Vivid Studio Party: The Avalanche DJs presents @ Opera House Studio, Sydney (03/06/11)

How does one begin to iterate The Avalanches Studio Party at Sydney’s Vivid Festival last weekend? Let’s start with a few of the positives:

-Hypnotic Brass Ensemble
-The bit when they played a snippet of Since I Left You
-The venue & its view
-The light-up dance floor in the foyer
-A member of an Australia indie/dance act telling me they’ve actually heard the new Avalanches material and that “it’s really good”

Touted as “the glue that holds this freewheeling club night together” punters were told by the people at Vivid to expect the following from The Avalanches tactically timed return to the decks:

“In a blur of black plastic, fifty gazillion songs go into their sonic blender, emerging remixed, remade and remodelled in ways that make you smile while you dance.”

While I smiled, and oh my did I dance; throwing down classic tunes like Cassius I Love You So, Salt & Pepper’s Push It and Daft Punk’s Around the World could hardly be described as a “sonic blend”.

The Avalanches are worshiped for their ability to successfully create an aural collage unconventional sound bytes and beats, so much so that 10 years on, their 2000 album Since I Left You is being recognised as one of the best Australian albums of all time. Yet, this DJ set did little to exhibit those skills. While the mixing was seamless and the vibe high, people were there to hear these icons manipulate sounds not just play other peoples music. Gosh, with all the talk about their imminent 2nd album release, some were even indulgent enough to hope to hear some of their new material, others were just happy to hear the old stuff. Unfortunately we barely heard either.

Also letting down the night was a lack of clarity or sense of occasion. No build-up or announcement before remaining members Robbie Chater and Tony Diblasi took to the decks, left many confused punters asking, ”Wow, this support act is good but I wonder when The Avalanches are coming on?”

While quaint visuals, including black & white movies and footage from Disney’s 1941 animation Dumbo, worked towards giving the night ‘The Avalanches touch’, the 45 minute set fell short of most people expectations. Perhaps they were just too high.