| Atmosphere - Sad Clown Bad Summer EP |
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| Written by Andrea Myers | |
| Tuesday, August 28, 2007 at 12:51 AM | |
 AtmosphereSad Clown Bad Summer EP Rhymesayers Entertainment myspace.com/atmosphere rhymesayers.com Just in time for summer's last gasp, hometown hip hop heroes Atmosphere have unveiled a new lighthearted and brightly colored EP. Seemingly a tool for tiding fans over until they release their next full-length album (When Life Gives You Lemons..., due out spring of next year), this piano-driven collection plays like a sugary appetizer to what will hopefully be a more nutritious and pallet pleasing main course. It's not that the EP itself isn't good; Ant's gospel-tinged samples and overtly sunny beats are uplifting, and Slug's riffs on summer, women and love are both familiar and fresh. But, like most EPs from established acts, the length of five tracks isn't enough time for Atmosphere to show off their many and varied talents, and the disc is more of a blip on the Atmosphere radar than a landmark release. To be honest, Slug could read Foreigner lyrics over an 8-bit video game soundtrack and I would probably still swoon a little. Regardless, there are plenty of moments on the EP that even the most laxidaisical Atmosphere fan will enjoy. "Sunshine" (which we previewed a few weeks ago in the news department), is classic early-era Atmosphere. A hung over Slug wakes up and walks us through a day in the life of a summertime Minneapolitan, narrating a bike ride around the lakes over a simple, cyclical piano part. "All of a sudden, I realize something," Slug sighs, "The weather is amazing, even the birds are bumpin'/Stood up and took a look and a breath/And there's that light that I forgot that I possessed." It's a classic tale of seasonal awakening, perfectly punctuated by bloopy synthesizer and hollow snare beat. "Number One" brings back the innocence of a teenaged summer romance, while "RFTC" ("Run From the Cops," perhaps?) is a tale of adolescent rule breaking. In fact, the whole EP bursts with youthful exuberance, more so than tracks laid down in Slug's actual youth. Now that Atmosphere has proven their ability at creating meaningful, hard-hitting hip hop, they are able to take a step back and play around with lighter subject material without sounding trite. Even if this isn't the duo's deepest and most satisfying work to date, they still managed to pull it off, and it's enough to keep fans satiated until their full album release. |
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| Last Updated: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 at 01:54 AM |
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