Hip-Hop isn’t going anywhere. For those of you holding your breath, just breathe in the fresh, disco-free air and get on with it. Outkast’s latest album earned the unanimous success needed to solidify hip-hop as a genre capable of diversity and growth. While 99% of the rap being released in the mainstream is trite and oversexualized, every now and again something constructive, worthwhile and significant surfaces. The Roots are, amongst other things, a symbol in hip-hop music, a band of smart, cultured artists who are constantly exploring new genres and ideas. The Roots aren’t a mind-blowing outfit; every so often, they will have a song or two that make hip-hop feel fresh, but for the most part they are mediocre musicians making ‘boom-bap’ style rap songs. The idea of a band playing hip-hop music should be gold, so why to this day are The Roots the only hip-hop band to stick around? And what happened to Mos Def’s Black Jack Johnson?

Reading Automato’s press sheet is intriguing. As if being pitched as a hip-hop band specializing in moogs, guitars, live drumming and live bass isn’t enough, Automato is produced by indie rock’s hottest production team, The DFA. The six-piece band from Manhattan claims to be “a product of the first generation to grow up without being able to avoid hip-hop culture.” Well put. I can relate.

Where most of my peers who grew up with hip-hop now see it strictly as a novelty, I often find myself searching for something new to move me. It almost never happens.

Something tells me that the folks over at Automato feel my pain. I can only listen to so much Slint and Silkworm (hitting the ‘S’ catalog today). Eventually, I always end up trying to love hip-hop again (call it false hop)e. Automato aren’t going to change the world with their fresh blend of sample-free hip-hop; listening to their music, it’s clear that isn’t their intention.

Although their approach is different, Automato still play relatively traditional rap music. Through 11 tracks the Manhattan sextant plow through two decades of influences, ranging from Public Enemy and the Beastie Boys to Anticon and Freestyle Fellowship. Much of Automato is rooted in standard hip hop, but likely through their enlistment of The DFA, their sound mixes in interesting soundscapes that often float through otherwise bouncy party songs about the this and that’s of being a 20-something

American. A handful of Automato’s songs have interesting structures, and at times their vocals are nothing short of mind-boggling. By the end of the 50-minute album, Automato has runs its course - where it’s vocals started out perfect, they eventually topped out. The music remains interesting and precise but lacks the variety of a great album.

Bragging, big beats and slick rhymes that attempt to comment on American culture. Yep, Automoto is still your average, better-than-most, hip-hop album. If you are a fan of Jurassic 5, Blackalicious, Atmosphere, Eminem or the like, then Automato could be lovely to you. If you are an everyday rap connoisseur who likes to dance, Automato might even get you moving. If you have moved on from rap but occasionally like to hear something interesting, go pick up the new Clouddead album. Me, I’m going back to “S” and cutting my losses.

Copyright 2004 Ad Media Inc.