A fun little EP of remixes that I'm glad exists even if it isn't anything particularly groundbreaking

Daylight is excellent, Nightlight is a super cool experiment, Nickel Plated Pockets is great early social commentary, Alchemy is the most New York Aes has ever sounded, Forest Crunk is a gorgeous instrumental, Bracket Basher is ..... meh, Maintenance has great production, and One-of-Four is a gorgeous track that I had never heard prior to this relisten because it is hidden. What a cool project! SO glad Aes and Blockhead are still working together all these years later.

This has always been my least favorite solo Aes project. Still, upon revisiting I did enjoy it more. It just feels like Aes is working really hard to sound like the other Def Jux artists when he is so unique on his own. THis record is an obvious transition between the old Aes of Float and Labor Days, and the shift to his more modern sound on None Shall Pass and Skelethon. I've also always enjoyed Aes more after he decided to stop putting on the nasally agro voice (seriously, some points on this ... read more

A super fun extended play that celebrates Aes's collaborators from Def Jux more than any other project in his catalogue. Aes tackles heavy themes of religion, sex, and drug addiction with a fun and catchy flair that works better than it has any right to.

So we have reached another classic in our journey through Aesop Rock's discography. This project is so. god. damn. good. An interesting observation for me going backwards through his albums is suddenly realizing we are in the Deaf Jux era (technically just after, but the pieces are all here). This album features El-P and the first collab between Rob Sonic and Aesop. Aes really lives up to both halves of his name sake here with wild rocking drum breaks pushing through guitar and string bass ... read more

Okay I'm sorry, what the hell do the people of this website want from Charly Bliss exactly? This song is so good. The production is beautiful, the sax solo is a breath of fresh air, the vocals are gorgeous, the lyrics are great. I understood people's distaste for their last 2 singles because they were definitely leaning more bubblegum, but now I feel like the other users are just upset because it's slow? Rock acts aren't allowed to make slow tracks now? I for one and hyped for this album and ... read more

Not quite as strong as Beastiary but still plenty of fun. This release is more in line with the LICE series in that it is a collaboration for the sake of it and the music isn't super aesthetically consistent. That being said, the chemistry is there and the beats are largely solid. Hoping we get more from these two one day.

The Trent Reznor influence that loomed large over the post Def Jux underground is so apparent here. Probably the most rock heavy Aes album and a solid entry into his catalogue. I feel when surrounded by the heights of None Shall Pass and The Impossible Kid, this record gets looked over despite being great in it's own right. It also sees Aes smack dab in the middle of his most collaborative era with appearances by Kimya Dawson and Rob Sonic (the latter's versus almost certainly recorded during ... read more

Okay, I have a lot of thoughts about this one. When I first heard this album it was a few months after I first got into Aes and had already listened to everything else in his catalogue. Imagine my excitement when I discovered there was a whole album of music that I hadn't heard! I enjoyed his other collabs so surely I was in for another fun album of trading bars! Yeah... I hated this thing. Kimya's vocals absolutely grated on me and I felt like it was way too long. Ontop of that, I learned more ... read more

The critics were way off with this one. By far the best of all of Aes's collaborative projects, he and Rob Sonic bounce off each other with a chemistry that you just don't see in his collabs with Homeboy Sandman or Kimya Dawson. The production is just such a blast. Everything about this project feels like watching a Bill and Ted style movie about two buddies fighting 80's stylized eldritch horrors in the hopes of saving their local bowling alley (that actually closed 20 years prior) Both of the ... read more

This is the definitive modern Aesop Rock album. The syth wave production, the spiraling multi syllable rhymes, the weird sci fi concepts. It's everything that works about Aes as an artist all in one package. It even avoid some of my other favorite Aes album's problem of being a bit too long. It is the first project I recommend to anyone wanting to get into Aes or just underground hip hop in general. It's as close to perfect as a project like this can get.

A great pack of songs. Sandman is at his best lyrically here and the beats are great. Nothing revolutionary but a fun collaborative effort for sure.

This album is interesting in places but is way too bare bones and boring on other parts of the tracklist to be considered a "must hear album"

Controversial take, Roc Marciano's lyrics feel incredibly dated compared to his peers. Ka and Brother Ali have had more luck updating their content in a way that resonates with modern audiences better than Roc despite his larger following. Still, I can't deny his skill on a mic and the production, while far from his best, is still good.

There are some great tracks on here but it is also a perfect demonstration of why Griselda artists don't work in the pop landscape.

Terrible album cover aside, there are some really solid songs on this and Blacklight is legitimately a near perfect funk jam.

I'm not sure Mike has the skill to carry out full projects as a solo artist, but there is still a lot to like on this project.

A decent project mulled down by garbage politics, bad management, and Ty kinda phoning it in. Ye can do better but I think we are past that point by now. I wish the hate behind this project didn't make it impossible to love it.

One of the weaker Ransom releases but there is still plenty to enjoy here, even if you have to skip a few tracks.

I think this is my favorite of the LICE projects based purely on the production. The beats here are so good it is crazy. Gotta love a good descending base line with some wild and frantic drums.