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Seven's Travels

by

Atmosphere

 
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Seven's Travels

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Avg: 4.5 (4 ratings)

  • We Say...

    Review by Melissa Maerz

    With a head full of freshly inked rhymes and a backpack full of self-help books, Atmosphere rapper Slug proves that "emo rap" isn't just a style-of-the-month. Too therapy-ready for hip-hop and too sample-savvy for punk, the subgenre finds its hero in a Minneapolis MC who safety-pins his heart to his record sleeve. Over producer Ant's sad-soul soundscapes, Slug spins yarns and spits darts, calling out to the Prozac-popping girls ("Good Times (Sick Pimpin')"), the gothic-tattooed boys ("Lift Her, Pull Her") and the city that finds them fumbling toward each other through falling leaves and cigarette butts ("The Key to Life vs. 15 Minutes of Fame"). In these brief trysts, Slug discovers an "undie rap" that sometimes has more to do with ladies' lingerie than subterranean hip-hop, and hooks that go deeper than hook-ups. His storytelling style, while regional, extends well beyond state lines. Don't search for a Midwest connection, the labyrinthine beats seem to say. Just connect.

  • They Say...

    Review by Dan LeRoy, All Music Guide

    In the year that followed God Loves Ugly, Atmosphere's travels nearly took them to a major label; unlikely as it might have seemed at one time, the hip-hop trio's cerebral yet down-to-earth sound had become one of the hottest things in the underground, thanks in large part to rapper Slug's charisma, and surprising vulnerability. But the group pulled back, deciding to retain control and assign the album they'd completed to punk label Epitaph. That move made sense on a few levels, not least because Seven's Travels bristles with the independent spirit that put both punk and hip-hop on the map. There are any number of disgusted references to the mainstream; "National Disgrace" coldly observes a drunken star and notes, "This is a career, not a hobby." And producer Ant's varied and effective trick bag sometimes even includes a raw, uncompromising sound miles away from any imaginable chart action. But Atmosphere has always resisted the art-for-art's sake strain that has infested hip-hop in recent years; as Slug himself says early on, "I'm trying to find a balance." The beats seduce with R&B richness as often as they snarl, and instances where lyrical abstraction runs wild ("Cats Van Bags") are the exception, not the rule, because Slug is as much a storyteller as diarist. "Shoes" is another of his pickup-gone-wrong tales, ending in giggles in front of the toilet, and "Always Coming Back Home To You" dissects a slice-of-life moment with a guy and a gun in unexpected fashion. Just as remarkable, though, is the optimistic commercial for small-town living that follows, as Slug observes, "Minnesota is dope/if only simply for not what we have, but what we don't" and leads a shout-out that goes in part "If the playground is free of stems and syringes/If there's only one store in your town that sells 12-inches/say shhhh." Now that's keeping it real.

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