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The Avalanches' Since I Left You
Capturing the fraught moment in popular music history as reflected in and anticipated by Since I Left You (2000), the debut studio album from electronic music group The Avalanches.
Since I Left You has a reputation amongst its advocates that exceeds those of nearly all of its closest peers. Yet despite the inordinate amount of attention this album has received, it has never been thoroughly examined in context. While repeatedly celebrated for its artistry, technical skill, and emotional resonance - in particular its sample-based material and then-cutting edge technological feats within the electronic music genre - it has never been definitively placed in the world that produced it.
Charles Fairchild studies this album in a way no one else has. Since I Left You is placed in its historical, technological, and cultural contexts and is examined for the social and aesthetic attributes it was said to possess at the time of its release. There is a focus on the clear set of aesthetic aspirations that guided the album's creators and how those creators pasted together the fragments of many sound worlds.
Since I Left You has a reputation amongst its advocates that exceeds those of nearly all of its closest peers. Yet despite the inordinate amount of attention this album has received, it has never been thoroughly examined in context. While repeatedly celebrated for its artistry, technical skill, and emotional resonance - in particular its sample-based material and then-cutting edge technological feats within the electronic music genre - it has never been definitively placed in the world that produced it.
Charles Fairchild studies this album in a way no one else has. Since I Left You is placed in its historical, technological, and cultural contexts and is examined for the social and aesthetic attributes it was said to possess at the time of its release. There is a focus on the clear set of aesthetic aspirations that guided the album's creators and how those creators pasted together the fragments of many sound worlds.
136 pages, Paperback
Published January 9, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 24, 2025
FR:
Court essai de Charles Fairchild paru en 2025 portant sur l'album "Since I Left You" datant de 2001 du groupe "The Avalanches".
Divisé en 5 chapitres, cet essai se concentre sur les contextes culturel et technologique de la création de cet album légendaire ainsi que sur l'évolution de la musique sur les deux dernières décennies, en insistant notamment sur l'origine du groupe, à savoir l'Australie.
Livre intéressant clairement, notamment le chapitre 3 sur la création du groupe et l'élaboration de l'album. Après, je crois que j'ai bien aimé ce livre car j'adore cet album, j'ai trouvé le livre presque trop "académique" et parfois les liens faits entre l'album et le contexte global trop tiré par les cheveux.
Mais bon, je suis quand même content d'avoir lu ce travail et d'en avoir appris plus sur ce group et cet album après ma frustration du dernier livre (cf. revue sur Electro 100 parue le 19/02/2025). 3/5.
EN:
Short essay by Charles Fairchild published in 2025 treating the album "Since I Left You" released in 2001 by the band "The Avalanches".
Divided into 5 chapters, this essay focuses on the cultural and technological contexts of the creation of this legendary album and the evolution of music throughout the last two decades, while emphasizing the band's origin, Australia.
Interesting book really, especially Chapter 3 on the creation of the band and the elaboration of the album. However, I feel like I liked this book because I love the album, I think the book was almost too "academic" and sometimes the links made between the album and the global context were kinda far-fetched.
But still, I am still glad to have read this work and to have learned more about this band and this album after my disappointment with the last book (cf. review on Electro 100 published on 19/02/2025). 3/5.
Court essai de Charles Fairchild paru en 2025 portant sur l'album "Since I Left You" datant de 2001 du groupe "The Avalanches".
Divisé en 5 chapitres, cet essai se concentre sur les contextes culturel et technologique de la création de cet album légendaire ainsi que sur l'évolution de la musique sur les deux dernières décennies, en insistant notamment sur l'origine du groupe, à savoir l'Australie.
Livre intéressant clairement, notamment le chapitre 3 sur la création du groupe et l'élaboration de l'album. Après, je crois que j'ai bien aimé ce livre car j'adore cet album, j'ai trouvé le livre presque trop "académique" et parfois les liens faits entre l'album et le contexte global trop tiré par les cheveux.
Mais bon, je suis quand même content d'avoir lu ce travail et d'en avoir appris plus sur ce group et cet album après ma frustration du dernier livre (cf. revue sur Electro 100 parue le 19/02/2025). 3/5.
