4 out of 5

Label: Rhymesayers

Produced by: T. Simon

Please don’t quote me on this, because I’m an idiot, but instrumentals are like the proving grounds of a good hip-hop album for me. While there’s a version of these that are amazing albums on their own, that might be a judgement that doesn’t leave room for how the music combines with vocals: if it’s too distracting, it might take away value from the emcee’s contributions; and then obviously if the beats are relatively sparse – and yeah, I realize this is a better argument for more modern hip-hop – they may not’ve really been designed to listen to on their own. So there’s some middleground where rapping + beats gets you hyped for the words and music, and then the lyrics flow like / read like poetry but are better served with the backup, and the music is dense and worth hearing on its own terms, but also gains flavor from the rapper.

Yes: Blockhead generally achieves this delicate balance, and Garbology is an amazing extension of his playful, soulful beats, slowed to suit Aesop’s flow and modernized with some cinema and gaming nods atop the retro base beats to give it further uniqueness. It’s really astounding how much more of the music you can hear when you’re not parsing Rock’s dense lyricism at the same time, and Blockhead provides worth to that extra attention with careful flourishes. It’s also impressive how some tunes that sound pretty bare – like Jazz Hands – transform into immersive mood pieces on their own. At the same time, fulfilling my above criteria, the music holds back a bit throughout, saving room for the emcee. And while I’ve just stated that as a requirement for a good hip-hop album, it inevitably keeps a few tracks on this instrumental set more limited in scope, especially given that the release, overall, has a somewhat downbeat, reserved vibe. Balancing this, though, Blockhead allows for at least one instantly banging beat on each side of the LP, building up to a final few tracks which all land with badass mashups of backpack glitchy beats and singles-ready grooves.

The vinyl pressing from Rhymesayers is clear, and warm, though hearing the music on its own makes me wish for a slightly different mix: there’s so much soul and funk, here, that highlighting the beats a bit could’ve elevated this even more.