I don’t usually like electronica but I really liked this one

Frábær plata! Kom mjög skemmtilega á óvart. Soundið feitt og beitt og töff og röff.

Hressandi teknó í haustlægðinni. Þarna mátti nú aldeilis sampla. En hentar betur á klúbbnum en við matsgerðaskrif.

Some on this album very listenable

Really liked this album

Decent start but it just kept GOING

Wtf

I struggle with my feelings for this one. I get the vibe and all, and it works for me inbthe right setting, but at other times it's just puzzling. Except Flight Tonight. That is a truely dreadful excuse for music.

Struggled to finish it. I can tell it’s not bad, but it’s so boring

I wanted to like this a lot more than I actually did. It should be right up my alley but it’s just not. 4/10.

Não sou o público-alvo de música eletrônica de forma alguma, realmente. Intankável

This is one I discovered through the book some years back. It may be nothing but samples, but everything is put together so seamlessly that it feels like it was meant to go together all along. Just a wonderful album.

Listens: 2 (and a lot more over the years) Standout Tracks: Since I Left You, Electricity, Frontier Psychiatrist, ETOH, Tonight May Have To Last Me All My Life (MF DOOM Remix) I first heard of The Avalanches in... I want to say 2009 or 2010 in college. A buddy showed me the music video for Frontier Psychiatrist - which is brilliant in its own right - and so I went back to my room and found the whole album. At the time, I sort of picky in playing music, which thinking back is pretty bizarre since the sunk cost is really really low and... well the music was... free... Anyway, I knew I liked Frontier Psychiatrist, but wasn't sure what else I might like. I picked a song to play based off the title. Avalanche Rock. It's 23 seconds long, and it bridges the gap between two other songs. I didn't get it. Why didn't I start at the beginning of the album? Who knows. Not me. I am not sure what happened after that. I guess I eventually decided to sit down and listen to the whole album... properly. And it clicked. I realized that they broke up the tracks somewhat arbitrarily. Really, this album is one continuous song, played as a DJ would play it in a club. Each song flows into the next, on and on until the end of the album. It's brilliant. Certainly not the first album ever to do this, and won't be the last, but brilliant nonetheless. I love the samples, I love the creativity. I love the music. I love the flow. I love the album cover (and the Anniversary Deluxe Edition cover too). I love the whole album so much I bought the Anniversary Deluxe Edition on vinyl. Aside from having to flip the vinyl, thus breaking the continuous flow and immersion, the album plays so well. I not only hear the built-in vinyl crackle from all of the samples ripped off all of the obscure albums this music is pulled from, but I also get my own unique vinyl crackle from it too. This album might also be one of the earliest albums I heard that got me into my enjoyment of modern electronica music. So, suffice to say, this is a favorite and gets a 5.

28/09/2026 For what it is and the age of the album... this was a pleasant surprise. Spotify listeners: 1.9 million

Really cool sound. Something fresh. The stand-outs are a hard five, but a bit too long

a win for dead people

5/10

decent as ambient.

What a coincidence! I recently added this to my library after seeing ads for their upcoming album everywhere. This is such a joyous and infectious record, like cracking open an ice-cold apple cider at the beach, condensed into 18 wonderful tracks. It's very impressive how they were able to create such varied but cohesive rhythms from thousands of miscellaneous samples, with "Frontier Psychiatrist" being the standout track to me. An Australian treasure for sure! Normally I'm not all that into sampling-focused dance music and it's regular dependance on repetitive vocal chops, but "Since I Left You" put me in such a good mood that even I can't deny its genius.

Dull, annoying and repetitive. Really not for me. However, I really enjoyed Frontier Psychiatrist

Since I Left You is a beautiful, massive collage of samples that keeps you engaged throughout its entire runtime. The skill with which these samples are incorporated is downright unparalleled. Such a unique vibe. I've been meaning to explore their other work for ages, but I just can't imagine it being pulled off on the same level. Favourite track: Frontier Psychiatrist

Honestly - an all timer. The Avalanches' ability to mix and match samples and dig through crates has a sense of propulsion and blend that had been hard to come by until they dropped this. There were always crate diggers and creative sampling, but nothing felt so seamless, so effortless as their work. This is an album that changed how and what was sampled for rap, pop, and experimental work, moving the whole genre forward. I'd notch it down slightly because of its down moments, but the way it's constructed and its seamless it is, it stays a particular masterpiece.

This surprised me. Kept me engaged the whole way and loved hearing Frontier Psychiatrist again. I had no idea who had done the song and would have never rediscovered it organically.

