“handsome_boy”
Handsome Boy Modeling School
So… How’s Your Girl?
Tommy Boy
Dan the Automator returns after vast medical triumphs with Kool Keith and Dr. Octagon to found the Handsome Boy Modeling School with Prince Paul, an institution of learning where even the most non-descript male can be turned into a paragon of shining beauty. Spinning off the premise that all it takes is $60 and a handful of weeks, Automator and Prince Paul enlist a dazzling faculty to help out with the academics: Grand Puba and Del tha Funkee Homosapien deliver guest lectures that are refined, if a bit expected, while Roisin (Moloko) adds her sultry rasp to a melange of trip and hip on “The Truth.” Other guest turns include Sean Lennon, DJ Shadow, Miho Hatori, Mike D, a phone conversation with Biz Markie, Money Mark, Paula Frazer, Father Guido Sarducci, more… enough for a graduate degree, if not post-doc research.
All educational similes aside, this another groundbreaker here. The days of hip hop as a triumph of function over form remain influential, but artists like Dan the Automator, Prince Paul, the Jungle Brothers and others are taking the genre to new and sophisticated heights. The recognizable elements, so trend-setting a couple of years ago, are now forming the basis of new explorations. Classical music, samples from TV (esp. Chris Elliot’s Get A Life , inspiration for this album), and all manner of deft sonic trickery make this a completely engrossing album. Those six weeks will go by in less than an hour.
Tommy Boy, 902 Broadway, 13th Floor, New York, NY 10010
