Dan The Automator

Deltron 3030

  • MOG Editorial Review

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    He was already responsible for weirdo hip-hop classics by Dr. Octagon and others, but teaming with Del tha Funkee Homosapien and Kid Koala turned out to be his most inspired move yet when he debut the Deltron 3030 project at the turn of the century. Between the dystopian, perfectly sampled beats and the unbelievably strange style of Del himself, songs like "3030" actually sound like they've traveled straight from the future into our speakers, while "Positive" contact is nothing short of a pulsating jam. Perhaps most importantly, though, the track "Time Keeps on Slipping" finds all three collaborating with Damon Alborn for the first time, something they'd all do once again for the Gorillaz project a year later.
  • AMG Review of Deltron 3030 [Bonus Tracks]

    Amg
    Steve Huey
    All Music Guide

    The heir apparent to eccentric production wizard Prince Paul, Dan the Automator's left-field conceptual brilliance rapidly made him a hero to underground hip-hop fans. For the Deltron 3030 project, he teamed up with like-minded MC Del tha Funkee Homosapien and turntablist Kid Koala, both cult favorites with a similarly goofy sense of humor. Deltron 3030's self-titled debut is exactly what you might expect from such a teaming: a wildly imaginative, unabashedly geeky concept album about interplanetary rap warriors battling to restore humanity's hip-hop supremacy in a corporate-dominated dystopia (or something like that). It's difficult to follow the concept all the way through, but it hardly matters, because Deltron 3030 is some of the best work both Del and Dan have ever done. In fact, it's the Automator's most fully realized production effort to date, filled with sumptuous, densely layered soundscapes that draw on his classical background and, appropriately, often resemble a film score. For his part, Del's performance here revitalized his reputation, thanks to some of his best, most focused work in years. Long known for his abstract, dictionary-busting lyrics, Del proves he can even rhyme in sci-fi technospeak, and the overarching theme keeps his more indulgent impulses in check. Plus, there's actually some relevant commentary to be unearthed from all the oddball conceptual trappings; in fact, Deltron 3030 is probably the closest hip-hop will ever come to an equivalent of Terry Gilliam's #Brazil. The album boasts cameos by Damon Albarn (on the proto-Gorillaz "Time Keeps on Slipping"), Prince Paul, MC Paul Barman, and Sean Lennon, among others, but the stellar turns by its two main creators are the focus. It's not only one of the best albums in either of their catalogs, but one of the best to come out of the new underground, period. [Traffic's 2008 edition included three bonus tracks.]

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