As if underground rap fans weren't eager enough to hear the first new material (except for a few scattered features) from Aesop Rock in a year and a half, Definitive Jux added to the seven-track program a deluxe 88-page book including the complete lyrics to all of Aesop Rock's three LPs and two EPs to date.
The music alone nearly justifies the cost, improving on the dense atmosphere pervading Aesop's mostly self-produced Bazooka Tooth, and returning ace producer Blockhead to his prime role in the control chair.
His grinding garbage-can beats and flair for old-school funk on the first two tracks, "Fast Cars" and "Number Nine," provide the necessary balance for the murky surrealism of Aesop Rock's lyrics.
Aesop himself is back near the top of his admittedly obtuse talents, organizing a morass of pop-culture quotes and current-events terms into a poetic whole, and occasionally even managing to shine a light on his back story and motivations ("Grew up with a Jughead crown tilt and tardy slip," "I put a beetle on his back and take notes").
But if the lavish booklet doesn't give pause to download pirates, the new tracks won't either.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fast CarsAesop Rock | Aesop Rock | Play | 04:35 | 10 MB | 29 MB |
| 2 | Number NineAesop Rock | Aesop Rock | Play | 04:05 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 3 | ZodiaccupunctureAesop Rock | Aesop Rock | Play | 04:21 | 10 MB | 26 MB |
| 4 | Holy SmokesAesop Rock | Aesop Rock | Play | 03:51 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 5 | Rickety RacketyAesop Rock | Aesop Rock, El-P, Camu Tao | Play | 04:31 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 6 | Food, Clothes, MedicineAesop Rock | Aesop Rock | Play | 04:36 | 10 MB | 29 MB |
| 26 mins | 60 MB | |||||
| 26 mins | 165 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aesop Rock | Composer, Primary Artist, Producer |
| 2 | Adam Amengual | Photography |
| 3 | Ian Bavitz | Producer |
| 4 | Blockhead | Producer |
| 5 | DJ Big Wiz | Scratching |
| 6 | El-P | Primary Artist |
| 7 | Ken Heitmuller | Mastering |
| 8 | Asif Mian | Art Direction, Design, Illustrations |
| 9 | Nasa | Engineer, Mixing |
| 10 | Jordan Seiler | Assistant Photographer |
| 11 | Tami Simon | Producer |
| 12 | Brad Smith | Design, Layout Design |
| 13 | R. Hamilton Smith | Producer |
| 14 | Rob Sonic | Producer |
| 15 | Camu Tao | Primary Artist |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |