Albums | Random | Top 15 | About
The Family Sign

Reviews:

9.0  Blurt
8.0  Drowned In Sound
7.0  Subba-Cultcha
6.0  PopMatters
6.0  Sputnik Music
5.8  Pitchfork

Other resources:

Make Create playlist based on similar artists playlist

The Family Sign

by Atmosphere

Added 2011-06-21 09:15:00Z

Play in Spotify
Available worldwide

Avg rating: 7.0  |  148 plays  |  6 reviews

Rapper Slug and producer Ant continue to evolve with their 2011 effort The Family Sign, a conceptual effort dealing with the family unit. No surprise that the duo that arguably invented emo-rap finds a lot of pain in family and growing up, and when Mom gets to "mourn for the touch of a punch" during "The Last to Say," it's downright devastating. Slug's lyrics are equally vivid and blunt, and after all these years of delivering therapy session rhymes, he still continues to impress, giving up the stark reality like few others can. Still, the most interesting devices on the album are Ant's subtle references to the "Minneapolis sound" that the duo grew up with. Electro percussion that recalls Prince and white-noise, gritty sounds that are Hüsker Dü-influenced add a bit of nostalgia and suburban hominess to the landscape, as if Slug's lyrics were the domestic strife of the downstairs and Ant's productions were the boombox bedroom escapism of upstairs, where new wave and Paisley Park offered a way out.
 
In other words, knowing a bit about where this group literally came from helps a lot, and when you add the personal element of Slug chopping down his family tree, this effort may be too inward-looking for the newcomer. That said, anyone intrigued by the idea of emo-rap at its most introspective will find this a well-crafted and moving effort, while returning Atmosphere fans get the satisfying usual with some extra maturity and growth.
Description by CD Universe

Popular last month

  1. Sin and Lostness

    Sin and Lostness

    The Lost Rivers
    385 plays
  2. Animal Joy

    Animal Joy

    Shearwater
    367 plays
  3. Where the Sands Turn to Gold

    Where the Sands Turn to Gold

    Azusa Plane
    351 plays
  4. Ghostory

    Ghostory

    School Of Seven Bells
    327 plays
  5. Life Is Full of Possibilities

    Life Is Full of Possibilities

    Dntel
    285 plays
  6. Locked Down

    Locked Down

    Dr. John
    272 plays