Amazing use of samples, classic electro. Low 5

Since I Left You is the definitive plunderphonics album to which all others are compared. I love its scatty, harebrained optimism, especially the patchwork masterpiece that is Frontier Psychiatrist which scratches a very particular itch in my mind. The highs are high and there are no lows.

High 4 for Avalanches. Great record and feat of engineering but never quite takes me completely away.

Again, another album dominated by two enormous singles that have both had plenty of radio airplay over the years. I did find the rest of the album somewhat self-indulgent; its clever, but not really something I'd reach for if looking for an hour (yes, too long) of entertainment, as much of it passed me by. I appreciate that it's on the list, it should be. Heard before ❌️ Listened this time ✅️ Revisit ❌️ ★★★☆☆(6/10) Total reviewed : 440 Already owned : 99 Purchased : 21 To buy : 5 Nope : 315

Frontier Psychiatrist is such a good song that the rest of the album just feels subpar by comparison. Listening to it for the first time was like my first time experiencing Boards of Canada; not my first experience with plunderphonics but this is definitely as peak as it gets. Unbelievably incredible experience and the music video is even better. Without it I'd rank this as a two star maybe

Not for me

Amazing sampling. So many little sounds and they all fit together. Really warm and fun album.

Well sampled, incoherent, pointless

It was alright

When people were saying that the sampling on this was groundbreaking at the time I enjoyed feeling like a resentful grandpa telling people to go listen to De La Soul and even Steinski & Mass Media. Now I'm old enough to be a grandpa I haven't gained any tolerance or wisdom for your "paved the way" nonsense. This still sounds dull and low effort. I feel like I'd fall asleep standing up if I tried to dance to it.

One of my favorite new discoveries a year ago and still so much fun to listen to even though it's not my usual style

Strandbargedudel. Ein endlos langer Mix zum Cocktailschlürfen. Nee! Die nächste Nullnummer! Album 850 in dieser Liste, das man nicht hören muss! Zeiträuber!

This didn’t do it for me. I just like fully different electronic music than the person who made this list. 90s/00s electronica is not the type I normally enjoy.

Just not good

My wife and I were grocery shopping yesterday, and I had this playing in the car. "If I had to listen to that, it would drive me crazy," she said, and I said, "Sounds like that's going to be my review." It actually isn't that bad (she hasn't heard some of the stuff I've endured on this list), but it is mind-numbingly repetitive at times. One track flows right into the next, with no separation, so much of it is one long track with slight variations.

Chaotic high-energy pastiche that not only defiles its source material but somehow manages to create a tasty sonic sausage from the ground up mess.

Maybe this would be on the "1000 Australian Sample-Dependent Albums You Should Listen to Before You Die," but it has no business here.

Never heard of The Avalanches, but pretty impressive to assimilate over 1000 samples into a cohesive album.

1.89

not my kind of music but cool

solid

I really liked this album, it s funny how they thought that no one would listen to it and then the world did. The first one is a banger and I have listened to it a lot. I do wonder what the history of this album means for sampling ? Maybe it was just the best sampling album at the time Overall good, towards the end I did kinda lose interest but ya I wouldn't mind someone putting it on ox

This really left me cold today. I do NOT see how this can be classed as groundbreaking music, as it seemed to be a piecemeal of samples to create new tracks - a technique pioneered by 'My life in the bush of ghosts' 19 years earlier. Curiously their next album was 16 years later - I hope it doesn't appear later in this list........

Too techno for me. It's not the worst but I just don't like techno. It is okay but this album is just so repetetive and boring.

Favorite songs: Since I Left You, Radio, Two Hearts in 3/4 Time, Close to You, A Different Feeling, Electricity, Pablo’s Cruise, Frontier Psychiatrist, Etoh, Extra Kings 3.5

Creating an album entirely (or almost entirely) from samples is no simple feat, and at times on this album The Avalanches prove just how creative and masterfully it can be done. Sadly, sometimes it doesn't come together and the album suffers for it.

