For those not in the know, following the release of their debut album, Overcast!, Atmosphere was already making waves in the underground Hip-Hop scene, attracting attention for their unique combination of content, styles and sounds.

Although the group was suddenly smaller due to the departure of one member, Spawn, the buzz continued to grow, as did the creative output of remaining members Slug and Ant.

Over the next 3 years, the duo recorded and released a flurry of unofficial Atmosphere CD’s, tapes, songs and side projects, along with pressing and distributing a string of vinyl EP’s, titled Ford One, Ford Two, and The Lucy EP.

These vinyl EP’s were ultimately consolidated onto one CD as well, for the purpose of selling on tour and distributing to retail, becoming what most considered to be Atmosphere’s official sophomore album, Lucy Ford: The Atmosphere EP’s, more commonly referred to as simply Lucy Ford.

Now, in celebration of its 20th anniversary, the entire Lucy Ford album is finally available on 2xLP vinyl, for the first time in history. At last, fans and collectors everywhere can finally own this integral part of Atmosphere’s legacy on vinyl, complete with the original artwork and a redesigned layout.

Vinyl packaging includes 12” Matte UV Gatefold Jacket, Black Dust Sleeves, Black Double Vinyl and free digital download card.

Sides A + B:
1. Between the Lines
2. Like Today
3. Tears for the Sheep
4. Guns and Cigarettes
5. Don’t Ever Fucking Question That
6. It Goes
7. If I Was Santa Claus
8. Aspiring Sociopath

Sides C + D:
1. Free or Dead
2. Party for the Fight to Write
3. Mama Had a Baby and His Head Popped Off
4. They’re All Gonna Laugh @ You
5. Lost and Found
6. The Woman with the Tattooed Hands
7. Nothing But Sunshine

The opening track on Lucy Ford, Between the Lines, burrows into the heads of a frustrated policeman, an oblivious young girl who watches movies perpetually to get away from her own life, and an indie rapper who descends into self-abnegation instead of self-aggrandizement.

I think you will agree they are hardly typical subject matter for a rap song. In fact, with Slug’s singsong delivery, it hardly seems like a rap song at all, and is tugged back toward the genre only by Ant’s steady beat-making.

But then Atmosphere proves not to be typical in most every respect on this debut full-length, which is much the better for the duo’s, and particularly its MC’s, peculiarities. Thus Lucy Ford now collects the bulk of a pair of early Fat Beats-distributed vinyl EPs from the Minneapolis-based group on a stunningly created two-vinyl LP set which makes for a sterling introductory display, for sure.

In truth, Lucy Ford was packed with the kind of nimble wordplay found on Atmosphere’s debut, but it was paired with more self-reflective and introspective rhymes than their previous album.

Tracks like The Woman With the Tattooed Hands and Nothing But Sunshine showed Slug was equally as talented at poignant storytelling as he was at conveying a deeper message for the greater good of humanity, while songs like Don’t Ever Fucking Question That and Like Today stripped away at the character facade, allowing listeners to know the rapper on a more intimate level.

For me, Slug excels when he allows his obvious passion to settle on subjects outside himself, as when he tries to coax the hip-hop community toward a higher calling on Tears for Sheep, or, more breathtakingly, mixes autobiographical details with flights of pure imagination.

Indeed, the best tracks tend to occur when he plums the psychological depths of complex characters through brainy, abstract, and freewheeling narratives that exist somewhere in a surreal netherworld (If I Was Santa Claus, Aspiring Sociopath, Party for the Fight to Write, and the aforementioned Between the Lines).

The album wasn’t entirely devoid of ego though. Slug reminds listeners of his competitive roots on Guns & Cigarettes over a truly inspired bluesy beat by Ant, who handled the lion’s share of the album’s production.

And while Ant knows how to bring the emotional essence out of a beat, from the idyllic to the incensed, there were a few notable contributions from outside producers as well, including the dub-inspired Free or Dead by Jel, and the aforementioned, darkly optimistic Nothing But Sunshine by Moodswing9, among others.

Official Purchase Link

https://www.facebook.com/Atmosphere

www.RhymeSayers.com