Inconsistent Hip-Hop Explorations By A Gifted Producer
Written: Apr 10 '01
Product Rating:
Pros: Strong beats, interesting samples and enjoyable rapping, some brilliant moments
Cons: Not much to hold the attention, sometimes irritating, not enough brilliant moments
The Bottom Line: Dan The Automator is a talented guy, but if you want to hear his best, try Deltron 3030. Nothing on this album lifts it much above the mediocre.
Nedster69's Full Review: A Much Better Tomorrow [EP] by Dan The Automator
Dan 'The Automator' Nakamura is one of the coolest hip-hop producers around. In 1996 he recorded a short record called A Better Tomorrow with rapper Sinister 6000. Recently he was the 'producer, arranger, mixer and composer' on the stunning hip-hop collaboration Deltron 3030, and Damon Albarn of Blur's imaginary cartoon pop group the Gorillaz. He's remixed Primal Scream, the Eels, Cornershop, and DJ Krush. His San Francisco studio The Glue Factory has been used by artists on the Solesides and Mo'Wax labels, including vinyl messiah DJ Shadow.
A Much Better Tomorrow is a rerelease of his first album, with some new tracks added. It's eleven tracks of hip-hop beats, lasting nearly an hour.
A Better Tomorrow starts with thudding, echoed drums looping a simple rhythm, and then some cool glitched brass. After a minute there's a slow, low, evil-sounding melody which sounds great. Dischordant piano and a ticking clock, and then everything stops, for Sinister 6000's irritating introduction, which segues powerfully into an urgent rap about the technologies of music over the malevolent bass.
King Of NY is an exuberant rap, mostly about the near omnipotence that Sinister apparently has in New York City. Sirens and samples come in during the chorus. It reminds me too much of the Fun Loving Criminal's naive, inauthentic 'Noo Yawk' attitude to be enjoyable.
I Want Da Mic starts with a hilarious sample from a martial arts movie, and then gets more mediocre when the rapping starts, while Sleep is an instrumental, with a looping, melancholy string phrase which sounds great over simple drums. Nothing much happens except for some lo-fi vocal samples. Wiling is an OK rap by guest Neph The Madman.
Cartoon Capers has some fun lyrics, colliding cartoon and comic characters with brutal gangland culture. The Truth is a laid-back few minutes of swaying acid jazz.
Buck Buck is probably the coolest track on the album, but also one of the most derivative. It's guest rapper Poet explaining how powerful his penis-substitute handgun is, but his quick, aggressive rhyming over a catchy bass riff makes it pretty good. The most exciting moments are when he speeds up without warning, and then the gunshot chorus comes in.
4:17 is more acid jazz, better than before. It's Over Now is the best rap by a drawling Sinister, talking about his confusing life over a funky guitar, until the chorus comes: 'It's over now, no problems in this world, it's over now, I'm home chillin' with my girl, it's over now, my mind was in a twirl, it's over now, I'm home chillin' with my girl'. It's a great, catchy moment. A Better Tomorrow Part 2 revisits the first track, and is more of the same.
A Much Better Tomorrow is a frustrating album. It's full of excellent elements, but none of them really gel. The rapping's OK and occasionally really good, the beats are OK and occasionally really good, the instrumentals are OK but occasionally really good... If the Automator could have expanded those flashes of brilliance to fill an album, it would have been five stars, but A Much Better Tomorrow is just average.
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