Send "Atmosphere " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 Historically, EPs have been good to Atmosphere. The Minneapolis indie-rap titans had their breakthrough with 2001's Lucy Ford: The Atmosphere EPs, a collection of previously released EPs that still somehow stands as their best and most cohesive album by far. Lucy Ford put all the group's pieces together; it's an eloquent, charismatic piece of work that helped "emo-rap" come into existence. For all its self-deprecating introspection, though, it never sacrificed humor or swagger, and its beats banged. Atmosphere followed it with a couple of truly impressive rap records. But about five years ago, the group started recording and touring with a live band that, despite its best efforts, has always come off sounding way too session-musiciany. And with all those watery blues guitar lines and rapper Slug's increasing reliance on singsong, the group has pushed ever closer to G. Love territory on recent albums.And that leads us to To All My Friends, Blood Makes the Blade Holy, the best thing the group has done in years. The new record is 12 songs in 41 minutes-- an album then, basically-- but Atmosphere is still selling this one as a "double EP" for some reason. If that's what they needed to do to edge just a little bit closer to that Lucy Ford frame of mind, fair enough. To All My Friends isn't a classic record or anything. That live band makes its presence known on every track, and sometimes that brings truly regrettable results, like the irritatingly flinty pseudo-reggae of "Americareful". And Slug hasn't quite reached the levels of slippery arrogance he displayed on something like Lucy Ford's "Guns & Cigarettes". Still, it's a big step in the right direction. For one thing, there are a couple of honest-to-god battle-raps here, and Slug's always at his sharpest when he allows himself a few moments of straight-up shit-talk. "Until the Nipples Gone" and "Shotgun" come with terse, hard tracks. Laser-precise guitar lines weave in and out of each other, while Slug brings breathless urgency for the first time in a minute. Slug's brag-rap lyrics don't always make sense, but they avoid sense in fun, inventive ways: "You can call me Sean like nothing's wrong/ I'm the early dawn/ I'm the dirty bomb."...full text |
| Sputnikmusic |
| It’s a generally accepted notion that most rappers don’t age well, especially those coming from the more indie/underground side of the genre – see the recent output from Common, Sage Francis and Murs for evidence. Slug has been no exception to this theory over the course of the past 5 years, often struggling to recapture the presence and delivery on top of subject matter that made him so relevant and relatable in the first place. On Atmosphere’s last official album he adopted the approach of making each song into its own story, the problem being that each tale was only surface-deep – there was nothing really there that required any in-depth analysis or metaphorical understanding, just stories for the sake of stories. His introspective raps about understanding women and life-purpose became stale instead of fresh and the latter half of the 2000s found Slug searching for inspiration; basically, he’s run out of ideas. Sadly, there isn’t much happening on this latest release to change the state of affairs for Rhymesayers’ resident leading man. To All My Friends, Blood Makes the Blade Holy finds the emcee simultaneously pulling inspiration from past successes while attempting to mature -- without becoming irrelevant. In some cases, like The Major Leagues, Hope and The Loser Wins, it works. Slug’s urban perspective on the average life comes across as genuine as it did on Lucy Ford, while tackling the subject matter from the viewpoint of a wily veteran who’s experienced life and is willing to share wisdom gained. Sure, the rhymes are still largely uninspired, but for a rapper whose discography dates back to the mid-90s – what should we really expect? Slug’s main problem here is delivery – about half the album feels like remade versions of old Atmosphere tracks. Compare the flow in The Best Day to Sunshine from Sad Clown Bad Summer, The Number None to When Life Gives You Lemons’ Yesterday or Until the Nipple’s Gone to Panic Attack from You Can’t Imagine How Much Fun We’re Having. Scalp even sounds like a slowed-down Hair (off God Loves Ugly) – right down to a direct reference at the end of the song. This all plays into the notion that Slug is suffering from a case of writer’s block, and while the lack of inspiration is disappointing, there are enough strong moments to keep the disc interesting and listenable. Fortunately for Atmosphere, the production sounds more fresh and inspired than anything they’ve released since 2003’s Seven’s Travels. Producer Ant takes the reggae and blues-influenced motif of the last two Brother Ali albums, combines it with the live instrumentation and coffee shop vibe of When Life Gives You Lemons… and then filters it through the dark, hazy lens of 1990s hip hop classics like Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik and The Low End Theory. The resulting sound is actually somewhat breathtaking and more than makes up for the moments when Slug’s flow gets a bit monotonous. Guitars (both electric and acoustic), keys and upright bass again play a large role in the record’s sound and serve to differentiate it from the majority of hip hop albums being released in 2010 (new joint from The Roots notwithstanding)....full text |
| Plugonemag |
| Slug may never get recognized as one of hip-hop’s greatest storytellers, but he deserves to be. The Minneapolis rapper excels at the confessional, rhyming first-person narratives so vivid you think they’re ripped straight from his diary. On To All My Friends, Blood Makes The Blade Holy, a pair of EPs packaged into a mini-album, Slug raps about vehicular homicide (“Scalp”), young love (“The Number None”), and drug-dealing homeboys (“The Major Leagues”) as a backing band plays extended riffs and beery blues. It’s not Lil Wayne, but it will more than do....full text |
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