Spirit World Field Guide

Spirit World Field Guide is the eighth studio album by American hip hop artist Aesop Rock. It was released on November 13, 2020, through Rhymesayers Entertainment. It acts as a "guide" to a fictional world, named the Spirit World. The album was preceded by two singles: "The Gates" released on September 9, and "Pizza Alley" released on October 16, 2020. Both were released with music videos directed by Rob Shaw and featuring animation from Justin "Coro" Kaufman, who also designed the album's cover art. A third single and music video, "Coveralls", was released on November 13 alongside the album.

Spirit World Field Guide
Studio album by
Aesop Rock
ReleasedNovember 13, 2020 (2020-11-13)
GenreHip hop
Length63:18
LabelRhymesayers
Producer
Aesop Rock chronology
Freedom Finger (Music from the Game)
(2019)		 Spirit World Field Guide
(2020)
Singles from Spirit World Field Guide
  1. "The Gates"
    Released: September 9, 2020
  2. "Pizza Alley"
    Released: October 16, 2020
  3. "Coveralls"
    Released: November 13, 2020

The album was first teased following a series of cryptic Instagram posts. Supporting its "survival guide" theme, the album was available on Rhymesayers Entertainment's official website as a preorder along with items such as a canteen, a pocket knife, and a flint kit being sold.[1][2][3] The album peaked at number 54 on the Billboard 200.

Background and composition
"I don't necessarily view it as something you need to listen to front to back in one sitting. In an actual field guide, you'd kinda flip around until you find the section that applies to your current situation. That's how this feels to me."

Aesop Rock, Flood Magazine[4]

Spirit World Field Guide is a concept album following a narrator through an alternate world, including "hallucinatory images of killer eels, magic spells, and people on the run" and "anecdotes, recipes, survival tips, warnings, maps, [and] drawings".[5]

Following his 2019 collaborative album Malibu Ken with electronic musician Tobacco, Aesop took a break from touring and considered quitting music entirely. He traveled to Peru with bassist James Lynch, which reinvigorated his passion to write songs.[6] This trip produced "Pizza Alley", the first song written for the album.[4] Crediting "the act of being somewhere else" as his source of inspiration, Aesop continued traveling and visited Cambodia and Thailand,[6] which served as inspiration for "Holy Waterfall" and "Sleeper Car", respectively.[4] "Hello from the Spirit World", the spoken-word intro of the album, was the final song recorded, with Aesop originally considering it for a promotional announcement.[4]

Musically, the album's production includes a "mix of electric guitar, laser synths, and crisp drums",[7] while taking inspiration from boom bap, funk, progressive rock, and psychedelic rock.[7][8]

Release and promotion

In September 2020, Aesop Rock released a music video for "The Gates" directed by Rob Shaw and starring Shaw's children. The video combined live-action footage with animation from Justin "Coro" Kaufman, who also designed the album's cover art.[9] The video was accompanied by an announcement of the album's release date of November 13, 2020, title Spirit World Field Guide, and 21-song track listing.[5] Aesop considered the song "at least a little catchy", and credited it as a breakthrough moment for the project.[6] The next month, he released a second music video for "Pizza Alley", also directed by Shaw and featuring animation from Kaufman.[10] The album was released on November 13, 2020,[11] alongside a third Shaw-directed music video for "Coveralls".[12]

Reception

Critical response
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[8]
Pitchfork8.0/10[7]

In a positive review, Pitchfork's Stephen Kearse praised Aesop Rock's "vivid and imagistic" rapping and lyricism that "brims with wonder". Kearse considered the album's production "the best of [Aesop's] career" while specifically highlighting "Gauze" and "Crystal Sword", and considered Spirit World Field Guide to be "the most joyous album [Aesop Rock] has ever made".[7] Tom Breihan of Stereogum referred to the album as "an exploration of one man's crippling dread" with "dense and layered" lyrics, praising the "warm and lush and genuinely funky" sound of Aesop's production. He concluded that Spirit World Field Guide "an album that sounds and works like nothing else",[13] and later ranked it as the ninth-best rap album of 2020.[14]

Commercial performance

Spirit World Field Guide debuted on the Billboard 200 at number 54,[15] his fourth-highest charting album.[16] Additionally, it placed on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Independent Albums charts, among others.[17][18][19]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Ian Bavitz.

