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Album Review: Aesop Rock - Bazooka Tooth (Definitive Jux)
Reviewer: Marcos Moret
Bazooka Tooth is Brooklyn-based Aesop Rock’s fifth album, and his second long-player on doper-than-dope undie label Def Jux.
To be honest, it’s kinda intimidating to review. The difficulty lies in Aesop’s penchant for obtusely impenetrable
wordplay, which will leave less patient listeners inexorably lost as to what he’s going on about. But despite – and
perhaps partly because of – this, Bazooka Tooth is a damn good album.
The beats are pure multi-layered phatness,
fashioned as fans have come to expect from Def Jux - frenetically aggressive, PE-recalling, neck-snap inducing, and all
infused with a dangerous dose of space funk and computer game sickness. Aesop has an accomplished flow: a staccato, nasal
delivery that resounds with forceful and cutting confidence. And in the odd moment of comprehensible clarity you’ll find
yourself being repeatedly impressed by his clever utterances. In fact, give the album some time and you’ll reap the
harvest, as the verbal, melodic, and percussive elements unravel, the cloudy patina evaporating to reveal a richly
rewarding luster. It’s not easy listening, it’s not straight-forward, it’s not an aural spoon-feeding session. It’s
a deeply personal insight into the man’s mind: thought processes, anxieties, coping techniques, ‘n’ all. Neo-existentialist
fibre for your hi-fi y’all.
Note: 'Bazooka Tooth' is released 22 September 2003
Read the Know The Ledge Interview with Aesop Rock.
RELATED LINKS:
Definitive Jux website
El-P and Mr. Lif concert review
Buy Aesop Rock's Bazooka Tooth album at Amazon
UK
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US
Buy Aesop Rock's Daylight EP at Amazon
UK
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US
Buy Aesop Rock's Labor Days album at Amazon
UK
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US
PUBLISHED: Friday 12 September 2003
To send us music for potential inclusion, email us at
promos@knowtheledge.net
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::: RELATED LINKS
Know The Ledge Interview with Aesop Rock
Definitive Jux website
El-P and Mr. Lif concert review
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