Hyphen magazine - Asian American arts, culture, and politics

Kid Koala
The Slew
Puget Sound Records
kidkoala.com

Why is it worth reviewing the tracks from a one-time tour of a documentary feature film soundtrack that never materialized? Two artists: Kid Koala and Wolfmother. The Canadian Koala (Eric San), along with hip-hop producer Dynomite D (Dylan J. Frombach), once upon a time created the score to a film-to-be. The tracks were completed, but the film wasn’t. However, the soundtrack garnered the attention of Wolfmother’s ex-rhythm section — keyboardist and bassist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett — and a collaboration was born.

With signature fast scratches and psychedelic rock influences with guitar riffs and house-like male vocals, the live tour performance features six turntables playing off of Ross and Heskett’s sounds. Melodic bass lines with intensely and eerily fuzzy dark guitars create a gripping ambience, one that is enough to picture oneself in a futuristic action movie, but not so loud as to be annoyingly head-splitting. The veteran DJ understands sparseness and key uses of crescendo. If you can get your hands on a live recording, listen to the tracks in the background or crank it up and put on head-hugging ear for an ideal audiophile experience.