Atherton & Sire

Ottawa duo MC Atherton and DJ Sire take the long-established hip-hop formula and give it their own twist, which happens to be smooth, warm production combined with honest, well-enunciated raps. Eleven of the 18 tracks are produced by either Atherton or Sire, who both bring some interesting, unusual samples to the mix, although Sire has the most success with this technique. With "Fans and Friends,” featuring former Periodic Trends partner LS, Sire loops a catchy sax sample for them to "fuck the fans, I’d rather have friendship;” and with "Mean Miss Treater” he combines simply beautiful piano with a short, soulful vocal sample for the hook and follows that with "ATM,” a bling-bling parody with some wickedly heavy piano. Despite occasional rough edges, Atherton is an easy to understand MC that adds new life to some played out topics. He expresses himself on student poverty with "ATM,” (aka "another tough Monday”) even admitting that his mother was right about his excess spending, and on "Cigarettes and Comic Books,” he takes the oft used concept of personifying inanimate objects by turning cigarette brands into comic book heroes. While not reinventing the wheel, the duo definitely display a chemistry that shows a lot of promise.