The Avalanches have a new album built from samples of children’s science programmes and Tunisian music, the Guardian reports. A surreal film made with the actor Haley Joel Osment comes with it, keeping the group’s sample-based method in view.
Key takeaways
- The Guardian reports that the Avalanches’ new album samples children’s science television and Tunisian music.
- The core members of the Avalanches are Robbie Chater and Tony Di Blasi, an Australian duo known for building songs out of other recordings.
- The group’s debut album, Since I Left You, released in 2000, is widely treated as a landmark of plunderphonics, a style made almost entirely from samples.
- According to the Guardian, the new record comes with a surreal film featuring the former child actor Haley Joel Osment, partly made in the Minakami region of Japan.
- Albums built from many samples raise practical questions about clearance, credit and payment that affect artists, rights holders and listeners.
What the Avalanches are doing with their new record
The Avalanches are an Australian act known for disco-influenced pop made by layering fragments of existing recordings. The Guardian reports that their new album goes further than before, taking material from children’s science shows and from Tunisian music. In the interview, the band describe the process as following their curiosity, spending long stretches going down rabbit holes in search of unusual sounds.
The paper also reports that the album comes with a surreal film. Last December, Robbie Chater and Tony Di Blasi travelled through the cold, mountainous Minakami area of Japan with Haley Joel Osment, the actor known as a child for The Sixth Sense and Forrest Gump. Osment is described as appearing to count himself among the group’s admirers. Details beyond what the Guardian reports, including the film’s length, how it will be distributed and the full list of samples, are not known from the available material.
Why the band is in the news now
The immediate reason is the new album and the interview that goes with it. A new Avalanches release draws attention partly because the group are known for releasing records rarely. Their debut built a reputation that later work has always been measured against, so each new record is treated as an event by their followers.
The choice of source material is also notable. Children’s educational television and Tunisian recordings are not obvious sources for a dance-pop record. That fits the band’s long habit of finding sounds in unlikely places. A film featuring a well-known former child star adds another angle that reaches beyond music coverage.
What newcomers need to know about plunderphonics
Plunderphonics is a term for music made mainly or entirely from existing recordings. A conventional producer might use one sample as the base of a track. A plunderphonics record may combine hundreds of fragments, such as a vocal phrase from one record, a string swell from another and a snatch of dialogue from a film, so that the result sounds new while being made of borrowed parts.
According to the Guardian, Since I Left You has become a touchstone of the style. The album is often cited for how smoothly it joined very different sources into a continuous, dreamlike listen. Over the years it earned the group a devoted cult following. People who discover the band through the new record may find it useful to start with that debut, because it set out the approach the group still use.
Sampling as a technique runs through hip-hop, electronic music and pop. What sets plunderphonics apart is how much is sampled and how openly. The collage is the point, rather than a hidden building block.
Who is affected by sample-heavy records
The first group affected is the artists themselves. Making an album out of many samples takes a great deal of time spent digging through records, broadcasts and archives, and then legal and administrative work to get permission for each fragment where it is needed. How the Avalanches handled clearance for this album is not set out in the material available.
The second group is rights holders. These are the record labels, publishers, broadcasters and individual performers who own the material being sampled. Archival children’s programmes and recordings from smaller music markets can have complicated or unclear ownership, which makes it harder to identify who should be asked and paid.
The third group is listeners and music communities. Sampling can bring overlooked recordings to new audiences, and fans often trace samples back to their sources. Some people from the cultures whose music is used welcome the attention. Others want clear credit and fair terms.
Where opinions differ on sample-based music
Informed observers disagree about several points. One debate is creative. Supporters see collage as a real artistic practice in which choosing, cutting and arranging material is a form of composition. Sceptics argue that heavy reliance on other people’s recordings blurs the line between making something and curating it.
A second debate concerns money and law. Clearing many samples can be slow and costly, and some critics argue that the current system favours well-resourced artists and makes ambitious collage work harder to make. Others argue that strict clearance protects original creators, especially those with little bargaining power.
