Aesop Rock

Editor's Review:

Not even six months after the release of this Brooklyn native's last full-length, Labor Days, Aesop Rock is back with the Daylight EP. The release's title track is also on Labor Days, and appears first here, followed by a song appropriately titled "Night Light," in which Aesop spits rhymes that are twisted mirror images of the original tune's lyrics. The chorus of "Daylight," for instance ("All I ever wanted was to pick apart the day / put the pieces back together my way"), undergoes transformation into a more painful and sinister chorus on "Nightlight" ("All I ever wanted was to pick apart the day / swallow up the pieces / spit 'em at your species"). "Nickel Played Pockets" features Cannibal Ox's Vast Aire (as Drunken Bum), and is both a chillingly realistic look at Aesop's view of the world around him, and a tribute to the rate at which he writes amazing rhymes. Rhymes like, "Walk into the store with a pocket full nickels / in a city full of World Trade Center victim candle vigils / there's anthrax in the mailboxes and Zannex in my tummy / there's a single Spanish female out west traveling the country," owe not only to the state of Aesop's hometown, NYC, but also perhaps the state of Aesop closer to home.
The beats backing Aesop's flows come mostly from longtime beat-making collaborator Blockhead, whose included instrumental, "Forest Crunk," is a slow-rolling, keyboard-based, polyrhythmic tune. Additional production comes from Company Flow's El-P ("Nickel Plated Pockets"), Blueprint ("Alchemy") and Aesop himself ("Bracket Basher"), all dark and foreboding, contributing to the introspective nature of the EP.
- Max Sidman


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Record Label Definitive Jux Released February 2002

Tracks 1. Daylight 2. Night Light 3. Nickel Plated Pockets 4. Alchemy 5. Forest Crunk 6. Bracket Basher 7. 8. Maintenance