Altsounds - Kid Koala Presents The Slew

I can’t think of many Canadian-Australian musical collaborations. And I can’t think of many collaborations between turntablism and stoner rock (but I’m sure Altsounds readers probably can.) But if the premise of this collaborative venture sounds unlikely, do not be put off - it is highly imaginative and produces exceptional results.

Canadian DJ, illustrator and graphic artist Eric San (aka Kid Koala) has produced three albums showcasing his dexterity in turntable manipulation. He often takes vintage jazz and boogie-woogie records as the base for his sampling, so it’s funky without relying on funk samples and infused with warm nostalgia. But he also sees each release as more than simply music. The 2006 release “Some of My Best Friends are DJs” came with a chess set and 48 page illustrated book; and the tour that accompanied it featured bingo being played between the acts. And “The Slew” is no less of an event.

This project has a long gestation. Kid Koala and remixer Dynomite D were approached to provide a psych-rock influenced score to a documentary feature film. Whilst producing the soundtrack, the making of the film collapsed and that might have been the end of the story but the two DJs met up with Chris Ross and Myles Heskett from Australian rock band Wolfmother. Together they hatched a plan not only to finalise the music but to take it on tour. So “The Slew” is in fact a live event with a rock rhythm section and the DJs working across six turntables - and this is the accompanying tour-only release.

The first track '100%' opens with a Robert Plant-sized wail and a rock crowd cheering in anticipation. Over this comes heavy and raw guitar riffs - the screams and cheers intensify. Then gradually, in come the beats and the scratching: guitar notes are slurred and stretched. In an utterly organic and harmonious way it doesn’t sound forced or like a clumsy remix - it sounds like two artists playing together, one sparring off the other. It has the earthy, druggy feel of an early 70s rock festival but is also brash, loud and thrillingly vital.

This combination of guitar cuts and heavy beats mixed with occasional vocals and samples is the template for the rest of the record. 'It’s All Over' rocks out over an address about evolution and democracy, 'Problem Child' wraps itself around a Hendrix-esque vocal; and 'Wrong Side of The Tracks' is prowling blues-rock. 'The Grinder' is a spacey, slow-tempo groove but one of the least interesting tracks on the album. If at this point it feels as though the momentum of the album is sagging, it is picked up by the next two. 'Shackled Soul' could be a lost classic of psyche-rock: a female blues holler over a clanking rhythmic stomp that finishes with frenzied drumming, sirens and distorted guitar-scuzz and bleeps. It is followed by 'Southeast Soliloquay' [sic] which pits a rambling travelogue over what could be a continuation of the backing track to the previous song. With its funky industrial rhythms and drawling chorus of “I’ve got the Florida blues,” it sounds uncannily like the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion at their best. It all finishes with 'The Battle of Heaven and Hell' which may not live up to the promise of its title but is a trippy coda that fittingly brings the set to an end.

Throughout this record you can see the parallels between heavy rock and turntablism: the crowd-pleasing displays whether it be a guitar solo or a killer drop (you could even draw a parallel with the fetishistic worship of respective instruments – the caressing of guitars, the stroking of decks.) “The Slew” manages to show both genres off to their best - it keeps the swagger of rock but drops the pomposity; it keeps the inventiveness of turntablism without the pretension. The whole record is highly inventive, highly entertaining and goddam funky - and at 38 minutes long does not outstay its welcome. Rock purists may not like it but anyone with an open mind or interest in genre-hopping should investigate immediately. It is a shame that (at this point) it is a tour-only release - it certainly deserves a wider listenership.