Aesop Rock – Appleseed
welcome back folks! today, our record is the second release from Aesop Rock – it’s Appleseed, an EP released in 1999.
as i’ve mentioned before, i don’t do big research dives into every record, but i do like to look around for some context as ‘listening, and this EP has two i found that are fun. Appleseed allegedly takes its name from the Masamune Shirow manga, and Aesop Rock sold the first of these self-produced EPs to folks at an MF DOOM show, haha. reputationally and stylistically, the two share a lot of space so that’s extremely fun to hear, haha.
and i gotta say, part of Aesop Rock’s reputation is that of lyrical density, and so far across the last record and this one he’s not disappointed – he packs a ton of lyrics into some very small songs, and they take quite a bit to sort through and feel out. 1,000 Deaths was one of my faves in that regard – got some very dense biblical allusions here, and its fun to pick through.
Dryspell’s a big highlight here – it samples a track called Peace by Ornette Coleman, and Aesop Rock carries a phenomenally dense pace over the whole track. he’s showing a steadily relentless delivery over basically the whole EP, but i really really enjoy how he moves and moves against the jazzy loops on this song. it sets a bit of the tone for the type of sample he’ll use on other parts of the EP – most of the other tracks here use strings or jazzier instrumentation, and those that dont go for a bit more experimental sounds.
Same Space carries the subtitle “The Tugboat Complex Pt. 2” – part 1 didnt end up on Music For Earthworms, but here, beyond the contents of the track, it points towards a larger body of unreleased songs. if he’s got a part 1 for this lying around, its not a large leap to assume more might also be (id mentioned during the Mountain Goats review process that i enjoyed the idea of a track being a part 2 when there is no part 1, but i dont believe thats common enough to argue against my reading here).
the closer, Odessa, features a guest rapper named Doseone – i mostly know Aesop Rock before this deeper dive from his collaborative tracks, and while a bit of that was on display in Music For Earthworms, its cool to see that he’s as comfortable with collabs as he is this early in his career, haha.
faves – Dryspell, 1,000 Deaths,
dislikes –
Appleseed – 6/10
next week we’ll take a look at 2000’s Float!
first and previous: Music For Earthworms | next: Float
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