Atmosphere will visit The Record Exchange for a meet and greet at 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 19. As always, this Record Exchange in-store event is free and all-ages!
The underground hip-hop heavyweights, in town for a Sept. 20 show at the Knitting Factory, will meet with fans and sign autographs. You’ll also have an exclusive opportunity to purchase the band’s tour-only EP, To All My Friends: Blood Makes the Blade Holy, featuring all-new material recorded in early 2010!
The Record Exchange and Knitting Factory also will be giving away a pair of tickets to the show and offering a wicked awesome Rhymesayers tote bag (filled with stickers and patches) to the first 10 people to purchase tickets at the meet and greet. To get the tote, give your helpful Record Exchange clerk the password “friends” whilst purchasing your ticket.
Twelve years after becoming the first hip-hop act to put the Twin Cities on the map, Atmosphere has grown into one of the most accomplished MC/producer duos around. Between Slug and Ant, they’ve released seven albums, 13 Sad Clown tour albums and various side-projects like Felt — amounting in well over a million units sold. And along the way have performed to sold-out crowds everywhere from modest sized venues in their hometown to colossal festivals in Japan.
Since releasing their 1997 debut, Overcast!, Ant’s ASR-born melodic beats and Slug’s open book and observational style of rapping continues to evolve into hip-hop that’s more honest — more textured. And the praise for these Rhymesayers pioneers hasn’t stopped flowing in. As Rolling Stone once gushed about Slug, “This Minneapolis indie rap hero has potential to spare, delivering taut, complex rhyme narratives with everyman earnestness.” Or as the Village Voice once wrote of Ant, “His dusty grooves are hooky and R&B-informed, and even when they back up Slug’s most maniacally depressed rhymes, they never feel heavy-handed.”
While Slug’s name has become synonymous with introspective rap, the new revelatory recording process with Ant inspired the MC to open up his subject matter well beyond his own life. In fact, their latest release When Life Gives You Lemons… is entirely based around fictional narratives that deal with societal issues — many that revolve around the theme of parenthood. To accompany the release, the album was issued with a limited 40-page hard cover book that includes a children’s story by Slug in addition to all of the lyrics. And this was done in part to celebrate Slug’s growth as a writer. ”This time around I really did force myself to try and write these stories as if I was writing a book or short stories and just trying to figure out how to put them into music,” says Slug.
The first five people to send an email with the subject “JJ Grey tickets” 
September is here, and so is The Record Exchange 33 1/3 Anniversary! This month-long celebration includes tons of in-store events, giveaways, sales and merry mirth-making.