Automato - The Single 2004
Automato - Cool Boots 2004

It’s a little weird to be blogging about The DFA, as they hit their stride about the time the terms critical darling and blogger favorite became synonymous. The production trio of James Murphy, Tim Goldsworthy and Jonathan Galkin started their takeover of the indie dance scene by turning a shitty garage-punk band called The Rapture into the leaders of a dance-rock revolution. The first single was “House of Jealous Lovers”, and if you haven’t heard it, you are sleeping on some of the greatest cowbell work since “Lowrider”. As a de facto record label, they released a number of great, weird singles, including The Juan Maclean’s “Give Me Every Little Thing”, which is so good, it’s kind of scary. The DFA also put out and remix incredible albums and tracks by LCD Soundsystem, Cut Copy and Hot Chip. Now they’re making custom music for Nike.

Anyways, I’m walking through my local record spot in 2004 and imagine my surprise when I see Automato’s self-titled debut with a big fat green “produced by the dfa” sticker right there on the digipak. It’s not too surprising these dudes would fuck with rap, as Goldsworthy was half of the team that founded Mo’ Wax. And, given their indie pedigree, it’s no surprise they’d fuck with a bunch of white dudes making live rap. But The DFA are a perfect fit for a live rap group who strive to “make an album that sounds and feels like the sample based hip hop records they love”. Their style is filled with Madlib-esque happy accidents and incidental keyboard squeaks. The awkward scratches that run throughout “The Single” sound like a dj fucking around after hearing “ok let’s try that again” from the control booth.

Ultimately, Automato is a little conservative as a DFA production, generally lacking the Kraftwerk and Moroder influences that make their shit so great. “How to Read A Person Like A Book” is still a typical post-underground Primo bite, all chopped pianos and boom-bap. “Hollywood and Vine” is like Jazze Pha goes to New York, with the acoustic guitar and triangles. Even “The Single” sounds a little typical, but the strange cuts and echoing piano come together particularly well with the synth that might be a guitar. The best DFA-makes-underground-rap track is “Cool Boots”, whose cheap drum machine/organ intro could have come from any of their productions. The way the song opens up with blips and drums at the end is a highlight of the whole album.

(By the way, I’d like to point out that emcee Jesse Levine (BBYO stand up!) does a great job of not embarassing himself on the mic. His ability to pull off “if it aint soul music / then it aint my music / take a hit of my music / get high, now vibe to it” without making me want to slap him like Suga Free is uncanny.)

I say the DFA are ahead of their time because this would not be the last time they would make rap, or something like it. But by the time rap came calling again, it was looking for the DFA sound itself, not the DFA’s take on hip-hop. It also came in the form of Justin Timberlake, and you can download the My Love (DFA remix) at Discobelle. Honestly it’s not one of their better works, but it’s more faithful to their sound.

It’s hard to say enough about these cats, but it will have to suffice to say that they simultaneously resurrected disco, a stagnant indie rock scene and forgotten percussion like rototoms. Hatin-ass rap-only dudes should do themselves the big favor of checking them out. Their second compilation is a good place to start.

ps: welcome to the new site homies!