In my very first review, for Since I Left You, I noted that it taught me that life is beautiful. My experience with Wildflower has done something more – it has taught me what life is.
The appearance of the wonderful Wildflower is cause for celebration, its Zappa/Beasties-style collage of voices, samples, beats, sounds, and especially laughter offering a joyous affirmation of life.
By using cross-era samples to orchestrate a genre removed from the effects of time, the Avalanches somehow created an album removed from the effects of influence. Is Wildflower the best album of the year? Probably not. But it was made by one of the most influential artists of our generation.
With that enchanting inscrutability, in fact, ‘Wildflower’ feels almost like the Avalanches incarnate: curiously stoic, utterly unique, and the purveyor a weirdly dazzling trip.
There are fewer surprises throughout the album, but when reflecting on Wildflower as a whole it’s clear that The Avalanches are still the masters of their craft.
Robbie’s reluctance to discuss the past means we may never know which of these tracks were made when – but while ‘Wildflower’’s long gestation took ‘difficult second album’ syndrome to extremes, how he fitted 16 years of inspiration into this masterpiece is better understood with your ears.
It takes just seconds for Wildflower to dispel notions of any hard-left stylistic swerve, its opening conversational babble erupting into the same joyous meld of crackling brass and charming samples that won us over last time.
Their work continues to mine a deceptively narrow emotional world—new love, childhood playfulness, wistful sadness, happy feelings of connection—but renders it better than just about any music ever made.
If Wildflower lacks the same how’d-they-do-that awe after an entire generation of professional and bedroom imitators, the best compliment this sequel can receive is that it feels like a natural successor without being a total rehash.
This is an album that Di Blasi and Chater spent 16 years — efficiently or not — making sure they got right, and the level of obsession in its fine-tuning demands respect.
It took a childhood-and-a-half to come to fruition, but Wildflower is another album that snatches elements from the past but sounds like the future.
Wildflower is the sound of a group who’ve matured whilst keeping the technicolour charm that made them an exciting prospect in 2000. They stick to similar themes this time round but there are still a few surprises.
Overall, Wildflower delivers some stellar music, varied and ridiculously catchy on some parts. Other times its just backing noise for a purely original way to present it.
A pastoral, wistful brand of psychedelia holds sway throughout this absorbing record – even though Wildflower is, to all extents and purposes, a retro hip-hop album about smoking weed.
Miraculously, Wildflower still sounds like The Avalanches, a collection of ideas and moments, loosely compartmentalised as songs. It’s 2016, and they’ve kept that bastard, time, at bay.
It may not set out to change the world, but Wildflower is a beautifully crafted album that inhabits the light and makes sense in the sun.
For those fascinated by the Avalanches's process, as opposed to merely impressed by its most endearing results, Wildflower is a rewarding and challenging listen.
Far from being frozen in time, Wildflower shows a willingness to move forward with a sense of personal history, but unhindered by obligations to it.
Wildflower is one of those records that you find new things each time you listen to it and although it sometimes threatens to fall apart under the weight of its own ambition, it becomes ever more rewarding with every listen.
Wildflower feels as though it was made for the Avalanches rather than a patient public. Where Since I Left You mapped a plaintive longing onto a travel agency’s idea of heaven, Wildflower is designed for comforts of no special ambition.
Wildflower is simply a joy, an euphonious hour-long journey that exists in some wonderfully naive and blissful alternate universe. It’s an aural paradise you’ll never want to leave.
For all its sonic sponging, there's something unquestionably personal and alive about this recording. While Wildflower comprises many, many elements, ultimately, it's a testament to the craft and time it takes to build such a seamless and joyful record. All of a sudden, 16 years doesn't feel quite so long.
Wildflower might not be perfect, but it is gorgeous, heartwarming and fun. Its upbeat outlook is infectious and sure to be the soundtrack to many summers to come.
It needed to take something substantial to feel satisfied after those sixteen long years, and The Avalanches have gone beyond their calling.
If Since I Left You was the record you put on to get a house party started, this one might be best for backyard BBQs and walking through the bustle of summertime city streets. There's a relaxed quality to the bright, gregarious music as much as there's endless detail to be pored over.
If only to fully appreciate the trove of samples, any Avalanches album would require repeat listens—thankfully, that’s not the only reason you’ll have a hard time turning off Wildflower.
