TAG: Why?

Apr27

Amp Live – Murder At The Discotech (Review)

Amp Live

Murder At The Discotech

Released by Om Records


Amp Live strives for retro-futuristic electrofunk on Murder At The Discotech and delivers a dancey but disappointing record in the process. The meditative, soulful production from previous Zion I releases such as True & Livin' has been eschewed in favor of uptempo, radio-friendly fodder. The lead single, "Gary Is A Robot," rides the auto-tune wave in the most bland fashion imaginable. Those familiar with Amp's genre-bending remix work for Radiohead and WHY? will be left scratching their collective head at the direction he has taken on the new record. Amp wears his '80s influences on his sleeve whilst creating boom bap-tinged spaceship rap, an art best left to El-P.

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Mar06

Josiah Wolf – Jet Lag (Review)

Josiah Wolf

Jet Lag

Released by anticon.


Josiah Wolf steps out of the long shadow cast by WHY? band mate (and younger brother) Yoni Wolf with Jet Lag, an emotive and catchy solo debut. Wolf eschews the stream-of-consciousness vérité of his brother for a more straight-forward approach en route to what is an early contender for album of the year. An expansive canvas of guitar, kalimba, bass, Hammond organ, bells and drums crescendo and fall over twelve brilliantly-arranged tracks. Many wondered if the release would sound like another WHY? album with a different frontman, but multi-instrumentalist Wolf clearly has his own auteristic approach outside of the band. Songs like "Is The Body Hung" and "In The Seam" excel through excellent writing and understated psychedelia. Though it is a great departure from the WHY? sound, Jet Lag certainly shares the mellow, melancholy aesthetic of last year's Eskimo Snow. Themes of love, death, and failure lurk behind every autumnal note on the album.

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Feb22

WHY? – “These Hands (Son Lux Remix)” (MP3)

Fresh off the release of the Weapons EP, critically-acclaimed Son Lux is the latest producer to try his hand at remixing WHY?’s Eskimo Snow. His take on “These Hands” begins with a piercing drone that shifts to a minimalist composition as the lyrics hit before building to a dramatic finale. The track gives the listener a brief yet intriguing glimpse of the chant-driven, atmospheric soundscapes Son Lux has become known for. It maintains the emotion of the original song while adding its own pensive elements.

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Sep22

WHY? – Eskimo Snow (Review)

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WHY?

Eskimo Snow



Art school drop out or not, Yoni Wolf unlocks a wealth of masterfully crafted melancholic tunes. Eskimo Snow is the Cincinnati trio's fourth album and technically a follow up to 2008's Alopecia, but the band recorded the two discs together and it was only when they were snowed in at their Minneapolis studio did the idea emerge to do a split record. Eskimo Snow is a counterpoint to Alopecia with its Americana, folk and psychedelic styles.

Unfolding at a stately pace, Wolf is both an elegant and raw ...

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Sep16

Patrick Swayze’s Influence On Hip Hop

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Patrick Swayze’s passing has garnered much attention from media outlets these last couple days, who point both longtime fans and younger generations to his classic work in films like Dirty Dancing and Ghost by compiling various lists chronicling and celebrating Swayze’s career and life. However, as the Gaurdian UK points out, none have mentioned Swayze’s undeniable influence on hip hop. Yes, hip hop.

“Why? Because his name rhymes with “crazy, of course.”

More from the Guardian:

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