Track By Track Since I Left You - nice guitar and sample to kick it off. Nice and vibey. Simple structure. I like this. Stay Another Season - nice segue into this one from the previous track. Like an extension of it. Sounds a bit like an interlude. So far it’s sounding like more of a vibe than songs per se. Radio - quite hypnotic beats. Very repetitive. Didn’t love this one. Two Hearts in 3/4 Time - quite like the vocal sample on this one. Moves nicely. Avalanche Rock - almost Beastie Boys?? Influences. Breakbeat interlude sounding to me. Flight Tonight - kind of good to move to. Not one of my favourites. Gets a bit tiresome. Close To You - picks up a bit. Still repetitive but quite nice breaks within this track. Diners Only - another interlude of sorts. Like when rap/spoken word is included. Mixes it up nicely. Seems like they’re sampling widely. Evoking all kinds of eras and genres. A Different Feeling - almost disco sounding at the beginning. Bit Gloria Gaynor or Donna Summer in its feel. Electricity - kind of dancy. Like it. Tonight May Have To Last Me All My Life - really like this one. A great chilled vibe. Pablo’s Cruise - nautical vibe. Frontier Psychiatrist - clever use of samples and little snippets to create a vibe. Quite cool use of production and beats. Still didn’t love the end product of it though but it works well in the context of the album. ETOH - has a good simple beat to it. Again slightly nautical with perhaps birds in the background? Summer Crane - does have a summer vibe. Quite quirky and fun. Little Journey - classic strings! A good segue into the penultimate track. Live at Dominoes - beginning in almost a club-like manner. Can hear Daft Punk in there for sure. Good dance number. Extra Kings - beautifully spooky atmospheric closer. I like the ambient drone throughout and the funny electronics searing through. Overall Review: I think it all tied together nicely as a vibe. I appreciated some of the samples and how they weaved it all throughout the mix. Very creative. Didn’t love all of it and definitely would have to be in the mood. Lost me in the middle but nicer tracks towards the end. Good moving or cleaning music though! It loses some points for repetitiveness. 2.9/5. Favourite Songs: Since I Left You, Tonight May Have To last Me All My Life, Extra Kings

heel ziek concept. overgangen zijn echt heel erg banging. soms net te druk maar 5 sterren voor het idee

#466/1001. What’s this, a mixtape camouflaged as an album? Hell yeah! I’m a big fan of mashup, bootleg, mix-em-up sample culture, and yet hadn’t heard this before. I think I was expecting another band who was going to save rock, but got a sort of a concept album of disco made out of novelty records. I hope we also get Tipsy, the Bran Flakes and People Like Us on this list, this is almost too smooth, a bit repetitive, but goddamn it is also fun.

Love the Avalanches. Frontier Psychiatry and Pablo's Cruise were already on my playlist and I was happy to give this whole album a listen. Incredibly impressed by their ability to turn a vast array of disparate samples into a coherent and enjoyable song. I love watching breakdown videos of how many samples go into a single track.

I've listened to my share of sample-heavy music, but I think this is the first album I've listened to that is composed entirely (or at least mostly) of samples, interweaving and looping in interesting ways that treats each sample as an instrument. The result isn't something I'd listen to often, being largely repetitive dance music, but it's an interesting and well-executed experiment.

I love an album that is mixed together well. I love Frontier Psychiatrist but I'd barley heard anything else. There were bits and pieces in here that I really liked - Close to You through to Frontier was the best bit. But some of it was a bit boring and a bit irritating. If a 40 minute album this could have been more of a blast.

i had fun with this at first but then it just turned into endless samples and, worse, endless repetition of the very same samples.

I know a couple of these and I always liked them. It's so impressive to pull together so many unrelated samples to make such catchy tunes... But it turns out that a whole album of this is really really dull. I reckon I could handle an ep. Every so often there would be a catch hook or phrase, but at that point the catchy bit existed in the original sample and if it hasn't been put with other things to make it better than the sum of its parts there isn't much point. I didn't hate it, but I doubt I'd seek it out again.

I heard this album in high school and it changed the way I thought about music. It’s been like 15 years since then lol, usually when I listen to it I click on since I left you and move on maybe listen to electricity. Start to finish was such a treat. Happy to have done it again after all these years

From Australian punk few days ago to boring Australian electro. Another album fully created by samples, 3500 different ones it seems. This a kind of AI music avant la lettre. As also AI is generating something ‘new’ by combining existing material. It is probably very creative and innovative but it remains ‘just’ cutting pieces of existing music composed and created by other musicians and sticking them together. In addition this album is boring as hell. With sleepy repetitive rhythms which might supposed to be meant to be danced to in some kind of club. Well that are not the clubs where you will find me.

💯Fiesta milenium!!! Ya me acuerdo de ellas…captura e momento sin duda con mucho estilo

Not much to latch on to for this album. It felt like lounge music for a motel that's trying to cater to the hotel crowd.

How this absolute disaster ended up on the list is beyond me. It toggles between the mind-numbing background noise played before cinema trailers and the kind of cheap, dusty exotica LPs rotting in a dollar bin. Despite Wikipedia boasting a massive 900+ sample count, not a single hook rang a bell.

