2 out of 5

Label: Rhymesayers

Produced by: Atmosphere

…I dunno. I realize this is exactly what’s advertised on the tin, I just can’t really get behind it.

Leading up to Fishing Blues. Atmosphere released seven digital-only singles which were not going to be part of the album. They varied from not great to great, but the average was… meh. I was guessing there was going to be a physical version of these, and there was, but, uh, released as a boxset of all vinyl singles – this – with the only extras the instrumentals of the tracks. Yes, you get unique artwork on the box, and each vinyl single bears the digital artwork from Dave Quiggle, which is cool artwork… but the whole production feels bare bones for a $45 pricetag, whether it’s limited edition or not. Like, sure, some of these instrumentals are good (many are, again, rather meh), but wouldn’t a single LP / 45 with this material been a heck of a lot more convenient? And then it’s packaged in a chunky box which, again, is fine, but the whole thing feels like a waste of space, and not likely to get much playtime.

But, sure, it’s not like anything more was promised up front. And I suppose I wasn’t paying attention that there was going to be a CD release a week later, because otherwise I would have waited for that… even though it doesn’t have the instrumentals.

Had the quality of these tracks really merited this treatment, and / or if there was just something else that felt like it merited the price, I’d be a bit more positive on it, but this is really just a collector’s thing that I’m kinda bummed I spent money on.