Minneapolis duo Atmosphere consisting of Slug on the mic & Ant on the boards following up their 13th LP So Many Other Realities Exist Simultaneously. Initially a trio from the beginning of their formation up to release of their critically acclaimed debut Overcast!, they would later go on to build an independent empire with their Rhymesayers Entertainment whether that be signing acts from Brother Ali to the late Eyedea or putting out their best bodies of work like God Loves Ugly of Sad Clown Bad Dub 9. But it turns out Atmosphere has some outtakes from the sessions of their latest album & are compiling them into Talk Talk.
“Wetter” starts the EP for all the party people down the electro-trap instrumental whereas “Attachings” works in some synthesizers advising to never change & that everything’s happening whatever that even means. “Rotary Telephone” goes for a funkier approach to the beat so he can think out loud on wax prior to the dance-inspired “Don’t Mind Me” talking about deserving some levity & that everybody gets left behind in the end.
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Meanwhile, the futuristic jam “Where I’m / You’re At” asks if anyone’s in the back of the front or the front of the back while the title track is taken straight from the new full-length that Atmosphere put out this spring. “Hear Hear” experiments with trap again saying you need someone here when you got something to hear while the wavy “Hello Pete” featuring Buck 65 & Kool Keith pulls out the receipts on the titular character.
“Make Party Politics” continues to draw near the end of the 2nd body of work from Slug & Ant this year fusing trap with electro music once more detailing that you don’t even know what the Hell you’re looking at & to not hold your breath prior to “Traveling Forever” ending the EP with a calming boom bap instrumental portraying himself is an endless traveler.
So Many Other Realities Exist Simultaneously evoked the multiversal storytelling that’s recently vaulted into the mainstream consciousness & with this EP that came out of those very sessions, they dart across threads of space-time to grab hold of the one becoming titans of the sounds that was foundational to their youth. Ant’s production is more inspired by the likes of Kraftwerk & The Egyptian Lover so Slug can make visions of the future from 4 decades ago seem new once again.
Score: 7/10