Search - Atmosphere :: You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having

From out of nowhere...

Krishan | SoCal, USA | 05/30/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The last track on this album is the tripartite "Little Man", in which Slug addresses the first verse to his son, the second verse to his father, and the last verse to himself. Acknowledging genealogical traits consistent among the three generations, Slug places himself at the center of the three generations in a way that suggests that the father and the son are variations of himself. Thus the piece has a sense of folding in on itself in the last verse when Slug addresses himself, and this abstract idea is reflected by the physical image of the overly self-conscious rapper curled up on an anonymous hotel bed: "rolled up like a naked fetus / come and save him, Jesus / place him back in time before the Reaganomics and Adidas". It's a masterfuly constructed piece, and though the lyrics are more blunt and conversational than philisophical, the abstact nature of the song is captured by the pentatonic, Eastern-influenced music that forms the backdrop for Slug's rhymes and gives the entire piece a quasi-mystical feel.



Nowhere else can you hear hip-hop like this. So it's ironic that, in the last verse of "Little Man", Slug sings this line to himself: "Your raps are exhausted / Stop it / Everybody knows that you've lost it". In fact, nothing could be further from the truth; with the release of this album, Atmosphere has taken their game to a whole new level.



Atmosphere showed early promise on the geeky, lo-fi "Overcast!" (circa 2001), and seemed to peak on 2002's "Lucy Ford" release. Their third CD, "God Loves Ugly", managed to be both completely introspective and almost entirely uninspired, and the follow-up CD, 2004's "Seven's Travels", was a hit-or-miss affair with a handful of memorable tracks and a truckload of filler. By 2005, the only Atmosphere CD I was listening to was "Lucy Ford", and time had tarnished most of the rhymes on that album; with the exception of "They're All Gonna Laugh @ You", the tracks on "Lucy Ford" sound somewhat juvenile today, as charming as they still are.



So I kept walking the first time I spotted this CD in the record store, figuring that Atmosphere was long past whatever brief prime they might have enjoyed a few years back. But when I sampled some of this CD on Amazon, I realized that these guys have pulled off a major comeback from out of nowhere.



The most immediately arresting feature of this CD is the production; Ant has dug deep and come up with a mind-boggling array of samples that gives this record a character unlike any other Atmosphere CD, or any other hip-hop release in recent memory. The album is permeated with a gritty, old-school flavor that relies heavily on fuzzy, distorted beats, gospel riffs, turntable scratching and sampled voice-overs that bring to mind Public Enemy's "Fear of a Black Planet". There are fantastically intricate layers of sound at work here, but never so much that the beats detract from the rhymes. On the contrary, the choice of beats and samples seems more directly related to the rhymes than on previous releases (see the discussion of "Little Man" above) in a way that gives this record a rare degree of integrity. The one notable exception is "That Night", which purposefully stands apart from all the other songs on the album and thus has a sound all its own.



Ant's complex and edgy production seems to be spurring Slug on; his delivery is far more sure here than on any other Atmosphere CD. His rhymes were always intellegent, but there's a more confident flow at work here, and even his voice seems to have more character.



Like all great pop music, this album succeeds on several levels. It has a consistency of character, but enough variety from track to track to keep the listener from getting bored. On some of the songs, distortion or other effects are applied to Slug's voice; on "That Night" he delivers the lyrics in a hushed, intimate tone. As background music, most of the songs on the album provide plenty of bump; on the other hand, discerning listeners will find that the lyrics almost never disappoint, and there's always plenty to come back for."

If you could only see...

Dan B | Mpls, MN USA | 10/08/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Why is it that Atmosphere fans want the new albums to sound like the old? Sounds boring. Is the artist not supposed to grow? Every album has been a growth for Slug & ANT. If the above was the format they followed they'd still be slanging tapes to eat and 80% of today's fans would say, "Atmosphere who?" Part of their growth is that they don't feel completely dark and angry anymore in life which is reflected in their music's sound. This is executed without sacrificing quality here and by emphasising true hip-hop. Listen to it for what is, not what isn't. If you do this, Atmosphere will always shine. This album is very good all around and is a must have Rhymesayers production. You should automatically buy this album out of respect of talent and perseverance.

-Minnesota Missile-"

Review from Synthesis

Synthesis_jason | Chico, CA | 11/09/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Playing into the joke of the album's title, I don't remember when rocking shows across the country, getting paid and laid wasn't fun, but nonetheless, Atmosphere is back with another dope album. You Can't Imagine How Much Fun We're Having is 13 tracks of finely crafted music by producer ANT, who flexes as much originality as he does versatility. Lyrically, Slug complements the music with abstract concepts ("Smart Went Crazy"), and well-structured story raps ("Musical Chairs"). I can't foresee the day when Atmosphere will make a bad album, and You Can't Imagine... follows the tradition of good hip-hop we've come to expect. It's just comforting knowing that other people are devoid of complete happiness, too.



- Corey Bloom

Synthesis.net"