Kid Koala Shares New Single 'Once Upon A Time In The Northeast'

Three decades into an unparalleled career, Kid Koala continues to grow his immersive real-life cartoon musical universe with each orbit around the sun.

The world renowned DJ, composer, and lifelong visual storyteller also known as Eric San recently announced his newest foray into the depths of "creating things to joyfully connect people": an original double album soundtrack with built-in board game entitled Creatures Of The Late Afternoon.

Centered around a cast of creatures who band together through the power of music to save their habitat from destruction, the album and the game together bear Kid Koala's singular ability to bring to life the interactive worlds of his multifaceted multimedia imagination. Built integrally into the vinyl gatefold jacket, the board game is set at a communal hub of DIY recording studios where various bands of creatures collaborate to explore different ways of expressing and enjoying music.

Creatures Of The Late Afternoon is what San calls "a journey through some of my favorite musical universes through the turntables." What started as a testing ground for creating turntable tracks in different styles took shape as the score to an action film-inspired love story.

The resulting album, a twenty-track two-disc set of instrumental jaunts, featured guest vocalists, and robot hotel interludes, Creatures Of The Late Afternoon furthers Kid Koala's experimentation in electric, beat-driven, groove-laden, self-sampling, heartrending-even-if-its-heavy, purely beautiful music.

Leading up to the vinyl's full release, Kid Koala will reveal the album in four stages. Today, Kid Koala releases the second single from the collection, "Once Upon A Time In The Northeast." A pensive and patient turntable plod, the instrumental track slowly builds from scratched textures to arid Ennio Morricone-like guitar with great canyon reverb. Against this sunset backdrop, Kid Koala sets the scene:

"Among several rows of vials filled with water samples, one of the creatures connects clues about the cause of strange goings-on in the city... eventually uncovering a nefarious plot originating from a monolithic technological structure that, although modern and iridescent, is not as innocuous as it seems. As the creatures traverse multiple terrains toward their destination, their journey is underscored by this Spaghetti Western Style music cue."

Creatures Of The Late Afternoon is currently available for preorder ahead of its release on April 14, 2023 release via Envision Records. Featuring 20 new Kid Koala tracks on double vinyl in gatefold jacket, plus 8 vinyl-only board game tracks, the package includes inserts with game pieces, dice, and 150 game cards.

With each single, Kid Koala is also releasing a limited edition 7" featuring album tracks, bonus scratch sounds, and alternate tracks for the board game. The first drop featured the first single, "Jump & Shuffle (Live At The Hardware Store)" - classic Kid Koala hearkening back to the infectious uprock atmosphere of the timeless "Skanky Panky" off Some Of My Best Friends Are DJs. Built from layers of ensemble record scratching, Kid Koala once again summons the creatures on the vivid and vicarious soundtrack cut "Once Upon A Time In The Northeast."

Kid Koala says: "This is the most playful and dynamic album I've done to date. It was a fun time in the studio, exploring the writing/recording process in this way. There is a wide range of moods on the tracks in terms of both energy and emotion and I'm excited about how the music has turned out. Now I can't wait to get working on the stage production!" San performed and recorded all the instruments in his Montreal studio, then cut the stems to vinyl on his homespun record lathe, and reassembled them on turntables into the uplifting yet sentimental sonic adventure at hand.

Kid Koala has built an ever-expanding web of artistic universes that dart across disciplines yet always coalesce in Eric San's singular mindspace. Since starting as a scratch DJ in 1994, Kid Koala has transformed the turntable into a tool of expression, continuously challenging the idea of genre, always unfolding new pages of his singular artistic roadmap.

Already including a constellation of immersive visual projects like his theatrical cinema experiences Nufonia Must Fall and The Storyville Mosquito, Kid Koala expresses his unique creative vision with a multidimensional intersection of sound, image, and emotion.

From his award-winning graphic novel Space Cadet, to the interactive audience rituals of his Vinyl Vaudeville events, the Satellite Turntable Orchestra launched from his ambient Music To Draw To records, plus the breakdance video game Floor Kids, each new addition to Kid Koala's portfolio charts a fascinating new course. The blueprint to a future stage show, Creatures Of The Late Afternoon is an inspiring addition to Kid Koala's armful of spinning dubplates.

In addition to runs of The Storyville Mosquito shows in Taiwan, Quebec City, and Nashville, as well as Satellite Turntable Orchestra shows in St. Catherines, Kid Koala just announced North American dates with album contributor and musician/cartoonist phenom Lealani joining Koala's turntables on vocals, guitar, and MPC. See below for full schedule.

Tour Dates

Feb 2 - Toronto, ON @ Axis Club **
Feb 3 - Guelph, ON @ Hillside Festival **
Feb 4 - Oshawa, ON @ Biltmore Theatre **
Feb 7 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios **
Feb 8 - Seattle, WA @ Substation **
Feb 9 - Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret **
Feb 10 - Edmonton, AB @ Starlite Room **
Feb 11 - Calgary, AB @ Palace Theatre, Blockheater Festival **
Feb 22 - Quebec City, QC @ Le Diamant *
Feb 23 - Quebec City, QC @ Le Diamant *
Mar 23 - Nashville, TN @ OZ Arts *
Mar 24 - Nashville, TN @ OZ Arts *
Mar 25 - Nashville, TN @ OZ Arts (2 shows) *
Apr 6 - St. Catharines, ON @ FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre (2 shows) *
Apr 7 - St. Catharines, ON @ FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre (2 shows) *
Apr 8 - St. Catharines, ON @ FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre (3 shows) *

* The Storyville Mosquito
** Kid Koala x Lealani

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