Track Listing
1. Strut Hear
2. Nerdball
3. Fender Bender
4. Drunk Trumpet
5. Roboshuffle
6. Barhopper 1
7. Music For Morning People
8. Naptime
9. Night at the Nufonia, A
10. Temple of Gloom
11. Scurvy
12. Like Irregular Chickens
13. Barhopper Z
14. Roll Credits
| Details | | Distributor: | Caroline Distribution | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
Personnel includes: Kid Koala (turntables).
"Abstract hip doodlings" is probably the best way to describe this release on Coldcut's Ninja Tunes label. It's a kind of lo-fi scrapbook of sound, featuring everything from filtered sounds of real instruments to obscure samples of film dialogue. If you're a fan of Andrew Weatherall's work as Two Lone Swordsmen or DJ Shadow and you like the Mo Wax and Grand Royal labels, then this is your bag.
With its roots in turntablism and hip-hop, this is the true avant-garde of dance music, but CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME defies anyone to dance to it. That's not to say that it isn't fun--beats, blips and weird samples make a refreshing change from all the dance-by-numbers stuff that is out there. Doubtless it would be great for a long car journey because it keeps you guessing all the way. You really don't know what Kid Koala is going to throw into the mix second by second--here a twisted sound, there a snippet of '50s television dialogue, there a rap sample. This album is a perfect demonstration of the truly postmodern nature of hip-hop and gets more compelling with each listen.
Editorial Reviews
7 out of 10 - ...some of the most savage and imaginative cut creations in memory....celebrating the stupidity of his [turntablist] calling....a labor of love that sounds like a quick one off the wrist. Skill.
NME (02/19/2000)
3.5 stars out of 5 - ...[He] is a decknician who's found the near-perfect balance between peacock-display trickery and off-kilter, funky nursery rhyme hip-hop. [It] showcases a lifetime's worth of bizzare records discovered in dusty shops....Cute, but not too cute.
Melody Maker (03/14/2000)
4 out of 5 - ...The disc plays like an absurdist concept album painted in lean, precise strokes....[His] crates breed unconventional and distinct wax-building blocks - blueprints for a giant funhouse...
Alternative Press (05/01/2000)
...[His] cheeky sense of humor and consuming obsession with the ephemeral flotsam of pop culture is littered all over...like the ground beneath your local outfield bleachers...[with] a court jester's comic sensibility...
Magnet (04/01/2000)
...speaks as much to Koala's love of goofy sound effects and random dialogue samples as it does his affection for jazz- and hip-hop-swaying beats....If Jim Henson Productions ever needs an in-house DJ, Koala would be perfect...
CMJ (02/21/2000)
3 out of 5 - ...CTS isn't music at all - thankfully. It's furiously cut, intricately spliced chips dug from a million old records...the most hilariously startling 'turntablist' album of the year...
Mixmag (03/01/2000)
...A Prince Paul-inspired, pop cultural 'musique concrete' goofathon - call them improvisational turntable compositions with irony...
JazzTimes (08/01/2000)
Included in Wire's 50 Records Of The Year.
The Wire (01/01/2001)
...Daily Thurberish life, scrapyard drums and the sounds of 'a bag of grits falling off a car'....Breaks find themselves in unusual places and dialogue is gerrymandered for Koala's absurdities...
The Wire (03/01/2000)
4 stars out of 5 - ...There's genuine comic wit behind the vinyl bricolage taking place, combined with a shrews ear for original breaks and infectious hooks...
Uncut (03/01/2000)
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