Kid Koala: Tricks and Treats
From Scratch Happy Land 10″ (Ninjatune, 1996)
Coldcut: More Beats and Pieces (Kid Koala’s Obsessive Behavior Mix)
From More Beats and Pieces 12″ (Ninjatune, 1997)
Kid Koala: P. 42
From Nufonia Must Fall(Ninjatune, 2003)
Kid Koala is one of the most talented and engaging DJs around, bar none. Ask the Automator, who uses Koala’s cuts on just about every single project he does. The whole “turntablism” movement seems to have run its course, leaving most scratch DJs adopting a more traditional club rocking style, or lingering in obscurity. Kid Koala keeps wowing crowds for the simple fact that he’s a great entertainer. He’s the scratch DJ you can take your girlfriend, your music theory nerd friends, or your parents to go see without having to worry about whether they’ll get it.
Word is Koala first grabbed the attention of the Ninjatune massive with his homemade 4-track tape, Scratchcratchratchatch. This tape, along with Dibbs’ Turntable Scientifics pretty much set the standard for the whole anything-goes-scratch-tape thing. The tape later got edited down and released as Scratch Happy Land on Ninjatune. I posted the Charlie Brown routine, which never fails to get a smile.
Kid Koala has done several projects and remixes for his Ninjatune brethren, but this Coldcut one is by far my favorite. Maybe one of my favorite DJ tracks ever. Ridiculous.
These days Koala’s style focuses heavily on composition and melody. He’s one of the few DJs who creates fully orchestrated songs on the turntable. The results are pretty strange. Good, too. P. 42 comes from the soundtrack to his book, and really should be required listening for aspiring scratch DJs.
Oh, and the whole reason I thought to post all this was because he just released a live CD/DVD of his last tour. I was going to post the Drunk Trumpet routine, but it’s in my car right now, and besides, you really should SEE it too. Go cop that!
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ScratchHappyLand was my introduction to Kid Koala and I've been a big fan ever since.
I love that sample in his Beats and Pieces remix as well, is that He-Man he's sampling?
Thanks for the Cold Cut! Could you post the John Mcentire song off Beats and Pieces. It always makes me think of summer…
Gracias! Thanks for what you do…
if and when I get around to doing a tortoise post, i'll happily post that mcentire remix. thanks for the feedback
hey, somebody wanna tell me what that thing is next to his mixer in the photo? white, looks like it has a record in it…
jc, he explained that device at one of his shows, but I don't remember the name. It's a weird old recording device, like a vinyl dictophone. He showed how he could record his own voice with it, and then scratch the disc. He didn't run it through a crossfader though, so there wasn't a whole lot he could do with it. Fun thing to have lying around though, huh?