On Tuesday night, music industry insiders, journalists and die-hard hip-hop fans crowded outside Joe's Pub, a Manhattan hot-spot for experimental and underground music|, awaiting the appearance of Canadian turntable luminary Kid Koala.

True to form, Kid Koala, a.k.a. Eric Sans, opened his record release party with a children's album proclaiming the cute and cuddly qualities of the koala bear. And with his self-effacing personality and sheepish grin, Kid Koala personifies his namesake perfectly.

In a town where rappers and DJs routinely appear at shows disgustingly overdressed, Kid Koala's appearance in a gray sweatsuit was as refreshing as his performance.

Mixing tracks from Autechre's minimalist techno and Digable Planets' New York funk hip-hop, using Big Band beats, Star Wars-like outerspace noises and Radiohead's computerized voiceovers, Kid Koala continues to layer some of the most genius sounds since turntablism became an art form.

The video for his new single, shown at the beginning of his performance, features crudely-drawn cartoon characters arguing to the beats and scratches of his new single. When the audience would laugh or cheer, either at the video or at his creative record-playing antics, Koala would hang his head, trying to hide the grin that would spread across his face. His enthusiasm was catching--by the end of the night, the audience was full of hip-hop all-stars, such as Jurassic Five, Cut Chemist, Numark, Jazzbo, Anticon's Why? and Bobbito the Barber, who were visibly pleased with the show.

As the show drew to a close, and Koala managed to pull Cut Chemist, 1200 Hobos' DJs Anna and Signify, Numark and sampling pioneer Steinski, everyone at Joe's Pub left with a grin on their face.

Kristin Cleary