The Avalanches Present “Brains TEAZER”

Everyone has that handful of albums that they’d consider to be “life-changing”, albums that irrevocably change the way you think about and relate to music. Regardless of how many times you hear them, they remain just as entertaining, uplifting, and funky as the first time they crossed your eardrums.

The Avalanches’ Since I Left You is certainly somewhere on that list for me. I first heard it in the middle of a long, dark winter when I was down somewhere in the pits, and I’m still convinced that the disc’s uber-funky compilation of 900+ samples had something to do with me slowly climbing out of it.

However, that was back in 2000 and in the ensuing years, the Avalanches camp as been pretty silent. Until now, that is.

Recently, a post appeared on the band’s forums hinting at an upcoming release (this after a full-length had been rejected in 2006). You can read the full text of the post over on ye olde Pitchfork, but essentially, the band promises the new album will be so fuckin party you will die.

As if to assuage fears that the post was just all talk, a 23-minute track has also been posted on-line and can be streamed from the band’s website (or downloaded from Stereogum). Titled “Brains TEAZER”, it’s just as sample-delic as Since I Left You, perhaps even moreso, as it seems more like a sampler of what to expect than an album track proper. At least, I hope that’s the case as it’s somewhat overwhelming and discombobulating in its present form — there are enough sounds in these mishmashed 23 minutes for about 15 albums from as many genres.