Quick Hitters:: The Slew

Like any comparable music blog read by tens of people per day, we get a lot of email these days. The simple fact is we're only two fairly disorganized guys, we can't get to it all. And, speaking for myself now, sometimes I read something that looks interesting, but I don't have time to get into the details of it, and I make a (mental) note to go back and check it out later. You can imagine how often that mental note is followed up on.

But sometimes I do, and quite often I'm rewarded for it. The Slew is one such example. Comprised of Montreal DJ extraordinaire Kid Koala, Dylan J. Frombach (aka Dynomite D) as well as Chris Ross and Myles Heskett who are the former rhythm section of Wolfmother, The Slew is a dirty, funky, gritty combo of old school rock & roll and turntablism. Apparently the project was started by Koala and Frombach as a potential soundtrack for a documentary, and they had enlisted mythical Beasties producer Mario C to mix the record for them. Unfortunately, the film was scrapped, but the project had gained too much momentum to abandon, and so they plowed forward.

I have to say, I'm mighty glad they did. In theory, if you handed me this record and said "dude, this is a bluesy, psych-rock record that uses multiple turntables to mix & cut in guitars and vocal samples!", I would have said, "ah, riiight", and added it to the pile of terror on my desk. But man, in reality, this thing is pretty deadly. I've listened to it a lot in the last week or so, and I continue to be impressed by how well put-together it is. The cuts and the riffs just seem to be made for each other.

The addition of Ross and Heskett for the live version of the record is likely just as impressive (Koala and Frombach also rock six turntables between them, which is awesome), and check out the video below, as it looks like they also deploy some kind of strap-on turntable as well - and if you don't think that is hella cool, well we aren't cyber-homies anymore. Apparently the album is going to get a full release on Ninja Tune very shortly, but until Nov. 1st, you can still download the whole thing for free.99 at Koala's site. So, you know, go do that.

MP3:: The Slew - It's All Over

MP3:: The Slew - You Turn Me Cold
MYSPACE:: www.myspace.com/theslew

VIDEO:: The Slew - It's All Over