Customer Reviews

Alopecia

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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It's amazing how much Anticon as a group of artists and label have grown. I remember being a fan of Yoni Wolf many years ago when he was more of an impact behind the scenes rather than center stage. Back when he was the sole individual under the moniker Why?, Dose One was way too eccentric, and Sole was the stud of Anticon.

For those completely unfamiliar with Anticon, Yoni or Why?. Anticon is an indepedent label in which Yoni Wolf started with others and still maintains today. Why? is an experimental electronic band (they're not hip hop), which of course is on the Anticon label. The base of their music is electronics and they experiment with vocals, lyrics, timing, and rhythms. Usually, it's quite serendipitous. I'm all about allowing artists the freedom to experiment how they desire, it's the greatest element of Indie music.

Why? still represents Yoni Wolf but not solely. Why? is now a three piece act, which includes Yoni's brother, Josiah Wolf, and friend, Doug McDiarmid. With the addition of these band mates, Why? is showing it's diversity and maturation.

Three years ago, "Elephant Eyelash" was their first collective release and is still amazing. "Alopecia" (which is a medical term for baldness) is definitely a positive leap forward for the band. This release is by far more cohesive, accessible, catchy, melodic, constant, you name it. It's better. Some of Why?s best songs are featured here. I can even go as far to say that Why? have finally outdone Subtle this year. Subtle of course being a surprisingly popular experimental band by Dose One (Yoni's partner in cLOUDEAD and an original Anticon member). While neither are in competition of each other, it's very noteworthy as Dose One has been a beneficiary of boost in fame these past few years. Perhaps, now it is Yoni and Why?s turn in the spotlight. I think so....

Standouts are: "A Sky For Shoeing Horses Under", "The Vowels, Pt. 2", "The Hollow", "By Torpedo or Crohn's", "Simeon's Dilemma", "Good Friday", among others.

Yoni Wolf aka Why? mastermind, once a force in the juggernaut "hip-hop" outfit cLOUDDEAD (someone once said "they are to hip-hop as Nirvana is to, say, the blues"), returns with more of the same obtuse songwriting he has displayed since he began. He can create interest out of nothing, offering commentary on the minutia of everything from kitchen towels to white-boy auto-erotic literature ("only look at black and Puerto-Rican porno/'cuz they want something that their dad don't got") to sleeping positions, all subjects he flits between in a stream-of-consciousness fashion. Together with Andrew Broder and Austin Brown, Wolf complements his words with a mélange of hip-hop, new wave and twang, the trio capably realizing all sorts of mix-and-match experiments. After dozens of solo and group releases, Why? still manages to work a niche that thrives on ambiguity, forged ingenuity and unassuming trinkets, their own genre that only they know how to work.

Why? really out-did themselves with this album's great, sometimes darkly humorous lyrics and catchy beats.

Fun album to listen to, very cool artwork too. I definitely reccomend any WHY? listeners to grab this album.

This is the modern day equivalent of Paul Simon's first album. The lyrics put the whole world's skeletons on display in the most subtle and intimate way imaginable. Not only that, but Wolf & co seem to have Paul Simon's uncanny knack for weaving strong beats with layers of harmonized vocals and acoustic guitar. Truly a magnificent example of the best songwriting 2008 has to offer, thus far.

Why? are certainly not mainstream. Bizarre cover art, and weird cryptic lyrics set to rap mixed with indie rock? That won't be getting played on the radio. But it's a fresh sound that doesn't get boring after repeated listens, full of interesting lyrics and melodies that keep you interested. It all sounds very personal.

I can tell you that you will get more value out of this one record than anything the mainstream artists will squeeze out this year.

Also, find Boards of Canada's remix of "Good Friday" if you can. It's just amazing.

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Clear sound. Good original tunes with unpredictable inventive changes. Sharp lyrics. Sometimes ambient, sometimes street. What more could you ask?

Why? slow rap down, (so you can hear the words), and give it a melodisity which makes it more accessible to the white listener. The lyric style (invented by REM) is obscure but intriguing. Sometimes they're telling a personal story which touches off resonances in your own experience, but only obliquely. I don't know how they do it but the words work a magic. Why?'s sound and lyrics have, now, overtaken REM. What they lack is REM's driving rhythm and that's what's keeping them out of the mainstream, but maybe that's not worrying them and they'd rather stay true to their aim.

There's a swagger to the rap of Why? that I like. Lead singer Yoni Wolf's boy-next-door-but-hip voice explores adolescence like it was yesterday (which for him it was). They melt rap, hip-hop and boy-band pop into a wide awake, just graduated from high-school, atmosphere, playing on their youth and sexuality and not realising that they're not quite making it in the adult world - yet.

So the simplistic skeleton of sound which greets your ears on the first listening fills out with repeated listening to become almost a symphony and you notice female choruses, and melody lines. If you asked me what any of the songs were about I couldn't tell you, and yet I get strong images from all of them. At times it's the sophisticated sound of ultra-modernity, yet there's always that human touch to it.


Or to put it another way:

Like appreciation of all great rock. The first time you hear it it's like a jigsaw puzzle, but with only twenty or so pieces giving an incomplete picture. And then each subsequent time you listen more and more pieces appear adding to your enjoyment of the overall picture. Whereas with mundane rock what you hear the first time may increase with subsequent listens but by not much, maybe nothing at all. That's not the case with Why? the first time I listened I thought, this is interesting but not up to Elephant Eyelash (their first L.P.). But what I heard convinced me there was enough there to warrant further investigation. It was only after 5 plays that I realised the album had a real worth. I suppose it's all down to layers of worth that are not apparent on first hearing. If you want to see them search:
The Vowels Pt. 2 LIVE
on YouTube (and I hope the guy with the crutch didn't get hurt).

This is, quite simply, one of the single best Indie releases of all time, ranking alongside Neutral Milk Hotel's "Aeroplane Over the Sea", Modest Mouse's "Lonesome Crowded West", The Dismemeberment Plan's "Emergency and I", Animal Collective's "Feels" or Pavement's "Brighten the Corners" as such a powerful evocation of a current place and time as to be remembered for years to come. Yoni Wolf's lyrics are delivered expertly, humorously, and set to an infectious style. Addictive. Fast-paced. Very swell.
Sample lyrics to illustrate Why's wit: "I sleep on my back, 'cause its good for my spine and coffin rehersal, I know a psychic who reads her own palms and her findings are personal."
"Even though I haven't seen you in years, yours is a funeral I'd fly to from anywhere."
"God, I am an example of a calculated birth to a star chart for clowns"
ETC ETC

BUY IT. Very electronic experimental approachable cute funny addictive encapsulating calculated

I'm (slowly) making a vinyl collection and this was a "must" for my collection. I already own this in mp3 format, but it was worth the repurchase.

Yoni somehow manages to grow and improve with every album. Alopecia is the next step up in Why?'s staircase to indie rap perfection. Every song is meticulously mixed and doted over with lush pop vocals and incredibly intelligent vocals and rhyme schemes. I wholeheartedly suggest this album. It IS what rap can and should be.