I am impressed with this up and coming Iowa rapper. I've gave this CD some very focused listens and I'm pleased with what I am hearing. It has similarities to El-P, but in my opinion Aeon Grey is a better lyricist than El-P. The production was very organic, and I like the experimental journies each song took, which were very unpredictable but well executed. I can't help but to think of all the meticulous hours Aeon Grey spent nuturing this work to achieve the final result. I am sure that I'm not the only one who thinks that Aeon Grey has a bright future in hip hop!

This here is good. Aeon really knows how to create a certain vibe for himself, be it that he produces the beats himself or has friends like Workerbee or Dustcollectors do that for him. This is eleven songs deep, features more insight than peephole the size of a window with a view, and once again, you better listen to this yourself. So check softfocusart.com and aplus9records.com for more information.

The old rap/hip-hop rivalry between the East Coast and the West Coast is officially dead. Why? Because the Midwest has been responsible for some of the most groundbreaking hip-hop and rap in years. Proof of that can be seen in Minnesota's Atmosphere, or even the up-and-coming scene here in Milwaukee. And now you can add the state of Iowa to that list. Yes, Iowa. But try not to bring up the fact that aeon grey (no, his name is not capitalized) is from Iowa around the man himself, because he's not a huge fan of his surroundings. And if you listen to his newest offering, marionetteworkbench, you'll hear exactly why. The disc is deep and brooding, reminiscent in spots of work from Aesop Rock's Bazooka Tooth. Dark and moody bass lines thud along while aeon drops lyrics about his rage against corporate America. He raps about what he knows: being a starving artist hell-bent on creating his work at no matter what cost. And he handles it all-- the anger, frustration, disappointment, and sadness-- with a skilled musical hand. And as if marionetteworkbench weren't enough to keep grey busy, he also recently released Lost Cause with fellow Iowan wordsmith, Angle. This duo, known as The Paper Cuts, pick up where marionetteworkbench left off. Lost Cause has all the darkness and emotion grey's album is jammed full of. But the production on Lost Cause feels even more thorough than the prior disc. That's not to say grey's solo disc is lacking, but rather The Paper Cuts have put together an unbreakable brick shithouse of an album. You may recognize Angle from a feature he did on the Tack Fu disc. Just as he did on that disc, Angle weaves words with ease and clarity, letting us all in on his thoughts and beliefs. He is a perfect match to grey's style, and the two work off each other as if they were the same person in parts. The fourth track, "Spirits/utopia", is an amazing track about being beat down, but fighting to keep your spirits up. By far, it's my favorite track on the disc, and it's a great example of how eerily perfect these two work together. So the East and West Coast better get used to being in second and third place, because if people like aeon grey and Angle keep pushing the sound of hip-hop along the evolutionary path, the Midwest may very well stake its claim as the birthplace of the new sound.

"Keep Buzzin'" Feb 6, 2005 Aeon Grey rolls into that breed of rapper that sits around like a jaded Edward Norton with a Fight Club secret life and anti-institution haiku to e-mail to his co-workers. Why, Aeon Grey himself seems to make the reference in his liner notes: "90% of this album was written in a cubicle… influenced by fluorescent lights, corporate tyranny and human substitutions for emtions, it will break…" Yeah, it's one of those Generation X angst things. No angst appears on the album anywhere, but this is certainly a work not far removed from Anticon aesthetics and ethics. There's a free association quality and absurd wordiness to Aeon's lyrics that recall the virtuosity of Noah23, but Aeon's flow can't match the Canadian's verbal quicksand and syllabic pyrotechnics. "Lost in a Crowd/System Failure" drops a conga-like percussion loop into a river of ringing tones before a chopped violin takes over the final act; Aeon seems even more comfortable behind the boards than in front of the mic. Martial drum hits coalesce with keys and videogame FX on the instrumental "Bleeding Machines" before producer Workerbee takes over (with much less success) on "Rusty Swings" and "Careless Dismount." Workerbee's beats lack the subtlety of Aeon's compositions, which also brag more interesting drums. Rapid drums run in tandem with fluid guitar and strings and organ on "Door is Open," and then Aeon drawls out a horn exhalation over a twanged bass and honky punctuation for "Peelings/Stomach Plugs," featuring Paul Moses and Mike Jupiter. The beat de-civilizes into something a bit more primal at the three minute mark and the guests hop in. The first two minutes of "Guilty Remorse" are a sonically dull apology, but the addition of a few more ingredients to the beat spice things up a little for the coda. However, the highlight here is the final track, no doubt. A wistful keyboard whistles over echoing woodpecker percussion while pretty sounds fill the nooks of each headphone-covered ear before scratches, an organ solo and background horns touch up the track to perfection. It's an incredibly promising sign of things to come for Aeon Grey. Should one hope that the fluorescent lights keep buzzing over Aeon's head?