Aesop Rock – None Shall Pass
welcome back folks! this week for the Aesop Rock discography, our record is 2007’s None Shall Pass.
i have been having a bit of a battle in my brain about Aesop Rock so far. i have been really enjoying his music, but due to my review schedule and listening behaviors, im not diving super deep. im making sure i know what the songs are about, im looking at lyrics and finding solid bars, but theres only so deep you can go on a record in a few listens. given that Aesop’s biggest strength is his lyricism, ive been grappling with that, wondering if i should be taking more time and digging into lyrics more. a part of that is, frankly, that while i find his flow and delivery style fun, Aes’s delivery thus far lends itself to blending together in my brain as i listen – when paired with instrumentals and sample work that is only partially engaging, it leads to mostly solid tracks that i cant wrap my attention around as much as i’d like.
the last record or two have been turning the corner on that, and None Shall Pass is extremely strong in that regard. the core loop on None Shall Pass, for example, is incredible, i love how it stays constant and they mix and match what sits on top of it, and Aes does a phenomenal job in his delivery and flow over it. it is not suprising to me that this is one of his best known songs – it immediately shot up the list of my favorite songs of his, haha. while i dont love the core conceit of Bring Back Pluto its a surface level complaint because i get the metaphor and the song is a really solid listen. plus, he brings in some interesting features this record – Getaway Car, featuring Breeze Brewin and Cage, is pretty solid (though i like Aes’s middle verse the most on the track, haha), i enjoy both the El-P and Rob Sonic features, but its definitely the John Darnielle (of Mountain Goats fame) track that threw me for the biggest loop. this woulda been between Get Lonely and Sunset Tree – wild. really good track.
and i appreciate the more recent narrative tracks he’s done – The Harbor Is Yours is a fun sort of re-do of a non-album single from 2006, and is a ton of fun, both lyrically and instrumentally, while Five Fingers is another neat track about a thief. im less a fan of Fumes but its still a neat track. i like Aes’s style of commenting on social issues and the music scene, but these are very fun tracks mixed it too.
on the whole, really really good record that i had an excellent time with. makes me excited to see this improvement carried into future releases!
faves – None Shall Pass, Catacomb Kids, The Harbor Is Yours, Five Fingers, Coffee
dislikes –
None Shall Pass – 8/10
our next record is actually our first of his collaboration group records – we’ll be looking at Hail Mary Mallon’s Are You Gonna Eat That?
first: Music For Earthworms | previous: Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives | next: Are You Gonna Eat That?
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