The Avalanches

In an attempt to defray further spreading of bootlegged copies of an unfinished version of Since I Left You, the Avalanches began selling a tape labelled "Contains Elements of Since I Left You" at their gigs in mid-2000. Later on, the Avalanches' Australian label, Modular, issued the recording as a promo-only item and titled it Gimix. There are two reasons why the disc will never find commercial release: sample clearance and the money required to gain it. Within the 46 minutes of Gimix, which is essentially a DJ mix with tweaked stretches of Since I Left You interwoven to stitch it all together, a laundry list of guilty pleasures, pop favorites, and rare grooves are melded into each other in imaginative and often hilarious ways. Strange bedfellows are the rule. The exuberant refrain from De la Soul's "A Roller Skating Jam Named 'Saturdays'" pops up repeatedly throughout a block that takes in Blowfly's "Rapp Dirty," Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Baby Got Ya Money," Kid Creole & the Coconuts' "Stool Pigeon," the Avalanches' own "Close to You," the Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Crosstown Traffic," Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," the Smiths' "The Boy With the Thorn in His Side," and Thomas Bangalter's "Turbo." (Just as key: the synth guitar freakout of the latter syncs right up with the flute from Men at Work's "Down Under.") There's no doubt that it's a purist's nightmare. The Beatles, Michael Jackson, The Mickey Mouse Club, and Bob Dylan, whose "Like a Rolling Stone" glides right over Madonna's "Holiday," each get thrown through the processor. It's too bad that the Avalanches don't have the funds to officially release mixes like this and have them pumped through every theme park and car wash on the planet. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi