Canadian turntablist Kid Koala (Eric San), a spiritual disciple of
Coldcut's sound collages, downplayed his virtuoso show on Carpal Tunnel Syndrome (2000) with an irreverent anarchic cartoonish humour.
Hence the good-natured spirit of the stuttering collage Nerdball
and of the grotesque dance Roboshuffle.
The swinging A Night at the Nufonia has too much voice in it that detracts from the momentum.
Temple of Gloom is exotic in a deviant way that would appeal to the Residents.
Like Irregular Chickens
The cuts are all brief, between one minute and four.
Generally speaking, the spoken sections may have sounded funny at the time but ultimately they sabotage each and every "tune".
Some Of My Best Friends Are DJs (Ninja Tune, 2003) is even more jovial,
a little less acrobatic, but much more musical. The tunes are more cohesive
and often even ebullient, notably
the feveerish Stompin' at Le Savoi and especially the
post-jazz circus polka Skanky Panky.
In fact the latter and More Dance Music could fit on a
Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band album.
Your Mom's Favorite DJ (Ninja Tune, 2006) again showed Kid Koala's dexterity at sculpting accessible music for samples, turntables and tapes.
The album is simply divided in
Left Side and
Right Side, each being a parade of surreal gags. The former excels at simulations of vintage party music, like Start Heeeeears Koala and Party at Eric's.
The latter opens with the propulsive Slew Test 2 Gimme a K! and Slew Test 3 as well as the comical Mosquito vs Waterbuffalo.
Phon-o-victo (Les Disques Victo, 2009) was a collaboration with
fellow Canadian turntablist Martin Tetreault.
Kid Koala deconstructed blues classics on
12 Bit Blues (Ninja Tune, 2012). For the mission of producing
a high-tech version of the least technological genre ever, Kid Koala employed
the E-mu SP-1200 sampler of the late 1980s, a vintage tool
with a limit of ten seconds of sample time. Those tiny samples are inevitably
overwhelmed by the much more intense and sophisticated scratching that glues
them together.
He also published the
graphic novel "Nufonia Must Fall" (2003), for which he composed a soundtrack.
Music to Draw To: Satellite (2017) documents a collaboration with
vocalist
Emiliana Torrini.
Music to Draw To: Io
(2019)
Creatures of the Late Afternoon
(2023)
Kid Koala debuted as a filmmaker with the
animated movie "Space Cadet" (2025).
