Best of, #29. No Jumper Cables

So quick side note here: I originally planned this entry to be Aesop Rock’s “The Greatest Pac-Man Victory in History”, but surprisingly couldn’t find a Youtube video of it. If your new to Aesop, definitely at song out, especially the final verse.

But due to the lack of Youtube video, I decided to throw in No Jumper Cables. Just because it wasn’t originally on the list, doesn’t mean this song can’t get you nodding your head. No Jumper Cables is the fourth track on, in my opinion, Aesop’s weakest album, Bazooka Tooth. Bazooka Tooth dropped September 23rd, 2003, about 2 years after the 911 attacks in his hometown of NYC. All the songs on Bazooka Tooth are all pretty similar in their sound, a sound of Aesop’s that is definitely unique to the album. It is sort of the most ‘fuck you’ album, and I think it has the most abstract lyrics. Part of the reason that it is my least favorite album is that I can’t really connect to the lyrics like I can in other albums. It is definitely not because of the beats or flow or style or any of that, because this album does go hard. I love the whole ‘Bazooka Tooth’ moniker and personality that he has throughout. But when it comes down to it this is definitely the most ‘weird’ Aesop album in terms of deviation from his norm, and let’s just say that it deviated in a way that I didn’t really vibe with. Nonetheless when it comes on when shuffle Aesop’s collection, it’s not like I’m jumping to skip it.

How about that music video though? Aes intertwines shots from the documentary Style Wars (I think? It’s been awhile since I’ve seen it. Either way it’s some graffiti documentary) and shots from him and some buddies in the same locations at a later date. By far my favorite part is around the 50 second mark when Blockhead is in the background with a Baltimore cap trying to look tough. For those new to Aes, Blockhead is his buddy he met during Aes’s college days, who eventually produced a good amount of Aes’s material on Float, Labor Days, Bazooka Tooth, and some random stuff sprinkled throughout. He has his own blog at www.phatfriend.com, check it out, it’s good stuff.

Lyrically, the song deals with a lot of things from the eighties Brooklyn (I think?). A lot of break dancing, graffiti, and cultural imagery. I like it because it’s something I never really knew about until I got into Aes, and then I went back and watched Style Wars and some other documentaries on it and really had my jaw drop. Those were some crazy times and times that will probably never happen again. Aes has a lot of graffiti references throughout his catalogue, not just on BT, so it might help to get use to some of the lingo that goes along with it. I don’t know if Aes himself ever went out and graffittied, but I wouldn’t doubt it. The dude is an artist. Got his BA from Boston U in painting. References graffiti all the time. I just wish I could see some of his painting sometime. Anyway, here are some of my favorite lines from this joint:

Choke train annotate buffers like a headlocked Ed Koch. Nurture the craft of concrete visionaries. Cave painters screaming “Loosen the cuffs!” Cave paintings get the natural history feather dust. Pick a lust

Started bendin’ spoons and rippin’ arrows outa’ lady hearts, with a C3P unit tryin’ to interpret the baby talk.

Never gave a fuck how far pi went.