A Striking Match: Kid Koala Recruits Wolfmother for Latest Project
Turntables are becoming as much a part of a touring rock band these days as a guitar or the lead singer’s skinny blue jeans. But it’s still a novelty when someone actually knows how to use them.
Kid Koala is no rookie. After four solo album all promoted with elaborate interactive tours, and opening slots for the likes of Radiohead, Bjork, RJD2, DJ Shadow and Beastie Boys (on their Hello Nasty tour, no less), the man knows his way around the booth.
By association, then, Kid Koala and The Slew was a guaranteed success from the outset, despite the outlandish nature combining his fusion-jazz turntable leanings with a hard-rock rhythm section.
Making up The Slew is Wolfmother’s rhythm section (bassist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett), as well as Koala’s frequent collaborator Dynomite Dan (Dylan Frombach), under the studio direction of Mario Caldato Jr. (who produces the Beastie Boys).
Well saying he is the next John Mayer is a bit of an overstatement, but nevertheless Jesse is a talented guy. This artist has been grinding it out for a few years now (including some time busking around Europe) and the Toronto native is ready for his big label debut. We sat down for a drink with Jesse where he also was nice enough to give us a live performance. 
Ko is a particularly unique artist, with a particularly interesting story. Not only was he able to defeat his drug habits and turn his life around, but he has fulfilled his wildest musical dreams, creating his eclectic debut album “Let’s Blaze” and sharing the stage with hip-hop giants like De La Soul and Snoop Dogg. Oh, and Ko likes smoking a lot of weed.
After reading this headline, you might want to get your mind out of the gutter. While Jayde Nicole may be a Playmate – in fact, she was named 2008’s Playmate of the year – the sexy Canadian model is also involved in a slew of other projects including charity work, poker tournaments and of course, “The Hills.”
His party anthems were once radio mainstays, but where is he now? Andrew W.K. is alive and active, having recently released 55 Cadillac – an album of solo improvised piano – as well as Gundam Rock, which consists of covered music from the Gundam Series. Additionally, Andrew hosts a show called “Destroy Build Destroy,” where he helps kids destroy things, build things, and destroy things again Yeah, that sounds about right. As you can imagine, I was thrilled to speak with the explosive Andrew W.K. and find out what the hell he is up to.
Yes you read that correctly – Imogen Heap used her ass (butt, behind, rear end, whatever you want to call it) as an instrument on her latest album. You gotta admit that’s pretty unique and a little bit unexpected. We spoke about that and more during a recent Toronto stop. You can also catch her in Toronto on November 26th as the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
The mastermind behind Sexy Chick and countless other hits, David Guetta is DJ royalty. And you would think with all his success he would have an ego. Truth is – not really! A very approachable guy and we are grateful to have been able to sit down with him.
Supervillain. World record holder. Piano Dueler. Piano Virtuoso. Rapper. Gonzales is obviously more than just a musician. His musical output went from alt-rock to electronica to rap to piano improvisations to 70’s throwback pop, and his next album is a collaboration with Boyz Noize. Obviously, this is a fellow you should be learning about. Check out his challenge to Andrew W.K. here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEBfkh_Dstg And you can see the final round of the duel (you can decide if he cheated) here: http://vimeo.com/6944245
So we apologize for the lack of editing finesse on this one but we wanted to get it up ASAP. Meet Spencer “Young Angus” Grabinsky, a 12 year old who joins AC/DC cover bands across Ontario. The good people at Sony Music Canada caught wind about him and asked Spencer to play around Toronto to celebrate the launch of the AC/DC Box set, where we caught up with him. This is what Sony Music Canada says about the box – The comprehensive collection of the band’s studio and live rarities together in one place, remastered to sound better than ever (many on CD for the first time), on 3 CDs and 1 LP. 2 DVDs brings “Family Jewels” up to date plus the entire 2003 Circus Krone gig. A 164 page hard-cover book, collectible merchandise reproductions, and a working guitar amp make this a must-have for true AC/DC fans.
