Why? - Oaklandazulasylum
[Anticon]

Touching on the madcap genius of both the Greenthink and cLOUDDEAD albums, lyricist Why? presents his first solo album on the ever popular Anticon label. 2 years in the making and absolutely worth it, we find Why? in producer role as well as rapping. Obviously inspired by his good friend Odd Nosdam (fellow cLOUDDEAD / Anticon supremo), the similarities between the 2 are endless, afterall, Why?'s use of dusty muffled beats and sweeping atmospheric organs didn't come from nowhere. As a poet, the main focus is on lyrics and rapping - sometimes ridiculously high pitched, but always amusing and cutting edge. It's fair to say, no other MC has the lyrical message range of Why?, which is exactly why he'll always be a key figure of alternative hip-hop.

Snips of poetry, which sound like they've been recorded on dictaphones, are pieced together and fused with a never ending supply of meaty samples. Compared to cLOUDDEAD, 'Oaklandazulasylum' has a much more live feeling to it, sampled instruments, namely acoustic guitars are the mainly used method of music, but anything like horn sections are also used too. At times, the use of distorted beats touches on electronica as opposed to hip-hop, especially on numbers such as 'A Little Titanic', where synths are crossed with drum machines. With the added rapping, it's not too dissimilar to Venetian Snares with his Buck 65 collaborations. The most genius track is 'Bad Entropy', with killer percussion and beats being ending in a fierce, far-out atmospheric organ, this is the track most like cLOUDDEAD and although this is meant to be a solo effort, it's this sound which really stands out from the rest.

The course of the album sounds like it's used anything at hand to record it, as animal noises are used for instruments, sticks for percussion and not forgetting Why?'s voice itself. This is truly inspirational, unique hip-hop, with Anticon doing their own thing and not following the usual route of processed beats and ProTools production. Marvellous.