EN:
Short essay by Charles Fairchild published in 2025 treating the album "Since I Left You" released in 2001 by the band "The Avalanches".
Divided into 5 chapters, this essay focuses on the cultural and technological contexts of the creation of this legendary album and the evolution of music throughout the last two decades, while emphasizing the band's origin, Australia.
Interesting book really, especially Chapter 3 on the creation of the band and the elaboration of the album. However, I feel like I liked this book because I love the album, I think the book was almost too "academic" and sometimes the links made between the album and the global context were kinda far-fetched.
But still, I am still glad to have read this work and to have learned more about this band and this album after my disappointment with the last book (cf. review on Electro 100 published on 19/02/2025). 3/5.
September 28, 2025
The first two of five chapters can be skipped entirely without missing anything relevant to Since I Left You. The second chapter focuses on Australian music, under the guise that the album can’t be understood without placing it in the context of the era’s local music scene. I don’t buy that premise. A full third of the book (fitting for a 33 ⅓ title) is dedicated to an irrelevant subject.
To really drive home how absurd that is: in the fifth chapter, the author finally starts a deep dive into each song, touching on small details and individual samples. That analysis lasts for just four songs, out of eighteen. In a book ostensibly dedicated to the album, only 4/18 tracks receive any real attention. Meanwhile, more than a quarter of the book is spent on unrelated Australian music. Did the author just get bored after four songs? Did he forget what the book was supposed to be about?
Even in the sections that are on topic, the writing itself is a problem. It’s full of weasel words, vague phrasing, and incoherent points dressed up in hoity-toity language. Written by a professor, the style reads more like a rambling school essay than a focused book. It badly needed an editor willing to reel it in. Some might call it “too academic,” but I’d simply call it amateurish. It reminded me of grade-school essays where kids try to sound smart.
The most interesting bits were actually the quotes from the Bell 2021 podcast. I may need to track that down if I actually want to learn about the album, because this book offered almost nothing of substance.
To really drive home how absurd that is: in the fifth chapter, the author finally starts a deep dive into each song, touching on small details and individual samples. That analysis lasts for just four songs, out of eighteen. In a book ostensibly dedicated to the album, only 4/18 tracks receive any real attention. Meanwhile, more than a quarter of the book is spent on unrelated Australian music. Did the author just get bored after four songs? Did he forget what the book was supposed to be about?
Even in the sections that are on topic, the writing itself is a problem. It’s full of weasel words, vague phrasing, and incoherent points dressed up in hoity-toity language. Written by a professor, the style reads more like a rambling school essay than a focused book. It badly needed an editor willing to reel it in. Some might call it “too academic,” but I’d simply call it amateurish. It reminded me of grade-school essays where kids try to sound smart.
The most interesting bits were actually the quotes from the Bell 2021 podcast. I may need to track that down if I actually want to learn about the album, because this book offered almost nothing of substance.
August 5, 2025
More 2.5 stars... Happy that this record has a 33 1/3 about it but I think Fairchild might have been the wrong pick for this one insofar as his approach is more akin to an academic journal than a short essay. All of it was interesting of course, and I really appreciated Fairchild's attention to detail and inclusion of statistics and diagrams. However I can't help but think that a piece of writing that is less logic and more pure joy would be the most fitting way to celebrate this record.
I love the avalanches!!!
I love the avalanches!!!
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August 7, 2025It's a good 33 1/3 entry for one of the top 10 albums ever and I like the perspective from the evolution of Australian musical traditions. However, I don't understand why Fairchild analyzed in-depth the timing and samples of the first four tracks (even to the point of adding charts) but then skims over the rest of the album without further explanation. It's a weird choice: why going that way to then discard the other 14 songs? It definitely feels like an incomplete study.
August 26, 2025
This book and its content interested me because SILY is my favourite album of all time. However, I found it to be sloppy writing, overly tangential, and replete with rather unconvincing arguments. Still enjoyed !!!
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July 1, 2025The Avalanches' debut record Since I Left You bursts through a fragmented Australian music scene with its unique approach to crafting music.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews