Deltron 3030

Time flows fast for Dan the Automator. While everyone is concentrating on the new millennium, Dan is already anticipating the next one. Four years ago, it was the Year 3000 and the Automator was introducing the hip-hop world to the future's funkiest octogynecologist, Dr. Octagon. Well, it is now the year 3030 and with the help of Del Tha Funkee Homosapien (on vocals) and Kid Koala (on cuts), the Automator exposes a future of vicious MC battles and computer warfare. Musically and conceptually, the album doesn't create as total an effect as when Kool Keith and Q-Bert joined the Automator for the Dr. Octagon project, but that's a lot to live up to and Deltron 3030 doesn't fall far short. This time around, Dan's beats are majestic and soaring, and Del - as Deltron Zero - is in top form, vocally. Even the artwork is superb. Some people may be turned off by the obnoxious nerdiness of MC Paul Barman, on his 30-second interlude "Meet Cleofis Randolph The Patriarch," and Sean Lennon's effeminate singing on the chorus to "Memory Loss" is a definite low moment and nearly unbearable. Finally, it would have been nice to "bear witness" to a little more Kid Koala. Still, all are minor complaints for a superb album.