Q (6/02, p.126) - 3 stars out of 5 - "...It's all good fun, sandwiching a mellow midsection between two hunks of left-of-centre hip hop. En route [Nakamura] showcases his own quirky, sci-fi flavoured studio work..." NME (5/4/02, p.36) - 8 out of 10 - "...If the DJ's art is to unite unlikely musical party guests, The Automator is a fine and generous host...Dan is taking the throne as the RZA of thr rucksack..."

Rovi

With all his high-profile alliances, producer/turntablist Dan Nakamura could just as well be known as Dan The Collaborator. Since garnering attention for his distinctive prouction on oddball hip-hop mystic Kool Keith's 1996 release under his Dr. Octagon pseudonym, he's joined in league with everyone from Prince Paul and Del Tha Funkee Homosapien to Damon Albarn and Mike Patten in heralded projects landing all over the musical map such as Deltron 3030, Handsome Boy Modelling School, Lovage and the platinum-selling Gorillaz. Hence, it's rather surprising his own name has graced but one barely noticed EP before 2002's mix CD WANNA BUY A MONKEY?
That the CD takes its name from the sole line uttered by David Letterman in obscure Chris Elliott vehicle CABIN BOY, driven home by Barry White (among others) in a more memorable Oscars sketch, speaks to Dan's ear for the eccentrically appealing, not to mention his affinity for pop culture (peppered throughout his mix). With a similar knack, for his mix CD he mines seemingly disparate genres and finding the perfect thread with which to weave the worlds together into an illuminating aural landscape, comingling brit-shoegazers The Doves and post rock stalwarts Tortoise with french-popsters Air and hip-hop minds Rza, De La Soul and the X-ecutioners for a melange both appealing and enlightening.|

Rovi