Having just released his epic Space Cadet graphic novel and score, no one would fault Montreal DJ Kid Koala (born Eric San) if he decided to chill out for a little bit. That would be totally out of character, however, so we're not surprised that the artist is nearing completion on three new projects.
Most excitingly for the hip-hop heads among us is the new album from Deltron 3030, the hip-hop supergroup featuring Koala, Dan the Automator and Del the Funky Homosapien. Rumoured to be called Deltron Event II, Koala offered a progress update to Exclaim! about the follow-up to the group's self-titled 2000 debut.
"I just finished all of the Deltron turntables two days ago," he says. "That one will be out next spring... I like it, we like it, we're very excited about it. We think it destroys the first one.
"We had been working on it for a while and then we had to take a break from it, but then all of a sudden Del just wrote most of it in the last month and a half, which really just set the whole thing back on fire. We were waiting, mainly for his contribution, because I had done a few layers of turntables but until I knew where the verses and concepts were going I didn't want to fill it in. Now that the lyrics are done, I've gone in and finished the turntables."
Now Koala says they are just waiting for some friends to add their touch. "We're just getting a couple guests on there and that's it," he says. And while he won't reveal any of the guests' names, Koala added, "There are some surprising ones."
In addition to the new Deltron album, Kid Koala's return to hip-hop will also be showcased on 12-Bit Blues, the artist's fourth proper solo album. Suggesting that it will be out next spring via Ninja Tune, he reported that all of the beats and arrangements are complete, and he just needs to complete his turntable solos.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Kid Koala update without an intense multimedia project in the works. For years, the artist has been hard at work on a book about a mosquito, which is said to have a score similar to that of Space Cadet. Koala first revealed this project back in 2008 on his blog, but he told Exclaim! more details about the book and soundtrack.
"It's another book and it's about a mosquito that plays jazz," he explains. "It's done in 3D miniature models. The whole book is going to be photograph-based, about this character and all of these models. It's taking forever. The soundtrack will have about ten or 12 tracks. That one, because the process of shooting the book is taking so long, the music will probably be done before the book."
Space Cadet is available now from Ninja Tune, and you can check out Exclaim!'s recently published Timeline feature on Kid Koala here.
Most excitingly for the hip-hop heads among us is the new album from Deltron 3030, the hip-hop supergroup featuring Koala, Dan the Automator and Del the Funky Homosapien. Rumoured to be called Deltron Event II, Koala offered a progress update to Exclaim! about the follow-up to the group's self-titled 2000 debut.
"I just finished all of the Deltron turntables two days ago," he says. "That one will be out next spring... I like it, we like it, we're very excited about it. We think it destroys the first one.
"We had been working on it for a while and then we had to take a break from it, but then all of a sudden Del just wrote most of it in the last month and a half, which really just set the whole thing back on fire. We were waiting, mainly for his contribution, because I had done a few layers of turntables but until I knew where the verses and concepts were going I didn't want to fill it in. Now that the lyrics are done, I've gone in and finished the turntables."
Now Koala says they are just waiting for some friends to add their touch. "We're just getting a couple guests on there and that's it," he says. And while he won't reveal any of the guests' names, Koala added, "There are some surprising ones."
In addition to the new Deltron album, Kid Koala's return to hip-hop will also be showcased on 12-Bit Blues, the artist's fourth proper solo album. Suggesting that it will be out next spring via Ninja Tune, he reported that all of the beats and arrangements are complete, and he just needs to complete his turntable solos.
Of course, it wouldn't be a Kid Koala update without an intense multimedia project in the works. For years, the artist has been hard at work on a book about a mosquito, which is said to have a score similar to that of Space Cadet. Koala first revealed this project back in 2008 on his blog, but he told Exclaim! more details about the book and soundtrack.
"It's another book and it's about a mosquito that plays jazz," he explains. "It's done in 3D miniature models. The whole book is going to be photograph-based, about this character and all of these models. It's taking forever. The soundtrack will have about ten or 12 tracks. That one, because the process of shooting the book is taking so long, the music will probably be done before the book."
Space Cadet is available now from Ninja Tune, and you can check out Exclaim!'s recently published Timeline feature on Kid Koala here.
