Dan "the Automator" Nakamura
Wanna Buy a Monkey?
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Decrease Font SizeEditor's Review:
There can be no doubt as to the prolific and high-quality output of music by
Bay Area based producer Dan "The Automator" Nakamura, but what does
such a hard working songwriter and producer do when he wants to unwind and have
a little fun? He makes a mixtape. Wanna Buy a Monkey?, aside from a reference
to the best scene from the film Cabin Boy, was initially Dan's attempt
at releasing most of the European remixes he'd done for other artists over the
last couple of years, but problems with copyright clearance in the U.S. forced
the project into more of a traditional mix tape.
Opening with a brief Fantômas interlude, the jams flow from there. Of
course, there are some recognizable Automator tracks, like Deltron 3030's "Positive
Contact," Gorillaz "Latin Simone," an Encore freestyle, and "Stroker
Ace" from the Lovage album. But the best reason to listen to Wanna
Buy a Monkey? is to listen to the music that's not so recognizable. Black
Rob and The Automator's "Smoothness," which is from a project the
two did together years ago that was never released, is a pleasing inclusion,
as is the Automator's remix of "Le Soleil Est Pres do Moi" by ethereal
French pop group Air. Further dynamics are provided by the mixing-in of "Firesuite"
by British dance-turned-pop outfit The Doves; "Seneca," by indie /
jazz purveyors Tortoise; and the lounge-y, down tempo "Destiny," courtesy
of Zero 7. And though Dan certainly has some eclectic tastes in music, it's
obvious by this mixtape's closing numbers, X-executioners' "Theme Song"
and Dilated Peoples' "Clockwork," that he's still a hip-hop head at
heart.
- Max Sidman
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 Record Label Sequence Released February 2002 |
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