Martin Tétreault, Kid Koala

Victo 40th Anniversary Super Sale. If you think all turntablists are alike, think again. Case in point: this off-the-wall collaboration between experimental turntablist Martin Tétreault and famous left-field DJ Kid Koala. Now, there is a long way between left-field and experimental, if the Kid's music is exciting and original in its own right, it sounds pretty "normal" compared to Tétreault's experiments in noise and abstraction (his longstanding duo with Otomo Yoshihide is his best-known project). On the invitation of the Victoriaville FIMAV festival, Tétreault and Koala worked on a duo set that would bridge their differences through what they had in common: a fondness for old self-help and demonstration records. Humor was thus on the agenda. They also decided to bring with them a hefty load of records by other artists on the festival's bill that year (2005, that is), so you can catch bits of Anthony Braxton's saxophone and Yamatsuka Eye's inhuman yelps in there, among other things. Most importantly, though, the two turntablists actually worked out their collaboration in advance, instead of simply having their "first meeting" on-stage. Transitional cuts and cues were determined to lead the way through a set of roughly sketched pieces. The live concert was a blast, funny and lighthearted.

François Couture, AllMusic

This tandem’s fusion seemed strange on paper, but true pleasure came out of their meeting, one of the best surprises at FIMAV this year.

David Cantin, Le Devoir