The Avalanches for me are one of those groups you got really into and then quickly out of well before you knew how cool they actually were. Later in high school I stumbled accross their record, “Since I Left You” by complete accident. It was sitting under the seat of my friends Dodge. It had been sitting there for some time. Left by some random that was in and out of the car at some time. We popped it in and heard “Fronier Psyciatrist”. Absolutely needless to say, my mind was fucking blown out of my head. We listened to the whole record that night whilst driving back and forth around town. In fact I listened to it everyday in my own car for like 2 months. Listening to it was like some sort of weird trip. You have no idea how the music takes you from one place to another. It was quite unlinke anything I had ever heard. It wasnt just dance music, it was more cerebral. In my early college days when I was really into Aphen Twin and everything Richard D. James ever touched I realized people creating dance music as sublte and as thoughtful as this is very rare thing indeed.
Recently I was in a mood to kick ass around my apartment. There was a pile of things to do that had been building for some time. I knew I needed more than just a playlist or a shuffle to get me through it seeing as it was going to be a couple hours worth of cleaning. The last two times I “cleaned” my apartment I put on the Red House Painters and ended up drunk by myself reflecting on life. “Not this time” I said to myself as I searched for somthing that would get me into the spirit. And there it was…Sitting there waiting for me just like it had been wiating under the seat of my friends car. It felt right so I dropped it in.
I did dishes to “Electricity”
I scrubbed the sink to “Fight Tonight”
I stopped everything and just listened to “Frontier Psyciatrist”
I have not really done any music nerd research into this group like i usually do. I prefer the mystique. I like to keep myself in the dark on this one. It feels wrong to know everything there is to know about a record like this. I dont want to know how they did what they did or who they is. All I know at this point is what I feel. And right now, I FEEL like I want to clean… and god damnit I want to dance while doing it.
Prepare to have your mind effed