A third debate concerns cultural borrowing. When artists from one country sample music from another, people disagree about what counts as respectful use. Questions include whether sources are credited, whether original performers benefit, and whether the context of the music is kept or removed. The Guardian’s summary does not say how the band approached these questions with the Tunisian material, so no judgement can be drawn from it.
What it means in practice for listeners and the industry
For listeners, an album made from unusual sources rewards close listening and invites people to look into where the sounds came from. Fans of the group have long traded identifications of samples, and a record drawing on science programmes and Tunisian music is likely to start similar detective work.
For the wider industry, records like this show the continuing tension between creative reuse and the business of rights. Each sample is a small licensing negotiation. Labels, publishers and archive owners have to decide whether to grant permission and on what terms. Older broadcast material, such as educational television, can raise extra questions about who owns the audio and the performances within it.
Pairing an album with a film is also a common way for artists to present a record as a complete work rather than a set of singles. Casting a recognisable actor can bring attention from audiences who do not usually follow electronic or sample-based music.
What to watch next
Several things are worth following. One is how critics and long-standing fans receive the record, particularly in comparison with the debut. Another is whether the band or their label publish information about sources and credits, which would show how the sampling was handled. A third is how and where the film is released, and whether it reaches audiences outside the band’s existing following. None of these details is confirmed in the material available. Readers should rely on official announcements and reputable music coverage as they emerge.
Frequently asked questions
Who are the Avalanches?
The Avalanches are an Australian music group known for building songs from samples of existing recordings, a style often called plunderphonics. The Guardian identifies Robbie Chater and Tony Di Blasi as the group’s core members. Their sound mixes disco, pop and collage, and their debut album earned them a dedicated cult following that has stayed loyal across the long gaps between releases.
What is plunderphonics?
Plunderphonics is music made mainly or entirely from fragments of existing recordings. Instead of using a single sample as a foundation, artists working in this style combine many pieces from different sources, such as songs, films and broadcasts, into new compositions. The approach treats choosing and arranging material as a creative act. The Avalanches’ debut album is widely regarded as one of the best-known examples of the style.
What does the new Avalanches album sample?
According to the Guardian, the new album draws on samples from children’s science television programmes and from Tunisian music, among other sources. The band describe spending a lot of time following their curiosity into obscure material while making it. A full list of the samples used has not been made available in the reporting summarised here, so the complete range of sources is not known.
Is there a film with the new Avalanches album?
Yes. The Guardian reports that the band made a surreal film alongside the record, featuring the actor Haley Joel Osment. Part of it involved the group’s core members travelling with him through the snowy, mountainous Minakami region of Japan last December. Details such as the film’s running time, release format and distribution plans are not included in the available reporting.
Why is Since I Left You so influential?
Since I Left You, released in 2000, is regarded as a landmark of sample-based music. It joined a very wide range of borrowed sounds into a smooth, continuous album that felt unified rather than patched together. The Guardian describes it as a touchstone of plunderphonics. Its reputation built steadily over the years, helping the Avalanches gain a devoted following that still shapes how each new record is received.
Do artists need permission to use samples?
In many cases, yes. Using a recognisable piece of someone else’s recording usually requires permission from the owners of both the recording and the underlying composition, a process known as sample clearance. Rules differ between countries and situations. Clearance can be slow and expensive, especially for albums using many samples or archival material with unclear ownership, which is one reason heavily sampled records can take a long time to finish.
Sources and further reading
- The Guardian: interview with the Avalanches about the making of their new album and accompanying film.
- Music reference works: general background on the history and techniques of sample-based music and plunderphonics.
- Music industry and copyright guidance: explanations of how sample clearance and licensing work for recordings and compositions.
- Music criticism archives: retrospective reviews and essays on the reception of Since I Left You.
Surfaced from the rss:guardian_music signal “sample-based album release”. AI-assisted draft, editorially reviewed.
