3 out of 5

Label: Rhymesayers

Produced by: Aesop Rock

I’m glad this came out, although I’m not sure how often I’ll listen to it. Spirit World Field Guide was the rare Aesop Rock project (from his mid-era onwards) that didn’t really excite me. I was plenty excited leading up to it, but the singles and the album… didn’t and haven’t landed for me yet. It’s good; it’s Aesop; but there’s some core element to it that just doesn’t grab me. Some background on the album’s genesis and themes may suggest why that is, but I’ll leave that for analysis in my review of that disc. What’s important here is that the music here just kinda sounds a bit different for Aesop, relying on a processed vibe that undermines a lot of the live instrumentation. What I was curious about was whether or not the lacking whateverness of the vocal version would carry over to the music, and it does and it doens’t. On the one hand, the narrative of a travelogue to elsewhere comes across more strongly here, with the otherworldly themes congealing into more confident boom bap beats as we go along, and the story gains steam; on the other hand, my preference is still for when Aesop does favor a more traditional hip-hop backing on tracks, elevated by his keen sense of balance of electronics and pacing, and there’s a lot of stuff that strays from that here. It’s very conceptually interesting, but maybe not mixed perfectly to embrace it; like, I think there’s a fully live version of this that’s produced more like a score that really hits.

Which suggests that those with greater or lesser opinions of the original album will likely have their expectations met. I can normally listen to Aesop instrumentals and enjoyed them on par with the vocal versions; the Spirit World Field Guide doesn’t change how I felt about the album, which I don’t revisit as often as other AR discs. But: I didn’t mind this journey, and just like those instrumentals I may listen to more, I can say I was impressed with the depth of the musicality, even if I’m cirtical of how it was applied.

The LP version of this sound quality, though see above regarding my mixing / production feelings – obviously that stuff is still intact as well, but that’s the realistic representation of the album. I do appreciate the new packaging, and trippy inner sleeves, which are in line with the album’s color themes.