The Automator - A Much Better Tomorrow
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CD Details
Artist: The AutomatorEdition: Music CD
Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2000-08-08
Music Label: Tommy Boy
Soundtracks:
- Better Tomorrow
- King of NY
- I Want da Mic
- Sleep - Dan the Automator
- Wiling - Dan the Automator,
- Cartoon Capers
- 4:17 - Dan the Automator
- Buck Buck
- Truth - Dan the Automator
- It's Over Now
- Better Tomorrow, Pt. 2
Music reviews of A Much Better Tomorrow
Music Review: Much better? Yes. The best it could be? No.
Rating: 4 Stars
Billed as "somewhat new and improved", A Much Better Tomorrow is an update of Dan the Automator's 1996 EP of the same name (minus the 'Much'). As Dan himself states on the back of the CD, this update contains "several vintage tracks" that further capture the feel of Automator's work in the Dr. Octagon era.
The leadoff track, "A Better Tomorrow", pairs a straight up, no frills drum beat with Kool Keith's spaced out stream of consciousness flow. The beat itself is somber yet infectious and makes for an instant classic. The tempo changes on "King of NY" as the beat gets a bit funky while a suave Keith asserts "I'm the king of New York / runnin Alphabet City". Legendary DJ Q-Bert drops by to provide scratches for "I Want Da Mic", a slightly sinister sounding Keith collab that would sound perfectly at home on the Dr. Octagon LP. On "Sleep", Dan goes the solo route and crafts a melancholy instrumental. The tone here is somewhat like Portishead's "Dummy" and it really works on a raw, emotional level. On "Wilin", Neph the Madman drops a standard rap about hard life in NYC. Unfortunately, his lazy flow comes off as kind of boring forcing one to wonder whether the haunting keys of Dan's beat would have been better off by themselves. Keith returns on "Cartoon Capers", a silly track that covers strange topics like Wolverine smoking weed and Tweedy Bird getting jumped. Thankfully another well-crafted instrumental follows in "4:17", a smooth track slightly on the jazz tip. "Buck Buck" changes the mood again with its upbeat, New York gangsta track. Rapper Poet drops a rhyme full of the references to 9 millis and streetsweepers that punctuated the mid-90s East Coast rap scene. It's a good song, though, and ultimately showcases the Automator's versatility. Dan goes instrumental once again on "The Truth", a song that's both quirky and haunting. Drums, flutes and a sad vocal sample make for a track that's as enjoyable as it is sorrowful. Keith makes a suprisingly composed final appearance on the downtempo "It's Over Now", a nice departure from his usual skittered flow. "A Better Tomorrow Pt. 2" rounds out the album as a slightly reworked and longer version of the title track. With some of Keith's vocals removed and a heavier emphasis on the beat itself, this superior version ends the album nicely.
The bottom line is that fans of the Automator, Kool Keith and especially the Dr. Octagon album will love A Much Better Tomorrow. Personally, though, I feel caught between two extremes. With a mere six tracks, and only three that are not a version of the title track, the A Better Tomorrow EP isn't a cohesive listening experience. With 11 tracks the A Much Better Tomorrow LP is certainly more of a complete album, but the guest vocals seem to water it down. To me, Dan is at his best when his finely crafted sounscapes speak for themselves.
Ideally I'd prefer an instrumental version of the A Much Better Tomorrow LP. But until Dan decides to grant my wish and make A Perfect Tomorrow, the Much Better LP will do just fine.
KM
Description of A Much Better Tomorrow
Hip-Hop. The Title Track features the Wackiness of Kool Keith (Dr Octagon, Black Elvis) as his Sinister 6000 Alter Ego & the Other Tracks Are What Point the Listener to Nakamura's Better Tomorrow Vision: A World in which Hip-Hop is Free to Expand on the Myriad Sonic Possibilities He Touches On. This Reissue is Complemented with Brand New Mastering & the Addition of Six Never-Before-Released Kool Keith. Automator Tracks from the Original Dr Octagon Sessions.General CDs
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