11. Bent Life feat. C Rayz Walz

"What did he just say?" - "He didn't just say that?"; Two questions that are almost asking the same thing. Then again they are desolately different. While the latter is something an artist wants to accomplish, him making rewind material, for a hip hop head it's shameful to have to ask the first question. Heads are supposed to know and understand. And if they don't, well, then the music wasn't meant for them hippies in the first place. So the story goes... Aesop Rock (or aesopROCK as we used to spell his name) is able to provoke both questions when the audience is facing his music. And this tells us that we give praise to him at the same time as listening to him can be frustrating.

Aesop finds himself with a new label after he released "Music For Earthworms" and "Appleseed" himself and Mush put out his "Float". Now, he's on Def Jux, sorry Deph Jux. And his fourth effort is called "Labor Days" and it starts with "Labor", a track that is driven by a guitar sound. "Day Light" features a more elaborate production, and this allows us to get something out of the way: Aesop doesn't pick complex beats to rhyme over. The stuff he uses are bumpy canvases that allow him to paint his poetry without the beat distracting the listener. And so they are mostly complementary, only rarely getting a foreground moment, as that position is being held and reserved for Aesop himself.

"Save Yourself" is such an example. While there's a guitar plucking, it does not force itself forward or forces Aesop to adopt to it. However, this and also the other beats carry the words in a silent manner, and therein lies their strength. There's an Asian theme to "Flashflood" and Aesop is attacking this slightly quicker, as he's accompanied by synthesizer clusters, making this a strong beat, with our hero fighting through the bamboo, that's growing like weed, and every pole that's trampled down, is shooting back up. The characters in "No Regrets" are painted in front of us in vivid colors and oversized eyes, before on "One Brick", Illogic shows up, him being one of only two guests. The beat is splendidly reduced and these two emcees seem to have sipped from the same cup of creativity, as they are building quality verses, that are as solid as concrete structures.

The ongoing "Tugboat Complex Pt. 3" follows suit, this having an ironic feel to it, with the beat drawing you sneakingly into nod the head territory, while the lyrics unfold to us like reversed origami. "Coma" has been released on the 12", so it will be familiar to your ears (read the review here) and it paves the way for "Battery", a string and whining driven track, that gets us moving through the synopsis forest of Aesop. Again reduced is "Boombox", with the string section giving relief and filling part of the gaps. Aesop is like a frustrated teacher addressing his pupils, when he's telling us that "tap water builds character", his message only getting deflected by the shivering thin wooden walls. The second guest then shows up on "Bent Life", as C Rayz Walz is being treated with one of the best beats on the album. And again this eccentric duo benefit from each other, proving that both have team player qualities.

"The Yes And The Y'all" starts slowly, to then giving us little more, like add ons to hamburgers, that you are very likely not to taste. More abstract at the beginning is "9-5ers Anthem", that is then completed with a bassline, being the engine getting this to move. The time between the waking up and the exhaling at the end of the day is the topic, what makes this song one of the easier to access offerings, and that's a good thing. Then finally, adding the last track to the album, "Shovel" is another song we give a nod of approval to, the beat and words walking hand in hand to then publicly embrace and melt into a common cell.

Quite likely this is the most rounded out album that Aesop has given to us so far. He seems to have found the platforms he stands the firmest on, allowing the listener a clear sky to be flying over the landscape of his lyrics. Yes, there are clouds here and there, that block our view to understand. Partially they are due to us, but sometimes also because of the creator of this world, Aesop. However, we shall let you go now to sketch the map, making you discover the landscape, of Aesop's current musical residence.