Gee, good thing the icy beauty, soul-blotting cold, and empty stillness of another mindless, freezing winter is here! Because otherwise, this new Kid Koala ambient album would sound ridiculously out of place instead of… oh, you know, just fucking perfect.
Audio-collage mastermind Eric “Mr. The Kid” San (heretofore more notable as master of choppy, screwy, exploratory DJ jams) is set to unleash said ambient album, entitled Music To Draw To: Satellite, on January 20 via Arts & Crafts. Billed as “an uncharted journey for the legendary scratch DJ, producer, and composer,” his fifth album was written “during the gelid Montreal winter” and tells the “heartrending tale of discovery and loss through the lens of lovers separated by a one-way space mission to Mars.”
It also marks a bit of an emotional left turn into a world of “expansive instrumental soundscapes and chilling vocal ballads” (Icelandic singer Emilíana Torrini is featured on a number of tracks). It marks his first Kid Koala effort in which he’s written lyrics, produced, and performed on legit-ass “instruments,” like synths, keys, guitars, basses, strings, turntables, noisemakers, etc.
To coincide with the album’s release, he’s also embarking on a series of “Satellite concerts,” in which he plans on putting the audience to good use (for a change!) “to create meditative musical pieces in real time.” Each audience member will allegedly be provided with their own personal “turntable station” and use it to play “custom-cut Satellite Orchestra Tone Vinyl records and effects pedals (designed by Earthquaker Devices specially for this show)” under the celebrated Mr. K’s direction (tickets are on sale now).
Oh yeah, and you can also pre-order the whole celestial business now on your choice of “out of this world” formats — including double-vinyl, CD, MP3, and “Deluxe CD w/ sketchbook” incarnations — and check out the album’s opening deep-space-chillout track “The Observable Universe” down below. Bring it ON, January! Here we go…
Music to Draw to: Satellite tracklist:
01. The Observable Universe
02. Adrift (ft. Emilíana Torrini)
03. Transmission 1
04. Fallaway (ft. Emilíana Torrini)
05. Perihelion
06. Photons
07. Beneath The Heat (ft. Emilíana Torrini)
08. Novachord
09. Transmission 2
10. Collapser (ft. Emilíana Torrini)
11. Transmission 3
12. The Hubble Constant
13. Satellite (ft. Emilíana Torrini)
14. Apoapsis
15. Nightfall
16. The Darkest Day (ft. Emilíana Torrini)
17. Epilogue
18. Nightfall Pale Blue (ft. Emilíana Torrini)
“Satellite Orchestra” dates:
01.26.17 - Toronto, ON - The Rivoli
01.27.17 - Toronto, ON - The Rivoli
01.28.17 - Toronto, ON - The Rivoli
02.02.17 - Montreal, QC - Phi Centre
02.03.17 - Montreal, QC - Phi Centre
02.04.17 - Montreal, QC - Phi Centre
02.12.17 - New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge (2 Shows)
02.16.17 - Ottawa, ON - National Arts Centre Fourth Stage
02.17.17 - Ottawa, ON - National Arts Centre Fourth Stage
02.18.17 - Ottawa, ON - National Arts Centre Fourth Stage (matinée)
02.18.17 - Ottawa, ON - National Arts Centre Fourth Stage
More about: Emiliana Torrini, Kid Koala
