Dan the Automator
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Dan The Automator (left) featured here with fellow "Handsome Boy Modeling School" producer Prince Paul |
Dan "the Automator" Nakamura is a
Japanese American hip-hop and rap producer most known for his work in the mid to late
1990s and early
2000s.
Nakamura is a major figure in the somewhat higher-brow rap underground that developed while mainstream hip-hop integrated its successful
gangsta image with the also-popular
Miami Bass party-jam style, with heavy borrowing from its ignored
soul music roots. Avenues of rap which pursued more
introspective, creative, and esoteric angles became brushed aside, admired by fans with more eclectic musical tastes and appreciation for dense lyrical constructions and obscure or off-beat musical inspirations.
Nakamura's work tends to integrate significant amounts of overlooked
1970s and
1980s kitsch, cult classics, and B-grade
1990s television material. His work also tends to make heavy use of
classical music and
science fiction overtones and references, the latter with hip hop roots in the space jams of
Parliament. Sci-fi also pops up in the hip hop oeuvres of
RZA and
Jedi Mind Tricks, among others, both in and out of collaborations with Dan the Automator.
Trained in classical violin as a child, Nakamura was more attracted to early
electronica and hip-hop. After dabbling as a
DJ, he gave up on the skill and instead worked on musical production, taking on small gigs until getting his major break working with
Kool Keith.
Nakamura's most well-known production work includes Kool Keith's commercially successful
Dr. Octagon project, and the widely successful
trip-hop/
lo-fi project
Gorillaz. He is also renowned in underground circles for spearheading the critically acclaimed underground projects
Handsome Boy Modeling School with
Prince Paul;
Deltron 3030 with
Del tha Funkee Homosapien;
The Mars Volta;
Head Automatica with
Daryl Palumbo and
Kid Koala;
Josh Haden; and
Lovage with
Mike Patton and
Jennifer Charles.
He has also had production spots on the albums of several rock groups, most notably on the British group
Cornershop's
When I Was Born For The 7th Time and the
Blues Explosion album
Damage.
This list does not include singles, remixes or instrumental album versions. For those discographies, see the article for the indicated band.*
A Better Tomorrow (
1996) (remastered and rereleased in
2000 as
A Much Better Tomorrow)
*
Dr. Octagon,
Dr. Octagonecologyst (with
Kool Keith) (
1996)
*
Viva! La Woman (
1996)
*
Cibo Matto,
Stereotype A (
1999)
*
Bombay the Hard Way: Guns, Cars and Sitars (with
DJ Shadow) (
1998)
*
Handsome Boy Modeling School,
So... How's Your Girl? (
1999)
*
Deltron 3030 (with
Del tha Funkee Homosapien and
Kid Koala) (
2000)
*
Gorillaz,
Gorillaz (
2001)
*
Lovage,
Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By (
2001)
*
Wanna Buy a Monkey? (
2002)
*
Handsome Boy Modeling School,
White People (
2004)
*
Head Automatica,
Decadence (with Daryl Palumbo of
Glassjaw) (
2004)
* Peeping Tom,
Peeping Tom (
2006)
*
Little Barrie,
Stand your Ground (
2006)
*
Slate article on demand for Dan the Automator in music projects
*
Dan the Automator page at
All Music Guide*
Dan the Automator page at
Yahoo! Music