Det er veldig mye jeg digger her, og det eneste jeg egentlig kan utsette på albumet er at det er litt vel langt.

This album has some high moments, "frontier psychologist"and "since I left you" specifically. But overall this album seems scattered and unfocused. I still can't decide if thats a good thing or a bad thing. I enjoyed listening to this so ultimately I think its a good thing, maybe?

Today I learned about the music genre Plunderphonics. It was a pretty enjoyable record to listen too. Much credit to The Avalanches for the time and effort it must have cost to put this album together

Who listens to this? When would you listen to this? Why listen this?

Some good parts some meh parts

Electricity had me like: Yes, hello. I was wondering if you could play that song again? ... The one that goes bee boo boo bop, boo boo bee. ... boo boo bop? ... boo boo beep bop? ... not bee boo beep? ... boop? ... beep? ... boo boo bop!

Fun aussies

I was not previously familiar with the artist or album. This is a dance album that pulls fairly extensively from other genres. It has some moments but overall did not enjoy it. I had to skip through some of it. I won't come back to this one.

I knew “Frontier Psychiatrist” from an ex of my who became infatuated with the song and video. I didn’t realize it came out in 2000. It’s a unique album for sure, reading about how many samples were used was awe inspiring. Not exactly something I’d listen to regularly, but given how a few years later I bought Fatboy Slim and Moby albums, I’m not sure what I’d have thought of this when it came out.

Game changer

Is this THE birth of the electronic "Lo-Fi" genre? It was a very pleasant listen. No songs stood out besides "Frontier Psychiatrist" mostly because "Frontier Psychiatrist" had some pretty bold vocals and over-dubbed speeches. But that's how Lo-Fi is, no songs are supposed to stand out and catch your attention, it's low fidelity; background noise. I found myself multiple times slouching or my eyes getting droopy while listening to this album because it's so relaxing. It's very easy on the ears and had just the right amount of Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response or "ASMR" - like the artificial vinyl dust crackling, or little chimes or pops here and there. Good stuff, I'll rate it an 8/10.

I really enjoyed this.

09 A Different Feeling 14 ETOH

One of the GOATs, absolutely mind-melting sample chopping, never gets boring for me and flows so smoothly, sometimes I just get lost in it and don't even realize I'm at the end.

I know it's dance music filled with lots of samples, but I found this to be derivative. I heard lots of beats and samples being recycled and overall, I wasn't so interested.

Spotify chose This album with disc 1 and 2, so I onlyblistened to the first one since I knew I didn't want to compromise 2 hours of my life. The album is ok as background music, but this kind of eletronica is not my cup of tea. Some of the songs are pleasant and the samples you could tell were innovative for the time, but honestly, it lacks something that I cannot put my finger on. . I feel their influence in the british band Jungle, but Jungle is more fun in my opinion. 2/5

Honestly loved it. I can't believe this came out in 2000, simultaneously of and way ahead of its time. It feels like I've heard it all before but I don't know if I actually have

It wasn't something I disliked, but it wasn't something I'd necessarily listen to again.

Works well as background music. The tracks have a similar vibe and can be difficult to distinguish because the transitions between them are smooth, giving the impression of listening to a single continuous track throughout the album. I will listen to this album again while focusing on work or chilling at home. Edit: turns out that the more I listen to this album the more I enjoy it, I ended up increasing my initial rating!

Since I Left You is a sample rich tapestry that is built on layers and layers of sound. I feel like every playthrough would be a different experience depending on where you place your listening focus. The Avalanches manage to tap into the primal joy of music and the way it is intertwined with our lives. And make no mistake, this album is very much alive.

A full album that blends song after song. A mesmerizing collage of sound. Best use of a horse. 4-5 rats.

I'm shocked this is a DJ album, sounds so natural

So repetitive and so boring. I doubt I'll remember it at all tomorrow. Hell, looking at the titles now I don't even remember what any of them sound like.

My friend who also does this list asked me later in the day ... "What did you think of today's album?" I simply said ... "I honestly don't even remember it!:

I found it irritating and too long. I didnt turn it off but I did hurry a couple of tracks along. I cant say I particularly enjoyed it.

Not an album to just listen to, it's background stuff. The repetitiveness of lyrics would be far too annoying without another activity. Flight Tonight, for example, got on my nerves. Whilst this isn't that enjoyable to me personally, I found it quite soothing where lyrics were absent. It was alright when snoozing first thing, and again alright when driving. Some of it reminded me of early EA Sports games menus, where the songs are just right to keep you entertained while fiddling with settings and team line-ups. Pretty good for what it is: something I'd never choose by description.