Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives explained

Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives
Type:ep
Artist:Aesop Rock
Cover:AesRockFastCars.jpg
Genre:Hip hop
Label:Definitive Jux
Producer:Blockhead, Aesop Rock, Rob Sonic
Prev Title:Bazooka Tooth
Prev Year:2003
Next Title:None Shall Pass
Next Year:2007

Fast Cars, Danger, Fire and Knives is an EP by American hip hop artist Aesop Rock. Released via the Definitive Jux label on February 22, 2005, the record is produced by Blockhead and Aesop Rock himself, with the former producing three tracks and the latter producing four, with one track produced by Rob Sonic. Vocals are handled by Aesop Rock, with guest appearances from Camu Tao and Metro of S.A. Smash and Definitive Jux label head El-P. All scratches are performed by DJ Big Wiz.

Release

The initial pressing of the EP on CD (catalogue number DJX106) was packaged as a slimline CD case inside a cardboard cover along with an 88-page booklet named The Living Human Curiosity Sideshow, which contained the EP's lyrics as well as the never-before published lyrics to Aesop's other in-print records, Float, Labor Days, Daylight, and Bazooka Tooth, and new photographs and artwork.

The record's art as a whole, in keeping with the title of the lyric book, is designed around the theme of an early 20th-century freak show: "The Most Peculiar Creatures in All The Land", proclaims the back cover, while a triptych of blackly humorous portraits on the inner CD case depict Bruce The Giant Baby ("7 years old & 600(+) pounds"), Three Legged Louis ("3 shoes, 6 laces, 15 toes") and Ms. Sally Small ("the world's tiniest woman").

The subsequent pressing of the EP (catalogue number DJX117) omitted the lyric booklet but included a bonus track, "Facemelter".