Dan the Automator and Fallacy & Fusion Fabric 05/04/02 With winter a fast fading memory, it seems that everyone has given up on the idiot box as a source of entertainment on Friday night and they're heading back out. That's the impression you get when one of London's superclubs is as rammed and therefore as forcibly intimate as your local student sweatbox. Indeed heads had turned out in force to see the man behind some of music's wackiest creations do his thing. Dan "The Automator" Nakamura is the man we can hold at least partly responsible for Kool Keith's transformation from pink cape wearing hardcore hip-hop hero to the alligator/walrus loving loon on the Dr. Octagon album. The Automator also had a hand in one of 2001's biggest pop sensations, as producer behind the Gorillaz album and it is this venture which has earned him his most recognition to date.  Waiting on the man of the moment's arrival, DJ MK spins a few platters, but due to late arrival your humble guide managed to miss all but the final tune of the Cricklewood Terror's set. It was 'Break Ya Neck' by Busta. It was alright. DJ Kofi stepped up next and hyped the party up with all the classic anthems as well as a few new gems. A few tight juggles had the crowd eating out of his hand and he even went a bit garage on us, mixing the acapella of Ludacris' 'Rollout' with the More Fire Crew's 'Oi' instrumental. I'm sure he was waiting for the coins to start flying but the assembled heads seemed to like it. Well everyone hated jungle back in '95 so I guess it's only a matter of time before peeps start to think that skin-tight Moschino jeans look okay… Next up were Fallacy and Fusion. Having ridden out the waves caused by Rawkus buying the farm in the US, the boys have landed on Wordplay, and hit the stage all guns blazing. Stalking the stage Fallacy exhibits a bouncier flow than most are probably used to hearing in an English accent. There's no questioning his confidence as he moves the crowd with Fusion acting as his hype man. Anyone would think that this duo was aiming for spins on Timmy's Saturday night show rather than hitting the heads that check for the strictly British shiz way past the witching hour on Fridays. Fallacy's work with MJ Cole has earned him a little mainstream shine and he is undoubtedly searching for a little more. Halfway through the set he invites Big P and Skeme on stage and they drop Sterling Collat's 'Bling-Bling (It's a London Ting)' to an enthusiastic reception. After a bit of call and response over a garage style track the boys are out. Expect to hear them on a radio near you very soon. Without the usual faffing about that normally accompanies a headliner's set (Refusal to go on due to not enough booze, green, ladies etc.) the Automator takes the stage. He heads way back, hitting heads with some old skool EPMD and the like and even throwing a few of his own creations in for good measure. 'Clint Eastwood' gets one of the biggest cheers of the evening and while he's not as technically proficient as the DJ's who spun earlier on, Dan the Automator knows how to rock a crowd with selections rather than skills. He even dips into the tracklisting from his new compilation 'Wanna Buy A Monkey?' spinning a little Brand Nubian and Deltron 3030. Heads were lapping it up and it seemed hardly anytime at all before The Automator was throwing on his spoken word outro and waving goodbye. And like that….he's gone. - Kobi © ukhh.com 1999 - 2001