Aesop Rock & Blockhead – “Jazz Hands”
Underground rap wordsmith Aesop Rock and veteran producer Blockhead have announced a new joint album called Garbology. Although the two are longtime collaborators who have worked together plenty of times stretching all the way back to the late ’90s, Garbology, which came together while Aesop Rock was processing the loss of a close friend in January 2020, is somehow their first full-length release together.
“Garbology is defined as the study of the material discarded by a society to learn what it reveals about social or cultural patterns,” Aes explains. “I find a lot of parallels between that and the idea of picking up the pieces after a loss or period of intense unrest, and seeing what’s really there. It’s information that speaks to who I am, who we are, and how we move forward. Furthermore — the idea of digging through old, often neglected music from another time with an ear tuned for taking in that data in a different way than your average listener would is exactly what Block does. Go through the information and see what you find.”
To go with that theme, the album’s vinyl is being pressed as an “eco-mix,” a 100% recycled compound comprised of trimmed flash and leftovers from other color vinyl pressings that cannot otherwise be reused. Today, the duo are sharing early track “Jazz Hands,” in which Aesop delivers his signature dense stream-of-consciousness flow over a beat from Blockhead. Listen and watch Rob Shaw’s striking music video below.
Garbology is out 11/12 via Rhymesayers. Pre-order it here.