Deltron 3030 [Bonus Tracks]

by Deltron 3030

Overview

Producer Dan "The Automator" Nakamura thrives on collaborations -- he's worked with Kool Keith on his Dr. Octagon project and with Prince Paul on the Handsome Boy Modeling School's album. The Automator's newest project, Deltron 3030, is the perfect extension of the sci-fi lexicon that he started with Octagon in 1995. On this project, the Automator makes another perfect MC selection with Oakland's acclaimed Del the Funky Homosapien, who proves he can flow flawlessly even while creating fictional worlds and characters. The fictional character Deltron lives in the year 3030, and both producer and rapper work around that theme. Automator's beats are sparsely looped and futuristic-sounding, and Del engages listeners every time he touches the mike. On the title track, he sets the scene for 3030's post-apocalyptic, anti-musical society with lyrics such as "We just boarded on a futuristic space craft/No mistakes Black/It's our music we must take back," and on "Things You Can Do," he spits scientific-sounding rhymes such as "hydrogen turns to helium when I shine" over the Automator's harpsichord- and drum-fueled beats. By inviting DJ Kid Koala on the wheels-of-steel and guest artists MC Paul Barman, Prince Paul, Sean Lennon, and Blur's Damon Albarn along for the wild ride, the visionary tag team of Dan and Del don't have to brave their strange new world alone.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/01/2008
Label:	Traffic Ent.
UPC:	0829357450920
catalogNumber:	4509
Rank:	20845

Tracks

1. State of the Nation
2. 3030
3. The Fantabulous Rap Extravaganza
4. Things You Can Do
5. Positive Contact
6. St. Catherine St.
7. Virus
8. Upgrade (A Baymar College Course)
9. New Coke
10. Mastermind
11. National Movie Review
12. Madness
13. Meet Cleofis Randolph the Patriarch
14. Time Keeps on Slipping
15. The News (A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Microsoft Inc.)
16. Turbulence
17. The Fantabulous Rap Extravaganza, Pt. 2
18. Battlesong
19. Love Story
20. Memory Loss
21. The Assman A+O Speaks
22. Positive Contact
23. Turbulence
24. Positive Contact

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Deltron 3030   Primary Artist
Del the Funky Homosapien   Vocals
Damon Albarn   Vocals,Guest Appearance
Vernon Brown   Vocals,Guest Appearance
Money Mark   Vocals
Prince Paul   Vocals,Guest Appearance
Brad Roberts   Vocals,Guest Appearance
Sean Lennon   Vocals,Guest Appearance
Peanut Butter Wolf   Vocals,Guest Appearance
Kid Koala   Turntables
Mr. Lif   Vocals,Guest Appearance
MC Paul Barman   Vocals,Guest Appearance
Beans   Vocals,Guest Appearance
P. Wingerter   Vocals,Guest Appearance
Hafdís Huld   Vocals,Guest Appearance
Astacio Arnovick   Guitar
Mark Nishita   Vocals,Guest Appearance

Technical Credits

Del the Funky Homosapien   Composer
Damon Albarn   Composer
Mark Bell   Remixing
Scott Harding   Engineer
Sean Lennon   Composer
Dan the Automator   Arranger,Composer,Audio Production
Mark Blakkat Bell   Interlude
Dan Nakamura   Composer
Teren Jones   Composer

Editorial Reviews

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.]

All Music Guide - Steve Huey

As a party record, it romps.

Spin Magazine - Eric Weisberg

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