Spirit World Field Guide track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Hello from the Spirit World"2:06
2."The Gates"3:51
3."Button Masher"3:45
4."Dog at the Door"1:28
5."Gauze"3:12
6."Pizza Alley"4:36
7."Crystal Sword"2:20
8."Boot Soup"4:08
9."Coveralls"3:39
10."Jumping Coffin"3:29
11."Holy Waterfall"3:48
12."Flies"0:46
13."Salt"3:37
14."Sleeper Car"3:42
15."1 to 10"0:53
16."Attaboy"3:00
17."Kodokushi"3:53
18."Fixed and Dilated"2:38
19."Side Quest"1:21
20."Marble Cake"4:16
21."The Four Winds"2:50
Total length:63:18

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[20]

  • Aesop Rock – producer (1–13, 15–21), additional producer (14), executive producer
  • Heidi Hopfer – additional vocals (1)
  • Grimace Federation – additional instrumentation (2, 6, 8, 9, 16, 17, 21)
  • Hanni El Khatib – additional instrumentation (3), producer (14)
  • James Lynch – bass (5, 6, 13, 20)
  • Homeboy Sandman – additional vocals (8)
  • DJ Zone – scratches (10, 13, 17, 18)
  • Leon Michels – producer (14)
  • Joey Raia – mixing
  • Joe LaPorta – mastering
  • Kevin Frias – engineering assistance
  • Justin "Coro" Kaufman – art, layout
  • Alex Everson – project coordinator
  • Jessica Daley – project coordinator
  • Kevin Beacham – project coordinator
  • Brent Sayers – executive producer
  • Sean Daley – executive producer

Charts
Chart performance for Spirit World Field Guide
Chart (2020) Peak
position
US Billboard 200[16] 54
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[18] 9
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[17] 26
US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[19] 5

References
  1. "AESOP ROCK "SWFG" FLINT KIT". Archived from the original on November 14, 2020. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  2. "AESOP ROCK "SWFG" CANTEEN [PRE-ORDER]". Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  3. "AESOP ROCK X JAMES BRAND "SWFG" KNIFE". Archived from the original on November 16, 2020. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  4. LeSuer, Mike (November 13, 2020). "Aesop Rock Guides Us Through the "Spirit World" of His New Record". Flood Magazine. Anthemic Agency. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  5. Bloom, Madison (September 9, 2020). "Aesop Rock Announces New Album, Shares Video for New Song". Pitchfork. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on September 10, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  6. "'What I Do Is What I Do:' Aesop Rock and Coro in Conversation". Spin. Next Management Partners. November 23, 2020. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  7. Kearse, Stephen (November 14, 2020). "Aesop Rock: Spirit World Field Guide". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on November 14, 2020. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  8. Simpson, Paul. "Spirit World Field Guide - Aesop Rock". AllMusic. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  9. DeVille, Chris (September 9, 2020). "Aesop Rock Announces 'Spirit World Field Guide': Hear "The Gates"". Stereogum. Archived from the original on October 1, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  10. "Aesop Rock Drops Video for 'Pizza Alley'". Spin. October 16, 2020. Archived from the original on October 19, 2020. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  11. Yoo, Noah; Bloom, Madison (November 13, 2020). "8 New Albums You Should Listen to Now: Amaarae, Ana Roxanne, Davido, and More". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on November 15, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  12. "Aesop Rock Enters the Subconscious in 'Coveralls'". HipHopDX. November 13, 2020. Archived from the original on November 19, 2020. Retrieved November 16, 2020.
  13. Breihan, Tom (November 18, 2020). "Aesop Rock's New Album Is A Dizzy Vision Quest". Stereogum. Archived from the original on November 18, 2020. Retrieved November 18, 2020.
  14. Breihan, Tom (December 7, 2020). "Best Rap Albums 2020". Stereogum. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  15. Zidel, Alex (November 23, 2020). "Future & Lil Uzi Vert Miss Out On #1 Debut: Sales Report". HotNewHipHop. Urbanlinx Media. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  16. "Aesop Rock Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  17. "Aesop Rock Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  18. "Aesop Rock Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  19. "Aesop Rock Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved November 30, 2020.
  20. Spirit World Field Guide (Media notes). Aesop Rock. Rhymesayers Entertainment. 2020.CS1 maint: others (link)
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