Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Whimsy is not a quality that is often associated with hip-hop, so when something so singularly filled with childlike wonder as Kid Koala’s Carpal Tunnel Syndrome appears, it’s worth taking a moment to consider. Koala is one of Turntablism’s premier virtuosos, and he puts his immense skills to use building a world where every sound is slightly off-kilter, the DJ’s hand inducing a wooziness not unlike the feeling right after you step off of a ride at an amusement park. The exemplary track here is “Drunk Trumpet” where the Kid speaks with his hands to make a sampled horn come to life as something between the voice of the disembodied adults in Peanuts cartoons and the dizzying heights of a virtuoso jazz soloist.

Every instrument eventually gets the comedy vehicle it deserves, and Montreal-via-Vancouver DJ Kid Koala christened the new millennium with a turntablist showcase that could make you cry laughing when you weren’t busy marveling over his technique. He takes supreme advantage of the inherent humor in messing with cartoon voices, juxtaposing bizarre cut-up conversations, and concocting “but it is a real instrument” rebuttals like future live-gig highlight and profound jazz goofaround “Drunk Trumpet” and meta-scratch DJ deconstruction “A Night at the Nufonia.”