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Even if I’ve never been the greatest advocate of their music, the tragedy of Atmosphere has always been a fascination of mine. Slug (a pale Midwestern rapper who claims both Native- and African-American heritage) writes emotional lyrics, strives for realness in hip-hop, and is rewarded with a massive fanbase . . . composed largely of teenage girls. Meanwhile, Ant, the beatmaking half of the duo, remains reclusive. Maybe it’s just my Bostonian penchant for underdog rooting, but it’s nice to hear the quiet one stepping into his own on YCBHMFWH. While Slug appears locked in a holding pattern, Ant creates some of his finest productions to date, including the sinister "Pour Me Another" and "Angelface," which lets tinkling guitars and horn stabs spar over a strutting bassline. Some tracks are almost painfully predictable at this point in Atmosphere’s career, but YCBHMFWH isn’t a bad album — I’d just rather listen to the instrumentals. Atmosphere | The Roxy, 279 Tremont St, Boston | Oct 13 | 617.931.2000 BY CHRIS NELSON
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Issue Date: October 14 - 20, 2005 Back to the Music table of contents |
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