The Avalanches – ‘No Bad Memories’ review: excessive and overstimulating by design

The Avalanches have always been eclectic, but even by their own standards ‘No Bad Memories’ is a manic listen. With 31 tracks crammed into 52 minutes, their fourth LP is full to bursting. There are more than 20 guests drawn from a preposterously broad spectrum, from experimental colossi like Suzanne Ciani, indie heroes like Karen O and Panda Bear, safe-hands producers Jamie xx and Barry Can’t Swim, voiceovers from Mike Patton of Faith No More, and a rare appearance from Carly Simon. It even comes accompanied with a surrealist multi-format sci-fi film starring Haley Joel Osment. And that’s to say nothing of dozens more voices that appear as samples. READ MORE: For Troye Sivan, the dancefloor is a healing space Where the entirety of predecessor ‘We Will Always Love You’ was anchored by consistent melancholy, here the guiding theme is advertising, branding and nostalgia. The album is constantly interrupted by snippets of commercials and sonic artefacts from the dawn of the digital era like the whir of a hard drive or the click of a mouse, such as on ‘Together’, where the instantly recognisable Nokia ringtone is flipped into a half-garage, half-hyperpop heater. For The Avalanches, adve...