Aight well I just finished Esoteric vs. Japan: Pterodactyl Takes Tokyo. I was waiting for the right tine this week to listen to it, because I know that my state of mind has a big impact on my initial listening experience when it comes to new music and I want to give every album a fair shake. Tday happened to be a pretty lax day at work, and I had already warmed up with some Lupe Fiasco and similar stuff, so I felt primed to check this out.
I had only the faintest bit of an idea about who Esoteric was, so everything on this album was pretty new to me. I of course expected a highly lyrical style, and was sort of expecting a grimy overall sound. While I would describe Esoteric's voice and cadence as being a little bit grimy, the sound of the album was very airy and bouncy actually - which makes sense with it being Japan themed. All the samples of Japanese film, TV and commercials worked perfectly and blended effortlessly with the production on the album. As thick as this album is with lyrics, and I definitely gotta praise Esoteric's relentless style, I don't think I would have enjoyed the album as much, if not for the exceptional production. Not only from a plain sound quality point of view, but the creativity, the energy and the chemistry that it creates with the rappers is pretty much top notch.
The beat on My New Favorite was just fucking impeccable, narrowly beating out Wrestlelectro for my favorite on the album. The storytelling and laid back delivery on 24 Karat Fiction also stood out as one of the highlights of the album, I found it one of the most interesting songs easily, probably because it was one of the easier songs to follow lyrically upon the first listen. I will admit that as the second half of the album progressed, it did start to feel kinda long-winded. There are hardly any hooks on this album that I can recall, it's basically full speed ahead on the rapping all throughout, which is cool and pretty enjoyable, but for a full hour+, it's hard to maintain that momentum. Nonetheless, they did space things out some with a lot more skits/samples and instrumental usage on the second half. That being said, God Less America still really hit for me, it was short and sweet and full of intent. Godzilla Stomp was also a very memorable song from that second half, I gotta mention it as well.
In total, I can honestly say I really liked the album and I think it's my favorite out of all the albums recommended so far (including Madvillainy). It sounds good, it has a ton of substance to dig through, it's unique, it's artistic and you can kinda decide if you just wanna vibe out to or really lock in and dissect the lyrics or analyze the flow. A great pick.