Wildflower is a thorough, sonically nebulous experience that feels like a goldmine waiting to be picked clean.
Wildflower, with its Daisy Age sentiment, loops, alt-rock guest spots, and hip-hop veterans often feels less like the continuation of something new and more like a retrospective of what once was
With the release of 2016's Wildflower, the group stages a comeback that sadly falls short of expectations, but still ends up being a pretty good album anyway.
Wildflower isn’t going to shift any paradigms, and it’s not going to leave the same impression on the world that Since I Left You did all those years ago, but none of that makes it any less of a delight to listen to.
At 20 tracks long ... it takes some serious listening to get through the whole thing, and a sense of sag in the latter third threatens to overpower on the first few spins. Essentially, this flower could've used a little more judicious pruning.
After the lengthy wait, at over 20 tracks and about an hour long, Wildflower doesn’t skimp on quantity even if it does resemble a pent-up outpouring of everything The Avalanches have completed (or at least legally cleared), rather than a meticulously curated collection.
For all its energy, its long gestation has left it feeling a little too stale.
To The Avalanches’ many devotees, the alternately wacky and wallpaper nature of these 60 minutes probably won’t matter, and neither will the group’s failure to evolve. Yet for those of us not seduced by absence, fond hearts or nostalgia, ‘Wildflower’ is a faded snapshot of a cosier, very distant-seeming past.
What if there was an album with no visible or glaring flaws? An album that can represent its genre in just one listen, being essential to it. An album that was so bold that had high risk with a very high reward. An album that never seems to disappoint you after multiple listens. An album that's a true masterpiece. Is there an album like that?
Well, I never believed in a "perfect" album, as no piece of music is perfect... Until I listened to 'Wildflower' by the Avalanches. Please ... read more
I actually prefer this over Since I left you. While SILY was like a beautiful ballet happening before your eyes Wildflower felt like an adventure. This is an album that gives everybody listening their own little personal film if you open your mind enough. For me this album is a trip through an abandoned warehouse for old amusement park equipment. The animatronics inside spark to life and some people who snuck inside have to bare witness it. This idea mainly came from how strange and distorted ... read more
In retrospect, I can't imagine what a better comeback album would be like.
Have we ever seen as much pressure on the shoulders of a band as when the Avalanches, after almost 16 years of radio silence, announced their second studio album? There were many bands that we've been waiting for during this decade; immediately comes to mind the case of Pixies and My Bloody Valentine. But the case of The Avalanches has its own particularity; unlike most bands that find themselves in this situation, the ... read more
A psychedelic swirl of 20th and 21st century sounds. Contemporary rap, disco, plunderphonics, and even Beatles are all heard here
The magic of The Avalanches still works after nearly two decades in this amazing summertime world full of butterflies and flowers.
Number:#632
First Listen:2024.3.12
Times I Have Fully Listened To:1
First Re-Listen:
Lately Re-Listen:
Special Meaning:
Collection:
1 | The Leaves Were Falling 0:15 | 70 |
2 | Because I'm Me 4:12 | 95 |
3 | Frankie Sinatra 3:44 | 89 |
4 | Subways 3:10 | 90 |
5 | Going Home 2:06 | 82 |
6 | If I Was a Folkstar 4:33 | 93 |
7 | Colours 3:32 | 86 |
8 | Zap! 1:58 | 81 |
9 | The Noisy Eater 3:14 | 77 |
10 | Wildflower 1:14 | 75 |
11 | Harmony 3:48 | 87 |
12 | Live a Lifetime Love 2:30 | 83 |
13 | Park Music 0:54 | 80 |
14 | Livin' Underwater (Is Somethin' Wild) 1:56 | 83 |
15 | The Wozard of Iz 2:59 | 87 |
16 | Over the Turnstiles 0:41 | 78 |
17 | Sunshine 3:37 | 85 |
18 | Light Up 1:34 | 76 |
19 | Kaleidoscope Lovers 3:55 | 83 |
20 | Stepkids 4:32 | 81 |
21 | Saturday Night Inside Out 5:07 | 85 |
#4 | / | Mixmag |
#6 | / | Double J |
#6 | / | Loud and Quiet |
#10 | / | Pretty Much Amazing |
#11 | / | Earbuddy |
#11 | / | The New Zealand Herald |
#15 | / | PopMatters |
#15 | / | The Guardian |
#16 | / | Magnet |
#18 | / | Q Magazine |