Grand Poobahs of the sample before Girl Talk was on the hipster’s lips, The Avalanches (who’s 1999 album Since I Left You had over 900 samples) are reportedly close to finishing up their second album.

A message on the band’s MySpace (more accurately, their status update) says the band is: “putting the finishing touches on album 2!!!!!!!!!”.

The Australian band’s first album took months to be officially released (due to samples being cleared, or in some cases, not), and whether this album is sample-heavy as well is under question.

Either way, the time would be ripe for a reemergence of the Avalanches, considering an art form they helped in its gestation period has exploded onto the world’s musical consciousness.
[NME]