Dan “the Automator” Nakamura belatedly brings this sequel record out to his Better Tomorrow EP (the liner notes say one this was recorded in 1996, at the same time he produced the Dr. Octagon cd.), after becoming one of the more sought after producers in the world.
Nakamura has also worked with the Eels, Primal Scream, Cornershop, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, De La Soul, and just brought out the Handsome Boy Modeling School full-length with Prince Paul, another producer who was born on Jupiter.
The Automator’s solo album is chock full of interesting songs, proof that hip-hop is more than just rhyming about how endowed you are. Kool Keith, a.k.a. Sinister 6000 makes appearances on over half of this record, so I just had to pick it up.
Other than his Black Elvis record, Keith can do little wrong. He’s one of the few rappers who van stay consistently busy, and interesting. Poet also cameos, and there’s an appearance by Neph the Madman.
After listening to this cd a few times, I began to think about how much better Dan and Keith sounded together. Matthew was a great cd, and the Automator had nothing to do with it, but still… The man is brilliant! My favorite cuts on this album were the ones that Keith was on (six out of eleven), but the Buck Buck song is fantastic, with Poet taking the song to that other level.