Aesop Rock Fast Cars, Danger, Fire And Knives CD

This Definitive Jux release contains an 88-page booklet, "The Living Human Curiosity Sideshow," which presents the lyrics from five Aesop Rock releases (FLOAT, LABOR DAYS, DAYLIGHT, BAZOOKA TOOTH, and FAST CARS...) in all their giddily impenetrable glory.
Personnel: Aesop Rock (rap vocals); El-P, Metro, Camu Tao (rap vocals); DJ Big Wiz (turntables).
As if underground rap fans weren't eager enough to hear the first new material (except for a few scattered features) from Aesop Rock in a year and a half, Definitive Jux added to the seven-track program a deluxe 88-page book including the complete lyrics to all of Aesop Rock's three LPs and two EPs to date. The music alone nearly justifies the cost, improving on the dense atmosphere pervading Aesop's mostly self-produced Bazooka Tooth, and returning ace producer Blockhead to his prime role in the control chair. His grinding garbage-can beats and flair for old-school funk on the first two tracks, "Fast Cars" and "Number Nine," provide the necessary balance for the murky surrealism of Aesop Rock's lyrics. Aesop himself is back near the top of his admittedly obtuse talents, organizing a morass of pop-culture quotes and current-events terms into a poetic whole, and occasionally even managing to shine a light on his back story and motivations ("Grew up with a Jughead crown tilt and tardy slip," "I put a beetle on his back and take notes"). But if the lavish booklet doesn't give pause to download pirates, the new tracks won't either. ~ John Bush
Aesop Rock's follow-up EP to 2003's BAZOOKA TOOTH finds the deliriously inventive New York City MC delivering another batch of top-notch material. One of hip-hop's most distinct voices, Aesop spits out a never-ending stream of difficult-to-decipher lyrics in a bass-heavy voice that suggests the rumble of an approaching subway train.
The production on FAST CARS, DANGER, FIRE AND KNIVES is rooted in the same murky melodic terrain that helped to make BAZOOKA TOOTH and 2001's LABOR DAYS underground sensations. Longtime collaborator Blockhead contributes to three tracks ("Fast Cars," "Number Nine," and "Holy Smokes"), while Aesop takes the musical reins on three more ("Zodiaccupuncture," "Rickety Rackety," and "Food, Clothes, Medicine"). But it is on the Rob Sonic-produced "Winners Take All" that Aesop reaches a new plateau as an artist. Written from the perspective of a confused, unprepared soldier thrust into the heart of combat, the track is an utterly convincing--and unexpectedly devastating--condemnation of war. There's as much creativity and lyrical audacity in FAST CARS, DANGER, FIRE AND KNIVES as there is in some artists' entire discographies.Uncut (p.103) - 3 stars out of 5 - "FAST CARS...is further evidence of his dazzling wordplay, as he tackles a cross section of subjects."
Alternative Press (p.138) - 3 stars out of 5 - "FAST CARS blasts through to daylight on these seven complex but abrasively catchy cuts."
The Wire (p.67) - "FAST CARS has more of the playful sonic pliability that characterised the last release....Compelling."