Mike Patton, Kid Koala 'Battle...' with The Slew Live in SF

Faith No More vocalist Mike Patton joined the preeminent DJ Kid Koala onstage in San Francisco last night for the final, howling song of Koala’s new hard rock project The Slew. (Full review after the jump.)

Koala and Dynamite D crafted The Slew’s debut LP 100% over the last four years as an homage to bands like Black Sabbath and Public Enemy, then released it online for free this Fall.

“This by far is the loudest album I’ve ever worked on,” Koala (born Eric San) says. “This is loud and visceral and has to be experienced at 10,000 watts.”

But when it came time to take The Slew on the road, Kid Koala had a problem. It needed to look more rocking, so he enlisted touring DJ P Love, along with the drummer and bassist from Australia hard rock band Wolfmother, who won a Grammy for “Woman”. Last night, the team throttled up 100% and it roared. The bluesy, hard rock, augmented by copious scratching and turntablism treaded dangerously close to Incubus territory but never crossed over. (Oddly, The Slew would make really good music for selling Toyota Tundras. It’s ballsy and turgid, but with an edge. Someone get licensing on the phone.)

San did a great job with “Robbin Banks (Doin’ Time)” scratching up a guitar sample into baying, Jimi Hendrix-esque solos. Wolfmother’s Chriss Ross and Myles Heskett pounced on “You Turn Me Cold”, with bassist Ross playing guitar parts super-high on his bass’ fret board. The crowd focused intensely on Koala’s intricate cuts, stabs and fades.

After an hour or more of material from the record, including what sounded like some new cuts, Patton joined the ensemble for the encore song “Battle of Heaven & Hell”. The crowd went nuts. The Puscifer frontman added some requisite screaming and vocal effects to the crescendo of Sabbath-like samples and rhythm.

Kid Koala seemed genuinely amazed at the hundreds-strong turnout, saying, “I don’t know how you heard about this, social networks, some little birdy told you, but I’m glad you came down here tonight.”

Link to download The Slew’s 100% en toto.

Link to 20-minute Pirate Cat Radio interview with Kid Koala talking about: The Slew, DJ Hero, and upcoming score for book Space Cadet.

Tour Dates:

THE SLEW: LIVE TOUR

6 TURNTABLES MEETS THE EX-WOLFMOTHER RHYTHM SECTION

Sept 26 COSTA MESA, CA – Detroit Bar (kid koala solo DJ set plus Adira Amram)

Sept 27 LOS ANGELES, CA – Key Club

Sept 30 BROOKLYN, NY – Music Hall of Williamsburg

Oct 1 BOSTON, MA – Great Scott

Oct 2 MONTREAL, QC – La Tulipe

Oct 3 TORONTO, ON – Mod Club

Oct 4 CHICAGO, IL – Abbey Pub