Spacing Out

Canadian born Kid Koala brings us Space Cadet by way of the good folks at Ninja Tune Records. The 37 year-old entertainer tells stories by way of his turntables in addition to graphic novels. His new album is an attempt at scoring his latest comic with the same title.

Beginning with a lot of melancholy piano work, Space Cadet sets the scene for a sorrow filled story from two different perspectives. In fact, a lengthy majority of the album involves dramatic piano notes and ambient background noises. Without spoiling the story, it could be said that while it isn’t entirely original it still manages to be very heartwarming. The problem with creating a soundtrack for a graphic novel is the cues. Songs often assume you will be spending several minutes appreciating the wordless, black and white sketches on each page. Luckily, each song title details which page it corresponds to. Space Cadet manages to illustrate the emotion happening inside Koala’s comic, yet the parts of the story with action remain untouched.

Musically, Space Cadet just isn’t that impressive. Packaged as a soundtrack corresponding to a graphic novel, the novelty of it might actually be better than the execution. Without a doubt, this is a fun concept, but unless you’re a true fan you may walk away from Space Cadet as empty as the vacuum of space.