Aesop Rock – Integrated Tech Solutions Review

Chills linger on the spine when heading up anything with tech solutions in the title. Endless calls to IT after getting locked out of work platforms for no other reason than they choose not to work, studying computer science all those years ago and flunking it because who truly understands how circuit boards work? Building this PC, the very machine where this review is taped together and sent out into the great unknown, was a series of luck-based events over a period of four hours. What a life. Aesop Rock has nothing to do with all those flaky tech troubles, though their album Integrated Tech Solutions does appear to love the aesthetic of the 1980s, the Weird Science generation at the forefront. All of it strikes as a similarly patterned and themed experience as the short comedy bits of Dr. Steve Brule (John C. Reilly). 

Miracle techs and the experience of the world wide web are short-changed and shifted over for first song proper, Mindful Solutionism. Rightly so. It gives Aesop Rock a chance to express some exceptional lyrical pieces, layered nicely on this slick and well-mixed beat. Rightly dependent on those lyrical flourishes, Integrated Tech Solutions is stuffed full of pop culture references, contemporary or otherwise. Billy Woods-featuring Living Curfew brushes with nostalgia – no surprise there. From album cover to intricate lyrical details it is clear where Integrated Tech Solutions is headed. Nostalgia is the crutch though the steadiness of strong work from Aesop Rock maintains a solid flow, an almost deliberately unnoticeable transition from track to track.  

Of course those feelings of technological flickers and nostalgia fade sooner or later. Salt and Pepper Squid may illuminate a fascinating dish of the past but the clunky, flickering lights of the old tech era are lost and soon Aesop Rock transfers their efforts into a regular bit of conscious, well-mixed hip-hop. Empty lives and pretzel bites showcase a food-oriented focus for Integrated Tech Solutions. An album which makes you crave a good bowl of cereal – exactly what you want early in the day. Maybe that is just hunger pangs and being stuck listening to the drop in form on By The River, a bit of a wasteful track which still holds good work to it but is stuck battering away the repetitive love of watery bodies.  

A generational nostalgia for Star Wars, walks around the Hudson and relationships are relatable somewhat. Honda Civics and other points of reference for the times feel slightly left-of-usual but still maintain a broad and accessible playing field for those looking inside the mind of Aesop Rock. There is not much in the way of truly unique retellings bar the frequent mentions of interesting food choices – it starts to take a turn for the worse around All City Nerve Map. A shame, too, since the tech exploitation which could have occurred, the comparisons to and from the raw nerves and shaky modern day would have been fantastic. Integrated Tech Solutions is still a solid listen though it relies on the same few strokes with a disinteresting frequency.