A Much Better Tomorrow

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Editorial reviews

Amazon.co.uk Review
On A Better Tomorrow, his first solo outing, Automator (aka. Dan Nakamura) extended the realms of hip-hop. Well, mostly--if he's wasn't creating new sonic universes, he was at least exploring them more deftly than those before him. On the re-worked, expanded version, A Much Better Tomorrow, Nakamura nearly doubles the amount of music on offer (talk about value for money), and while there's nothing mind-shattering in the expanded offering, it's still a welcome addition.

Nakamura's taste involves using everything from jazz breaks to hit-you-over-the-head hooks, repeated till your brain fries; the tempo is relaxed, but the attitude isn't. In less talented hands, this stuff would be mush, but Automator pulls it off (though it is tough to imagine an MC patient enough to rhyme over some of the more languid tracks here). The title track has appeared elsewhere (and features the inspired wackiness of Kool Keith, here as his Sinister 6000 alter ego), but the instrumental tracks are what point the listener to Nakamura's better tomorrow: a world in which hip-hop is free to expand on the myriad sonic possibilities he touches on. Four years after Nakamura recorded these tracks, hip-hop was only beginning to catch up with him. --Randy Silver

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2000-11-02 rating:
The man is a maniac, but buy it anyway!
When Automator and Kool Keith (Or Sinister 6000, or Dr Dooom or Keith Turbo or whoever the hell he is this week!) get together, it's bound to be something groundbreaking. Dr Octagon was, and so is this. It must be hard for Automator, because the hip-hop world actually expects his work to be off-key and groundbreaking. We are not disapointed here. With great verses from Neph the Madman and Poet, not particularly well-known emcees, but emcees who Automator obviously chose carefully. Keith is tight as ever, but with no specific persona to theme his lyrics, he is allowed to run free. "Cartoon Capers" is a tune where just how bizarre Keith and Dan are really shows through. "Sleep" as a straight instrumental cut is very atmospheric, any other title wouldn't suit this track. "King of NY"- more great straight-up hip-hop. There are certain tracks where you would swear it was produced by Rza, with the classical-style samples over hard beats, but the album overall is defining of Automator's work. With Q-bert (Of Hip-hop crew Invisibl Skratch Piklz) doing scratches (As on Dr Octagon) to perfection this album is a perfect showcase for the deranged genius. It's simple - buy this, buy Octagon, buy Handsome Boy, These people are gifted.

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