Why?
Landing in the lesser-traveled intersection of rap and indie rock, Why? began as a solo moniker for rapper/songwriter Yoni Wolf but soon grew into a full band. Under Wolf's guidance, Why? crafted heady, literary albums that returned to themes of family, mortality, and neurotic responses to everyday life. The band reached a new level of critical acclaim and fan support with their much-lauded 2008 master stroke Alopecia.
Bay Area rapper Yoni Wolf began performing as Why? sometime in the late '90s. A highly collaborative artist, Wolf was involved with the scene that would give birth to the Anticon label, and he was involved with Hymie's Basement, Clouddead, and other projects while he was beginning to work as Why? After releasing 1999's Part Time People Cage... or Part Time Key? and 2003's Oaklandazulasylum, he enlisted older brother Josiah Wolf, Doug McDiarmid, and Matt Meldon (all playing multiple instruments) and transitioned Why? from a solo project to a full band in 2004. The first full-length release from the band came with 2005's Elephant Eyelash, a hip-hop record heavy on melody, synthesizers, and jangly guitars. The band toured and recorded constantly in this time, releasing EPs and singles between proper albums and staying on the road for months at a time.
In 2008, the band's second full-band album, Alopecia, arrived and became Why?'s first to hit the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart. Featuring Mark Erickson along with Fog's Andrew Broder, Eskimo Snow arrived in 2009 and also landed on the independent albums chart. The title for their next effort, 2012's Mumps, Etc., was inspired by contracting the disease while in Europe, along with other "on tour" calamities. In 2013, the conceptual Golden Tickets EP materialized; the seven-song collection of personalized tracks was crafted by Wolf for seven individual Why? fans he'd Internet-stalked over the course of several months.
For the group's fifth studio album, Why? moved to Joyful Noise, which had released the 2016 debut of Wolf's duo with rapper Serengeti, Yoni & Geti. Co-produced by Wolf and his brother Josiah, a frequent music collaborator, Moh Lhean was released in 2017. It was the first fully home-recorded Why? LP since the project's debut. Now stationed in Cincinnati, Ohio, Wolf regrouped quickly for their sixth album, 2019's AOKOHIO. The album was a deeply nostalgic statement, collecting short songs into six larger movements. The band embarked on tour in support of AOKOHIO and also tours where they'd play Alopecia front to back.
© Marcy Donelson & David Jeffries /TiVo
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Alopecia
Alternative & Indie - Released by Joyful Noise Recordings on 11 Mar 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Good Friday (Boards of Canada Remix)
Alternative & Indie - Released by Joyful Noise Recordings on 23 May 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Elephant Eyelash
Alternative & Indie - Released by Waterlines on 4 Oct 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Alopecia (Reissue)
Alternative & Indie - Released by Joyful Noise Recordings on 17 Aug 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
AOKOHIO
Alternative & Indie - Released by Joyful Noise Recordings on 9 Aug 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Oaklandazulasylum
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Waterlines on 16 Jun 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Moh Lhean Expanded
Alternative & Indie - Released by Joyful Noise Recordings on 2 Feb 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Auld Lang Syne
Rock - Released by Joyful Noise Recordings on 25 Nov 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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The Early Whitney EP
Hip-Hop/Rap - Released by Waterlines on 1 Sep 2003
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sanddollars EP
Alternative & Indie - Released by Waterlines on 12 May 2005
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Eskimo Snow
Alternative & Indie - Released by Waterlines on 22 Sep 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Rubber Traits
Alternative & Indie - Released by Waterlines on 28 Feb 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
We Are Real
Alternative & Indie - Released by Joyful Noise Recordings on 22 Oct 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mumps, etc.
Alternative & Indie - Released by Waterlines on 5 Oct 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Proactive Evolution (Nick Diamonds Remix)
Alternative & Indie - Released by Joyful Noise Recordings on 6 Dec 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Rabbit Hole in a Little Town, Vol. 1
Alternative & Indie - Released by 5891742 Records DK on 30 Sep 2023
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sod In The Seed
Alternative & Indie - Released by Waterlines on 10 Aug 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Golden Tickets
Alternative & Indie - Released by Joyful Noise Recordings on 17 Sep 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Well I Fell Into
Alternative & Indie - To be released on 2 Aug 2024 by Waterlines
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo