| Thanks to mp3 downloads and energetic live shows, there has been quite a buzz surrounding the release of Aesop Rock's first full-length endeavor. Along with sub-terra contemporaries like Slug, Sixtoo, Awol One, and Atoms Family, the underground is beginning to seep through the cracks left behind by the mainstream hip-hop stampede; this indie-as-fuck movement‚ to compare‚ caters to a similar niche that just-below-the-radar acts like Polvo and New Radiant Storm King did during the mid-nineties alt-rock deluge. Float is decidedly askew of mainstream hip-hop's post-modern state. Aesop Rock does not wave the self-imposed flags of violence, sexual prowess, and substance abuse in the vein of say, Eminem, but rather delivers staunchly anti-commercial raps, smattered with no-art-but-in-things modernism in the vein of William Carlos Williams. And with the aid of various instrumentation (ranging from classical strings to down home harmonica), the off-kilter, smooth-hitting beats provide an anomalous backdrop to Aesop's aggressive emcee style. The result is a graceful, masterful record, as alluring in sound as it is rich in meaning. - New City |
2XLP/Out Of Print