Album Review: Automato - Automato (Labels UK)

Writer: Oliver Scott

They're both great cities but some things just seem to make more sense in New York City than they do in London. Just as house music has never sounded as good as when I went to Body and Soul, and the Bathing Ape t-shirt I bought never quite cut the same dash in East London, I've quite happily avoided paying too much attention to the production team of the DFA. In spite of a sly flirtation with Losing My Edge and the Rapture's House of Jealous Lovers, their 'punk funk' stylings make more sense to Know the Ledge's correspondents in NYC than those in London Town.

Consequently, when I first put on Automato's debut self-titled album, produced by the DFA, I wasn't really that excited. The first tune kind of passed by pleasantly enough without really doing it, but as the CD played on, it really started to grow on me. It took me a little while to realise why, because it is actually really rather subtle. As with a lot of things in life, it's about style and front - if much hip hop (and this isn't really hip hop) plain reeks of hours, no days, spent labouring over a notebook and a crate of obscure records to get it perfect, Automato just turn up, tune up, and get on with it, using mood and repetition and momentum to carry them forward. Truman Capote famously dismissed Jack Kerouac's On the Road as "typing" which kind of misses the point of that book – Kerouac wrote on long reams of paper so he wouldn't have to change sheets and lose his rhythm – and the lyrics on the album rather remind me of that comment, except this is like the rambling message some East Village hipster would leave on your answer phone while walking home half-cut from a directional nightclub. That's a compliment, clearly.

The music could be sampled, recorded live or a combination of both but somehow it doesn't matter. It sounds like a back handed compliment, but to sum it up, what oozes from this album is a real sense of confidence. When The Streets released Original Pirate Material what was amazing was the cross section of people who were raving about it, whatever music they generally liked. Mike Skinner's major strength is that while his lyrics can be clever they're not that great and the music isn't often up to much but it's his sheer gall, his cheek, the force of his personality which pulls the whole bloody thing off. It's the same thing here - in theory, the beats and lyrics aren't that special, but it just does it's own thing, not trying too hard to impress you. With that said, certain, almost cinematic, phrases creep up on you after repeated listening - "my Casio never told me there'd be times like this" (from My Casio) and "I take my feet out of my socks and put a pebble inside so even when I walk I got a rock in my stride" (from Gold of Desert Kings). This to me is clever, confident, understated writing. Coupled with simple, funky backings, the effect is a hell of a lot more than the sum of its parts.

Although I don't feel the odd attempt to 'rock out', (What misfires badly) I can see this being hugely popular. I've not heard such a good album – as in a proper little artistic bundle of songs – for a long time. You know when you're late for work or school because you simply have to loiter outside while a song you're listening to ends? This happened to me the other day. Definitely, definitely worth checking out.

RELATED LINKS:




Buy Automato's Automato album at Amazon UK (CD) | US (CD).




PUBLISHED: 12 January 2005

RELEASED DATE: 12 April 2005 (UK) | 12 April 2005 (US).

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