Aesop Rock

"Coffee" is as playful as you're going to get from rap's resident dadaist. The backing live band delivers appealing garage funk, and Aesop's double-time flow is elastic, if difficult to decipher. "Just cuz I don't want to war with you/ Don't mean don't warm up the barbeque," he quips in between nods to mad cow disease, firing lines and something called a "moxie melt." The themes are familiar: the illusion of individuality and freedom in a society dominated by cookie-cutter consumerism. But really, the song is more silly than it is acidic. Singer/songwriter John Darnielle provided its coda.