'Since I Left You' is the stunning debut album by The Avalanches, released on 27 November 2000. Packed with over 600 samples of recordings dating from the 1950's to the present (each one credited in the liner notes!) as well as original instrumentation, 'Since I Left You' is a charming, witty pastiche of mashed up samples, beats, bangs, and bobs.... truly a breakthrough in the world of dance music. Their everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach is exemplified by their debut single, 'Since I Left You', which opens the record with its wistful disco-samba shuffle and a scintillating sliced-and-diced soul vocal. The album is constructed like a mix tape and calculated to tweak the dance floor. Snatches of familiar rhythms bubble up throughout, giving the record a comfortable lived-in feel, but also betraying the fact that the group haven't dug very far through the crates to source their raw material. Vast chunks of records by Madonna, Art of Noise, Kid Creole And The Coconuts and Parisian hip-hoppers Saian Supa Crew are easily identifiable.